Classic Alfa Forums

Nice one Kev.
Great to get it running.
I am a firm believer that you can not put too much wax on first. Wipe off what squidges out, the rest is where it needs to be to protect the unseen areas.

met rich for some refurbished parts last night so this afternoon the plan was to make some decent progress....a later than planned start didn't bode well.

radiator was my first task, how hard could it be to fit it and plumb in? turns out harder than I thought!
there was hardly any room to fit it in let alone get at the mounting bolts
alternator had to be removed which allowed just enough space, a few more tweaks and it is now where it needs to be.

once I'd sorted out the hoses, and which ones I still need to find it was time to move onto something else.

as the rear bumper has been nicely cleaned up and brought back I fitted it to the car along with the nicely cleaned number plate lights
original spec rear number plate is a great touch, no web address or anything, looks perfect on the car
the edge trim on the bootlid was then cleaned up and fitted back on with loads of waxoyl behind the metal fittings, most likely to ooze out a bit in the summer but better than having none in the and causing corrosion..
the last boot seal I'd ordered was too thin so I got a bigger one, seems a tad too big at the moment but it may well ease up a little and allow the latch to be tightened back down to pull the edge back into line

whilst in the mood for making the outside look pretty I sorted the final front wing stainless trims out
I'd been waiting to be able to fit the side repeater indicators as this has some bearing on where the trims go, issue being that the mounting lugs for the indicators had broken off. did consider using double sided 3M tape to hold them on but they are usually held in place by lugs on the orange lens, which then traps the seal and bulb holder section so wouldn't have worked.
with a bit of fettling they are now on using self tapping screws into the lens from behind the wings, nice and firm location and can be removed if needed
new bulb holders and bulbs completed the job
the observant will notice now that the bonnet is on, rich and myself fitted it last night as it's not really a one person job to lift on. needs a little bit more fettling but is very near a decent fit now
the rear is also now jacked up ready to fit the exhaust system......until I found the front pipe wasn't anywhere near as good as I thought. there is a new middle & rear box to fit but without the front pipe there's bno point starting to put parts on. I'll repair the section for now, if a new one becomes available then a simple swap out can be done

a return spring for the clutch fork was another little job I'd missed out, bit tight for space to get at it now everything is getting back in but it's done.
a few more little tasks done then that's it for another afternoon.
the end is in sight, list of jobs is actually getting trimmed down now so every chance that the fulvia will be out sooner rather than later

best of all though I successfully took a flask of tea and got 2 cups out of it without a disaster
3 weeks of trying finally cam good

I am really looking forward to seeing the little Lancia Kev.
I know i keep saying it, but I think you have done a fantastic job on this project.
Top work.

keep saying it mate, keeps me going on the long slog

i'm sure Richard will be bringing it out as much as possible this year so should be plenty of opportunities to have a look over it mate

Its certainly looking good Keith.. A credit to Kev's skills..

some more bits done, hand-brake shoes adjusted up along with cable, has a hand-brake now that's perfect, credit to Richard for stripping and greasing the shoe mechanisms inside the rear discs

rear axle all buttoned up now, shocks and panhard rode in place, spring hangers settled into position and split pins back in place

brake compensator fitted and adjusted to what appears right according to the workshop manual...

subframe rear cradle support bracket fitted

new exhaust front pipe was sourced after the original one we were gonna use was just not worth mending, so that has now gone on along with the new middle and rear sections

wiring for the rad fan and switch sorted.....was going to fill the cooling system as the fan switch also arrived....but then I didn't take a big enough socket or spanner with me to tighten it up, doh!

oil drained and refilled with new

gearlever and gaiters fitted, once i'd remembered the correct order for the retaining clips

I did plan on using my front seats from the 2000 to enable it to be driven but the bolt pattern is surprisingly way different despite a lot of similarities between the two cars, drivers one is in enough to be useful for driving but not for an mot....which we aren't far away from being ready for..

got a bit of sorting of brake pipes to do then it can come off the stands ready to be moved down to my mate jims as a new arrival is due on Saturday

initial warm up, first time full of fluids, choke on and carbs way out of tune

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McDCzSSD6Qg

getting better, bit of a fiddle and got it idling nicely enough

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KMVlyOwo9w

starts nicely on the key without needing any throttle, ticks over smoothly enough, bit of rocking from the engine as still got a stabiliser bar to fit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzxetxwPGo8

Absolutely brilliant Kev.. Top work, even the kids were glued to the clips of the engine running whilst having breakfast ..

