Early HPE restoration

[mangocrazy]

Not really my cup of tea, but colour is a very personal choice. I quite like the colour it is currently.

[peteracs]

Hi Graham

Yes, very personal. I really like some of the blue metallics but not with brown interior and I do like the early seats and dash….

Peter

[mangocrazy]

Hi Graham

Yes, very personal. I really like some of the blue metallics but not with brown interior and I do like the early seats and dash….

Peter

Hi Peter,

Yes, the brown interior does rather narrow the choice of colours available. Always a tricky decision.

Graham

[peteracs]

A bit of an update.

Currently going through loosening all the nuts and bolts on the suspension, removing the brake calipers, but not removing the suspension completely, ie leaving the wheels so I can move the car and more importantly allow me to transport it to the bodywork guy. Fairly happy with how it is coming part dispute a fair amount of surface rust on everything. Only one or two sheared small bolts to sort out so far.

John, the bodywork guy who did my Spider, came yesterday to take a look and declared it ok for him. We agreed to transport with suspension on and then remove it when on his lift so I can then sort getting it and the subframe refurbished. I suspect he will want to keep the front subframe to help with the alignment of the front whist the wings are repaired, though I do have a couple more in my stock of parts, so may choose to use one of them instead.

Looks like it will hit John’s place around the end of May to fit in with his workload, which suits me, hopefully it will not slip too much.

In my quest to get as many parts purchased now rather than leave it due the prices most likely going skywards, I have a quote form Lincolnshire Radiators to recore the radiator of £221, it is the older metal one. I also purchased the complete linkage kit from John in the US which I also used on the Spider. The linkage and bushes on the HPE are shot as per normal.

I also bought some bearings as going to replace all the hub ones and a pair of CV joints. As on one on the Spider they are not 100% correct and as supplied they bind on the hub housing when tightened. So I can return which is a pain and no guarantee what I do get will be any better, or as I did with the Spider get the CV joint modified. I now have a neighbour who was a machinist before retiring and has a lathe in the garage and has offered to help if I need anything done. So I am going to have a chat with him, hopefully can get it sorted. One issue I do have is that the dust rings fitted to the CV joints are completely rusted and not usable. Anyone know where they can be found?

Peter

[peteracs]

Hi

Currently going through a spate of purchases, decided to buy as much as I can in advance given all the talk about price rises etc.

Latest is a the shifter kit from John in the US (http://fiatlancia.us/)

A few more bits to come.

One word of warning which I knew from the Spider is that there are some CV joints out there which are listed as for the Beta, but when you fit them bind on the hub. The fix is either buy the correct one! Or get them machined to remove the lip which is too large. Of course the ones I bought are the latter type, given the cost which is pretty cheap and I have ex machinist who is a neighbour, I will get them modified. A pain, but you have to adapt.

Peter

[peteracs]

Next up is the gearbox I want to use. Looking through the specs on the various gearboxes/diffs I thought it would make sense to go with a VX box. The reason for this is that the engine I am aiming to build is going to be n/a but with mods such as throttle bodies, different inlet cam, ported head and increased compression ratios, 4 branch exhaust. So hoping that the power and more importantly the torque will be much improved over the standard 2l carb engine. As this car is for just road driving, having a good cruising gear was pretty important even if I spend a fair amount of time in 4th on normal roads. Time will of course tell.

I bought the box on Ebay from a guy called Mike who it turned out used to be Guy Croft’s machinist when he had a company in Kent. He still is hands on with various machines in a small workshop at home. The box was out of a running VX, albeit 20 years ago. It is possible it was rebuilt at some point, but I will give it a good clean out, check bearings to the best of my ability and we will see how it performs before I worry about stripping it down with all that entails.

Second photo shows the stamping of the ratios which are 19/62

See this link to table of ratios

http://www.betaboyz.myzen.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2115.0

[peteracs]

Another couple of days spent stripping the car. Removed as many of the plastic clips as I can find that make sense, anyone know where I can find replacements for

1) The hook type ones which retain the loom
2) The square ones used in various places such as door and brake mechanism cover in passenger well
3) The ones used to hold the brake and fuel lines

Also spent a not too enjoyable hour or with a heat gun getting the foam/bituminous padding off the inner roof. Also finished getting the loom out from the rear hatch which was not so simple.

