Spyder restoration - long time coming

[peteracs]

Hi Stuart

I watched some interesting videos on LED replacement headlights, where several were compared. One of the crucial issues is the actual position of the light source within the bulb. A number had the position different to the original halogen and hence relative to the reflector which made the beam pattern different and less effective. My big issue with using led headlights is that they appear to require a heat sink which is external to the bulb and hence you have to find somewhere to put them.

As you say, standard lights if supplied with a decent supply should be adequate for most needs.

Peter

[peteracs]

Bit of a milestone day, The dash is back in and I have checked as much of its functionality as possible at this stage.

Just another 1000 things to do before finishing....

Peter

[WestonE]

Great to see progress even if it shows how slowly I am going!

Eric

[peteracs]

Hi Eric

You have a long way to go before you pass my refurb time, 10.5 years and counting.....

Feel as though the end of the road is in sight however.

Peter

[peteracs]

After I installed the dash I had been thinking how to repurpose the rechargeable torch connector which will never be used for that and I realised it would be oh so useful to have a USB point for my phone/sat nav etc.

I did not want to use the Cig lighter with a USB adapter as that would look pretty awful, so a bit of EBaying came up with a dual USB output with 12-24V input. Duly ordered and arrived today, so set to fitting it in the glove box. I piggy backed onto the glove box light circuit which is permanently live. I did wonder how much current the USB would take just sitting there, but it was 12mA so not a disaster, I then drilled the holes for the wires and the two mounting screws. On powering up it had two leds lighting the USB unit which was pretty pointless as this would be on all the time, so I removed the rear casing and took out the two resistors which fed the leds. A full result as the idle current is now around 1mA, so insignificant. Result is I am pretty happy with it.

I still have the torch charging point to decide on....

Photo of USB unit installed, it has a dust cover over the two USB ports.

[HFStuart]

That's a nice touch.

[peteracs]

Thanks!

[mtulloch]

I've done the same but I powered it from a supply that was only live when the car was on as I wasn't that happy about some random Chinese tat being powered up full time in the event it spontaneously combusts!

[peteracs]

Hi Matt

Yes, I did consider that fact, but looking at the circuit it is well made, not a bodge job an I do get frustrated if wanting to charge my phone etc in a car having to have the ignition on when parked up.

Time will of course tell.

Peter

[WestonE]

Hi Peter

I solved this one with a QC3 (quick charge) twin USB socket replacing the OE cigarette lighter socket entirely in the S2 FL center console. I would never use the Cig lighter and the Lancia ones spit out USB adapters in a comic way. As I discovered using an adapter for my sat nav in Turin traffic in the Monte! Making a Classic car work with modern devices is definitely a fun challenge. My 4x 50 watt amplifier is behind the spare wheel in the boot!

Eric   

[peteracs]

Hi Eric

I wanted to keep the look of the centre part of dash looking original, but also have no intention of using the cig lighter. I even doctored the plug in of the lighter so it is just a dummy with the original handle.

Peter

[peteracs]

I have been working in the engine bay for the last week or so, mainly on the engine itself, but one of the last electrical jobs I did was the wiring to the radiator fan which comes direct from the battery, through a barrel type fuse holder and to the fan, the return is via a relay which is one I replaced mentioned earlier.

The barrel fuse holder is just left hanging on the wiring from what I remember (I do not remember that we’ll, so happy to be corrected) and I do remember a holiday in France back around 1980 where the HPE we had was in a line of traffic, hot day and the fan refused to come on. A quick fiddle under the bonnet revealed corrosion in the fuse holder, a clean up sorted it, but that was on a 2-3 year old car!

So I had a look for a replacement type of fuse holder and came up with the one in the photo below. It has two advantages, it can be mounted via the screw hole and is waterproof. A quick crimp & solder to add the spade clips and it mounts quite conveniently to one of the horn compressor bolts near to the battery.

One question I do not know the answer to is what size fuse should the fan have?

Peter

[WestonE]

Hi Peter nice work!

I use similar waterproof blade fuse holders that clip onto the power distribution block or mounting clips and can be clipped in stacks. I think they come from Pole Volt as does the neat AMP power distribution block. For my twin curved vein modern fans they are fused at 20 AMP each running from 30 AMP relays each on wire rated to 25AMPs. I would suggest checking out the motor rating plate and doing the figures to be sure. I found the OE Fan motors on the Monte and VX very inefficient demanding high current for average performance at best. Fan design and the motors that power them are in a different league these days.