You can't beat a nice couple of carbs breathing away.. Sounds lovely!

dusty, but ready to face the outside world
awaiting shrew for a ride on his trailer, my 2000 berlina wondering when it's its' turn
it's now safely tucked away at my mate jims' place, where I have my integrale, where i'll finish it off over the next few weeks

It looks great, sounds great, can't believe how skinny it looked though...

Much purer than modern, bloated cars.

Indeed, no crumple or side impact zones there!

no progress on the fulvia this week...been busy on an alfa for a change!

just to show there's no Lancia favouritism going on

details here for those interested

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=476

managed to get down to jims place yesterday afternoon for a few hours, and again this afternoon.

at long last all the door seals are fitted up, never seen so many on car doors before, I took some time remembering where they all went!
sorted a few more trivial parts out, engine mounting stabiliser, finally getting the rad fan wiring sorted which still needs a new relay as the cars one is duff.
the alternator wasn't charging despite it being reconditioned, turned out that the separate voltage regulator wasn't playing ball. I had one in the shed which with a little alteration to the terminals works just fine, relieved to say that as a duff reconditioned item isn't any good to anyone

the bonnet stainless trim got a thorough clean. it also needed 3 new brackets making as they had sheared off months ago when it got taken off.
whilst under the bonnet the damper got fitted, bonnet raises as light as a feather now.
also fitted a pair of bonnet stops to align the corners up nicely

I gave the inside a bit of a clean out today too, long overdue. the dust and grime from the welding and spraying had gotten everywhere

came up ok though
steering column has also now been changed for the right one after the key saga, long story!
the wood rimmed one suits the era better than the black one, if I'd have remembered to take a suitable socket I'd have been able to fit the lovely centre horn push and Lancia shield

once the inside was cleaned out it only seemed right that the dust should come off the outside, a wax polish soon brought it back up to spec again

the windows got a much needed clean up too, car is finally starting to look the part

Lovely.

Great progress

seeing as the Fulvia is all but done and the thread title is for my workshop projects I'll start on with the latest arrival...my lad Robs' Imp

Fulvia updates will come along as and when...


we'd taken the car up to the unit last weekend and as my time is now split between the Imp and integrale progress will be a little slower

Rob will be helping when he can, he works Saturdays so will come up when he gets finished, I will be up there a bit earlier to get on with things

as the car is perched up on the stands and the floors/sills are pretty poor I decided that getting those sorted first off would be best to try and get some strength back into it

drivers side first, is a bit worse than the passenger side by the looks of it but once the rot is chopped out I guess they will be similar amounts of repairs needed

anyway, with most of the outer sill removed along with the useless bottom lip it wasn't long before solid metal was reached
it is a slightly strange arrangement at the sill to floor join, quite a deep flange which leaves a gap between the inner sill and floor section

first task was to weld into place a new length of steel which would make up the basis of the sill flange
with a guide edge to now work off a repair section for the rear half was made up complete with oval cut outs to allow the sections to breathe and the paint/waxoyl to be reached into all the sections

this was spot welded to the previously fitted new flange then mig welded to the top inside the sill cavity, plus a few extra mig tacks behind the bottom edge for good measure
the rear box section will be made up at a later date once the subframe is removed so we can see what goes where, fresh air isn't a good guide!

the forward half didn't need such a deep plate making up, the original centre sill is still strong at the forward end and was already migged to the new flange. a further repair patch was only really needed to create the lower down bottom edge

as before it was spot welded in place before attempting to mig the rest....I say attempting as my welder woes continued when I ran out of gas! I blame Keith fate tempter that you are mate

not too bad really though, I've done the fulvia and Tims' sprint on the one bottle so much more better value than the disposable ones. i'll collect a refill when I go to the integrale on Wednesday

Rob managed to get a good few parts off the car too, he's brought home a boot full of goodies to clean up and paint or polish.

all in all not too bad a first afternoon on the little Imp. just hope I've bought enough steel....