So apart from the engine coming out (it is all loose ready to be lifted) the car is ready to go off to the bodywork guy which is currently slated for end of May all being well.

I am now in buying mode for parts which will tax the credit card. Ordered a brake hose kit the other day, I should have read the details more closely. Listed for an HPE 1600, what came was 4 hoses, not a lot of good when you need 6……

They are going back and a 6 hose kit being ordered. Not sure why anyone would produce a 4 hose kit?

Peter

[peteracs]

I sent off the original metal radiator to Lincolnshire Radiators to be recored as the core had seen better days. They came back with two options, standard and uprated core options. Pricing was relatively little between them, but as I am going to run and uprated engine, I decided on an uprated core.

I picked up the radiator today and all looks good, total price was £266.

As part of my spending spree (which is looking like it will be going on for a while…) I also picked up from Ebay a couple of new front struts complete, also something I thought would be impossible to find, other than maybe from a stupidly priced Italian seller, a brand new Siem wing indicator light. Just need to now find a n other in reasonable condition. So if anyone has one please get in touch. It does need to be the Siem part with metal surround rather than the plastic of the later and more common version.

Peter

[mangocrazy]

I sent off the original metal radiator to Lincolnshire Radiators to be recored as the core had seen better days. They came back with two options, standard and uprated core options. Pricing was relatively little between them, but as I am going to run and uprated engine, I decided on an uprated core.

I picked up the radiator today and all looks good, total price was £266.

That looks ideal, Peter. Having a radiator of the same height and width dimensions makes packaging so much simpler. I presume the depth of the core is greater to provide the uprated capacity? Did Lincolnshire Radiators advise what engine power range the uprated radiator is suitable for? I will almost certainly be following in your footsteps here...

[peteracs]

Hi Graham

I did not ask re power, though not sure if they could answer it. I will ask.

As to size, physically it is the same, I understood the construction of the core was such that it allow more cooling than the standard one. Again I will ask. My main aim was to try to keep the standard mountings/size to avoid revising the front. I aim to use a modern fan assembly with it.

If I find the temp variation is significant then a rethink may be necessary, but the car is slated for road use only on a n/a engine, so worth going down this road to my mind.

Peter

[WestonE]

Hi Peter

I have been looking for 1 SIEM Wing indicator for years to match the single NOS one I have. So if you do find more than one I definitely want one.

Eric 

[peteracs]

Hi All

Ok, agreed a swap with Eric to solve both our indicator problems, so good result all round.

As mentioned on the alloy fuel tank thread, I now have a new tank for the car as the old one was past its sell by date.

Also bought a few bits from Mark

Sump mod kit to help with oil surge
New handbrake cable
New seal for fuel tank sensor

The sensor I have appears to work ok. It is of the earlier type which also has the fuel takeoff integral to it, but that will be blanked off as I am using the new tank take off from the inbuilt swirl pot.

Peter

[peteracs]

Hi

Offered up the tank to the HPE, need to drill holes in mounting flanges, so cannot completely fit it, but gave me a good idea of how it will look and fit. Initial observation is that the sender is positioned a little too far back, approx 3cm, so not a big deal, just means the tank will have to be tilted down at the front to get the sender out most likely. This is not going to be a regular job.

Also the most important thing for me was the look from the rear and with the tank painted black it should pretty much not be noticeable.

So good result.

The tank could be made slightly larger if anyone needs more than 10 gallons/45 litres, however not an issue for me.

Peter

[peteracs]

Hi

For those who have the pre facelift style of washer bag rather than the later bottles, I just bought one from auto-bella.co.uk

Identical fixing and pump, so simple swap out, currently £25 so not silly money either.

Peter

[peteracs]

Hi

A few more bits to store away.

First up something I said I would not do and that is go for the optional Cromodora wheels which I had on my first HPE. I really liked them, but they are a pain to keep clean as have loads of small pockets unlike the normal wheels, but I kept coming back to how much I liked them….

So seeing a set of 5 on Facebook I tried to buy them, but they are near Taunton and miles away from me. I got so far with the guy but then he just refused to answer any messages. The same wheels are now on Ebay and the seller also refuses to reply to messages. Moving on I noticed a single wheel on Ebay and sent an offer message, again no response, all very frustrating so far. Finally saw a set of 4 in Lincoln, so half an hour up the road or so. After a bit of missed messages an offer was agreed and I collected them today. They look to be in decent condition, but will need refurbishing which I had anticipated anyway. That does mean I have a large quantity of the normal wheels going spare, anyone need any?

