Lancia Beta Forum

So the work started in earnest today.

I had already stripped out the boot, removed and threw away the rear bumper, the tow bar, rear and middle section of exhaust plus anything else that was not part of the car.

The after a couple of weeks thinking about where to start I decided the back end was the best place as there is a fair amount of work to be done.  Rear shocks are shot and a couple of conversations with Mark W, I decided conversion to insert type for front & rear is the only sensible/viable option.  Looking at the underside of the floorpan, the underbody sealer has faired very well, its blown and flaked in a few places and the powder coating has flaked off the rear cross member.

So, today I've spent my time removing the rear hubs and the rear suspension in preparation for Mark W to convert them to inserts.  I'll clean up the rear hubs myself and the brake dust guards etc.  Wheel bearings are good it looks like they have been replaced at some point because the copper slip is reasonably fresh.

Brake discs are OK, but I changed someones front wheel bearings so instead of giving me cash they bought new brake discs front & rear at my request for the 1600 - swings and roundabouts eh!  I had a set of front brakes refurbished by BigRedd Brakes a while back so they will go on the front and I have a rear set to rebuild that I'll use.  I have already have a stack of bits shot blasted & nickel plated so they all look good. As a precaution I will make up some new copper brake lines, the originals do not leak but the coating has blown in places and I'd rather do all that when its easy to get at.

Plan for sunday is to get the fuel tank out and remove the rear crossmember, the fuel tank needs a light sanding, treating with Jenolite and then painting with underbody sealer to protect it.  The rear crossmember will go away for blasting and powder coating. The tie rods etc will all get stripped, cleaned painted and re-assembled with new bushes.  (Kinda handy that I've had new bushes sat in my supplies for a few years!)

Thankfully, the rear ARB bushes are in great condition, being series one style they are a PITA to find...... I wasn't looking forward to tracking those down, but if anybody has a pair then I'd still be interested.

Once the back end is sorted out I'll be putting it back together but leaving the suspension loose, as thats got to come off so my body shop can do the welding.

Striping down wasn't a nightmare, considering some of the nuts had been in place for 35 years they came off reasonably easily... but that I mean I've only damaged one finger  ::)

Stripped out arches, next out will be the fuel tank and then the crossmember.

Rear suspension removed and stripped ready for conversion.

You've got more done in 1 day than I have in several months!

Can you put up a picture showing which bit of the car the stands are supporting? It would make my life a lot easier if I could jack my Spider up (and get under it safey), but the sills are completely shot.
Thanks
Duncan

Duncan,

Will post up a picture tomorrow when its light.

Great progress Matt. is the original treatment Ziebart.?   i might have a half decent rear bumper if it helps

Great, thanks Matt.
I'll be paying a lot of attention to your resto as I'm sure you'll be done a lot faster than me. Expect a lot of annoying questions! ;)
Cheers
Duncan

This car first hit the road before the ziebart or tuffkote dinol days, only the floorpan is coated in a thin rubberised paint, the equivalent to more modern underbody paint/sealant.

At the moment I'm coming down with bumpers but thanks for the offer!

Always happy to answer any questions.

looks in remarkably good nick for it's age especially in the wheelarches I will be quite jealous when you've finished it!!

Bottom seams of the rear turrets need attention, as does the 6"x4" panel in the side of rear turret. Not sure what it's purpose is, it's got original plate/cover welded on then the inside has that resin coating over it, that's got to be replaced. It looks like the welding misses all the awkwardly shaped areas.   Thankfully!

Axle stand jacking resting point.... I have both stands in same place on either side of the car.

To jack the car up I use trolley jack, a 8" x 6" piece of old floorboard to spread the load across centre of rear crossmember and raise the car up from there, then get someone to get the axle stands in then lower gently ensuring the axles stands take the weight centrally.

HTH

Fuel tank out today, which took approx 30 minutes.  Now I can see exactly whats going on underneath and to be honest I'm rather pleased.

These are my workmates today plus plenty of elbow grease:

I drained the fuel tank expecting all sorts of crap to come out but the fuel was just about perfect, the only bits in it were the odd bit of flaked paint that blew into the funnel as i inverted the tank to empty.

After some damn good brollying with the wire brush and then a liberal dash of Jenolite.  (BTW don't use the gel form of Jenolite, its weaker than the normal liquid stuff)

Now the underside is exposed, as you can see there is some small areas where the underseal has blown, but this has already been wire brushed back so that all the loose stuff has been removed, again Jenolite will be used and then then more underbody sealant.

I was supposed to be going out but thats just been blown out, so I'm off to remove the rear crossmember.

Loads of progress. Good progress too. :) Does the good condition of the tank mean you won't put any sealant inside it?

And thanks for the pic of the axle stand points. :) I'll have a look tomorrow am and see if that area looks solid enoug to trust on my Spider. Your coupe underneath looks a lot better than my spider.

Cheers
Duncan

Yeah the fuel that came out the tank was as good as it was when it went in, so I see no reason to seal the tank.

With the crossmember off I could check its condition properly and all thats happened is the paints gone and theres just surface rust.  So this has been wire brushed off, treated with Jenolite and then resprayed the original grey colour.  Once the paint is dry the crossmember can be rebuilt.  Am amazed that the bushes are all in good shape, they must have been changed sometime before the car came off the road.

Will post up pics later of the final progress that was made today.

The rear hubs and brake dust guards are now painted black, the rear crossmember is back to its original grey and the fuel tank is drying after a liberal coat of underbody sealant.

I got a text saying check my rear struts as they looked like insert type, so I scraped the muck away from the top of the strut body and found that they are indeed insert type! Bonus... one less job to do.  They are a different design to the three insert type struts I sold a few weeks back.  

Sun has been out pretty much all day, not too hot nor cold... just perfect for working on a Beta and I am very pleased with the progress. All I have to do now is spend a couple of hours under the car scraping off the loose/blown sealant and give it the Jenolite and underbody treatment.  Once its dark I'll head inside the garage to rebuild the crossmember as I've cleaned, treated and painted all the tie rods ready for refitting, possibly next weekend but it mothers day so need to mindful of Mrs NoVAT!

After work today I cleaned off the remaining crud from the underside of the boot section.  Not a nice job as all the bits drop into your hair, ears and anywhere else you dont want it to go!.  Then out with the jenolite to treat the areas of exposed metal.  This is more of a precaution at this stage.  I think while the tank and rear crossmember are out, everything is very accessible, so do it now rather than regret it later.

The Jenolite is dry in 1 hour o so, but I'll leave it 24 hours and then apply a liberal amount of underseal to the bare metal areas and then 24 hours later give the whole underside section thats hidden by the tank & crossmember another coat of underseal, more for uniform colour and also improved protection from the elements. Then I have to wait until Bristol to see Mark and collect rear suspension bits.

As some of the parts that were treated and repainted are now dry, I re-assembled what I can in readiness for refitting. ;D

This is one of the bits about this game I like....... putting it back together again.

Looking fantastic!
Keep going and it will be done in no time! :)

Today the rear strut bodies and rear springs all went off to be shot blasted and powder coated.  The spring pads were in good condition but the steel spring pad protector had suffered a serious attack from the tin worm.  So I've handed the pads and what remains of the metal protector to my fabrication to make some new ones.

This should all come back within a week or so and give me sufficient time to rebuild the rear brake calipers which I stripped down and bought new seal kits for. I'll give the floorpan at the back a full coat of underbody sealant, paint and refit the rear ARB and get the rear crossmember back in, refit the middle and rear sections of exhaust, refit the fuel tank complete with new fuel pipes, assemble the newly rebuilt brake calipers and discs.  Finally once the rear suspension parts have all been refurbished and returned and I have new inserts from Mark W the back end is pretty much completed.

