And So It Begins....

[SanRemo78]

Empty windscreen aperture this afternoon after a few hours careful working with a Stanley knife…. A Draper tool I bought yesterday at the NEC wasn’t needed. It would have broken the screen which is out in one piece. I’ll put it on the shelf for emergency use as there’s a little delaminating in the top left corner.

The screen surround is going to need some metal letting in. Probably a scuttle panel, maybe most if the perimeter of the screen. We’ll know once it’s been stripped fully.

[SanRemo78]

And at close of play today all the glass remaining is the rear screen which has been relieved of it’s stainless steel trim. A few hours cutting with a Stanley knife later this week should see it out. It’s the original rear screen, evidenced by the copper heating/curing wire still being in place.
Guy

[Neil-yaj396]

That screen aperture doesn't look bad in the scheme of things Guy. The smallish hole in the bottom right hand corner often develops into a large hole in the scuttle panel itself.....

[SanRemo78]

There's a lot of filler around the screen Neil, there are multiple holes and a few splits along the bottom and up the sides. There is also corrosion above the screen. It looks like it's been tackled previously with red oxide paint and crossed fingers. I'm not overly concerned by it, there's good steel nearby and repair panels available. I'll find out how bad it is in due course! At the end of the day it's a 40 year old Beta, when was the last time one of these cars (in the UK) didn't need a little attention to the metal!

[peteracs]

Hi Guy

Depending on your timing, there may be some sections of the HPE screen surround left which you could use, but will be a little while until my guy gets started on it.

Peter

[SanRemo78]

That's very kind Peter - if there's anything left of it it may be easier to take the whole surround and use it for patch repairs where needed - assuming it's in a better state than what I have!
Guy

[peteracs]

Hi Guy

As with most surrounds there are bad areas on both the HPE and Coupe, but luckily not the same spot. I would think there would be some decent sections left which you can use for repairs.

Peter

[SanRemo78]

Apologies for my misunderstanding Peter - the early HPE take precedence and anything left over is appreciated!

Cheers
Guy

[SanRemo78]

20 minutes to remove the rear screen in one piece - that was easier than I thought it would be. Just the plastic trim on the inside to get off safely now and then I can move onto the next step, whatever that might be!

[SanRemo78]

Not much progress this last week, dental procedures and an opticians visit plus the usual household jobs have got in the way.

Anyhoo - the car is on axle stands so I could drop the callipers off the axles, fit some wooden blocks and pump the brake pedal to push to pistons out, all moved out easily enough so can be stripped and rebuilt with new seals. The shell now and devoid of it's rear callipers, handbrake cable, handbrake lever and lower cover, all came off without any seized fixings. The front ones will probably come off tomorrow. The fluid in the system is slowly draining into suitable containers. The exhaust heat shield was less of a success with one or the three fixing bolts shearing. The remains will have to be drilled out and retapped. Not too much of an issue I hope!

Bonnet hinges... The score today is tool 1:hinges1. The offside pin came out after the application of a little heat from a paint stripper gun, releasing fluid and pressure from the tool. The nearside hinge was given the same treatment but it's still stuck. A slight redesign of the tool and some tougher threaded bar might be the next step.

I've made contact with Envirostrip in Tamworth and had quotes to strip the shell of paint/sealant/filler and e-coat it once repaired. Expensive but essential for the car to make the next 40 years. They have a 6 week lead time but I've decided not to set a date until the shell is fully stripped. There'll be plenty to do between placing an order and the shell being returned on the mechanical side of things.

The parts list has shrunk a little more after a visit to see Neil in Derby again. I now have a full set of VX Bronzo glass but the seal for the front screen was cut when removing it and is only good for storage. I'm not sure about using it now as the rubber trimmed screens don't look as good as the standard bonded ones. So I may still be looking for 2 clear glass pieces for the passenger door with mirror holes.