KevJTD wrote: it was spot welded in place before attempting to mig the rest....I say attempting as my welder woes continued when I ran out of gas! I blame Keith fate tempter that you are mate Rob managed to get a good few parts off the car too, he's brought home a boot full of goodies to clean up and paint or polish.

all in all not too bad a first afternoon on the little Imp. just hope I've bought enough steel....

Sorry mate, but you knew it would happen
Like you said though, you have done a lot of jobs and they have included a huge amount of welding.

You two have made a good start on her (has she got a name yet?) and good to see Rob enjoys the involvement as well.

Great work as always Kev

The same thing happened to me when I was doing my epic engine and transmission repositioning saga in 2011 - first the welder relay contacts fused together, necessitating replacement, then the wire ran out, which I had to carry home from work (heavy) and then the gas finally ran out! As I didn't have the car on the road, I had to get BOC to deliver a replacement (££££££s). At least its good for a few more years of occasional twiddling now!

Lauren

PS - I tried to think of suitable imp names, but I kept coming back to Tinkerbell, who was a fairy But then I remembered Shakespeare's Puck (from A Midsummer Night's Dream), which was to be the name of the satellite launched by Black Arrow in 1971, but was changed to Prospero when it was announced that the project was cancelled. Interestingly Puck also goes by the name of Rob(in Goodfellow), at least according to Wikipedia!!!

cheers guys.

no names yet, not given it much thought, don't know if Rob has. seem to recall the Mrs named it something....not sure if it was anything positive now from memory!

nice to hear your train of thought on it Lauren

and to hear that it's not just me that falls foul of equipment malfunctions!

had an afternoon up at the unit again today tackling the rusty spots on the Imp, and the fresh air parts!

with a fresh bottle of welding gas the central sill section got welded up fully.

time then to figure out the best way to attach the new floor sections.
as a lot of them would be made up in longer sections than would go in my metal folder and wanting to keep a straight edge for when the outer sill goes on I decided to use an already folded edge of the thick steel that I bought for this such a job. that will allow for the floor sections to be made up to overlap this piece instead of having to have a fold made

I then made up a drivers floor section up once I'd cut it back to solid metal, which thankfully is pretty decent once away from what's already gone

next step was to make up another plate for the wheel arch bottom portion where the new floor section could be attached to

then button up the rest of the inner sill section and that corner is almost done. just a bit of lower wing to make up when the outer sill goes on plus a jacking point of some sort to make and fit
underside seam welded, inside the car just done in smaller sections so I can blow some primer under the overlapped sections
under the pedals, still making sure full throttle can be achieved, as checked by Rob
lower wheel arch repair
I chiselled off some of the thick underseal that's been plastered inside the wheel arches, ugly stuff but appears to have done a great job in preserving the parts that had at least not let the damp in, this will hopefully be repeated in the other arches so that we can make it look decent and in paint colour
got some etch primer on the new metal after a grind over, it'll get seam sealed once I have enough done to go at.

next time should just about see the drivers side floor finished off all the way to the rear subframe area....

Cracking pace mate.
That looks nice and solid again.

Rob is busy taking everything else off the car whilst I'm grinding away, although with him working Saturdays he doesn't arrive until after 5PM but does turn up with some chips
He's got the passenger side door glass and rear side glass out, stripped all the wiring and cables from the engine bay, hoping he remembers where stuff goes....

on my lonesome today, rob was off doing something else, don't know what.....suspect some distractions are afoot

anyway, chopped out the rear floor on the drivers side and made up a little flange return for under the rear seat to link up with the floor, it had long since split away with rust
was going to fill in the rest of the floor from the back of the rear to under the drivers seat then another plate for in between but decided one large one would do.
had to take off the inspection plate that covers the gear linkage and brake cables as the rot had gone under it, one mounting hole being overlapped
as before, seam welded all along the underside and stitched in above so I could get some paint between the overlapped sections
bit of a late finish but mixed up some etch primer to protect it until next time, still got the drivers seat reinforcements and mountings to redo
the little imp has always had a bit of a droopy drivers door which tonight I found out why, the top of the A pillar has rotted away

nothing for it but to remove the wing and chop out the 'screen scuttle and make some repairs. that's for next time...

