Lancia Beta Forum

started bare metal restoration

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went to remove windscreen and surround took 1 hour to remove surround trim did'nt even damage trim god 39 year old mastic is like concrete
then i spent another hour carefully going around the windscreen cutting mastic with a multi tool then when i was about to lift the screen i noticed an old stress crack
dam dam dam and dam i know it was'nt me as the crack was dark in colour and was hidden by the trim. as soon as i lifted screen 1cm crack top to bottom 

so i had a smashing time getting screen out

then i went on to remove dash board to find a really poor scuttle panal any ideas where to get one

removed carpet

its not rust you can see its the fibres from the old sound proof

went back to the rear wind drain channel which was rusty so i gave it some phos acid to drink left it on for 30 mins

How did you go about getting the screen trim out without damaging it? This is a job I have to do in the next couple of weeks.

Betaboyz do a replacement scuttle panel, but it is a made to order part and takes some time to come. Best order early if you want one.

I suspect nearly every Beta that has never had the screen out is similar under the mastic....

Hi Neil

Oddly enough mine was not (original hot wire sealant still installed), but plenty of other areas where it was bad.....!

Peter

I used a multi tool on setting one and placed it between trim and glass and just slowly moved it side to side and in and out .
I've looked on beta boys but can't see the panel I'll email mark

nice pics. not so much rust until now.
how is the trim around the windows attached? is with mastic or with clips?
thanks

The original method is to use something like cheese wire with a handle attached on both ends the wire being fed through then saw out the glass one person on inside one on outside

the trim is attached with mastic ill take a picture of back of trim to show where the the mastic is . the cheese wire method is old school.most window repair people use a multi tool which vibrates  side to side and has different size bits its fantastic to use.iam glad i have found some rust in my coupe because i didn't feel like a beta owner.but i wish the bugger was some where else but never mind.   

i noticed when taken my screen out if you look inside the car at the windscreen rubber you can bend the rubber away from the car and hopefully lift screen and glass in one but i may be wrong

started stripping the floor

took it down to metal and treated the bare metal with vinegar then applied por15

after the under side was treated with por15 iam going to seam seal all the joints when iam finished with the inside of the car.now i know why these cars rusted so fast as they where only a couple of seams that had seam sealer had been applied and on the inside of the car no seam sealer at all only on the front bulkhead seams   

when i took the petrol tank off found a big dent in the bottom of the tank.iam going to need something special to get the dent out and look what the wife got me for xmas.its a lot better than socks

started the inside

That floor looks in pretty good shape to me.

it is she was only on the road untill 1985.but the lack of seam sealer to the floor area under and above the floor they is none.crazy italians thank god the first owner had her injected with wax   

Really enjoying your restoration pics, it looks like your Beta Coupe has led a very cosseted life & has obviously been well looked after over the years. Keep up the good work (and the momentum!).

At the risk of being labelled a complete divvie - what was the present - the thing that allowed you to strip the floors so well? If so i need to tell my wife about it. Have same car, but loads more rust!

My Xmas present was a stud welder for pulling out dents.for the floor I use those poly discs in a grinder they better than wire wheels .iam at work at the moment but I'll post a pic later of what they look like

i used poly abrasive disc

Thanks, very impressed.

started to clean the rail where the front seat bolts to and found the passenger side dented ??????. i think someone very big has sat there but my wife said it looks like they has been alot of action on the front seat if you get my meaning   

started to cut the rust out

removed the headlining and sponge and i hung up some wall art

Looking really good. Take it the car is on a rollover jig. How did the poly discs cope with the underseal? Do they bog down easily? What was it like taking the dash and wiring loom out? The holes in the bulk head don't look big enough to squeeze all that through. As for your dented seat mounts, the foam in that seat must be like a pancake too😂

To take the underseal off I used a heat gun and scraper .i used the poly discs to remove the paint from inside the car.the wiring loom does fit through the bulk head just.as for the dashboard removal as one bolt sits beneath the speaker in the dashboard

Elvis and Skidmark, really enjoying the resto pics. Skidmark - is car on a rotisserie? I've got it all to do and mine is so much worse...

Yes richb it's on a rotisserie it's the best thing I've bought it makes life much easier you can turn it too any angle.i bought mine from mk2 mainia. Just started welding a few small patches in and trying to re learn how to mig weld and trying to set my welder up to get a nice weld hopefully more pics soon

Hey Rich I think skidmarc must be a pro looking at those pics. I don’t really now how rotten mine is as I haven’t started stripping it down. I’ve restricted my weekend to a carb overhaul with a kit from ricambio auto, much less scary. I think by the time I had bought the rotaty jig, and welding kit, I’d have spent the money I would need to have my amateurish efforts at welding redone😬 I like the look of the sanding discs, I think my plan is, engine and windows out, wings off and interior out but keep it as a rolling chassis and hand it to someone who can do the welding and paint. It’s either that or ring up Car SOS and tell them it’s my 82 year old mothers - it is in her garage so I might get away with it👍
Keep up the good work skidmarc it will look awesome judging by what you’ve done so far

Ha ha I'm not a pro I don't work in the motor industry.I'm just starting to learn bodywork and I haven't welded in 35 years so my first welds were rubbish but after grinding back they look ok.on the mechanical side I can do that no problem iam even going to have a go at plateing the nuts and bolts and few other things I've bought a plateing kit but I'll be doing that a lot later.elvis take care when taking the windscreen out also when taken out the engine I had to drill the spot welds out of my battery tray as it says in the Haynes manual to remove the tray but good luck on your car

Thanks for the recommendation on the rotisserie front, will check this out. I've always wanted to learn to weld, my son is quite proficient and taught himself. The Beta will be my teacher as it were, but it is very rusty underneath, as in there are gaps where the sill, floor and rear wheel arch should meet! Easter will be plunge time.

Hey, I am even more impressed with what you’ve done knowing that. The underbody looks like it took a lot of work, it looks excellent. Thanks for the tip on the battery tray, hadn’t realised that and would have done some serious head scratching.

Elvis get your self a Haynes manual and give it a good read the floor on my car only had light surface rust I used a heat gun and scraper but having a roll over jig made it a lot easier I was sat down all the time also if you go the scraper route round the corners off to stop catching the metal hope to see pics of your car take loads of pics to remember where things go

done some more work on the beta started to clean and remove the dent in fuel tank

more pics

moved on to the rear towers.cut the rust out then welded patches in the welds will be ground smooth later

found a hole in driver side door sill rust cut out and patched

started to treat the bare metal with a protective rust killer

also found rust in rear wheel arch seam.had to have a think how i was going to repair it 

cut through from inside the car and rebuilt the panals in layers

now i am working on the rear screen area and found rusty holes so drilling out spot welds so i can replace the rust

think it needs a clean

all clean. ill try and post pics every couple of days as i will be spending more time on the beta

Really enjoying this. You're making me feel lazy!

ha ha hopefully i can now start spending more time working on the beta hoping to get 4 full days working on her and getting loads done 

started to cut away the rust in the rear screen area

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spot welds drilled out

time to cut the corner rust out and make some patch panals

made patches and cleaned and treated the rust

treating rust

started to unpick lower panal to make a repair panal

rolled the bead into the back of the panal and formed the shape

old and new still have to tidy the edges and bend into shape it has a slight curve to it.that means another new tool can't have enough tools

nice work, thumbs up.

decided to strip my spare carb and have a little play with my plating kit so striped carb down and sand blasted parts

had a go at plating

also i sandblasted the exhaust manifold and heat shield and then painted

also sand blasted the car jack and gave the underside of the car a epoxy coat of paint for more protection today didnt have time to paint the car jack