Progress on "Lulu" our lovely HPE!

[David Scotland]

Hi Chas,
I just wondered how the new bonnet liner worked out on the VX
I have a coupe VX and the liner is rotten
Does the liner you bought work ?
Does it need reworking in any way
Any advise would be great
Cheers
David

[VXdeMayo]

Dear David,
The bonnet liner is very good quality and I think probably a few mm thicker than the original. No reworking is needed. The only small issue is the fact that the four studs that secure the VX carb air inlet rub the liner when the bonnet is closed and when the engine is on. The clearence between bonnet and Vx carb is minimal! If you do not have a VX that might not be an issue?
Overall recommended! (It smartens up the back of the bonnet no end).
Best,
Chas and Anne.

[David Scotland]

Thanks for the fast reply
I take it when talking about the studs you are talking about heat damage or worse !
Cheers
David

[VXdeMayo]

Latest stats report,
Posh braided brake lines have been sourced, another load of parts have arrived back from the platers (all nice and shiny). Last batch now will be finished by end of this week including brake yokes and sliders.
Re-assembly has now begun in earnest. (Where everything starts). After a lot of searching I have I think sorted out the shocks. Mark at Betaboys sold me a pair of low milage front Sachs Super Tourings in very good fettle. These matched my Sachs at the back which were shot (but bodies were good). So Replacement cartridges were the order of the day. I think I had now found a pair (fingers crossed). So the Sachs rears have been cut and the old units extracted from within. Today they went of to the shotblasters along with Marks decent front ones for blasting only, I will carefully respray them in red on their return after welding in the cartridges. I will finish all four off with some "Sach Super Touring" stickers which I found on Fleabay. Some decent rear disc stone guards from "Milleman" are also to be powder coated. (Thanks Mark).
So:....         
Hopefully next week after rewelding the struts and spraying the complete units I can refit them within the springs etc.
Little more mouthfull of elephant digested!
Will post some pics once shocks are done.
bets,
Chas and Anne.
 

[VXdeMayo]

Dear All, it seems like Christmas brings deadlines for many of us, however small and irrelevent to the time of year! I was hoping to have had the front and rear suspension completely restored and the brake calipers stripped internally, rebuilt and mated up to new Discs and pads etc. Well I'm not quite there, but the latest situation is:
EBC rear brake discs arrived yesterday. Last shock absorber insert finally arrived after 5 attempted deliveries (don't ask), rear brake dust sheilds have come back from the sprayers looking great, and the front and rear shocks have been blasted. Today the fronts have received their second coat of red primer prior to the red top coats this weekend. The rears have had the old inserts removed, and new inserts prefitted. (The outer shock struts had to be shortened by 5mm to accomadate the new "innerds").
Tonight they go to the welders for him to weld the top caps back in place with the new inserts safely in place. Then the second red primer coat will go on by Friday. Top coats and Sachs logos' will finish those off at the weekend. They have been a trial, but at least they are four matched units that are look new.
Finally if Santa does his stuff I might evan see a set of Tarox brake pads (front and rear) arrive by saturday!
Will post some pics when I get some daylight.
Best and may all your "deadlines" be met!
Chas and Anne.

[VXdeMayo]

Well Christmas kind of got in the way of proper progress. The couriers could not for the life of them find Somerset with my Tarox brake pads before Xmas, They have now promised that a monday delivery is "imminent". (hopefully this monday please).
Shocks have been welded back together, (the guy did a cracking job and even smoothed off the welds). You would not know they have been ripped apart. However what with Santa's little commercial festival and the horrid weather I have only just finished the final coats of Hammerite Red on the shocks. Sachs logos have gone back on and they look ---- well like an uprated shock, only made by Sachs. Will post some pictures now I can get the yellow springs back on.
(I think it will look kinda trick???)
Looking forward to "Betameeta 2013" already. And Lulu will be there this year!
Onward,
Chas and Anne.

[VXdeMayo]

Latest from Darkest Somerset.
Well floods have subsided and 12" of snow has just melted, so I thought I would take this chance to shoot some pics of the shocks and springs now that they are back together. As you can see from the photos they look fab. The nuts bolts and washers have all been plated, new rubber spring cushions have been put on where needed, front shocks were carefully masked then blasted, etch primed, red primed then Hammerite top coated. Rears were more tricky, as they have replacement inserts sourced (pain), then top struts cut by 5mm, inserts assembled then welded up as new. (You cannot even see the join). Paint was as the fronts. Shock towers were also powder coated, then the bearings re greased before re-assembly.
Springs were blasted then powdercoated yellow. Finally I got someone to make up some Sachs Super Touring logos to finish off.