Then I'll move on to the front bushes, suspension & brakes renovation.  ;D

At the same time as doing the front I'll be making a start on the engine side of things.  Change the timing belt, fan belt, all filters, oil change, new fuel lines and some general cleaning and tidying up.  The engine runs very well, but the blown exaust wasn't helping matters.

It's all going pretty well so far, this weekend was written off due to Mothers day and family commitments - trying to make up mid-week but will have to see how things go.

Now, if only I could find the Swan Neck tailpipe that I cut off and saved... as I want to weld that onto the new rear silencer ??? ??? ???

Great progress Matt, those non-adjustable rear transverse arms look a bit more substantial than the later type, are they? Keep the pics rolling, its nice to keep tracks on a project  :)

Yes they are much more substantial.  ;D

As per the later cars the the tube with the slot cut in the whole length remains unchanged, but on later cars the non-adjustable version just has a flat piece of steel with a bush pressed in at both ends, on mine it has a pretty solid heavy gauge tube. Similar spec to the engine stabiliser bar.
 
You can definately see some subtle changes over the production life cycle of the car. I keep darting across to my S2/FL to confirm differences :). Things started off over engineered and then as time passed the bean counters cut cost or unnecessarily over engineered elements were toned down.  Probably a combination of both those factors.

Thankfully, I finished the re-undersealing up to the rear ARB last night before daylight faded. Once the back end is rebuilt I will underseal the rest of the underside of the floorpan, from under the rear seats right the way up to the front of the car. (Thats should be easy as there is pretty much nothing in the way and 95% of the original underseal is intact, I just have to leave the sills untouched as new ones will be welded in once I've finished refurbing brakes/suspension etc.

While poking around yesterday I was under the car having a good look at the rear ARB bushes, I noticed that one side of one of the bushes has perished a bit so I think I'll have to have them out and replace them.

From discussion with Mark W it looks like I may have to have these specially made (from PU).

Not Ideal but I dont want to do all this work and it fail an MOT on something I knew about. :(

on some cars both arms are pressed and tracking adjustment is by rotating the mounting bolts 

The rear crossmember is back in, so is the fuel tank which has had new fuel pipes and clamps fitted.

More fun with the orbital wire brush inside the rear turrets and a liberal coat of jenolite and the same on the odd light patches inside the boot.

New oem rear top mounts arrived from Italy today. :D

Waiting for springs and strut bodies to come back from powder coating and collecting inserts when at Bristol. Then the back end is pretty much sorted.

If I can track down new ARB bushes I'll be a very happy chapy.

So after all the parts came back from blasting, painting and electro-plating I plan to refit the rear ARB and the rear hubs.

I am having the metal spring cups for the rear suspension remade, so am waiting on those and I have to rebuild the rear calipers and then the back end (underneath) is complete.  Then I will move on to doing the front suspension, front brakes and replacing of fuel lines, belt change & a service on the engine.

All the parts for the back are shiny and looking like new :-)

Looking forward to re-assembly tomorrow - inbetween working, taking my daughter to a 4 year olds party and packing for my holiday.

Two weeks without being able to work on my cars........ how will I cope? ;D

Sounds good. We need pictures of the newly shiny parts!  ;)

Enjoy your holiday.
Cheers
Duncan

I bought those new from cavalitto not so long ago they seem to be the emporium of unobtainium  :D

Yep,

Thats why I'm having a batch of 50 made!

I'll post up the pictures of all the shiny stuff tomorrow.

It's nice to see the parts back in good condition, if the rust had attacked the bits too much then I would not bother with refurbishing them, but if they are structurally sound and just require a blast and repaint/powder coat then I think its best to do that as it will prolong the life of the parts and ultimately the whole car.

I had both rear springs and both rear strut bodies, a pair of cam covers, pair of rear top mounts, and the rear brake disks all shot or bead blasted, the fittings for the struts vapour blasted, the rear top mounts nickel plated and the rear brake discs skimmed 10 Thou - All that cost me £120 -  which is money well spent I think.

Personally, I dislike working on oily or very dirty cars - I don't mind working on them if I'm taking stuff off thats grubby, but I think its easier to work on and especially refit parts if they ain't covered in s**t!  So I always clean them up a bit before they go back on.  Plus it looks so much better... the car looks like its been given a bit of "TLC".      (I know... I'm sad!!)

Where I can find new OEM items I will grab them,  I found a pair of rear coupe top mounts in Italy for £80 for the pair including postage, the ones fitted to the car were in good condition but cosmetically they just required sorting out.  So I have unused spares which is still handy as I have 2 Coupes!

I take it that at cavalittos prices (always a little bit  :o ) you figure that it's cheaper to make 50 than buy from them?   ;D

Correct.  I will keep half a dozen or so and the rest will end up with Mark W so other Beta owners can benefit.

Shiny bits after refurbishment....

Even the rubber mounts get powder blasted which makes them look like new but more importantly give you a good chance to see their condition after the muck has been removed.

Note:
I modified the rear strut insert retainer slightly so that I could use the spanner off an old disc cutter as the tool to tightening/releasing.  Made more sense and faster than fabrication of  another tool.

very impressed it's taken me 9 years to not be anywhere near as far on as you are with my vx which is sort of in a state of suspended stagnation ::)

That is fantastic!
What media did you get it blasted with?

Anything with rubber is powder blasted so as not to damage the rubber itself, sand blasting is too aggressive for rubber.  The brake disks are bead blasted with very small and very hard plastic beads - not sure exactly what they are made of) as again, sand blasting is too aggressive, just need to remove the rust from the hub area, the disc faces don't get blasted at all, just a very light skim on the lathe.

Strut bodies got a light sand blast to remove old paint and any surface rust, they are bit more sturdy so can cope with a more aggressive media.  The rear ARB had a sand blast and then a coat of Jenolite just in case and finally I've just sprayed that with two coats of silver paint.

My engineer is always having stuff nickel plated and I throw my stuff in with his, so we both benefit of the entire batch being done at a cheaper rate.  I am always having loads of Beta bits cleaned and plated - If I had to pay full whack it may be a little different but it works out fairly cheap for me so it's a no brainer really.

Wait to you see the rear brakes all built up and refitted the plating on those makes em look brand new.  ;D  But that'll have to wait till I get back from hols.

A relatively quiet weekend on the Beta front.  (Family over from S.Africa and finishing off painting in the hall/landing and stairs  :( )

I have been rebuilding rear brakes and getting things prepped for the refitting the rear ARB, before that goes back on I have to put a coat of underbody sealer on.

Put together the hydraulic press that I got as payment for doing someones wheel bearings. I'm becoming even more self sufficient.  ;)

Also tracked down the cause of the constant squeak from under my dash in my red coupe, after much contorting, I discovered that one of the four bolts that hold the steering column to the bulkhead had sheered off, allowing play. I had to drill it out as its welded in place and then tap a new hole to accept a new M6 bolt.  Now I have solid steering and no squeaking!

I did put my back out a bit though - so now have to wait for that to heal up before I start getting underneath the blue one again :(

More progress on the 1600 this weekend.

I have finally completed the thankless task of re-undersealing the underside of the car, again the loose flakey stuff was removed, bare metal was treated with Jenolite and new underseal across the main floorpan.  The rear ARB has been refitted as has the centre section of the exhaust, I was going to fit the rear silencer section, but after cleaning it up and respraying it I discovered that its off an HPE so wont fit a Coupe, so got to find a Coupe rear silencer now!

I have re-assembled the rear suspension apart from the upper spring cups with arrive next week, once they show up the rear suspension, hubs and brakes can be re-fitted. For the time being I think I will be leaving the old brake pipes in place until the welding work has been completed, that way any spatter burns to the pipes will not be an issue.

The front of the car is now up on axle stands as well as the rear, I have removed both metal splash guards so I could access the thermal switch in the radiator and because I am building up a batch of parts that are going to be powder blasted and repainted. 

