Beretta.net

My 1992 Beretta 3.1L is my current project. this is my car of twenty-two years, with 200k miles. an engine rebuild in progress, cost me $140 in new bearings, rings, gaskets, etc.

now i am looking for a manual tranny. this car was always an automatic. manuals are hard to find.

t was running fine already, but the auto tranny would stall the engine when shifting.

the pistons are already pulled out and their rings replaced. signs of detonation?

this car has indeed overheated twice. when the thermostat failed back in march 2000, i noticed steam coming from under the hood. back in those days i never kept an eye on my gauges.

the other time was in august 2004, when i noticed the temp gauge pegged out after driving on the i-94 freeway for twenty minutes. when i looked myself, i saw the top radiator hose was completely
removed from the radiator. that auto repair place on Mich. Ave. had very recently replaced the water pump and tensionor for the accessory belt. cost me $350. they must have did it on purpose.

the valves have carbon accumulation. i will post pics soon.

the three damaged pistons are all from the same bank. the other three pistons have no damage.

the water jacket needs to be scrubbed out. distilled water should be used, and i never did. mineral build up is present, the rubber hoses' innards are coated with a thick white substance, probably calcium. this impedes normal cooling of the engine.

Cool that you are rebuilding it back up. Hope to keep reading more on your progress!

You in Dearborn?

my home here is in Davisburg, northern Oakland County.



today i removed the valves and springs. brand new springs have been ordered.
wish i could have used my expensive tool set, but it was just too hard. so instead i
used my ten dollar tool from Harbor Freight. that was slow and tiresome, but
now all twelve springs are removed.

the valves have a bit of carbon accumulation, the pic is showing the worst case.

One shop left the clamp off of one coolant hose on my car. Lucky for me it was a small hose. After that I learned to pop the hood and check the work. That way you can get them to fix it on the spot. Then there is no way they can say it's not our fault.
Humans are humans and we all forget things from time to time. I've had them get somewhat mad at my rechecks. To that I say"my money, my car". Most understand after that.
Hope the rebuild goes well!

So you are going to restore the whole car?
Are you going to replace those pistons?
They look pretty beat. Strange how one side is beat and the other
look okay. Do you think the overheating was worse on one side and that
is why one side is so beat up?
How do the cylinder bores look? Do you have a large ridge at the top?
Usually, you just can't replace rings without bore and hone of the block.
The rings will never seat. (ask me how I know)
Anyway, good luck, you have a lot of work ahead of you.

the engine.

the pistons have no cracks, so i used an angle grinder and shaved off
the rough areas. the damage was very shallow, maybe one millimeter
in depth. only one bank was damaged, along with the head shown above.
the other head had no damage at all. maybe the cause was too low of a coolant
level?

also for the past five years, during cold weather, i have noticed steam arising
from the engine just after start-up. but the head gaskets are in good shape,
with no cracks in the heads.

the bores had no ridge on top, and i hope the new rings seat okay.

the car body is beyond repair. wish i was a body man. too much rust.

if anyone know where i can score a manual tranny, let me know. Thanks!

I know a few people in the Brighton area. Some Holly residents as well.

Keep the progress going!

some close-ups. the white vinegar is used to clean out the water jacket,
and it will soak overnight.

my plan is to install a manual tranny in this car.
would i need to install a different computer in that case?
this car has always been an automatic.

question about valve springs:

1) these are brand new springs. can they be damaged from too much compression? 2) these springs contain a variable pitch, so should the end with a greater pitch go up or down?
would it matter? they were originally installed with the greater pitch going up. 3. do the valve springs have any kind of protective coating? because mine are gett'g a bit scratched
during the installation process.

1) You wont be able to hurt them with that tool... trust me.
2) install them the same way they cam out
3) No coating is needed to be on them, they may be black oxide coated or something but they are submerged in oil for their life they don't need any special coatings to live with that environment. scratch away....

Auto to manual swap, no you don't need a new ECU but you'll need a manual prom chip from an original manual car. The chips are different and you will need to mess with the neutral safety switch setup to get the car to start properly since you will no longer have the automatic range switch connected.

Good luck with the repairs.

You are right, that body is rough and beyond repair.
Would you mind uploading some more pictures of the rusty spots? Please include shots of the rocker panels and rear shock tower.

Looking at the photos of the pistons in the block did you just grind down the tops of the pistons where the pitting was? If so that was extremely stupid because now they are all odd weights and totally out of balance of each other and you also shortened up the top ringland which could result in a cracked piston.

Your comment is a bit harsh, don't you think?
We don't know until we learn, until then, we are all extremely stupid.

This whole thread is a joke right?

At 200K the rings will never seat without at least a hone, and yes taking a grinder to a piston is pretty stupid from someone who proposes to know what he is doing. (He obviously doesn't have a bloody clue!)

And you want a manual trans? All that effort? That car isn't worth the powder to blow the damn thing to hell!

It may well be unsafe to drive for heaven's sake.

Time for a dose of reality buddy.