And So It Begins....

[SanRemo78]

Got over to see progress this morning and it's looking good. As expected the engine bay is done including the scuttle area and the interior, boot and underside are also finished I think. No lacquer on the inside yet and I'm not sure if they're doing that. The colour looks exactly what I wanted. Hope to get the car back at the end of the month!
Guy

[SanRemo78]

And inside..

[WestonE]

Happy Days! Take the time to feel satisfaction!

[Nigel]

What a lovely job Guy. love the colour too.

Although it doesn't get in the way, you could have removed the redundant clutch
cable bracket. Perhaps you wanted to keep some originality.

Looking forward to the build.

Nigel

[SanRemo78]

Never even gave it a moments thought Nigel! It's not like I need to save weight with this build but yes, I'm looking forward to the build stage too. Whilst there are lots of parts ready to go back on immediately the engine and box still need doing, plus radiators and wiring loom and headlining.... I'm not going to rush it. Might be nice to have it ready for the NEC show in November? I'm sure that there will be a load of parts I'll end up waiting on that aren't on the shelves yet (exhaust for example). If I had been fully retired and able to work on it 7 days a week then it might have been a simple assembly job from February but that's not the case. I lose a couple of hours a day with work and a week a month away from home with Hawk Cars. Not that I begrudge that at all, far from it!

Guy

[SanRemo78]

In addition to the steering and suspension I'm going to put back on the car so it can come home on it's wheels later this month/early next month I want to attach the bumpers to the car. Just in case. Any/all protection wanted!

When I bought the car it didn't have any bumpers but over the last 2 years I've managed to acquire a few and two of them are perfectly straight and undamaged so they're the ones going on the car. But I have questions:-

1. What should the finish be on the brackets front and rear? Just plated or painted? They're in the box for this weeks trip to the platers right now.
2. The rear brackets are fitted to the body via studs poking through the rear valance. The Beta Bible I have doesn't show anything between the bracket and the body to protect the paint. Should there be anything? I'm contemplating adding a very thin rubber gasket - something like a section from a bicycle inner tube.

Cheers
Guy

[WestonE]

Hi Guy,

The bracket were Gold Passivate as you still see from the Italian Sellers on eBay selling new ones. I have never seen factory paint protection, but thin self adhesive closed cell foam would do no harm IMHO.

Eric

[SanRemo78]

Thanks Eric - I didn't think to check eBay, I thought these parts would be NLA! That said, mine will be cheaper to have replated rather the replaced looking at the prices there. I think I'll stick with thin rubber rather than closed cell. I'll also use some Nylocs in this instance to make sure it can't rattle loose.
Guy

[SanRemo78]

Errrrm - not sure if I have a problem or not with the front struts. The components of the assembled strut, from top to bottom is the top plate, bearing, spring carrier, rubber, spring, rubber and strut, all held together with the nut on the top.

Looking at the left one you can see that when the top plate is bolted to the chassis the strut will point down and towards the front of the car.
Looking at the right one you can see that when the top plate is bolted to the chassis the strut will point down but towards the rear of the car.

I expected to see the struts exhibiting some inbuilt castor angle which the left one does but not the right one. I have looked at the Beta Bible but not found any reference to there being different part numbers for the left and right spring carriers which are the parts that would induce a bit of natural castor.

Obviously when the lower hub/driveshaft carrier is attached to the strut and then the bottom wishbone there will be an element of give in the rubber in the top plate to pull it into line but am I missing something here? Is there in fact a right side upper spring carrier that has an inbuilt castor angle like the left one? (and if so, where can I get one!)

Two photographs attached, one showing the orientation when installed on the car and the other both angled for the left side so you can see the  angles on the top plates are the same.

Cheers
Guy

Further, I've got three top spring carriers, two that came with the car, one that Peter kindly supplied when one of mine was deemed too corroded to use. All appear to have the same angle on the carrier.

[lancialulu]

Like the bucket of wire wheels!

Seriously isn't geometry defined by the bottom elements of the suspension?

[SanRemo78]

Of course it is Tim, my concern is that the left side, on the bench looks right, the strut having an angle that matches the castor angle whereas the right one looks like it's got to be pulled into position which I think it'll do but if that strains something that shouldn't be strained I'd wonder why. How come Lancia didn't have a spring pan for the right side that leaves the strut facing forward? I'll wait and see how it all goes together in a couple of weeks unless someone else can identify an issue with the assembly!

