Kev's workshop projects

[Kegsti66]

Very nice.
I do like that green your Sud is finished in Richard.

[KevJTD]

what a lovely pair!

as shrew says, no rest for the wicked. work started again tonight on robs' imp....

[Spacenut]

Superb

[Alfasixnut]

Nice work Kev - thanks for sharing.

[Bluesuit]

looks like Anglia Car Auctions have a couple of project Alfas in the August Classic car auction that would respond well to your skills Kev!

[KevJTD]

cheers guys, but as shrew rightly says, no time to stand back and relax...

so tonight with an hour or two to spare I popped down to jims' place and started a job i'd been dreading and looking forward to in equal measures for some time..

didn't take very long to chop out the lower front cross-member, very little holding it in anymore!

the extent of the corrosion can be seen by how crumbly it is inside..

the chassis ends i'll repair once the new one is in place, I can use the original mounting plates to help with alignment. o's end will need more repairs especially around the mounting holes

all the rust and crud does make a mess on the floor though!

the front end is about ready to accept the replacement one, once I separate it from the parts I don't need.

i'll aim on getting down to jims a few evenings each week with the aim of making some proper progress, between the integrale and imp though there certainly won't be any time for slacking!

[KevJTD]

as it's a Saturday then that means a ride out to the imp...

drivers side floor and sill about done other than a few details and the rear arch needing fitting.
we needed to check the wider rear wheels would actually go up in the arch being 7" wide over the original 4.5" wide ones, quite a big jump.

rob set to and removed the shock and spring so we could fit a rim and jack it up into the arch, we were both happy to see it rise up just perfectly, missing the outer arch lip by a fingers thickness and plenty of clearance on the inside.

this is about where it will sit I guess once we lower it, there wheel can rise up quite a bit in the arch so shouldn't be too much of a bone shaker

whilst waiting for rob to arrive I set to on the passenger side outer sill, chopping it all away.

central sill was a bit ropey as expected along with the bottom edge so a new bottom section was made up and welded in.
followed by a full height central sill made up complete with slotted vent spaces.
all welded into position

chopped out the rear floor and made up a few repair sections but no pix, we also got a few of those details sorted like the seat belt mounting points etc

good news though was a view of the area where the rear subframe bolts to, i'd suspected that when we take the rear axle beam off it would all turn to dust as the bottom plate has completely disappeared, but looking at it more closely it looks in decent shape....fingers crossed it won't all crumble to dust!

[KevJTD]

the "new" front cross member I got for the integrale has now been separated from the rest of the front end which I don't need, not a job of a moment having to take care not to damage what I still need to use. loads of drilling out spot welds and grinding away the excess.

the rot extends a bit further into the suspension mounting area than I thought it did, but isn't that always the case? which means a bit more cleaning up and re-construction to be done.

had to open out the box section further along than I wanted to just to gain access..

all grot removed and sanded back, has lost a bit of the thickness but the metal i'll repair with is thicker than what's missing so will balance out

I am lucky enough to have also got a front end off an HF turbo, was going to use it but there are details different along where the radiators mount but thankfully it is coming in really handy for making templates for repair sections.

first job was to measure out what I needed to make and then cut out a template in thick paper

could have just transferred this to sheet steel but it needs a great deal of accuracy for the mounting holes, 2 of which need to have alignment pins slid in so I next made it up in plywood so any mistakes could be easily made again without wasting steel.
that went pretty well, transferred nicely over checking for fit to the HF panel and mounting plates, so next step to make it out of some 1.6mm steel. getting the holes in the right place meant plenty of checking and re-checking...

it will fit inside the cross member like this, once I get the captive nuts welded in place. a series of plug welds along with seam welds will make for a strong repair

the plate will then bolt over the lot trapping the cross member between it and the repair section. the suspension tie rods mount to this plate so getting it pretty much in the right place is worth a bit of effort!

[KevJTD]

whilst on the subject of the integrale I have finally got to the bottom of the 8V/16V mystery around my car.

as some of you may remember my car is a 16V car with all the features of one including the chassis number etc relating to one yet it has an 8V engine.
not unusual really for a 27 year old car to have had an engine change in it's life but this is a one owner from new car and the old fella hadn't changed anything, a more trustworthy and genuine owner you'd struggle to meet so when he says that is how it was from new then that's how it is.

so, it must be one of the swiss market Kat cars then. they had everything of a 16V but with an 8V engine.
nope, my car has none of the other things that the Kat cars had....ABS, cat converter/EGR etc...

so I contacted Walkers, the only other owner on the logbook.

they have no records anymore of new car sales from back in the day but they did tell me a story which may have related to my car but again, no history on file to confirm the suspicion



so the last few months I've been left with the dilemma of whether to go to the trouble, expense and hassle of converting back to 16V spec or sticking with what i'd got. not as easy as it sounds to go back to 16V as pretty much everything engine related would be different - wiring, exhaust, cooling system, ecu, fuel rails etc etc the list just goes on and on...