I have started tidying up the engine bay, all the large bore coolant hoses have been replaced with new ones including new hose clips, the cracked expansion tank has been swapped over for a good one, the old coil has been removed and the new one fixed in its rightful place.  Its also given me a chance to see what other pipes need replacing due to age/fatigue. Next stage is give it a full service, drain the engine & gearbox oil and change those, change all the filters and all the belts.

I don't want to start stripping the front brakes & suspension until the rear is all back together as I do not want to be tripping over the parts. So I think I'll get the back rebuilt before I go away to on business and start on the front when I get back.

Could have done a bit more on the Beta but some of my time was consumed removing the gear selector box from the broken Espace - and while it is up on stands I had to change the front brakes/discs too.

No pictures this weekend as its all happening underneath the car and its pretty much just prep work and under-sealing.

Matt your progress makes me very embarrassed my VX is still going pretty much no where!

It's odd, at times I feel the same way about the progress I have made so far, the vast majority of which will never be seen as its all taking place underneath the car out of sight.  I, as have probably most of us on here, have seen cars which visually look great but on closer inspection are actually quite rough.   It's worth the perseverance, it may seem that progress is slow and that not much is changing but there is a moment when the components start going back on the car and it starts to look like a road-going Beta again, then the progress speeds ups, the enthusiasm is easy to find and the effort involved with finishing gets easier and easier.

I always break the tasks down into sections to make it easier to obtain those feelings of achievement.  Like concentrating on the back end first before tackling the front end. Trying to do everything in one hit sometimes makes the task overwhelming (I've been there with that one!)

You'll get there, little by little your car will move closer to that moment when you can start refitting all the bits.   

Keep at it, we need as many Betas on the road for 2012 40th anniversary! 

So plan for this weekend now that the Espace is fixed and not keeping me away from more important Beta work, is:

Providing the upper spring cups are ready then the back end suspension will get rebuilt and hubs/brakes etc being re-fitted.

Replace engine oil
Replace gearbox oil
Replace oil & air filters
Replace alternator belt
Replace spark plugs (if needed - not sure if Mark did this already)
Replace water hoses and clamps from heater matrix to engine
Replace rubber fuel pipes and clamps in engine bay

Before I bought the car from Mark some parts were renewed, like dizzy cap, rotor, points, coil etc, so I'm good on that front.

I think I have changed my mind over when to replace the rubber brake pipes, this may well be done this weekend so the brakes will get bled through as well. Some of this depends on whether the spring cups are ready.

The cam belt and tensioner bearing will be replaced when I get back from the US in mid-June as I have to ask Tony H if I can borrow the cam locking tool.   ;)

I'll be ordering a set of black, front ARB and wishbone bushes soon, but I have to strip the front suspension, brakes, hubs and wishbones.  Once the big bits are off they have to be blasted and repainted then refitted. Lots of new parts going on like lower ball joints, bearings and track rod ends.

I have a large box of parts that is my latest batch to be blasted & some of it will be plated.  Ideally this will be done while I am away and ready for me when I get back. (I'll be eager to do some work on the car as I'd have been away for 3 weekends)

Seems like a lot of work but I think it should all be fairly straight forward methinks. (Crosses fingers  ;D)

And after all thats done it will be time to strip the car fully in preparation for the car for going off to be welded and painted. (By the same guy that did my red S2/FL)


 

Got most things done that I wanted but got a little sidetracked.

The oils and filters were changed and I removed the front discs and calipers.

Mark & Tony swung by to see the progress and Mark bought me all my lovely new panels and some odd bits that I needed, one of which was an old Coupe rear silencer, the one I'd bought off Mark to put on this car has the hanger bracket welded on the wrong side ??? ??? ???  It wasn't going to fit so Mark gave me an old rotten one that I could take the bracket off and weld to the good silencer.

So my side track was, I ground away the spot welds for the old bracket and welded on the donor bracket in the right place.  A coat of paint and it's all fitted together nicely although it took longer than I expected as I did not want to cut through or blow a hole welding on the new bracket. 

The spring cups are still not here so I ended up tidying the garage up (this has actually made a huge difference) then while kicking around looking for something else to do, I cleaned up the rear suspension bolts & nuts.  This was a good opportunity to play with my tap & die set and boy what a difference it made ;D No more struggling to tighten nuts because of rust/age. I know it may seem a bit OTT, but theres no drag anymore everything is nice and smooth.  As I'm trying to keep as much as possible original it makes that approach easier, so I think I'll be doing a bit more of this.  Not on everything but certainly on the major things.

Tony has kindly leant me his cam locking tool, so I'll be doing the cam belt & tensioner bearing when I'm back.

So, I'm now preparing for next weekend when I head off for 2 weeks away on business and being away from my wife, my daughter and my cars  :(

amazing progress Matt! no real progress on my volumex so you are overtaking me fast still hoping to have it ready for the 40th though

Just my luck - the rear suspension upper spring cups arrived today - the day before I leave on business.

Still, at least it will all be here waiting for me when I get back :-)

Saturday I set about stripping the rear inner wheel arches back to bare metal.  Primarily to make life easier on my bodywork man but also to see how much work needs doing to the rear arches.  The job wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, partly due to using the right chemicals and tools and partly due to Lancia's somewhat haphazard approach to applying the stone-chip or under-seal to the inner arches.  About 3 hours per side not including the curing time for the Jenolite & red primer paint.  So a weekend of sweating, contorting myself and getting showered in muck & dust.

I've removed all bar one of the previous "attempts at repair" - some of which were purely cosmetic and served no other purpose than to hide a rust hole!  Thankfully the new panels I bought from Mark W will deal with most of the holes, leaving my bodywork man to only have to deal with a few patches.  Hopefully these patches will not take a huge amount of time to sort out.

Once stripped and treated I've given it a quick coat of primer to keep the surface rust at bay while I prep the rest of the car.  I will rebuild the rear suspension & hubs etc this week but only bolt them in place without torquing them up as its all got to come off when it goes in for the welding & painting.

The same work needs to be done on the front end, stripping back to bare metal removing any bad repairs and prepping for welding.  Thankfully the front only has a coupple of small holes that need sorting and once the wings are off the front is easier to work on than the rear arches.

I started the car up and let her run for 30 minutes now that I've replaced the split expansion tank, replaced cooling system hoses and the Rad sensor/switch.  Apart from running a bit rough (which was to be expected) all was well with no water leaks.  Need to fit new plugs and HT leads and change the cam belt next.

While poking around under the bonnet I noticed that the steering rack gaiter is fatigued badly, it is a good job I have a spare rack and a new gaiter  ;D.  I'll check the spare rack and do a straight swap while the front suspension, hubs and wishbones are off the car.

I decided to leave the old brake hoses and calipers in place as I figured there is no point in getting overspray on my nice new bits.  When I get the car back from the bodyshop I will replace all the brake pipes with new copper ones that I make myself.

My last batch of bits for plating is now complete, but the small stuff came back first.  I know there are some random items in there but the more I have plated the cheaper it is, so I tend to chuck anything that can be plated in.  Things like bits from the tool kit I like to look good too!  (So theres a picture for those who like shiny bits)

Still waiting for the bits to come back from the powder coaters.

So here is what the rear arches look like now.

your car is going to make mine look seriously tatty I don't have funds for all that posh plating. Your wheel arches look remarkable given it's an early car although I see you have the usual worm at the bottom of the strut tower.

Yes at rust at the bottom of the strut tower and also at the end of the sill, several bad attempts at repairing the hole have been removed from both sides.  :(  It'll all get sorted when it goes to the bodyshop.

The good news is that the rear strut, hub, caliper and brake is now fitted to the offside (bits are starting to go back onto the car.... yaaaaaay!!!   ;D ;D ;D)  Gotta do the near side next.