been extra busy elsewhere of late so hadn't got anything much done on the little imp.

did get up there yesterday evening for an hour or two.

as I eluded to last time, the drivers A pillar had suspected to be rusted inside, the wing was being forced back onto the door leading edge and corrosion could be spotted from inside the car up in the depths of the pillar

whilst rob wasn't around to stop me I chopped a big hole in the windscreen scuttle panel to have a look inside,..
the top part of the box section above the door hinge mounting bolts had completely disintegrated and looking further down the depths it didn't look any more promising so nothing for it but to take the wing off.
now on suds it's a simple matter of undoing a selection of bolts, the imp unfortunately has a spot welded on wing plus brazed sections around the light openings.

also the door needs to come off but with 8 cross head screws holding the hinges on it didn't look good, 40+ years without moving and no purchase gave me little hope. of course with the hole i'd made I was at least able to get some release spray oil onto the threads, so with the aid of an impact driver they all came out nicely! thought i'd have to drill out more than one of them

with the wing off we plan to fill in the void with some thick new steel, that should keep the body line between the door and wing at least a constant gap
it's not nearly as bad as it looks. after a brush up and a poke around most of the remaining metal is solid enough to keep, just a bit of repair work to the wheel arch lip where the wing will need to go back on to.

the wing itself will need quite a bit of repair work if we can't find a new or at least a better one....rob's starting to find the backwards steps a bit trying I think, but I keep telling him - there's no point in not doing this work while we're at it.


been to a local steam engine/classic vehicle show today and a lady there from a local classic car club was talking to the Mrs......robs car is needed for next years show apparently...

had a visitor or two to the unit Saturday, Richard bringing a car load of fulvia parts and shrew coming to collect a pile of tyres off me, but as ever there was something he had that I needed.....once I found out I needed them of course! no, only joking. these were very much needed.
it was robs' 18th on Sunday so a bit of a treat for him. he's been wanting to get some minilites for the imp for some time but he's very tight with his cash...can't think where he gets it from


these will go on the back of the imp, 7 x 13 with a nice wide deep dish which will be polished. the spokes will either be done body colour or maybe a grey/anthracite which rob seems to prefer.
fronts will get some 6 x 13's as the 7's are just too wide for me. shrew though would rather fit them and make the body to suit
by the time all the comings and goings were over with it was gone 5pm, so pack up and go home ro do some work?

as the A pillar was giving some grief and rob I think was worried about the droopy door I thought i'd better get it sorted.
so with a few reinforcing plates cut and welded in the door finally hangs nice.

the screen scuttle section i'd cut out to gain access went back on with a few little repair plates
the door gap is nice now whereas before it fouled the wing and scuttle when opening and closing.
I have cut the bottom inch or so off the scuttle as it had some corrosion, i'll make a new section to suit once the wing is going back on to make sure the lines are decent

Great progress Kev, and the wheels will suit the car a treat.
Top work.

Rich has been busy beavering away cleaning up parts and getting the remaining bits ready for fitting back to the Fulvia, this week I've taken a few hours out to get things near to the finish line.

First job was to fit the servo and brake master cylinder as access to the pedals is needed to connect it all back in, then the new set of seats went in.

These are some really nice soft and comfy ones, really in keeping with the car. Match the door cards pretty decent too despite them not being the original set to the car.
The rear badges had been nicely cleaned up and colour coded so they went on to complete the rear view
The wiring to the rad fan and a few other pieces needed tidying up so whilst I had access through the front panel that got done.

Front bumper went on next, followed by figuring out how to attach the front indicators back in place as the mounts had sheared when they were removed, plus new earth wires needed making up as they were originally on the seized mounts.

Headlights next in line which Rich had taken the trouble to strip down and fit new bulbs etc. As this was another item I'd not removed it took a moment or two to figure things out. The drivers side main beam light actually has a cut-out in the back to clear the radiator, very tight for space. Things followed on smoothly until coming to the passenger main beam light which looks to have been a drivers one at some point, or a combination of both. Certain features fitted the handed alignment holes but the adjusters and mounting holes didn't. A bit of stripping and fettling and they were all on.
All 4 lit up nicely, I'll leave the covers off until the MoT is done so they can be fine tuned for alignment.