[WestonE]

Perhaps some rotation of the strut assembly?

[SanRemo78]

I tried that but the spring seats preclude any other orientation. I'll see what it looks/feels like when I put them on the car. Visited on Friday to be told that the opening panels had all been hung and gaps were great, all removed and either painted or ready for top coats which will happen this week followed by a lot of flatting and polishing to perfection. The car comes back with dire threats to avoid scratching it.... Hopefully at the end of this month! Just need to find covered transport now.

Guy

[squiglyzigly]

I don’t have an explanation for your mis-seated springs but a few questions that may be worth looking into. Are the springs Original Lancia springs or aftermarket lowered that aren’t formed very well? Or if they are original is it possible that someone has cut a bit off to lower it?
If you see my original Berlina strut assembly the start and finish point for the coils are almost in line whereas yours appear to be 180 degrees apart. Maybe this is just down to different springs fitted on different models but if someone on the forum can take a peak under their coupe they can confirm if the springs start and finish like yours or like mine.

Hope this helps
Ian

[SanRemo78]

Thanks Ian, definitely the original springs and neither is cut down. I will have another look at them and maybe disassemble the offside one and turn the ring upside down just in case that makes a difference! My thought was that the lower half of the upper mount differed from side to side but that doesn't appear to be the case. I'll report back with findings in due course.
Guy

[SanRemo78]

Well the springs will have to wait until tomorrow. Last week I had a low rise lift delivered to help with the rebuild and general maintenance, I really missed the 4 post I used to have in the last garage but that's not a possibility for this place, the roof is so much lower. I won't be able to use it to it's fullest rise and will have to modify the rise-stop switch to suit so it can't get too high. It was an eBay purchase of an ex-display showroom model but the seller cancelled the sale and offered a brand new one for the same price with a full guarantee. It was dropped off just inside the garage but was easy enough to get off the pallet with a trolley jack and a bit of careful thought. It needs a 13amp plug fitting, there are two hydraulic lines and four electrical connections. It raised first press of the switch. and stayed there. It would not come down. A quick message to the seller and a phone call ensued - there is a safety valve that controls descent speed that is shut and needed opening until you're happy with the speed it drops. Glacial for me is safest! Now I just need something to put on it. Should make reassembly easier and, most importantly for me, no more lifting engines out of the engine bay, it can go in on the subframe nice and safely!

[WestonE]

Great minds think a like! I have been working my way to a high rise scissor lift that is recessed in the floor when not in use. I will have to adjust the limit switch as well. Note sometimes they have to go up a bit more to release a safety lock. You do not want to find out about this with the car on the lift or your beautiful roof will be modified. So far I have the low profile ceiling lights, power run and roller shutters in place of sectional doors so no door structure getting in the way.
Unfortunately my concrete floor needs real building work to get much further and the money has been reallocated to Solar and battery storage in place by Spring.

I rejected 1 or 2 post lifts because there are chunks of large metal in the way when you are not using them so they would make my garage less versatile.

Eric 

[SanRemo78]

I've already noted that the lift does raise slightly before it starts descending and I know that I'll have to factor that in when work out the final lift height. Obviously it has to co-incide with one of the various locking catches but there's enough of them to give me options for both the Beta and the Stratos replica. The Stratos has a flat floor so won't need more than a sliver of rubber pad whereas the Beta will need careful checking to decide on pad heights.

[SanRemo78]

It's getting close to coming home. I dropped in at the paint shop to be greeted by a grinning boss. The colour and lacquer is on and the final flatting and polishing process has started. I'd take it as is but the boss won't let it go out until he's 100% happy with the result. An appointment has been made for me to start suspension assembly on Monday so it's looking like I need to find a transport company with a covered trailed for next week!

[SanRemo78]

There was a hiccup this morning though. I was doing final assembly of the front stub axles and had torqued down the locking, the Delta hubs that I'd had machined to remove the wheel locator that's on the Beta disc were already in place so last job was to fit the disc. It didn't. The Beta hub is 116mm and the Delta 117mm. Luckily I found a machinist who will resolve the issue for Monday.