Classic Alfa Forums

Kind words all, I know exactly where you're coming from John re the quirky Lancia stuff.
Even today when you enquire about anything Lancia people always have that "it's an oddball" look about them, fear of the unknown.
I'd rather fix a Lancia than drive a Ford...or fix a Ford!

I'm including Suds in the 'quirky' catagory too !

Studs finally sorted for the sump to block joint. Had to cut them a little bit shorter as they were bottoming out but all done in the end and threadlocked into place. 2 bolts were actually countersunk so left those as they were.


Had to make a little cut-out for the stud at the bottom belt cover though


It's taken a lot longer to sort out than I hoped but at least it's now done and should be leak free...


Happy with that I got the bottom sump plate to fit it then noticed the gasket for it was wrong, two steps forward one step back again....

Thankfully the mounting bracket could now be fitted at the cambelt end after the stud repairs.
With the larger diameter stud the plastic cambelt cover needed a little tweak but nothing to worry about.

Then as per usual I notice, where's the cover for the bottom half between the water pump and crank pulley?

I really can't recall taking one off but there are marks where one has been. A search online to see what it looks like brings no thoughts of seeing it, guess it probably never got replaced at some point on a belt change...something else to try and find, two steps forward one step back...

Got the thermostat, distributor and other assorted items fitted though so it's getting close to being ready to come off the stand and get back onto the gearbox...

Did though come up with a solution to trying to get the car jacked higher.

Was gonna borrow one of Jims' high lift trolley jacks but fancied making a better solution, something I could use again.

A few bits of spare box section was welded together, remove the jack pad from the trolley jack and bolt the extension to it with a towbar bolt, nice and secure.
The jack pad can then go back on top of the extension, creates an extra 7.5" of lift.




Now to find the correct sump gasket and a cambelt lover cover......

You should be on strictly Kev
All this two step forwards, one step back!!!I

I assume it's a Latin dance you are learning???

Rsfruitbat

If it helps get the car done mate, I'll learn a dance

Clearly Kev's doing Italian tango

Postie arrived today bringing my turbo back to me, hoping to get near the end of the bigger bills...

I could have gone for a hybrid unit, bigger this and that but in the end I just got the original unit refurbished with a couple of upgrades. 360 degree bearings and step seals will allow me to fit a bigger exhaust in the future without causing oil blow by issues. It got a new bearing housing, all new bearings and seals, everything cleaned and checked, seized wastegate freed up and serviced, all high speed balanced and sent back to me for a shade over £250. Best price I could find an exchange unit for was £450 and that would be with standard seals and bearings so very happy with it.


To cap the day off I got a great Lancia hoodie from Ade as a thank you for the 16V oil pumps I sent to him for the 33, hope that the hoodie and integrale can soon have an outing or two

No worries
I hope I can give one of your pumps an outing in the near future

All the best

Rsfruitbat

KevJTD wrote:Postie arrived today bringing my turbo back to me, hoping to get near the end of the bigger bills...

I could have gone for a hybrid unit, bigger this and that but in the end I just got the original unit refurbished.

That looks nice Kev.
Hope to get on with my project soon.

Kegsti66 wrote:

KevJTD wrote:Postie arrived today bringing my turbo back to me, hoping to get near the end of the bigger bills...

I could have gone for a hybrid unit, bigger this and that but in the end I just got the original unit refurbished.

That looks nice Kev.
Hope to get on with my project soon.

Yep looks good and that does seem a very reasonable price. Good decision.

Yes, really impressed with the service from them, British family run company and very knowledgeable and helpful.

https://www.turborebuild.co.uk/

I asked a few places and these guys ticked all the boxes, and of course the prices quoted were very reasonable indeed.


Getting it a bit future proof with the step seals seemed sensible.



I did think about going down the hybrid route but that's a never ending upgrade. Exhaust connections would have needed altering, then of course the turbo controlling would need adjusting to let it use the extra boost, which then leads to things like ECU upgrades, head gasket concerns, cam timing, clutch and transmission upgrades…..all for a few extra horses? I'm pretty sure it'll be enough as is

Got the engine fully back together at long last.