things changed this last Sunday when I called in on the previous owner as it was on my way back from NAD and i'd promised to keep in touch anyway.
it turns out he hadn't actually bought it from Walkers after all but from my local Lancia dealers in Horncastle, of course though they'd long since closed down.
I do know a few people around though and luckily a good friend was mates with a guy who worked there in the timeframe when my car was sold..
so with his contact number in hand tonight I gave him a call, wondering if he'd remember anything of the car.

couldn't believe it but he did remember the car, remembers it being sold when new, remembers the fella who I got it off, even remembers being the one to do stuff like cam-belt changes on it!

more to the point he told me the exact same theory that Walkers had discussed as a possibility was actually the case, before i'd even got chance to mention it!


so, what is the story of my car??



as most rally fans will remember back in the late 80's Walkers rallied an integrale driven by Steve Smith, owner of Walkers.
come the middle of the 89 season the new 16V integrale became for sale on the continent but not yet in the UK.
Walkers wanted to upgrade the rally car to 16V spec but as the engine was a brand new unit the chance of getting an engine on it's own was not only costly but probably not likely as all units built would be destined for new cars..
so they drove over to Germany to collect a new car, drove it home and removed the 16V motor which they converted to group N rally spec and fitted to there car ready for the '90 season
the german 16V (now engine-less car) was then converted to RHD and to make it useable for sale they used the 8V rally engine to get it going again. this car then went into the dealership network for sale at a knock down price....where it ended up at my local Lancia garage and then into the hands of the guy I bought it from....

so my engine, what have I got?
it's a blueprinted motor that Walkers prepped fro group N which then went on to do the Mintex national championship before competing (and finishing I might add) the RAC rally.
the old boy I got it off always insisted it went really well, I just thought it went regularly integrale well, but it seems it has a bit of a special motor

can't wait to try it...

[Kegsti66]

Win ! Win ! Kev.
What a great bit of history. Have you heard the engine run before you stripped the car down ?
Should be a flyer mate.

[KevJTD]

a really great bit of history mate indeed, don't mind it being a mongrel now

had heard it running briefly but all stripped down now for a refresh




meanwhile back to the imp...

as per the other side I welded an angled section to the bottom of the central sill, this would be used to fix the floor repair sections to
a combination of plug welds and spot welds so as not to reply on one particular method

the rear floor section was made up out of decent thick steel, not the easiest to work with but makes for a strong repair.

area alongside the seat mounting was much better this side so only needed a 3"strip putting in

bit of etch primer mixed up and all protected before packing up to meet a mate for a pint, nice end to the afternoons work

[junior]

Great news on finding out the history, and just the history that makes it a special car.

Best look out for photos of it on the RAC rally.

[KevJTD]

seems strange that having watched the RAC that year plus a round or two of the mintex championship and been inspired that one day I may get to own an integrale.....could never have dreamed that the car I would eventually get had the engine from the car I was watching!

ok, not in it's full flush of youth anymore but it will remain with the car as surely a great piece of british rallying history

[KevJTD]

nearing the end of a mixed up week....so back to the integrale front cross member repairs

there is still a bit of room for error in aligning the repair plate due to the size of the holes in the cross member so another little jig was made up from the HF front end that lined itself up against the joint for the main section. a couple of tight fitting bolts lined the 2 sections together and got the plate at the right angle for alignment as per the original

pre drilled holes were plug welded to pull the 2 halves together then the edges seamed to get maximum strength

i'd already welded the nuts to the underside so the inner seam was punched into the corners then welded all round.
the aligning pins on the mounting plate can be seen in place

top side lines up pretty well, hopefully once on the car it will still be in the right place!

other side i'll probably start tomorrow night, the jigs should in theory work for the other side, just reversed around so should be a simpler repair....

[KevJTD]

been too hot in jims greenhouse this week to do anything to the integrale in the evenings, so the imp got some attention

all floors are now done, outer sill on on the n/s

repair section for the lower rear quarter made up out of a section of sill and a bridging piece to join up the the remaining good metal on the 1/4 itself

all welded in, section at the arch will be taken care of when the new outer arches go in

that was Wednesday, this afternoon I made up some front jacking points and welded those in place

next job was to move the rear end off the stands that were under the rear axle beam and onto a large piece of wood across the new floors so I could get at the rot underneath the axle mounts.

all bolts came undone thankfully, helps that I don't have to drill any imperial bolts out and also that the captive nuts have stayed in the correct position despite them almost being in fresh air...

despite my fears its only the bottom section that's disappeared, the side pieces will repair ok which will help greatly with accuracy in making sure the mounting points stay in the correct place...

