And So It Begins....

[SanRemo78]

Stuart - you mentioned U section channels down the side the car - do you mean the tops of the inner sills where the carpet retainer screws to? If so, one side has some corrosion but nothing holed as far as I can see. Job for the weekend if it's dry is to wipe all the crud away and get a good look at it. It can't be good everywhere!

Nigel - thanks for the tip on removing the drive cable and putting it back in the other way - I'm not sure I would have thought to try that, if they don't run smoothly I can try that after cleaning the channels. At the moment it would be daft to connect a battery, there are loose and unterminated cables everywhere. Wiring used to scare me but having build the Stratos loom from scratch (all the smoke is still in!) I'll check it over one cable at a time, strip off the covering and re-wrap with new terminals throughout. Luckily for me there are wiring diagrams in the Haynes manual... I'll also take your advice on the screen and get an order in when the shell goes for paint.

I hope the posts to come help you get back to your car so another one will make it to the next Beta meet.

Guy

[WestonE]

Hi Guy

On the Electric Windows Beta Boyz to the rescue as Mark sells new furry drive wires and the rest of the job is cleaning away and replacing grease that has turned to concrete. If you can't get them then Nigel's solution is a good one provided a previous owner did not get there before you.

Eric

[SanRemo78]

Thanks for the tip Eric, I'll bear that in mind when I get the motors out of the doors and strip them down. New sounds like the way to go whilst this stuff is available but the reverse the cable trick is just brilliant! I wouldn't have thought to try that. I can see me investing in a parts washer at the moment!

Okay, thanks to Tim the car now sits on four inflated FPS standard Lancia wheels. I'm not sure one will stay inflated as I had to put a can of goop into it but they'll do for moving it around. I took the opportunity to look around the inside of the left suspension turret and it looks as good underneath as it did from inside the boot. I forgot to look at the right one. Oops.

The carpet has been slowly drip drying in the garage for a few days now, it's still very slightly damp but has come out way better than I expected it to. Come Summer I'll give it a good hosing down in the back garden and a shampoo and let it dry in the sun. There are a couple od splits in the passenger mat but that's all. What I did notice is that there was still some factory clear plastic on the edges underneath the side fixings so this may well be the first time the carpet has been out of the car in 40 years! The plastic protective film is stapled to the carpet and guess what - the staples rust and I bet they've damaged the paint slightly, maybe enough to let some surface rust start?

Anyway, the car is now mobile again even if I can't move it with the handbrake applied! Rusty discs will grip anything!

Guy

[SanRemo78]

And the V5 arrived today in my name, the car is now SORN'd until I get it MOT'd - a while down the road yet!

Are any of the previous owners of HHV43W on here? Or close relatives?

It may be next week before I get back to her. The Panda is getting a new set of brake discs, pads and refurbished wheels with new tyres at the moment. The poor Alfa will be feeling left out!

Guy

[SanRemo78]

Today was a Fiat Panda morning followed by some stainless steel cleaning/polishing:
The rear panel side trims cleaned up really easily and a set of clips Tim gave me on damaged ones were carefully removed and the fixing bolts replaced with some stainless ones. Now safely stored out of the way with the rest of the rear trim. Only the actual boot edge one to do now.
I turned to the sill trims and noticed I've got an early one (with the Lancia L/Shield) either side of two panels. The later one just has three matching panels. Dilemma - I prefer the early one but the later is correct for my car. I guess I'll have to go with the next one that turns up to make a matching pair. I still need one right end trim for these.
Next up was the rain gutters and that turned up another missing piece - the end trim for the right side one at the back (near the side vents). There are none present at the front ends - should there be any there?

[Neil-yaj396]

Fairly sure that the sill trim I offered is the later type.

[SanRemo78]

I'll take you up on that kind offer Neil - don't post it though, it'd suffer I'm sure. Next time our paths cross can you bring it with you?

And thanks to Chris Mace (Betabuoy) I now have the missing exhaust manifold and heat shield and have made a donation to the forum as agreed.

More cleaning of removed parts tomorrow I think!

Guy

[Neil-yaj396]

Will do

[SanRemo78]

The last few days have been spent making sure Stratos2 is packed up and ready to leave and getting the Panda back on it's refurbished wheels - that turned out really well - good enough to spend an afternoon giving it a wash and shammy dry and then doing the Alfa so it didn't look too bad.

The only part I haven't found for Stratos2 yet is the circlip collar for the outer CV joint (the one that keeps the circlip in it's groove when you pop the shaft into the CV joint). There IS another spare driveshaft on a shelf somewhere in the garage I need to find and then the car is ready for collection at the end of the month.

