I guess I’m going to call him “Leo”

Post by **foggydogg** » 01 Jul 2023, 13:26

Leo Rizzo Obit, kind of thin on details for a man that lived so large. He was a Tanker in WW II.
https://www.parsellfuneralhomes.com/obi ... !/Obituary
It seems he ran the 1957 inaugural race at Lime Rock in an Arnolt Bristol - he had a picture on the wall of his den - finishing 7th.

: Leo Rizzo's 1956 Arnolt Bristol.jpg (115.61 KiB) Viewed 553 times

Sourced the pic elsewhere, his cowl surround was apparently a one-off.
Leo ran the Jaguar team for the 1954 Great American Maountain Rally, 1,100 miles from NYC to the Canadian border, then South to Poughkeepsie over Thanksgiving weekend. Lots of snow. Leo had a pic of him standing next to his Jag, top down, up to his knees in snow, with a giant grin on his face.
From an account posted about the rally:
" There is a story that this year there was a lot of snow on the road over the Lincoln Gap. Stirling Moss was not able to get his car up the hill. There were a number of cars at the bottom of the hill waiting to get up the hill. Moss was saying that the road was impassable and wanted everyone to agree with him so the organizers would disregard the scores from that leg. Leo Rizzo pointed out that there was a set of tracks going up the hill that must have been left by the course opening car, so would have worked against such a claim that the road was impassable. Suddenly panic ensued as teams retreated to their cars to try to get up the hill. Not everyone made it over the hill, but many did."

Post by **DonnVa** » 01 Jul 2023, 14:24

Okay everything looks good except the rod, which does have a little bend in it. I’m going to put a new set of rods in it and a set of valve stem seals and clean it all up good. The block is stamped with a D and the gasket is 1.6mm after being compressed. VP has a B20 A/B/D kit with a head gasket that is 2mm. Is that the head gasket I should order? Also, in the pictures, the gasket I pulled didn’t really fit the front water jacket holes very well, but I’m sure that is because of the difference between it being a bored out B18 block w/ a B20e head. The water holes fit the head water jacket holes fine. Should there have been an accommodation made by punching out the gasket a little to fit the block holes or is that the way it’s usually done? Thanks!

Post by **foggydogg** » 02 Jul 2023, 06:47

See what the new gasket looks like; trimming material on the gasket around water passages won't do any harm. Looks like Leo did a decent job on the build. He likely bored the block himself.

Post by **DonnVa** » 03 Jul 2023, 18:32

I spoke with Matt at VP this morning and figured out which head gasket to get. I placed an order for the gaskets, O rings, rods, seals and etc. Hopefully I’ll get them by Friday so I can get the engine back together. On another note, I was looking in one of Leo’s service manuals and I believe he’s answering some of my questions about valve clearance and such.

Post by **scot850** » 03 Jul 2023, 19:24

The gasket fit around those 2 water holes was like that 45+ years ago when I helped re-build my first B18 engine. It was a B18D engine which was a lower compression block and the B was the high compression twin carb block. Both good engines.

I did exactly what you have done and filed the water jacket holes out to more like the shape of the jacket in the block.

Neil.

Post by **DonnVa** » 04 Jul 2023, 19:14

While I’m waiting on my parts, I did a little red neck rebuild today..

Post by **DonnVa** » 06 Jul 2023, 19:34

I received my parts and gaskets yesterday. I lapped the valves last night and installed them w/ new valve stem seals tonight. I cut the heads off of two of the old head bolts to use as guide pins for when I put it back together on Saturday. I installed new float needles and re-baselined the carbs. I’m starting all over with the adjustments once I get everything back together and running this weekend.

Post by **scot850** » 06 Jul 2023, 23:05

Wow, you have been busy!! Love that you have re-painted the engine as it should be. Very nice.

Neil.

Post by **DonnVa** » 07 Jul 2023, 05:35

scot850 wrote: ↑06 Jul 2023, 23:05 Wow, you have been busy!! Love that you have re-painted the engine as it should be. Very nice.

Neil.

I had some fun with the fan blade. It was red and I painted it red, but I decided to paint it yellow as that’s what they were originally. Mind you, none of my colors are “Volvo red” and etc.. So, I sanded the front down to repaint and thought “that looks interesting”. I flipped it over and sanded the back and painted it yellow. I flipped it over to the front and thought that I should just clear coat that, and I did.

Post by **scot850** » 07 Jul 2023, 08:21

Your car, so you can do whatever unique touches to make it your own! Love what you are doing.

Neil.

I guess I’m going to call him “Leo”

Re: I guess I’m going to call him “Leo”