I would need an S1 Fuse box schematic to give a better answer on the OE Fuse rating sorry.

Eric     

[peteracs]

Hi Eric

Haynes helpfully only lists the fuse box fuses for EU cars, but does list inline for USA models, giving the fan 16A which seems reasonable.

I guess the design of the fan is 50 years old at least so will not be as efficient as modern ones?

Peter

[WestonE]

Hi Peter

At Least Lancia were bright enough to ditch engine driven fans. I just can not take chances with engine cooling given I am doubling the power output. That was why a lot of effort went into the radiator spec a few years ago and I am using fans proven on the Montecarlo.

At least your car will be driving in 2021! Mine will still need a lot of work including a custom exhaust and rolling road mapping.

Little victories for me and I will get there.

Eric 

[peteracs]

Hi Eric

I do hope to be driving it then.....

Yes, I had forgotten just how many cars still had engine driven fans around that time until I watched a video of a TR8 built around 1980 which had one.

Peter

[peteracs]

Managed a number of days in the garage and some decent progress made, in no particular order...

1) I wanted to give the steering gaiter and damper a chance of surviving longer, so have wrapped the exhaust manifold and the adjacent part of the down pipe before installing the original baffle which I guess was originally intended to protect these parts. Photos below.

2) I had replaced the timing belt and tensioner way back and the engine had just sat there, so decided to replace the belt again as I have a n other new belt. I managed to get the crank pulley nut off with a rattle gun which made the job easier than my efforts last time. Whilst the belt was off I filled the engine with oil and carefully spun up the aux pulley via an electric drill as mentioned elsewhere in the forum to get oil to parts that have not seen any for a number of years.

3) On replacing the belt I double checked the aux and cam timings and made sure I could turn over by hand, plugs removed to ease the job. I also needed to retime the disti as it had been removed. This was a little tricky given that the disti shaft can be set to any position and you need to make sure that the arm points to one of the covers contacts and that you know which cylinder it should go to. A bit of patience is required, hopefully I have got it correct and the static timing is good enough to start the engine. Tightening the crank pulley nut proved interesting as has quite a high torque. I dropped the cover plate for the flywheel which is under the engine. I then screwed in a bolt into the flywheel and used this to wedge it and stop the crank from moving and hence allowed the nut to be tightened to the required torque.

4) Tidied up the wiring around engine including installing new plug and coil leads. Quite satisfying to not see a tangle of wires. No photos yet as waiting for a couple of covers and yet to install the plugs.

5) Did a compression test. I had put some oil down the bores before spinning the engine on the starter as not having been run for while, I did not want to cause any damage. I then checked each cylinder and the results look ok, with just one cylinder being slightly lower than the others (all around 150psi). My hope with the engine is to run it this coming summer before taking it out and rebuilding it next winter.

6) Filled the gearbox with oil. This as with the engine oil will be to get used to initially then replaced. I aim to go with Eric’s recommendation for the gearbox oil when I do replace it.

7) Finished off the brake pipes and filled with fluid. Did a quick vacuum attachment to the bleed nipples and managed to get fluid through, though not fully bled, still to be finished. So far just one joint needed tightening, but no pressure has been put on the circuits, so no doubt fun and games to come.

8 )Fitted the radiator and the various coolant pipes. I had originally modified the pipe to the heater matrix with a additional bypass as documented elsewhere which is an issue on these early cars as if the heater matrix switch is closed no flow occurs. I also filled with de ionised water and anti freeze. so far just the odd weep which have been resolved by tightening up loose drain plug/jubilee clips.The radiator was good before Hand and so far looks ok, time will tell.

[peteracs]

Quite excited and a little apprehensive as tomorrow I am picking up the refurbished wheels....

Fingers crossed here that the result is a positive one!

Peter

[mangocrazy]

Looking forward to seeing the wheels - photos will of course be required...

[peteracs]

Here we go, one rim in an AMG metallic grey and new tyre temporarily on rear hub with single bolt. I have yet to sort chroming of wheel bolts, hopefully a guy I am visiting on Wed will be able to help. As it was in artificial light the centre section of the wheel is the true colour, the outer rim is reflecting the light so looks much lighter than it is...

Yes, I am happy with the result, all 5 wheels refurbished, old tyres removed and disposed of and new tyres mounted and balanced, total bill inc VAT £417.

Peter