So, work on Beta7 has been limited this week, plus it's been wet and/or cold outdoors this week. Anyway, rear seat backs unscrewed and removed and stored. Now I can see what the original trim colour was like - I doubt it'll clean up completely but you never know. Last of the puddles have been dried out and that might give me a chance to clean up the floorpan and treat the surface rust. The aerial has been removed and the hole taped over - it'll get welded up. Both rear lights came out easily, fixings mostly broken so that's the first repair job to be addressed before they go into the storage box. The frames each have one fixing screw sheared, I doubt I can fix them properly but there are enough to hold them in place. Both frames have overspray that comes off with a bit of elbow grease and a few bits of corrosion that's probably going to bug me but I doubt there are perfect ones out there. One has a crack between the centre horizontal bar and the outer edge - JB Weld will sort that. The lenses have seen better day, lots of minor scratches but no cracks. One side Siem, the  other Altissimo. The reflector bodies are rough but repairable with a little fibreglass and new rivbolt studs, a good clean and maybe a respray of the silver surfaces. The bulb holders look serviceable but one has a broken side clip, the broken bit was in the boot!

I found a minor perforation of the steel under the right light cluster on the seam. Won't be the last! I've started cleaning out the crud in the bottom of the boot and the floors behind the rear inner arches and they're all rock solid. If we get a warm day I'll think about removing the bitumen from the towers to see if they are as good as I hope! There is some plating on the inside of the boot that's odd, probably minor accident repairs? I'm sure I'll discover filler on the rear panel. The repair isn't pretty but it looks strong and will be covered by the carpet eventually.

The car was missing it's sun visors but a pair appeared on eBay this week and an offer has been accepted for them. Should be here next week. One more missing part crossed off the list!

Guy

[SanRemo78]

This morning was dry so I got underneath the bonnet to carry on stripping out the various parts left on the engine to make lifting it out easier when the time comes. The alternator & bracket came off, distributor out, dipstick & tube, water rails, horn and compressor all put on the refurb shelf. Wiring moved out of the way etc. I think I've just got the shocks on either end end of the drivetrain to disconnect, the gear linkage, two driveshafts and three engine mounts to undo and it'll come out. Here's some pictures showing the inner wings, they need cleaning up but look solid to me. I have no idea how long the head has been off and I haven't attempted to turn the engine yet, I need to clean out the bores in case there's anything in there but the bores look okay to me, hopefully a clean and light hone will be all that's needed!

[SanRemo78]

This afternoon was spent in the garage. I looked at the air horns and wondered...... as you do.

Oops. Woke the wife up!! So I spent the rest of the time cleaning 40 years of crud off to find a nice red finish underneath the horns and pipework and a decent black on the compressor. The mounting bracket has been wire brushed, rust converted and zinc primed. It won't be an original finish but it'll get a coat or two of satin black tomorrow and that's the first thing that'll go in a box labelled "restored, ready for re-installation". It's a minor step but a positive first one.

I've polished up the lenses for one rear cluster and most of the frame. That needs another 24 hours to see if the JB Weld will hold. I may have disturbed it too soon. I can always dig it out and try again.

That's it for this week!

Guy

[SanRemo78]

And a lovely day her in sunny Formby - all day long. Apart from 90 minutes when the boiler was being fixed I was on the driveway from 10.30 to 4pm. Wiring loom removed and labelled from the rear corners of the boot and coiled up on the front footwells. That entailed two connectors being snipped for the heated rear window so it they could be pulled from underneath the trim. I also pulled the fuel filler neck off so I could drop the fuel tank half an inch to allow the sender cables to be pulled through. Still not had an issue with any fixings except one plastic screw block that doesn't want to come out. It will.

I did a little scraping of the floorpan and inner sills and removal of the adjoining bitumen pads where the glue had failed and treated them to some rust converter. There is a patch in front left footwell that'll need cutting out and replacing and another on the top of the drivers side sill that I managed to punch through with a screwdriver, nothing severe. I did find some corrosion on the right rear suspension tower, a small patch where the fuel line has rubbed the paint away and another at the front where there's a join with the inner wing. I think they'll be fairly straight forward to cut out and fix properly.

I can see (and smell) fuel at the bottom of the filler pipe so I guess that's one of the next tasks before It comes into the garage. Any guesses as to how much will be in there if it can be seen there? Half a tank? I think I might need to look into disposal, not sure I want to risk putting into another car! I wonder if the council tip takes it?

Other stuff on the calendar tomorrow but the next dry day will probably see me start on the removal of the heater box and dashboard after taking the door cards off. If I can leave the steering column in place ready for the move into the garage.

Guy

[WestonE]

Hi Guy

Whilst I remember if you can get hold of a Numatic George Hoover it will clean up your carpet and possible the seat/ panel trim very nicely.

Enjoy

Eric
PS it clean my carpet to an amazing extent.

[SanRemo78]

Thanks for the tip Eric, the carpet came up pretty well for just a brush and light hoover except for a few rust stains from the seatbelt mount bracket. It's certainly worth a go! I can hire one for not very much.