I know they are only Sachs OE units, BUT I did not want to have a more firm rebound response that Spax, Koni or Bilstein would give, as the roads round here are awful! I had all sorts of trouble finding a set of FOUR shocks that were the same whatever the make (even KYB), So I went the OE route. However I did want to have the "uprated look" hence the red and yellow colour scheme. By the way, the springs are standard Volumex as before. Ride height will be un-altered as well.

At a later stage I would not mind a set of Konis or Billys, as long as they are in fine fettle, but for now this will have to do. I will post more pics next week of the front and rear suspension arms, hubs and brakes. (I am just waiting for the front Tarox discs to arrive). Front calipers still need some inner pistons and parting pieces, I have posted a request elsewhere on the Forum.
Hope the better weather means more work gets done on your own projects!
Best,
Chas and Anne.

[targa2000]

Excellent result Chas, they look the business.
Do you still need the front caliper parts?
Tim

[rossocorsa]

Looking good,  betas handle pretty well whatever dampers are fitted and you may well be wise given current roads and speed humps to keep standard height.  As far as I know, off the top of my head so could easily be wrong, OE were waysauto or possibly  Spica ,Sachs being the nearest after market equivalent

[thecolonel]

Superb, really nice work.

[VXdeMayo]

Dear All,
Yes I am still requiring the front inner pistons and parting pieces. However after the last epic with the mechanic and compressor episode I am reluctant to go through all the Faff of a complete stripdown of a second set of calipers unless I have to. So if anybody can help me out with just the pieces I need, (or a pair of rebuilt or NOS calipers) I would be grateful.

Rossocorsa I believe you are correct with regard to the OE suppliers of shocks for the Beta. And whilst I would like the look of race shocks on "Lulu", I doubt if my back or my wife would see the benifit! The roads around here are at best appalling, and the last thing I need is another car suffering from "Nurbergring-itus". Our Alfa GT Cloverleaf is bad enough, what with the 18" alloys and Pirelli 225 45's. It's great if you are up for it, but  a case of "bang - crash - abomb" if you just want to get there, in one piece.

Thanks for the kind comments, I better stop now, I am begining to sound like James May!
Best,
Chas and Anne.

[VXdeMayo]

Dear All,
Good news, a Forum member has come up trumps with the front inner pistons and parting pieces, and should be with me by Wednesday. That will mean that the front calipers can be rebuilt, (hopefully by the weekend). In the meantime here are some more photo's I promised earlier, showing the rear hub/brake assemblies, front and rear anti roll bars, rear subframe and front hub/brake assemblies with my new shiny TAROX G88 discs and Strada road pads! (They've arrived)!
Everything has been stripped, plated and powder coated, and the eagle eyed amonst you will spot uprated PU rubbers everywhere. The calipers have also got braided brake hoses and new unions to finish off. The brake sliders have been polished, plated and then coated with loads of copper slip, so they should not be binding any time soon!

Next on the list to do is the master cylinder now that Lukas has sent the repair kit, (thanks), and the rear brake limiter valve.
Hope your projects are progressing well!
Keep you posted.
Chas and Anne.

[lukasdeopalenica]

Excellent Chas. I am trying to do the same

[75coupe]

Excellent work I must say, that will be one very nice car when finished!

can I ask where you obtained the Tarox discs/pads from?

Regards Ian

[VXdeMayo]

Dear All,
Here as promised are the next pics of progress so far. I have received some inner pistons and parting pieces from Tim (a Forum Member), and they have now been re assembled back into the calipers at last. (Big thank you to Tim). Also the master cylinder repair kit that came from Lukas in Poland  has been put to good use and the master cylinder is now refurbed as well. Last brake item is the rear brake valve limiter which  has had various bits plated and repainted at the same time.
Whilst I was bothering the platers I got them to do the linkage parts on the gearbox remote arm. I am well pleased with that!

Next step is the ZF power steering rack, I had already got some parts plated, but now armed with another members advise on strip / inspection I will refurb that as well.
Finally the subframe will be back from the powder coaters next weekend. Great!......Doesn't take much to get me excited does it?

There are some pretty big lumps of car starting to come back together in my shed.
And spring is around the corner. What could be better!
Best,
Chas and Anne.

[VXdeMayo]

Dear Ian,
I originally ordered the Front and Rear Strada brake pads from "Motorsport World". However due to not having both front and rear sets in stock, Motorsport World  contacted Tarox UK so they could supply me direct with both, (sensible). I ordered them early/mid December and was told that I could expect them just before Xmas.
Now I know it was Xmas, and the weather was poor, but DPD kept trying to deliver to an incorrect postcode, and after many frustrating phone calls to Tarox UK, they asked if there was anything they could do in recompence for the aggro. I mentioned that I had wished to get some front discs from them but could not afford them. To my delight The manager said he would send me some FOC!

