And So It Begins....

[SanRemo78]

Not getting into the garage today... Well, maybe after lunch!

Parcel delivery from Mark with the first order of sundry bits, nothing significant (except the inner CV joint boots). I'm really happy with the speed the order was turned around in and will be making (lots) more purchases in the coming months. I may even want to drop in one day! I wonder if there is an open day in the offing this year?

Back to door cards. I've done a little bit of research and come up with a potential option, a product called Stokbord that is made of recycled plastic and is available in 3mm thickness in sheets 2440x1220 and is (apparently) easily cut or routed. I suspect that the trim could be Sikaflexed to it for a permanent solution. £60 a sheet but the nearest stockist is in Driffield, 112 miles away which will add to the cost. I think one sheet could produce four door cards and two rear side panels. It may even be worthwhile making a plywood jig to produce them? I can't be the only one needing them!

https://www.centriforce.com/product/stokbord-sheet/

Guy

[peteracs]

Hi Guy

Remember I have a couple of Coupe doors and cannot remember about the state of the door cards, but will be visiting site this Friday so can check.

Peter

[SanRemo78]

Thanks Peter, would Friday be a good day to meet you there? I'm tied up the week after with Race Retro from Thursday to Sunday evening. But yes, please check on the state of the door cards (and maybe the drivers door - I found corrosion on it top and bottom yesterday when that door card came off).
Guy

[WestonE]

Hi Guy

You should be OK to Staple to that like the original and bash the top rail stakes into it which is hard to do with plywood. Air staplers are plentiful and so are electric ones if you have no compressor. If you use staples and contact adhesive you do not get the bleed through risk of Sikaflex / no more nails.

Eric

[peteracs]

Hi Guy

I will be with Nigel on Friday and not sure yet how it is going to play out, so suggest not. Also you had other parts on your list which I will not have time to look out before then.

From my point of view, waiting a couple of weeks is not an issue.

Peter

[squiglyzigly]

Evening Guy,
Your comment about someone else needing door panels. I’m in the same position and will have to do something. I haven’t decided what’s the best way to go yet, but I’ve got a while to dither before the interior is priority.

Cheers
Ian

[SanRemo78]

Hi Ian, I've been contemplating this today whilst stripping, cleaning, rust treating and painting the second driveshaft and outer CV joint ready for reassembly on Friday....

I'll contact the makers and see if they have a distributor who can cut a couple of sheets into 48cm panels and post them to me as its a 5 hour round trip to the nearest stockist!
 
Once that's done I think it'll be fairly easy to cut two thicker pieces of plywood to pattern to make a sandwich type jig that, once set up, will take minutes to rout out a plastic panel. I may need to think about the fixing pins for the vertical sides to use a more easily available clip though? Plus there are a lot of holes in the panel that don't appear to be applicable to my car. I'm not sure all would need cutting? Just the alternative one for manual winders? If I do proceed with the project I may need to canvas opinion as to which holes are actually needed!

Watch this space as they say....

Guy

[WestonE]

Hi Guy

Mine were made by a furniture maker talked into it by my body shop. There are round jig holes in those backing panels I think intended to hold material to be cut to the template. Coupe and Spyders have very different rear cards and S1 doors have different fixing holes. Over the years many S1 doors have been used as replacements for S2 damaged items. I got a NOS S1 Coupe door from Italy and converted it to a Spyder Door. I also had to drill extra holes for the VX door cards.

Eric   

[SanRemo78]

A little more progress this week. Spent a few hours on the radiator fan shroud, wire brushed the little paint that was left off it, treated the surface to a coat of rust converter, primer and satin black paint. I put it away before I took a picture sorry!
And then noticed Mark had one powder coated for £20. If I’d seen that earlier I might not have bothered! The fan works but needs an overhaul and clean which I’ll get to next week.

I also picked up a sheet of 3mm fencing plastic. It was rolled up to fit into the Alfa and it retained some of that shape. It’s been cut down into 5 sections 48cm by 122cm and flattened again. Whilst it does cut with a Stanley knife it’s hard going which is encouraging! I need to get some plywood to make a guide pattern/clamp for the sheets to have a go at making a new set of inner cards but it looks very promising. It’ll be a month or so before I can revisit this little project. Watch this space!