Even my MOT man told me that he'd noticed good progress when I was MOT'ing the red coupe today.  (He did ask if I'd bring the blue one to him for its ticket when the time comes)

I also stripped one of the wings I have back to bare metal.... a few small repairs need to be done before that goes on the car.

There seems to be a 100 different jobs to be done still.....  But I'm still loving it   ;D

I'm very lucky that my engineer does my plating cheap.... plus,   You don't get a nickname like Matt "No VAT" for nothing tee hee hee!!

The rest of the plating is done and back with me, plus the powder coating should be back Thursday.  I've ordered the all new bushes for the front and also a new cam belt tensioner bearing from Mark W, so I'll be doing a a bit of proper spanner swinging soon.

Tonight I finished re-assembling the rear suspension & brakes.  Just the last 30 minutes required the use of the inspection light as the light faded.  Bit of a milestone for me this, as it means that all that remains is to bleed the rear brakes through and then put the rear wheels back on.  Will let the rears sit a couple of days before I bleed them.... a job for Sunday I reckon.

Then its on to the front  ;D

Earlier this week I got the spare steering rack out, today I stripped it, checked it over generally for signs of wear and re-applied a little grease in the correct places, changed the gaiter, end caps and gave it a bit of a clean.  Ordered the bushes from Mark W and yet more stuff to go off for cleaning & plating.  I am 99.9% sure I have new steering tie rods so they'll get used up when the bits come back and I'll just swap out the old rack for this one.

Theres one element of doing the front end that I'm not looking forward to..... if the drive shaft gaiters are split anywhere they'll need replacing.  Thats just one of those jobs I have always disliked doing for some reason.

No spanners tomorrow.... sisters wedding!   (again!!)

Blimey you are MILES ahead of me! I can't believe how quick you are, i am thinking to take the head off my spare engine tomorrow I wasn't going to bother but as I have a spare gasket it maybe makes sense to have a good look at it as it's the engine I intend to put in the car

It's a kind of relaxation / therapy for me as I have quite a stressful job. Also as you may have guessed I'm one of those people who has to be doing something.

Plus while we have long dry days and evenings I need to take advantage of that.

that explains a lot as I tend to relax by sitting beer in hand doing nothing, actually I must admit having had the car hanging around for nearly 10 years it is difficult to get so enthusiastic any more

Because my job involves using my brain and not my hands I am left with a feeling of having achieved nothing tangible, so working on the Beta remedies that so I have something physical to show for my hard work.

Plus I don't really drink that much so I spend my spare money on my cars!

Hi Matt, what type of plating are you getting all your bits done with? It looks a bit like zinc passivation, but I'm guessing it's something else. I've been looking at electro-less nickel plating, but I think the finish on that is slightly different. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Graham

Mine is "Coloured Zinc Passivation", the options are clear or coloured and the coloured I think looks slightly better IMO.

I did look at cadmium plating but thats now reserved & licensed for the aviation industry from what I was told.

Usual story.... nasty chemicals that are not friendly towards the environment blah blah blah..

Electro-less Nickel Plating give more or a silver finish IIRC

Cheers, Matt. I thought I recognised the zinc passivation colour; I had a set of motorcycle disc rotors done in that a couple of years ago. The first few applications of the brakes cleans off the swept area, leaving the rest protected by the zinc plating.

Today was like Christmas....... Only Santa was replaced by Mark W  ;D

In the parcel was:

1 new Cam tensioner bearing

New engine bay stickers (both)

1 set of front ARB bushes

1 set of front wishbone bushes

1 set of steering rack bushes

Typical, I have Thursday off to start on the front and the weather report say...... rain! 

But that won't stop me ;D ;D ;D

and yet you seem to be doing quite well.....

ROFLMAO !

Yeah, one day they are going to catch on that I'm just blagging my way through  ;D

After A full day a Peppa Pig World (with my 3.5 year old daughter & my wife) I called in and picked up my powder coated parts.  Top water rail, side splash guards, the two struts from front suspension tower to front crossmember, cooling fan mount and the rear link arms.  All very nice and black  ;D

Tomorrow, hopefully I'll have a full day going at the 1600 Coupe and I'll make some headway on the front end of the car. 

Fingers crossed the weather will be kind to me.

Sadly,not as much progress as I'd hoped.

Ended up fixing two bikes for my daughter, servicing and fixing the aircon on my mates Seat Ibiza, attending a finance meeting for work, finding the parts to fix a Jeep Cherokee that belongs to my buddy in France and then I get to work on my car!

N/S is fully stripped - O/S will be done Saturday and then just got to pop the old wishbone bushes out and drop everything off for blasting & plating.

No seized nuts or bolts - all came off very easily...... thankfully!

I gave up trying to get the lock rings out of the hubs myself, after about three hours and even made my own lock ring removal tool .  I was bouncing up and down on the end of my 2.5 foot breaker bar having heated up the lock ring up but when the whole bench moved about a foot I thought...... I'm gonna need some bigger tools!

I gave the hubs to my engineer who phoned me today (His first words were to rude to repeat on here) then to ask me if my ears were burning, he was sweating cobs, owed the swear box a few pounds, had the gas axe and two people on the end of a breaker bar and scaffold pole - 2 hours later the rings admitted defeat and gave up.  Built to last eh!!

Front shock, springs, wishbones all ready to be blasted & powder coated, the hubs will get painted and all the bits and bobs are being plated.  Pretty much all new parts (tie rods, lower ball joints, wheel bearings, lock rings etc) are present & ready for assembly but am running out of time again. Just a Hub/Flange to find.

Will probably do the cam belt and water pump when I get back and I have the wings off as that will make access a little easier.

Only one outer CV boot to change so it could be worse!

I'm afraid to say I drilled and split mine our after I'd scrounged a full set of new ones. Everybody else makes do witha big circlip WTF were Lancia thinking when they came up with this design? It's not like wheel bearings have a habit of falling out, quite the opposite in fact.

Chaps

I get away with Plusgas the OE lockring tool and a 650NM Milwarkee Impact gun!! I have given up trying breaker bars and scaffold poles.

Eric

It's all part of the flavour of a proper Lancia there was still a fair slice of over engineering on a Beta but isn't that part of the appeal?

To get over the 9 hours of driving on Saturday getting back from fishing in France ( and stripping heads x 4 from a jeep Cherokee 2.5 TDi, changing all the core plugs and rebuilding the top end ) I did a few bits and bobs on the S1 today.  

Rebuilt the steering rack, new bushes, new gaiter and new tie rods.  Everything is plated and looking lovely the only change I've made is to use new nyloc nuts on the tie rod adjuster clamps.

Also painted the front hubs, pressed in the new front wheel bearings and fitted one new lock ring, I have to pick the other up from a friend of mine who also has a new hub from an Integrale for me.  Won't be long now and it'll all start going back together ;D ;D ;D

Ahhhh it's good to be home

Will probably take a day off work to take advantage of the good weather and have a full day at it.

Another good day today.

I had the cam belt off, changed the water pump for a new one (precautionary), new cam belt tensioner bearing fitted, new cam belt, new fuel lines, fuel filter and hose clamps.  Took the front ARB out and cleaned that up and gave it a coat of paint.  Also changed the O/S outer CV joint gaiter.  Cleaned everywhere I could get at and tidied up some of the wiring.

Next job is to have the steering rack out and refit the rebuilt one I have ready.  Will have to start thinking about taking the front bumper and wings off soon.

Found the erratic choke issue is due to the choke being loose on the carb and it has a bit of gardening wire holding the cable in place!  So that'll have to be sorted out.

Took the red coupe out today to fill her up with fuel, called in on Neils Daikin who lives about 1 mile from me and found he has 9 Betas and a Gamma, plus more Betas in storage!

