New Beta Spyder owner

[unclejam]

Morning folks, Just wanted to introduce myself as a new Beta Spyder owner.  Many years have passed since I bought my first ever car with my own money in 1987 - a lovely white 1981 Beta Coupe 1600.
Sadly after a few years that car fell victim to the tim worm and me being young and broke, not having the funds available to get it repaired, it went to the great car park in the sky.  Cry     After owning many other Italian cars since, including Maseratis, Fiats and many Alfas, my nostalgic yearning for another Beta was satisfied purely by chance when I spotted a really solid & nice 1980 Spyder, for sale relatively close to me, for a real bargain money (almost half price!).
The seller had bought it cheaply from a neighbour but didn't really know anything about Lancias, or mechanics, hence was just looking to get his money back after posing around around in the car for a few sunny months!  So far, the only issues I have found are that the brakes are binding on the front nearside and the exhaust sounds like it has a hole in it somewhere.  It starts instantly and has lots of recent service history, after obviously being recomissioned by a previous owner.  There is zero history from before 2015 however, which is a shame.
I have requested brake caliper refurb prices from BCA Automotive and Bigg Red but they are both dubious that new front pistons are availabe.  Rear ones are no problem apparently.  Can anyone give any advice about brake refurb experience, or who else might be able to do this job?  I have managed to source and buy front & rear replacement discs from a German company, as Mtec are out of stock currently.

Thanks in advance for any pointers!
Chris

[Nigel]

Welcome Chris!

I think that Mark at BetaBoyz has had some front caliper pistons made/turned up.

Contact him via the link on the main page.

Looks like a very good car.
Cheers
Nigel

[unclejam]

Hi Nigel, many thanks for the pointer - I have made contact with Mark already, so will ping him a message about the pistons.  Cheers 

[peteracs]

Hi Chris

I used a refurb seal kit on my front and rear calipers. The fronts just needed the seal kit and have worked fine. The rears were a bit more involved, but that is due to the handbrake mech. I would therefore see if the refurb just needs the seals first before worrying about pistons in the first instance.

However as a start I would remove the callipers and copper slip the sliders which if dry can cause the callipers to not move freely and may cause some binding. This is a pretty simple job you can do with a spare hour or so.

Peter

[unclejam]

Hi Peter, thanks for the advice.  I have been looking at seal kits but not too sure which are going to be decent quality, as they are from various eastern bloc countries.  Can you recommend a supplier for these?
I have managed to find & order 4 new rotors and was thinking about new flexi pipes and maybe some green stuff pads as well.
Regards Chris

[peteracs]

Hi

I will look out the seals I used, they actually came from a forum member who is in Eastern Europe from memory.

As to flexible hoses get a decent set with stainless braiding. I bought Hel ones, they may ask for originals as patterns. See

https://www.helperformance.com/

I bought mine a while ago, but they were not expensive at the time.

Peter

[unclejam]

Thanks Peter - as luck would have it, the HEL depot / factory is a 15 minute drive from my work! (Near Exeter, Devon). I have bought kits from them before for my Alfas and they usually make them up on the spot while you wait.
Better prices than buying online too.

[unclejam]

I'm currently making the transition from my existing cramped garage / unit (currently with 4 cars and a Ducati 1200S squeezed in), to a much larger unit / man cave next door.  Working space, a large bench and a proper car lift were required but I also gained a kitchenette, a working woodburner stove and a "Members club area"!  Watch this space for more updates.

[peteracs]

Hi

Can only dream of having that space!

Peter

[HFStuart]

I hate you so much 

[unclejam]

Sorry chaps but it wasn't luck - it took me several years and quite a lot of determination to find this place!  One of the advantages of living in rural Devon: It's on a farmyard in the middle of nowhere!
I'm currently installing a heavy duty lift, then I can start work on renovating the Spyder chassis & brakes etc.
The space is starting to fill up with cars and equipment now, so I have no doubt I'll be back to an overfilled garage before long 

[HFStuart]

Nice touch that the GTV seats and the sofa match....

[unclejam]

As I predicted, all that lovely space is now stuffed with bits and pieces, mostly courtesy of my mate Gary who I share the unit with!  This is how it looks now...