Guy

[SanRemo78]

Unfortunately the Lancia Delta fuel cap, despite looking identical to the Beta in shape and mechanism, is slightly smaller than the Beta flap. Still on the lookout for a decent one!

Guy

[SanRemo78]

Today was a major day with a very fruitful trip to Derby and back with the Alfa loaded to the gunnels! And a lot of parts crossed off the needed list as well as some i didn't know I needed.

Neil has had a VX Coupe for sale on eBay and currently has a VX drivetrain sat on a subframe for sale but it's missing the carburettor, and inlet tract to the face of the supercharger which is also missing it's driven cog. Those parts may be in a box somewhere in his garage but I didn't look too hard at them.

I did however come away with a full boot carpet set, a pair of rear lights, a single headlamp assembly and headlamp trim. A boot lock and key (!) that may or may not be the right type. I think I've got a full set of usable door and window seals plus the boot seal and the correct one for the scuttle too. A pair of side repeaters with a chrome base and gaskets with unbroken studs. A VX gearknob and a VX horn push. Then there was a NOS pair of door cards, one in VX trim, two used rear side trims in slightly faded VX trim plus enough material to retrim them to match the retrimmed VX Recaros and rear seats I also bought. So that's my interior pretty much sorted out now. It's going to look spectacular!

Guy

[SanRemo78]

Back from a week's skiing in Austria (in one piece) but not much accomplished this week! I had hoped to remove the handbrake cable but the plan didn't work... The end ferrules are well and truly seized in the callipers. I'll be waiting until it's in the garage as I want to use the hydraulics to start the pistons moving before I take the brakes apart. That should then let me remove the cable from the rear callipers on the bench.

Fuel filler flap is now sorted (pending the arrival of a NOS eBay purchase from Cyprus). I have a Delta one that has the same mechanism but is smaller and may try modifying that with a new cover but no lock hole for a smoother finish. I can either fit a lockable cap to it or an electric solenoid release mechanism and emergency pull cable from an Alfa 164. Wish I'd kept those bits from the last 164 I killed....

This time next week the shell should be safely installed in the garage!

Guy

[SanRemo78]

Can anyone identify this lock? Doesn’t appear to fit my 1979/81 Coupe! If you’ve got a photo of the correct one I’d appreciate it!

[The_Matrix_Master]

Lancia Beta Saloon I believe (Not Spyder,Coupe or HPE)
Also a few being advertised on EBay at the moment as Lancia Prisma boot locks ?
Raised a thread on this before in the body section under "Spyder Boot Lock"
Sorry don't know how to add that link

[WestonE]

Hi Guy

The important thing is you can usually swap the rear section to Coupe Spider etc. This means you re-use the buts from the old lock to end up with key matched new locks. There is a circlip holding the rear bit of metal on and 2 compress to release plastic pegs holding the rear plastic bit.

Enjoy

Eric

[Neil-yaj396]

I don't have a photo but the metal part of the Coupe lock is more like a finger. Even when they fit they are difficult. After changing my lid in 2015 I've never got the lock to work consistently......

[SanRemo78]

Thanks everyone, the bloke I got it from had another NOS one the same and a slightly different one that may be Coupe. After some trawling of the net I now know what to look for, either as a direct replacement or to cannibalise for this lock. Had it been HPE i would have known it despite the passage of 25 years plus!

Cheers!

[SanRemo78]

Big day today. Huge step forward. Stratos2 left for Newcastle and Beta7 is in the garage where teardown can continue. In the dry. After a shelf tidy. Although there is a lot of storage space in the shell….

NEC day out tomorrow when I really want to be in the garage….

Guy

[SanRemo78]

Anyone ever seen a replacement windscreen made by this company?

[SanRemo78]

And the NOS filler flap arrived today. In comparison to the Delta one you can see there’s a difference in shape, not massive but mainly in the curvature on the corners. I may use the Delta one to make an alternative flap with a tighter panel gap and no lock hole and make an electric release mechanism for it.