Progress has been slow the past ten days or so, mainly because my work has gone ballistic following recent global economic events.  I missed what looked to be a fantastic day at BetaMeeta '11 - Gutted  :'( :'( :'(  ( I was sat in my office at home between 8am and 23:00 and I thought about what I was missing many many times)

The car has not been touched since the last update, but everything is back from the powder coaters and looks great, the wishbones have had the lower ball joints fitted, the front suspension have been re-assembled with new top mounts and inserts.  The inserts are a modified alternative of similar bump & rebound performance, to the original Beta Coupes that Mark W has been working on and I'm testing.

After the inserts are modified they are a straight fit but the top cup and the lock tab (silver bits) need to drilled/filed out to remove the flat edge as the modified units do not have a flat orientation face on the threaded section. Once this is done everything looks original.

More bits ready to go one once the subframe has been painted with Hammerite (I've just cleaned surface rust off and treated it)  and the old steering rack is removed, then things should move pretty quickly.

It must be pleasing that even when you don't get anything done, all the newly cleaned up bits show up. :)
Are you selling your Hawk (I think I saw it on pistonheads)? Shame you can't finish it - shows how much this Beta means to you to keepit and sell the Hawk!
Cheers
Duncan

Yes, I've sold my Hawk. (in 3  days) I've built one already and have to be realistic over the projects I have. It's a shame but Betas are my real passion.

The past ten days have been handy as all parts are now here and I'm not waiting impatiently for them to arrive.

Did you use new springs?

No, they are the originals. I gave them to my engineer friend who tested the spring compression & he advised they are OK, then I had them powder blasted & powder coated.

I'm trying to keep the car as original as possible.

The old steering rack is out, the damper has been cleaned and fitted to the refurbished rack.

I need to do a bit of cleaning while the rack is out of the way and theres room behind the engine.  The measure up and adjust the track rods to get it sort of close and then the rack can go back in.

Luckily it all came out without issue and just minutes before the rain started coming down.

No Beta work this weekend, spent all day Saturday driving to Nottingham to deliver my now sold Hawk Stratos kit.

Now (8am Sunday) heading off to Bristol to hopefully buy a replacement for my daily driver.

Racking up the miles this weekend but it will leave Bank Holiday w/e free for family and Beta related activities.

Before I set about doing my Beta work today I have to do a few hours "weekend work" for the company, after that I have a clear day on the Beta.

This past week I've had my new daily drivers alloy wheels in being refurbished before I start using the car, so I took the opportunity to do a deal  ;) and get the spare set of alloys (Thanks to HFStuart) for the Beta refurbished in the original colour at the same time.  The early FPS alloys were a flat grey colour as opposed to silver so I took an original along so they could match the colour as close as possible.

The guys I use did a great job of matching the colour, which was perfect before the flat lacquer went on, once that went on it did make the colour just a little darker - but overall I'm very happy with the end result. OK it cost £15 extra per wheel because it was non standard colour but it was worth it IMO.

The middle wheel in the picture is an untouched original FPS alloy from the set thats on the car to allow it to be moved around, the refurbished set will go on after the respray.

It's dead handy having a Renault Espace to put 10 x alloy wheels with tyres in!  ;D ;D ;D

Very nice Matt.
these alloys are still my fav design ever.
Ive just had a spare set refurbed too and well pleased with result. i dont have tyres on them. have you used Kumho tyres before?

cheers
graham

No, this is first time out for the Khumo tyres for me.  I went for these as I did a combined deal on the Khumo tyres for the Beemer and it ended up with me buying 9 tyres in total.  The 5 x 175/70/14 which were for the Lancia costs me less than the price of two tyres for the B.M! (But the B.M.'s tyres are big and fat ;D)

The Khumo's got good performance reviews in both wet/dry conditions for the price range and even the tread pattern is kinda old school, so I'm happy to give them a try.

Good news, bad news and bad weather today...

Good news is that the headlights, grille, lower valance and wings are off the car.  The wings are going in the bin as they are rotten in several places.

The bad news was that the N/S has more rot than I was expecting, but on the upside the O/S has only the one patch that I already knew about.  The N/S has seen some fibreglass repair at some point which has now been removed ready for proper welding repair.

I've had to stop because the weather is terrible and I'm now at the point of needing to use power tools.

The dreaded tin-worm

Could be worse - at least the bottom of the A pillars doesn't look too bad.

Odd how they rust so selectively  - on mine the A pillars were cobwebs at the bottom and the strut tops were perforated - but the inner wing top was light surface rust only.

I can only surmise that its down to poor, unevenly applied or no protection, or possibly some minor surface damage from the manufacturing process that scratched what little protection there may have been on the steel, and then from that moment its kind of doomed and its just a question of time.

Nothing that my body shop man can't sort out.

I'll rip as much as possible back to bare metal and coat it in primer, then start refitting steering rack, ARB, wishbones & suspension.  That shouldn't take long!

A pillars are solid, the bottoms have a bit of surface rust and one bit has been mangled by a poor historic repair

A bit more progress today with the two replacement wings and the lower valance.  The original valance was dented and rust had got at the three fixing lugs on either side.  Thankfully the car I broke had a near perfect valance so I'm thinking of dropping these off to be sandblasted back to bare metal.

All the brackets are in good condition but I may fabricate the two that brace the lower valance to the subframe as the originals are very poor quality steel.

Wing repeaters are good except for one rubber boot has fatigued so I'll dig out a replacement from my supplies.

Got to take a trip to the dump with all the old steel bits to make more room in the garage.

Bit of a result today ;D, whilst trawling thru Fleabay I found a new N/S inner wing for a Coupe which is exactly what I need as the one on the 1600 is shot.  Rather than spending hours repairing a rusty version, its money better spent on a new item and the old one can simply be cut out and new one welded straight in.  £150 delivered  :)

If i do well replacing the two hand brake cables on the wires BMW then I'll do some work on the 1600 as I have the whole day off work.

Finally, a bit of a milestone day today.

All four of the the inner wheel arches are now fully stripped of original paint and stone chip back to bare metal, treated and given a quick coat of primer.  No more laying upside down getting muck in my eyes. (Yes I have goggles and eye protectors but they hinder me at times)

I also measured up the length of the brake lines in preparation for making up new ones.  The steel lines have perished in areas where exposed to the elements, safest thing all round IMO is to replace with cupro-nickel pipes.  The one pipe I don't need to touch is the main feed into the rear brake bias because this got coated in sealer when the car was assembled, so it's been fully protected from day one and the sealer is still intact. A small bonus but I'll take em where I can.

After the brake pipes have been swapped out I can refit the wishbones, hubs, suspension and brakes.

This leads to more space in the garage :-)

Have been speaking with my bodyshop man - the car should be with him by end of October.  We have agreed that the suspension will all come off and then the chassis will go on the dolly when being worked on.

Might be a Christmas present - you never know  ;D ;D ;D

Another milestone today, front & rear corners are now rebuilt and back on the car.  Lots of prep work lately while A) I've been mega busy at work, B) Daylight hours are limited now C) I've been nagged into submission/feeling guilty about time spent on my car.


All that remains is to bleed the brakes fully and make sure they are not leaking anywhere where I have changed the brake pipes completely or cut out the rusted sections and spliced in new sections. I'm old school and do it using the two man method so once thats done the rough set of wheels can go back on.

I have to sort out the carb throttle linkage as its been bodged in the past and get her running sweetly.  Then it'll be off to the body shop.... somewhat later than I'd hoped but hey these things never run to schedule.

List of parts seems endless, new steering gaiter, steering bushes, tie rods ends, lower ball joints, wheel bearings, brake pipes, hoses, brass bleed nipples, pads, disks, suspension inserts, front & rear top mounts, ARB, wishbone and rear link arm bushes etc. Everything powder coated or zinc plated.  Now thats what I call a rebuild!    ;D ;D 

Overall very pleased with the end result.  :) :) :)

blimey you are miles ahead of me now and  not much hope that I'll make the Beta 40th which doesn't sound exciting anyway, what happened to the cross Europe driving tour? Nice to see your progress, are you expecting the bodywork to take long it looks like you have most of the usual rot spots but not too badly? Getting ready to take the engine/subframe out of mine reckon there's at least 6 months work yet though given that it's normally only a few hours a week

I'm not treating it as a race!  I just want the car done in time for the 40th anniversary.