I also have a trip on Saturday to meet up with a LMC friend I almost bought a Y10 from, he's got some parts he's donating to the cause and anything I don't need will be made available to fellow Beta owners or dropped off with Mark who can decide to save/scrap as he sees fit!

Guy

[SanRemo78]

I managed to get half a day in the garage today.
All four brake callipers detached and fluid drained from the system. A little ended up on the garage floor but easily cleaned up.
Then the four calliper carriers came off, except for one bolt that seems to be fouling a rear transverse arm. I'll get that later.
Had another go at the bonnet, moved the car to the front of the garage so I could lean the bonnet against the wall safely. That allowed me to get the impact driver square on. Two bolts came off cleanly but the third one required a few cycles of heat, release fluid and scraping and not a little violence before it submitted. And then the bonnet was off!
Thirty minutes later....

[WestonTB]

Amazing progress Guy, just notched up 700 miles driving locally in the Hawk, now time to drive the Beta again! I think your hard work will pay off sooner rather than later at this rate! Keep up the good work

[SanRemo78]

Great mileage in early days Tim! If you're out in the Hawk you have a destination here where the kettle is always hot and Jacob can give me some pointers!

[SanRemo78]

A long day today, on the road at 6.30 and home at 3.00 with a van full of bits and pieces. Some duplicates now and a few more missing pieces sourced. I now no longer need the engine/exhaust clamp or the cam belt tensioner spring and special bolt! The haul also included two sets of front stub axles, four driveshafts with CV joints and a pair of rear stub axles with the anti roll bar etc etc. A lot of the stuff is quite corroded but should come back to life after shot blasting and powder coating. There are some brake callipers and carriers if anyone wants a spare set? Some gold for me in the plastic top for the jack and some bracketry I'm not 100% sure about - probably the mounts for the jack I think. I got a pair of silver door handles, a boot lock and a very rusty petrol flap with a lock. Missing is the glovebox lock that might yield a key number on the back but that may be in Kev's loft and he's going to dig that out sometime. There was also a plug in rechargeable torch (bound to be dead) and a couple of sets of airhorns. Countless bits of rubber bungs and plastic clips but all the X variety (so far) are the large type for side trims, not the ones for the rear stainless trim. oooh - and a 99% straight front bumper with excellent rubber. It's all be put away in the garage but a gearbox will have to go live in the shed for a while.

Body panels, there's a pair of front wings, a front valance and a pair of rear wings. Nothing pristine and the rear ones may only yield cuts for repairing other panels. One front wing is fairly heavily corroded and the other shows tears to the top front in the steel. That one may repair okay or provide me with a bottom offset to repair mine if it is a lacey as I suspect! The valance is heavily dented. I'll post pictures of these items tomorrow or Monday in case anyone wants to give them a home. I'm going to try to get them under cover but I'm just about out of space now!

There's an offside HPE mirror with a broken corner too, no good to me!

I haven't put much in the scrap pile yet - just brake discs, rear top mounts and springs plus a steering column upper that's not got a key and has a lot of rust on the shafts.

If anyone needs anything please shout!

Guy

[peteracs]

Hi Guy

Not a trivial trip the Kevin from your place. From looking at the photos I would be interested in a pair of the rubber boots which attach to the inner wings and go over the rack arms if you have spares?

Peter

[SanRemo78]

There are three of them Peter, I haven't checked but with my luck that means I'll have three left ones.... Of course you can have a pair, it's not something I was looking for on my car.

Guy

[peteracs]

Hi Guy

Most likely the same side. I mainly need one side, will double check which one is all mangled

Thanks

Peter

[peteracs]

Hi

The one I need is below. It has a flap to the lower right which is missing on this one and has a small protrusion inboard of the flap.

Peter

[SanRemo78]

Looks like I have two right and one left spare Peter. You’re welcome to a pair!
Guy

[peteracs]

Hi Guy

Thanks, that looks a whole lot better than the two mangled ones I have!

Peter