Lancia Beta Forum

I've been fiddling about with this for a while, but today finally got the last of the bits fabricated so the top rail can go for welding. I've deleted the secondary (bottom) outlet on the rail and made up a curved plate to blank off the gaping hole. I've also added an inlet from the spigot by cylinder 4 and added a corresponding outlet to the heater matrix. The inlet from the spigot near cyl 4 has a slight bend to match up with the main rail and the outlet is straight. Both the small parts will have weld beads run round the free ends to act as a retaining lip when hoses are clamped to them.

I’ve not made time to make my spare top pipe yet, but I was planning to do It in a very Similar way. To make my life a little easier I purchased a 16mm stainless hose joiner which in intend to cut in half for the two spigots. Main advantage being that it has beads already flared on each end.

Couple of quid on fleabay.

Ian

Yes, that would probably have been the easier option... :) The main reason I did it this way is the fact that the rail is offset from the centre line of the head and I wanted to make the joint between the head outlet spigot line up with the inlet on the rail. A lot of faff for probably not much benefit...

The water rail has come back from the welders, and I'm very pleased with the results. The only thing I'll need to do is gently run a flap wheel over the weld beads on the end of the inlet/outlet stubs to smooth off any high spots. Even Wilko the cat seemed impressed...

Earlier this week I got some parts back from the local platers, and they included the top and back water rails and gearbox shift arm and dipstick, all done in electroless nickel. The beauty of this, as say opposed to powder coating, is that the internals of the pipework also get coated, and that is where corrosion normally starts. Electroless nickel is my favourite coating - it has very good corrosion resistance, it's lubricious (has a slightly slippery feel) and (to my eyes) looks very pleasing, having an appearance close to stainless steel. Here are the parts:

I like that. With all the benefits it almost sounds too good to be true.
Will have to consider that in the future.

Is it ok with anti-freeze?

Nice work

Ian

Hi

They look very nice, what sort of cost are they to have done?

Peter

I can't imagine there would be a problem with anti-freeze, but I'll try and remember to check with Phil, the main man. It gets used in some pretty aggressive environments, so I would assume it would be fine. I reckon it would be the ideal material to coat brake caliper carriers and sliding 'shims' due to its properties. I seem to remember MattNoVat suggesting this several years ago.

I paid £50 (cash, ahem) for the parts in the photos plus a few extras (the components of the closing mechanism on my parts washer, mainly). It's important to have parts which are in pretty good shape to begin with, as the pre-processing the parts go through prior to plating is pretty searching and will expose weak spots. If you look closely at the water rails you can see micro-pitting some of which I wasn't aware was present prior to their return.

Can you post or pm me the contact details for that plater?

Certainly, there's nothing secret about it. They're called Firma-Chrome and their address is Soho Works, Saxon Rd, Lowfield, Sheffield S8 0XZ. Phone number is 0114 255 4343 and they're just off the A61 Sheffield to Chesterfield Road. This is their website page on electroless nickel plating:

https://www.firma-chrome.co.uk/nickel (https://www.firma-chrome.co.uk/nickel)