I think you'll find that those involved with organising the 40th event have taken into consideration the fact that the current economic is going to seriously impact the attendance rate, should we tour Europe. Plus the exchange rate on the euro is not going to help either.  Unless of course your John D Rockafeller or so wealthy that the current poor state of the economy does affect you? 

I guess its easy to pick fault though rather than be realistic about an event that your obviously not that interested in.

looks terrific Matt. the calipers are v neat,

ive just had a major result by my standards .. managed to free another old handbrake cable from a rear caliper i had.

actually I'm flat broke skint constantly have dilemmas over buying parts for the beta as it will not get finished without the right parts keep playing the 0% cards to keep going. With regard to the Beta 40th thing I'm not surprised that the euro tour idea has not succeeded although I had thought it was meant to be fairly informal and a more formal event in the usual LMC mould may not be cheap either. Excuse me if I appear disinterested but I get too much ear ache about Lancia from the daughter these days 

To be fair I don't think it's so much that it hasn't suceeded just that the desicion was made to scale it back a bit to make it more viable. Beside which I like the idea of having it in Norfolk & Suffolk, though I may be a teensy bit biased!

Very impressive Matt - though I wonder how long it'll stay like that? Some of the parts I fitted to mine in the spring are already failing. In particular the NOS bushes and the boots on the track rod ends are cracked and/or split - disapointing after only 1000 mies.

Nice lacework on the bottom of the A pillar BTW!

well i must admit that the Norfolk bit didn't excite me probably because it's a bit of a pain to drive to from here but no doubt it will become more interesting as the plans unveil themselves. Which bushes do you have problems with is it the wishbone bushes as I might have some you could have (I've gone for polybushes)

I don't use NOS bushes or anything else that will perish or fatigue with age. Pretty much because of the issues you've described, even though they have never been on a car they are still 25+ years old!

I bought new bushes all round from Mark W, I figure that while everything is dismantled and being overhauled I'd be mad not to put new bushes in.

In fact the second set of bushes arrived yesterday, these are for my spare steering rack and rear transverse link arms.

I agree with you on the bushes - though the poly ones on the front of my black Spider didn't look to good after a few hundred miles either - but the track rod ends were new from a factor. I wonder how long they'd been sitting around for?

Thankfully I have at least one set of new poly bushes so they can go in when I get the chance. Powder coated spring and front strut fitted to the offside at the weekend - need to do the NS next then the cleaned up hubs with new bearings.

And now I'm breaking one of my own rules!!

Just found someone in Italy who has NOS series 1 rear ARB bushes, I might have these and take all necessary measurements then have poly versions of the rubber section made up. That's a job for the back burner though as I need the pennies for body shop work and interior retrimming!

So today has been a MONUMENTALLY GOOD DAY  ;D

I have to use up my holiday entitlement before the end of the year so I took today off and spent half of it working on the Coupe.

After a bit of head scratching and consultation with TonyLanciaBeta, we discovered last Sunday that the dizzy had been installed incorrectly, so as the light had faded I left it until today to sort out.

Within an hour the static timing was set and the car started and ran/sounded "reasonable", then it overheated.

I cleaned the jets and the carb out and also sorted the crappy wiring on the thermostatic fan switch, the switch was new but the cars wiring loom spade terminals had seen better days.  So a bit of fettling and she was running sweetly and cooling herself with the fan cutting in/out as it should.

High on the success of reaching this milestone my Dad popped over at my request and I set bout bleeding the brakes through, lots of pressure behind them now and I only found two unions that were weeping slightly.  So a 180 degree turn of the union nut and then there were no leaks.   ;D ;D ;D

I then scooted off to see my body shop man and collect the front panels from the shot blaster, the wings are now being repaired as the bottom section that joins the sill has suffered, so having these bits fabricated. Plus there is a single tiny perforation by the indicator mounting position.

Will check the brakes again on Saturday morning and if all is well, the old wheels get put back on and I can start to crack on with stripping the interior out and removing the external trim.

Today feels like real proper progress, especially as the car is pencilled in to be in the body shop for December.

It's finally mobile under its own power....Yaaaaay!!!
    

i think yours will be on the road before mine......

Great stuff Matt, the suspension/brakes look great. Has the body shop given you a rough time frame for having it done?

Looks like it will be going into the body shop for December to be worked on.

Wheels will go on today and I will possibly start removing the interior, once the interior is out I'll start stripping the paintwork down to bare metal.

If I can tidy enough of the garage to get the blue one in as well as the red Coupe then front & rear glass should be the only thing left to remove when it goes in for the bodywork & paint.  I'll drive it out (weather permitting) and strip paint outside, then move it back in.  Alternatively my paint man has said I can do it at his workshop.

 

Happy days! ;D

Both cars are in the garage  :D :D :D

After some thought and a quick chat this morning I've decided: After seeing what the wings and front valance look like after shot blasting I want the doors, bonnet, petrol flap and bootlid to be shot blasted too.  (2 x wings, 1 front valance and a rear cross member cost £80)

The added bonus is that this only leaves minimal panels to strip back to bare metal by hand - obviously given my available "spare" time, this works out better for me and appeals to the lazy part of my character!
 

Petrol flap???

Petrol filler cap flap/cover.

Yes, I know what it is  :)

I just don't think I've ever heard of one being shotblasted before!

Given its small and shot blasting will remove all the paint I reckon it will do a better job than I could do with manual effort.

The paint stripping has begun.  ::)  One of the most boring and labour intensive jobs so far...  even with the assistance of Starchem!!

I have taken the day off work on Thursday to try and get enough done to keep to the schedule of the car going to the bodyshop in December.  

I've decided to purchase a bonded windscreen removal tool so I can get the screens out myself.  Hopefully without damaging them!

Doors, bonnet and boot are all scheduled to be finished being blasted on the 25th - but I'm expecting a few days delay as they are very busy.

I'm getting close to handing it over and the real transformation beginning. ;D ;D

length of cheese wire and a couple of handles??

The proper tool is not that expensive so will be purchasing one soon as my Paypal account is sorted out (long story)

Day off work today and put in a solid 7 hours of paint stripping.

It's interesting seeing first hand the quality of the painting that Lancia did, pretty much the only place there is any primer is on the flat panel areas, door shuts etc it's paint direct onto bare metal.

The car is pretty much 50% stripped.... estimate another 10 - 12 hours of work to go before it is ready to be transported to the body shop.

We are starting to discuss actual dates when it will be moved...  14/15th December  ;D

strangely the cheese wire and handles is pretty much how lancia suggested you do it! I think i had the tool at home at one time two metal handles which clamp onto a length of wire then saw the screen out 

I like to think that over time a better tool has been developed, while the cheese wire method no doubt works the later "bladed" tool looks easier to use and less effort too.

Be very careful, if the original hot bond wires
are still in place you can snag the cutting wire
and crack the screen, I know, I've done it and
I was 3 cars up in a scrap yard at the time.....

with laminated screens I think it's always a bit of a risk once they are out of their frame sometimes they just crack for no apparent reason probably stress from an old impact 

Your right there Rossocorsa removed my screen to get to rust wrapped in bubble wrap and stored in my spare room went to put it back in and hello dirty great crack through it for no apparent reason  :'(

I tried that once Matt, it was a horrendous effort, and eventually I gave up and put a hammer through it. It was easier to clean up and pop a new screen in than persevere with the tool. I'm sure you'll give it a good go, just be prepared for a lot of effort though. Conversley, the rear screen pretty much fell out. Now I think about it, the front had been replaced in the late eighties so maybe the sealent had improved, if yours is the original screen, you never know, it might pop out easy! Of course I made sure that I could get a new screen okay before I went mad, that was about ten years ago and it wasn't a problem then. Any way good luck with it. (I've still got the rear screen if the worst comes to the worst let me know.)

