1300 Coupes

[peteracs]

Very nice looking too!

[GerardJPC]

Hello all.  Does anyone know if Yaj finally died the death?   I would be sad if so.  The bloke that I sold it to for 500 quid, despite full disclosure of its seriously corroded state, got rather grumpy and even at one point asked for his money back.  I politely declined.   I gather that he gave up on the project and flipped the car on, and that it appeared on eBay in various states of chaos.  I now have a non-rusty 1600 Coupe that I am very keen on, but it lacks the crazy character that Yaj had.  My 1600 is exceptional only in that it is a car that spent 34 years on the Isle of Man but did not rust much.  Because Ziebart.

[Neil-yaj396]

Glad you're back in the Beta fold Gerard. If you scroll back through this thread YAJ was last seen for sale painted in white emulsion! Sadly I assume it has surely now been broken? The gearbox and exhaust would have been worth £200 and the engine was ok too.....

[GerardJPC]

Hiya and cheers, I am glad that your 1300 is still going strong.  

I have gone full Lancia, as I now have a sliding-pillar and pillarless V4 Lancia as well as a pretty reasonable Beta.   I have a yen for a Fulvia Berlina or a Flavia Coupe, and would loooooove an Aurelia, but I have to be realistic!  

RIP Yaj if dead.  As well as a good engine etc, it also had barely used Pirelli tyres worth a few quid.   Plus those unforgettable seats!!!!  

[Neil-yaj396]

I got four squares of this matting for £24, which makes up to pretty much the length of the car. I hurt my back servicing my daughters car, but once I've recovered a bit this should help with swapping out the front down pipe....

[WestonE]

I have a luxury roll of B&Q cushioned Vinyl which serves well for insulation and providing a surface I can slide on getting under the car. Not very Formula 1 but it works remarkably well after upgrading from cardboard boxes and old carpet.
I add some large closed cell foam matts and my old bones are much happier!

Eric 

[Neil-yaj396]

Fixing the downpipe/gasket problem didn't go all that well in the end. A previous owner had bodged on an early 'kinked' pipe. On this type one of the fixing nuts is hidden behind one of the two first stage pipes and must have been tightened when fitted with a shortish spanner. It would not accept a socket or even the crowfoot spanner I bought.

In the end I gave up, and it was off to the garage, who changed the cambelt and tensioner for me too. Even they found the old pipe a fight with one of the studs shearing and needing to be replaced.

Anyway, the car is back now for the summer and super quiet!

[GerardJPC]

Good to hear!  My 1600 was far too noisy for a while, but after some fixes is now quieter, smoother, and generally better.

[Neil-yaj396]

I got in a nice 120 mile drive to Castle Howard and back yesterday to mark 'Drive It Day', including finding some great driving roads (and a good pub lunch) between there and Boroughbridge.

Nice selection of other classics seen on route too.

[betabuoy]

Great stuff Neil. 120mls is a good shake down and confidence builder for the dryer seasons, and your Coupe looks very handsome... Well worth getting a pro to fettle that manifold too!

[Neil-yaj396]

Great stuff Neil. 120mls is a good shake down and confidence builder for the dryer seasons, and your Coupe looks very handsome... Well worth getting a pro to fettle that manifold too!

You are right Chris, the run was a proper Italian tune up on those country roads......

[GerardJPC]

Your car is looking well, Neil.  I did about 120 miles in my 1600 on Sunday and saw some interesting cars.  The best bit of spotting was a white mid to late sixties Flavia Berlina.

[GerardJPC]

There are two, count them, TWO 1300 Coupes for sale on carandclassic at the moment, although both LHD.  One of them gains extra bonus points for being brown.

[Neil-yaj396]

As some of you may have gathered from my post on fuel hose the Coupe sprung a leak on the hose between the pump and filter. I suspect that the hose I used in 2017 wasn't ethanol proof enough.

To properly fit new hose it is easiest to loosen the pump a bit. As I'd gone that far, and am not really using the car at the moment, I decided that it was time to get the carburetor rebuilt and fit the Filter King that I have long considered.

When removing the carb I noticed that the gasket between it and the manifold has perished on one corner and wonder if this has caused an air leak leading to the slowly increasing idle speed?

Anyway, the carb is now away for an estimated 4 weeks at CFS locally in Bradford, so I can re-plumb the rest at my leisure....

(On the subject of plumbing I now have a date for the removal of my catheter that I have been stuck with since my summer illness. So hopefully I will be back in full action before the car....)

[peteracs]

Hi Neil

Hope the catheter removal is soon as in my experience seem to cause a whole load of infections. Glad you are safe n the road to recovery, hopefully a full one.

Peter

[Neil-yaj396]

In their monthly back page article in Viva Lancia Omicron Engineering noted that they were starting some work on a 1300 Beta Coupe. Omicron have long been the preserve of Aurelia and Flaminia owners, largely due to their fastidious and (justifiably I'm told) expensive work. Nor is this the only Beta that they have mentioned of late. Surely a sign of our cars becoming much more valued.....

[GerardJPC]

Hi Neil, I wish you better soon!

Re Ethanol - is there an Esso station near you?  Esso 99 is Ethanol-free in many but not all areas of the UK.


See also -

https://classicenginesmodernfuel.org.uk/

[Neil-yaj396]

An article that I wrote regarding the upgrades to and finally getting to use my car was published in this month's Viva Lancia. I've attached a word version for anyone who is interested and not an LMC member. 'Back in My Beta'

[Neil-yaj396]

They also included my favorite pic of the year......

[Neil-yaj396]

I bought this panel from the chap selling parts near Mark W's stall at Betameeta last year. As I was doing an oil change it seemed a good time to paint and fit it.