[KevJTD]

back to the imp this afternoon, no afternoon off on Wednesday so slow progress this week. progress mas a bit slow today too, late start and a visitor meant it was near enough 5pm before anything much got started..

as I got the rear axle off last time then the task for the evening was to start the repairs for the mounting points.

a couple of jigs were made up last time, so with a few more measurements I chopped into the rotten bottom portion. although the base had all but gone the rot had only spread upwards by an inch or so at a few points.
a selection of repair plates to make new folded return edges to allow good welds were knocked up and welded into place, complete with the captive plates for the mounting bolts

with a solid mount in place a repair piece was made up out of heavy gauge steel that finished off the rear floor and also the area where the inner wheel arch will end up at. larger holes are for mounting bolts to go through, smaller ones for plug welds into the previously fitted repair sections

important to ensure the bolt holes line up so that is the first task, make sure the bolts aren't gonna snag

once declared fit for purpose then simply weld up all the plug holes, seam it to the sill and finally get the rear section of the floor welded to the new plate. starting to get some strength back in the little beastie

all ground back and etch primed, handily under the rear seat gets access to the other side of the repairs so that got a good soaking too

the other side will be much easier now I know where to cut and the best way to repair it all. rear arches will be on the agenda then...

[Alfasixnut]

Good progress on both cars Kev!

[Bluesuit]

Kev,

I know this one is finished, (see link below) so probably of no interest to you but as it is super rare to see one in such condition, I thought you might appreciate it (My second car was Mk1 1300 which vaporised when only 5 years old).

http://www.angliacarauctions.co.uk/en/c ... beta-1300/

They also have an Integrale Evo 2 looking for £34K-£38K - so yours should be a good investment when done

cheers

Ian

[Bluesuit]

The Lancia Beta 1300 went for £2750 - peanuts for such a rare car in what seems to be outstanding condition - nice bargain for someone, by contrast the Integrale didn't reach its £34K reserve.

Mind you the 101 series Alfa Spider needing major restoration reached c£31K! and even the 101 series Giulietta Sprint went for £2730 and that was so bad that the back of the car aft of the rear axle was missing!

[KevJTD]

imp is still making progress, had some more rot to sort out under the back seat and around the rear spring pans but all sorted now

this afternoon the n/s/r arch got chopped out and a new on fitted

held in place by the cleco pins

underside edge was a bit crusty so that was cleaned up beforehand which left a nice crisp edge to weld to the arch.

once all ground back a skim of fibre-glass filler to help waterproof the welds was added

some more tidying to do to cap in the sill end then make up a new outer lower rear quarter to go with the inner one already done..

[KevJTD]

lower rear 1/4 panel was not much more than fresh air inside and out so had to be re-created in a few pieces

all solid now, a skim or two and it'll look decent again.

[Johnboy]

Great work as always kev

[KevJTD]

o/s/r 1/4 panel had quite a few dents in it, some of which I got out to a reasonable effect but no access behind it made getting them anything like very difficult. plus it had a knock at the top in a strong area and a lot of rot along the bottom

as we had a half decent used rear 1/4 with no dents and a lot less rust at the bottom it made sense to chop it all off..

unfortunately although it allowed better access to repair the inner 1/4 panel and battery tray area it also revealed a whole lot of metal missing under the C pillar where water had been getting in, ho hum

[KevJTD]

as it seems there was a bit more work to do high up then I changed tack and set about having a look at the area i'd been putting off, the rear window area

a fair amount of rust, well what was left was rusted! most of the interior box section where the window fastener goes has long since disappeared

first task was to chop off the bottom lip, this part sits in the engine bay. have to start somewhere to get solid metal to work from!

[KevJTD]

this afternoon I planned on getting stuff ready to take to the place near me that has a better folder, mine only does a length just over 2 foot long.

as luck would have it a visit to johns unit on the same site as mine to have a look at his 205 (great paint job....) I spotted a proper folder in the corner that i' not noticed before..

so I grabbed a section, did some measuring and made up the gutter channel for the boot area which would also stretch up and join to the rear scuttle panel

rot chopped out ready

spot welded to the bottom flange so there is no danger of leaks where the water will eventually run, seam welded to the scuttle

getting some strength back, but still a few gaps to fill

[Johnboy]

Wow that's a lot of work too Kev

[Kegsti66]

You are un-faze-able Kev.
That Imp makes a Sud look like a walk in the park mate.

[KevJTD]

is pretty rotten I must say, about the worst I've done so far probably...

trouble is once in this far there's no option but to carry on. if I stop now it's only worth scrap value, about £50 at todays prices!! lol

[Johnboy]

Respect chap

[junior]

Yes, very brave to take that task on. I feel disheartened just looking at the before photo's.