More paint scraping fun this weekend, no pics because its all just dull monotonous work. Just the drivers side to strip now and it wont come a moment too soon, my right thumb is numb from the constant pressure of the scraper!

Have found a few patches of filler on the rear panel that cover a few historic scrapes!  They are nothing major and seem to have been done pretty well. 

Off to see the bodyshop tonight to confirm transportation date. 

Also arranged a visit Hertforshire to see the re-trimmer on 10th Dec.

Hi Matt,

enjoy the scraping.

is this a re-trimmer youve used before.? My drivers seat top section is looking a bit sad.  i have a whole new section for the lower seat, so am looking at how to recycle the old lower seat section for bits of the top half - like the the bolster where you get the seat belt and hand grabbing wear if you see what i mean.

i need to have a word with a local upholster but good if youve got anyone else to recommend

g

Yes, I've used HRS before on my Hawk Stratos.

Finish wise I was very very happy with the result but like most things you get what you pay for. I did not think they were outrageously expensive given the end result.

If your happy to wait then you'll get to see results when they do my burnt orange interior.

Getting some feeling back in the thumb today do will turn the car around and finish the other side.

Car booked for transport to body shop on 15th December :)

I do love a deadline!!

Hi Matt,
Regarding interior....I'm still on to re-trim my S1 silver Coupe....  :)
Looking forward to se your burnt orange interior.
Have you mentioned my gold Series 2 interior with piping (if possible) for the re-trimmer?
Maybe I would go for orange if that's easier price wise / delivery time

Tore

Hi Tore

I have not forgotten!!

I will most likely have two interiors retrimmed in burnt orange.  

I will be asking about the gold too and also be saving the gold material from the interior that's fitted at the moment.

The N/S, the roof & all A and C pillars are now bare.  Only the rear quarter panel, the drivers door shuts and the front scuttle panel to strip now.

Got some funny looks from my neighbours as I drove a car with no boot, bonnet or door out my garage, turned it round and then back in again. 

My 4 year old daughter thought it was a great hoot as she sat in the passenger seat   ;D

Drum roll and fanfare !!!  ;D

Today the car left my garage and is now in the body shop.  It's pretty much naked now, with no paint and no interior.

All new repair panels are with the car and the doors, boot and bonnet have been shot blasted.  The repairs needed to the doors, boot and bonnet are minuscule, the guy who blasted it even checked to see if these were the parts from a Beta as they were so solid.  The repairs that do need doing are being dealt with next week by my fabricator and he'll drop them round to the body shop once thats completed.

It's been hard graft getting to this point but well worth it, especially as now I my blood, sweat and tears element has finished and I hand over to the professionals.  All I have to do now is pay those professionals.... then I get the car back for the big refit :-)

Now I start the cleaning process of all the parts that have been taken off the Series 1, plus I will also be sorting through the remaining parts in boxes that were donated to BetaBoyz.

I also have a few wee jobs to sort out but should hopefully have some good news for forum members.... so watch this space!!

So I went to see my car today as work has started.

The good news is that there are only two minor rust holes in the front screen aperture and none in the rear. The profiles repair sections from my S2/FL will be used to repair these so that saves making repair sections again. The inner sills are in good shape and have only suffered a little bit at the ends and a straight forward repair.

Repairs have already started and fingers crossed progress will be steady now.

A quiet weekend this one.  I've pulled a muscle in my back so that rules out any heavy work :-( all I managed to do was service my Espace before its sold.

On the Beta front its mainly been cleaning everything, I'm working from the back to the front, rear lights, bumper, side grilles, chromes brightwork etc, its slow and rather dull but worth it in the end I reckon.  Anything that is missing a screw, nut or a fixing of any kind has had me in the garage going through the boxes of odd bits that are now proving incredibly useful.

The sample of material has arrived so everything will be sent to the dying company tomorrow - fingers crossed they can turn oatmeal into orange!

More cleaning to do but have unpacked a few new items that have arrived like new wheel bolts, new period number plates from Framptons and new centre caps or the wheels.

It's all looking and sounding great Matt. I'm really enjoying reading this thread, and looking forward to seeing the finished atricle in the metal!

Cheers

Andy

Its coming together slowly, I am expecting one of the two types of material back from the dyeworks this week.  The second type of material is in the labs being tested this week and should be back with me for final decision next week.  If all goes well then I can order the full 20 metres of each and get it all dyed and returned to the trimmer.

More component cleaning this weekend which is tedious but I will be pleased with it when it goes back on the car and all that cleaning will be a distant memory.

Time for an update:

The interior should be ready end of next week so I'm looking forward to picking that up.

The bodywork is coming along slower than expected but thats mainly because people who are far richer than I am have turned up with three exotic cars and demanded they be done in a very short time frame, so I was pushed back.  It's not too much of a problem for me and I'm pleased with the results of what has been completed.

The inner sill has been repaired, the bottom front corner now has strength back into it now, and the front N/S suspension turret has had all the rust cut out and its been rebuilt.  The new N/S inner wing is about to be welded back in and I've made the decision to use the brand new front upper crossmember instead of trying to repair the rusted ends of the original one.

The main thing for me is the the nearside has finished having the rust chopped out and is now being put back together  ;D

   

It's coming along great Matt, and I thought my Beta was rotten! It's funny you know, every time I look on this forum, I see Beta's with rust in different places! They really did just rot everywhere, but the most common out of all is the sills and floor.
Keep up the good work!

Yes the S1 and early S2 coupe cars had particular weak areas that the S2/FL and S3 cars didn't have and the S2/FL and S3 cars (because of the sunroof) had other locations that were prone.  Then the HPE's had their own weaknesses, as do the spiders so it all depends on what car you look at and what series.

This is why I think each car should be judged on its actual condition rather than just what a book or magazine say.

So its been a while since I've updated the progress on the 1600, she is still in the body shop - I am replacing the rear inner and outer arches and was asked if I wanted a 2000ie if I stripped a few bits off it for the owner and then I could have the rest.... this took much longer than anticipated for them to make the final decision.  I ended up threatening to just go have the arches made up by LanciaBetaParts.co.uk and that was enough for them to say "yes, take the car".

With the 2000ie collected then I had to dismantle it and finally get the big disc cutter on it to remove the arches and the inner wing (plus the scuttle panel for Mark W)  That done the sections of panel were dropped off at the bodyshop and things can get back underway again.

The interior should be ready for collection on 28th of this month so looking forward to seeing that.

All this has taken place with a number of events, a gearbox change in my red Beta, my daytime job/commute and spending time with the family.

A well earned holiday is due at the end of this month  ;D ;D

Another visit to the bodyshop and another bit of disappointment, progress has been very slow and pretty much nothing has been done since before I went on holiday.

This has now posed an even bigger headache as there are major changes afoot - see the other thread in the "General Discussion" section.

At least the interior is completed and finished so its just welding, painting and screens being installed that are reliant on others, after that it's all down to me :-)
 

Work has finally restarted on the car (delay was nothing to do with me),  as there is now a very specific non-moveable deadline to meet. I did have to suspend my diplomatic skills for a short period to get my point across  ;) and this seems to have worked.

The bottom of the bulkhead/sill section has been repaired and has proper strength back in it, the new NS inner wing is in place and now the NS rear arch is being dealt with.  Thankfully the insides of the rear chassis are still strong and have only a little surface rust.  Everything gets waxolyed, including the insides of the chassis once the welding is completed.  Once the nearside is done the car will be rotated round for the work to start on the OS, which thankfully is not as bad.