I was delighted and promised to give them a positive mention on this Forum. However the second disc package took an age to arrive and only turned up after I tracked the DPD driver down and demanded that he search his van again. To my amazement the first parcel containing pads was there, much traveled and damaged by now. The pads were fine but there was only one sensor wire for the two front brakes. This confused me as the Beta has two sensors shown on the wiring diagram and are on the actual car? I was told that I could have another one from another set of pads, but this was not normally required or done. I declined as The manager had already helped a lot, albeit the lack of communication back to me led to a lot of hassle.
The bottom line is, I am delighted with the end result I think, BUT, if you order make sure that they have your full address. Also be very specific in instruction. I am sure you will be fine and happy. My end result felt a bit piric.
Anyway thanks to Nick Counsell at Tarox Uk for his assistance!
Hope that helps,
Best,
Chas and Anne.

[VXdeMayo]

Dear All,
Well, the final "big piece" of the suspension has finally been completed, (almost). The subframe came back from the Powdercoaters last week and I spent some happy hours putting the freshly renovated wishbones (that I got from Matt) back on. The rubbers are PU again (via Mark W), and new ball joints via Ebay Italy grace the ends. The roll bar (with more new PU) fitted a treat, and looks good with the plated nuts and bolts etc. New plastic wheel arch mounting plugs were sourced, and 6 of the 8 rubber grommet plugs also have been found. These help to stop the rot from getting inside the box sections. Two of the three engine mounts have been found, thus leaving only one, the front central mount to be sourced. (If any one has got a good one which is not perished please send us a message!)
The large engine mount on the right came from another Forum member, "Glovebeast" who lives quite local, and I managed to help him out with parts in exchange. Thanks Steve.
I will post a message / photos showing the remaining parts that I still need in the relevent section. However for now a big thank you to all that have helped us! The Forum is indespensible in this regard!
best,
Chas and Anne.
PS: Next bit: Power steering rack.

[VXdeMayo]

Dear All,
I hope the fine weather is getting you all out in those garages etc. Things progress again down here, I enclose a couple of pics of the latest efforts.
Got another load of engine / gearbox  and steering parts zinc plated recently, and they came back really quick! This enabled me to rebuild the steering rack after taking the tip from "Glovebeast" about only partially spraying the right hand end of the tarnished plating with high temp silver paint. (Thanks Steve). Looks fine I think.
The Volumex carb / air filter modifications were next. The Carb has been swopped for a rejetted DCNF. (Tech details from GC's book  if your interested.) I have also junked the awful VX airbox in favour of a rather trick air induction pipe from a diesel speedboat heating system. (90mm I/D and very black). It looks like the original plastic flexy pipe on the OI inlet (but bigger). I needed something that big to get it to fit on the original Volumex  alloy top inlet. It certainly will not be restrictive I hope!

Coupled with a rather nice cone filter from ebay and a re-used power steering resevior bracket (re-shaped to fit), it now makes the plugs slightly more accessible. I have retained the crankcase and supercharger dump valve pipes and re routed them them into a 90mm Tee pipe positioned next to the battery. Also the small pipe from the VX blower scurge pump has been retained as well, and joins in the same place.

I am quite pleased with it as it look kind of "original" as if Lancia had done it themselves maybe, if they hadn't opted for a traditional "frying pan on top of an engine arrangement"!

See what you think!
Best from Somerset,
Chas.

[gengis]

Excellent work.

[andybeta]

Nice looking paint job on the struts. However my experience with Sachs replacements has not been good. A brand new pair I bought started leaking after only about 300 miles. They weren't particularly good at damping either, too weak and hence a lot wallowing and not confidence inspiring. A waste of money IMHO. Sorry, but the best thing you can do is use them as casings, cut the tops off, thread them and then put in an adjustable damper insert such as Koni or similar. Fortunately I now have a set of adjustable Koni struts as supplied back in the day and they are fine. No way are they too hard or harsh over crap roads. The handling has improved greatly.

More positively nice induction pipe work. Looks neat and simple. The radiator could do with a clean up ;@)

Your subframe reminds me of when mine was freshly blasted and re-powder coated. The place that blasted mine re-inforced the main rails fore and aft so it is now a lot stiffer.

Your discs look good. Are they vented as well or maybe the OE Bendix calipers aren't wide enough to accommodate the extra thickness this would bring? Eric W amd Marcus are the authorities on upgrading the brakes. 15+ inch wheels are preferable so as to be able to fit larger calipers and discs.

What are you doing with the engine oil breather pipe that would have gone onto the base of the OE air box? You really need the hose going into a small oil catch tank with bleed or at least some sort of filter on top otherwise oil could come up from the sump, condense and drop onto the road which would be an MOT failure plus rather hazardous.