Guy

[SanRemo78]

I managed to had a look at why the seats weren't playing nicely. Neither had the crossbar linking the rake adjusters. I found one in the pile of bits I didn't throw away as I wasn't sure of it's origins but now I'll need another. Added to the list. I did remember to remove the boot light but the lenses is melted. Fortunately this is a Stratos part and I happened to have a spare one! And I also dug out an old spare Beta driveshaft as I needed to extract the outer collar for Stratos2! It all came apart easily enough but in taking pictures to demonstrate the reassembly I stabbed myself in the thumb with a screwdriver.... Idiot! Does anyone have an idiots guide for how the get the collar over the ring in it's groove in preparation for fitting it into the outer CV joint? I'll be doing that twice in the coming months!I did think about a suitable jubilee clip to compress it and then using the ring to slide it down the splines. a bit like a piston ring compressor tool...

Guy

[Nigel]

Guy,
I recall in the past I removed the spring ring, compress it so that it's
static end-to-end, and fit it back on the shaft. The collar should now
be a slide fit. You can always open up the ring if it's a bit 'small'.

Nigel

[SanRemo78]

Thanks Nigel, I'm a little concerned that compressing the ring to the extent that the collar slips over is the right thing to do? If it's compressed beyond it's memory position it won't expand once the collar is released on pressing it into the outer CV and might allow the shaft to slip out of joint? How catastrophic that might be I don't know. But I do know that I don't want to find out! I'll re-read the Haynes manual and see what it says come the day the shafts are reassembled!

Guy

[SanRemo78]

Got bored of working at the back of the car, not that there's a lot left bar the fuel tank and it's plumbing, so I moved to the other end for a change of scenery!
And i found the first screw that wouldn't come out with a Phillips screwdriver. It moved easily enough with a pair of molegrips. So, wiring looms down each inner wing have been unclipped, labelled and moved as far back as I can get them for now. The brake warning sensor wires need to be undone before I can get them back to the bulkhead. The radiator grille cam out very easily and a little WD40 on the headlamp bolts saw them follow quickly. Moving inside the radiator shroud came out easily enough but the nearside panel is heavily corroded at the bottom, probably enough to warrant making a new one, it's just a few simple folds.
Windscreen wipers off (the only thing holding them on was tension from the springs pressing the blades onto the glass! No nuts on the spindles.... Wiper motor assembly out next and the first "unfamiliar" feature to me - the mounting bobbins - I don't recall them being like that on the 1978 car! Not to worry, it all came out easily enough. Screwed to the underside of the front scuttle were the remains of the two windscreen washer brackets - I may be able to resurrect them now. Unless anyone has spares or is 3D printing this part?
Clutch cable adjuster was treated to WD40 and released easily enough too!
Having got the scuttle cleared of the wipers and release cables and mechanism I could then clear out the years of crud. And amongst all that were several lumps of filler. I know the scuttle panel is going to be an issue...
And that led me to have a go at the inner wings forward of the suspension turrets with a soft wire brush, some degreaser and rags and quick wipe down. I also had a go at the front lower crossmember (I ws worrying about this as I'd noted Mark sells repair sections). I've not done much on the nearside inner around the battery tray as it's covered in primer, I assume that it's had an acid leak at some point. Photo below, all came up beautifully and nothing to give any cause for concern here.
Another few days and I'll be at the point it really needs to be in the garage to strip out the glass!

Sadly the parts wanted list has grown again...

[SanRemo78]

I'm now contemplating the next tasks that can be accomplished on the driveway, all weather dependant! I think I can manage the following:
1. Undo the 6 inner CV joint bolts each side, if I can remove the outer nuts first, and remove the driveshafts.
2. Drain down the brake fluids and remove the callipers, master cylinder and reservoir.
3. Remove the gear linkages that I disconnected today.
4. Remove the instruments, steering wheel, column shroud and stalks.
5. Drop the steering/pedal boxes onto the floorpan.
6. Remove the dashboard and heater box. (this is where I'm going to have to start really documenting stuff with the camera).
7. Remove the door cards and furniture.
8. Remove the wiring loom.
9. Drain and drop the fuel tank and then vent it for 20 minutes with the Alfa before storing it somewhere safe!

I'm not sure about removing the headless engine on the drive. But it may come to that if we get a guaranteed dry day and I can shift the bonnet hinge pins! Suspension and engine subframe, glass, headliner and sunroof will have to wait until it's under cover as will fuel lines and brake pipes.
Guy

[peteracs]

Hi Guy

A few points.

On the bonnet undo the bolts, I found the pins a pain, though the bolts can be. I normally remove the ones attached to the crossmember.

I have a spare bar for the seat

The bobbins are standard from Series 1 for the wiper motor mounts.

Peter