Second up is a clutch which came in today, after buying the wrong size one several weeks ago, see engine thread for the protracted buying procedure….

Lastly I had been looking for some decent condition front panels and front floor well etc for the bodywork guy to save him time having to make them instead. Nothing much came along over the last 6 months apart from a possible VX Coupe which Mark has, which I had not been able to get a response as to whether it was usable. Then the other week Simon listed on here his Coupe which has sat in a garage near Nottingham for the last 24 years or so. It is an IE so has the wing liners and hence their was a good chance the front was fairly well spared from rust etc. The end result is I bought it and it should be with my body guy next week together with the HPE so he can get started. In some respects it is shame to part out the Coupe as it is not in too bad a condition, but I need to save the HPE, so any parts I do not use will be offered here and on Facebook so hopefully it can be used to save others. More on it later.

[peteracs]

Hi

HPE left yesterday for the bodywork guy, going to visit on Thursday with wings and doors which I still have and hopefully remove the suspension so guy can have just the body.

Also the donor car is due to be collected today to also be delivered to him.

Will be interesting to see the process and the progress!

Peter

[smithymc]

Exciting times Peter!

Hope all goes to plan.

Mark

[peteracs]

Hi

A bit of an update.

The donor car is at the bodywork guys, but we are probably going to use it to take templates from and not actually use any body panels. Time will tell.

The car has had all the suspension removed and a frame has been made and attached to the body to allow it to be both moved and put on a rotisserie to allow work on the underside etc.

I collected the suspension parts today and will now start taking to bits, cleaning etc, so the long road to having refurbished parts begins. A number of parts will be sent for blasting and powder coating such as the subframe. A few photos of the car currently living on a lift whilst it waits for the lorry underneath it to be finished before work commences, probably in September due to holidays etc.

Also photo of the parts brought back.

Peter

[peteracs]

Had a few days on the suspension parts, probably the muckiest job I have done for a while and glad it is coming to an end. Stripped out all the bolts and just have the outer races of the bearings left to get out with the press which I should get done over the next few days and the inserts to remove from the rear struts (I have new front struts). A few comments on findings.

In general the springs and pads are reusable, though the rear spring plates are all rusted out as per normal.

The brake discs look to be almost new with no obvious wear ridges on them, so if anyone is looking for a cheap set of discs let me know as I have new EBC ones ready to fit.

The front and rear subframes are in pretty good condition which is a positive.

The wishbones are also ok with the original bush metal surround well rusted into the main body. I have ordered the PU set from Mark which uses these metal bodies so will leave well alone.

Removing the rear inner wheel bearing carrier was simple as the hub has two small holes to allow it to be pushed out. The front hubs were another matter as there is no obvious way of removing them. Brute force did not help, nor heat, so careful use of a grind stone was the end result followed by a cold chisel to crack the carrier. Not ideal, but needs must.

Removing the nut from the top of the struts proved to be fairly straight forward unlike my battle with the fronts on the Spider. Used a breaker bar which gave enough grunt. All the strut inserts are completely shot. In general the strut tops and especially the front strut top bearings are in good shape which is a win as I had a load of hassle sourcing parts for the spider. The only item I need to replace is one of the rear strut top mounts which is rusted and no longer usable.

The CV joint nuts on the rear hubs came out with help from the rattle gun, again unlike the Spider and the fronts where the angle grinder was required.

The bearing retaining rings were a mixed result. One rear cam out with the rattle gun, the other rear had to be chiselled out. The fronts had obviously been chiselled tight when replacing the bearing, I assume they did not have the correct tool, so we’re scrap anyway. I just chiselled them out as well.

Out of the three engine mounts the crank pulley one was scrap, but the other two were in remarkably good condition. I have new ones all round so more spares…..

On the rear suspension, just one of the bushes on the locating rods attached to the rear hub was seized and no needs replacing. Also the bolt that it was seized on needs replacing, so if anyone has one…..  The other bushes look ok.

The steering rack looks to be in good condition, but yet to remove the gait or etc. The small bush on the passenger side has definitely broken up as per normal, so replacement ordered.

End result is a pile of parts as below

[peteracs]

The rest