"....A BOMB-PROOF ENGINE...."

1- Removing and disassembling the engine

26/08/2010: the 409 has been carried back to Italy in just a few days, and a for a very convenient price, by the good guys at Incarnation. A sterling service! Thanks Peter
The magnificent Jaguar XK that I am testing now, in the background, is proof that classic British style never dies

The 409, once removed the heavy V8 engine, points its nose up.

Wednesday September 08th: the results of the autopsy are not very good....Three bearings are shot, one of them turns freely in its seat, two conrods overheated so much that they have turned blue, the rings of three pistons are fractured and scraped the cylinder bores, we need a new oil pump and almost everything else is either loose or badly worn out. The piston in the n.1 cylinder had been installed the wrong way so that the oil output underneath sprayed in the wrong direction. It is a tribute to Chrysler's engineering and to the excellent quality of its metals that an engine with so many parts in bad shape did work at all!

I was aware that nobody had opened it since I own the car, but I couldn't imagine that nobody had apparently done anything on its main components since its birth, 44 yrs ago. I hope that I shall have the car reassembled in 2-3 months and please don't make me think about the cost.....

Details of the dismantled engine. Before I bought the car the cooling system had been filled with radiator sealant. It stopped the leaks in the radiator, but blocked many of the water passages in the block and that's why the engine ran hot in the long highway runs

Time for a complete rebuild.....