    

Matt,

If you can get your man to repalce the two mounting studs for the rear crossmember while they are exposed.

You would not believe what a pain it is if the threads strip (OK so you probably would but anyway....)

BTW I have a pile of chrome bits for you in my garage  - I'll pm you about them over the weekend.

When I was doing the undersealing and the cross member was off for stripping and renovation I took to all the studs and captive nuts etc with the thread cutters to recut any rusty threads.  I don't recall any being weakened by rust.  I'll have him check them from the inside prior to it all being welded up again.

Good tip !!

impressive stuff, should be fantastic when it's done.

The N/S front and the majority of the sill is now finished so my bodyshop man is now working on the N/S rear arch section.  Sadly, this is far worse condition and effecctively needs to be completely rebuilt.  The mastic used to seal the joints had aged, shrunk and partially detached from one side, thus allowing water ingress.  IMHO the only way to deal with this is to cut out all the affected bits a completely rebuild.....which is in progress.  

The protruding metal lip/seam will be removed as its a poor design, (water trap) and in Picture 5 (last image in this post) you can see the new metal welded into place for strengthening purposes without the seam, this will be carried through on all welding repairs right up on the underside of the rear suspension turret.

Several "previous bodges" on the sills have been removed - the usual wire mesh, newspaper and filler lash ups   ::)

I can only hope that the O/S will have fared better but my instincts tell me to expect much of the same.

More gruesome images.... Picture 8 shows where the mastic suffered shrinkage on the rear arch inner seam, due most likely to old age and allowed water to get at the edge of the seam, then the inevitable happened...

I think that by the time the welding is done and these minor modifications have been made the car will be less likely to be a ticking time bomb from a rust perspective.  (Well I can hope!)

The chassis is definately stronger now thats for certain....

remarkable work! It is probably no consolation but my volumex was pretty much the same the more you dug the deeper the corrosion got the offside sill and wheelarch was a particular horror story. I think you are to be congratulated on such a thorough and dedicated job, it will make a truly fabulous and rare example when finished

Santa will be bringing me a borescope this year to save me borrowing my mates, I forgot to ask him when I went to see this and another car (Pete's S2 blue 1600).  Borescopes are very useful at investigating the interior chassis sections so the extent of the rot can be seen before any potential purchase.  The inner sills were thought to be OK on this car but it turns out they were shot, as were the front inner wings and rear suspension turrets.  The rear turrets were thought to only need work at the bases but the tops of the turrets are shot too, well at least on the N/S... I'm yet to get to the O/S.   The borescope would have help identify that the rot was significantly more advanced than what was thought and that would have helped make a more fact/financial based decision.

I'm committed to the project now and hence probably should be "Committed" !!   ::) ::) ::)

its goin to be a proper car when finished ;D. wish i had had a borescope over the years after some of the horrors ive bought in the past :o

Matt,

Looks pretty much like what my man with the torch found on my VX. There must be some sound metal somewhere.

Good luck.

Simon

The restoration of the near side of the S1 1600 is almost completed.  All that remains is the inner arch and the outer skin be welded back onto the car.  The rear turret had to be repaired by gaining access from the outside, meaning large sections were cut out to be able to remove all the rot and weld in new, thicker metal.  Then the sections that were cut out were welded back in again.  Near side should be completed by the end of this week, then the off side will be started after Christmas.  All being well, paint should go on at the end of January.  

I had the rear seat belt mounts rebuilt just in case there is a change to French "vintage car rules" and I have to retro fit rear belts.  (I've already done this to the S2/FL Coupe as its registered in 1981 despite being built in May 1978).



 

The near side is now pretty much finished the car will have its supension refitted and then it can be dropped onto the floor and two small welds finished.  Then the car can be spun round and then its the off side.

I'll say this - its much stronger now than it ever was ... probably stronger than when it came out the factory!

Geez...that's some amount of work you've done.  Well Done!  Keep up the enthusiasm for the other side.

blimey, how much have you spent?

So far £4k just on the welding alone, but the prep and painting should start very soon, if not already.

Hmmm It's been a long, long time since I have posted anything about the S1 restoration.  Its been hard going seeing that I left the UK at the end of February and have been very, very busy getting the house, lake, grounds, hangers and barns sorted out. Leaving the 1600 behind was a massive disappointment for me, I was particularly annoyed with the body-shop as the car was supposed to be ready for the Beta 40th anniversary and the aim was to take it to the Classic Car Show at Birmingham NEC.  That was missed, and so was the other five (Yes FIVE) deadlines given to me by the body shop, who were made well aware that I was moving to France a full year before it actually happened.  It was supposed to be finished in December 2012 when I sold our house in the UK, then end of January 2013 when we purchased the farm here in France, then three more deadlines were missed that were given to me on my subsequent 48 hour visits back to the UK during March, April and May. 

Boxing up all the parts for the 1600 and shipping them to France was something I was loathed to do, but eventually I had to do it. Separating the car from all its components and potentially mixing them up with my other Beta spares is something that will complicate the restoration process, plus there is the added expense of having to trailer a car over to France for the rebuild.

Finally I got hacked off with RMG Coachworks (That is understatement of the decade), excuse after excuse just didn't wash anymore so the welding has been completed, however I fear they may have rushed the final rear quarter and I eventually told them that I was pulling the car out from them.  They didn't seem unduly surprised at this, as I'd explained to them in crystal clear terms, it had taken them 21 months to get this far and at this rate body prep, painting and finishing would take them another year at least!
All this has taken a bit of the shine off this project - but there you go "c'est la vie" and once the car is here with me I'm sure it wont take long for the passion to emerge again.

Now the car is with Auto-Integrale in Reading, who are assessing whats to be done and they will prep/paint it for me as AI has expanded to now include full restoration & bodyshop facilities.  I find out this week the full diagnosis on the car.

Here's hoping for some good news !    ;D ;D ;D

It amazes me that firms like that survive.

Fingers crossed AI do the job quickly, to a high standard and a low cost!

Sadly it's not uncommon in restoration a company gets a 'big' restoration and it's regarded as a job to fill in time between shorter easier jobs.

Not all of them thankfully, even if you do have to pay for the privilege (yes I'm thinking of Omicron!)

If there's one guy I'd trust though it'd be Keith - I didn't know he'd set up a body side to the business but I guess there are plenty of Integrales that need work and have owners that can afford to have it done properly.

You've hit the nail on the head HFStuart...My Coupe respray was treated the same way, "fill in job" in between high paying, high volume insurance jobs.  I can see their point in some respects, as they have high overheads, and a time hungry restoration may not pay the bills.

But as long as you are aware of this at the start, then you can make your choice.  I ended up flatening my coupe myself, and repairing an old Jaguar door for the paint shop, just to keep the focus on my job!

Perseverance is king...It will be worth it.

At least they started! The guy who had my Coupe in 2011-2012 never even started on it. When I finally went to cart it off he had a Fiat X19 stripped down ready for paint as a final insult!

Perserverence    or    do it yourself ! ! !

I won't paint it myself as it's too much of a skilled job!

I'm much happier doing the mechanics and the rebuilt afterwards.


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Hi All

If anyone wants a recommendation for a guy a in the Midlands, near to Mansfield, I can recommend him for both welding and paint work and not silly pricing. As ever with these jobs, it will rarely be done on the first estimate time wise, but he has done a few jobs for my neighbour on older cars including my Spyder which needed a fair amount of work. Not plush workshops etc, but worth asking for a quote if you need it.

I am happy to give details if you pm me.

Peter

I looked back at the beginning of this thread - nearly 4 years ago !

So, the car is now painted and about to have the panels refitted and front and rear screens bonded back in. New Pilkington screen for the front, so I'll be able to comment on how good a fit it is.

Then I have to work out how to get it over to France.

When I get pictures of the complete car in good light conditions I will post them up.


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Looking forward to it Matt.

Hope it goes well.

Mark