The lower sump gasket turned up yesterday so that was a simple enough job to fit.

I did manage to track down a new lower timing belt cover from Zagato Lancia in London after exhausting all possible sources for a used one, brand new Lancia one on the shelf was nice but £54 for a bit of plastic....still, cheaper than a stone jumping into the belt I guess


With the belts all safely housed the water pump pulley, crank pulley, freshly refurbished alternator and power steering pump could go on. That little guide pulley was another expensive bit, little more than a bearing but OE only, another £50 or so...parts are available for this car but they aint cheap!


Top end all sorted, cam covers only on loosely so when it comes to start up time I can pour fresh all over the cams before cranking over, there's loads of build lubricant on them now but every little helps.

I've started making plans now to get the engine off the stand and fit the flywheel and clutch back on, then the gearbox and transfer case can go back on. With the slanted engine it won't stand up on the sump, not that I really want the full weight of it one the sump anyway, so I'll fit some wheels to it on brackets I knocked up tonight. That will allow me to slide the assembly underneath without damaging the sump or the oil pickup.


Started to get the engine bay ready now, master cylinder etc done, gearbox mounting with new poly push mounting ready to support the lot....anybody got any ideas where all these wires go?

Just looking at the brake servo and master cylinder I just can't help thinking 1, how low in the engine bay it seems to be and 2, with it on the left hand side must mean that there are some complicated linkage involved, as the pedals are on the right, which I guess are there already, so would it not have been an easy task to move to the right hand side at his stage and would it improve braking performance if you did? Just my curiosity really.

Yes, the master cylinder does sit reasonably low mate but not that much lower than most stuff, a lot of newer cars have higher reservoirs with pipes down to the cylinder, mostly they're on a similar level to the pedals.

There is a linkage system that transfers all the pedal movements across, not just the brakes but the clutch linkage also.


Can just about make it out here in this zoomed in picture...


Fiestas used to have a similar system, you can see the bulkhead flex on those when someone presses the brake..


Moving the master cylinder and servo over to the drivers side in theory wouldn't be too hard apart from the space it needs to occupy in the engine bay is taken up by other things, like the alternator and power steering pump! If you look at the pic of the engine built up the inlet manifold sits almost against the bulkhead lip, the power steering pump underneath it, where in theory the master cylinder would need to be.



Gonna be a tight squeeze getting everything back in...I'm leaving the exhaust manifold and turbo off for the install to give me some wriggle room even though that will possibly make fitting them on with the engine in situ far more awkward than if I did it with it perched on the engine stand, but with the radiator etc still off it shouldn't be too bad. If they managed it on a rally I'm sure I can do it in the workshop!

Thanks for the explanation and now you have mentioned it I do recall seeing some kind of linkage a couple of years back when I dropped in to see it at Jim's place but never put two and two together.
Just having watched the Car S.O.S. episode on catch up this week, I saw that they dropped and therefore, I guess, refitted the engine from under the car. What's your plan?
Looking proper good on the stand too, amazing how quick the engine has come together though.

Yes, the car is high on stands at the moment mate, high enough I hope...then the engine and gearbox assembly will be slid underneath, the car lowered a bit then the assembly lifted up into place.
It's actually bits like the brake servo and master cylinder that prevents it coming out of the top, at least whilst all together as the brake bits sit atop of the gearbox. Hopefully It'll all be in soon to see what I mean..

Rob did me a god favour yesterday though.

He mentioned on Saturday that he was going to Newark auto jumble on Sunday morning so I sent him with my original rear number plate to see if the guy there could replicate the original plates that it was sold with around 1990, Mountview motors mate, remember calling in there after Cadwell most Sundays to drool over the GTV's and Sprints for sale? Always seemed to have a few Alfas on the forcourt despite being a Lancia delaership, can't recall if they were an officail Alfa dealer too?

Ticking along...dawned on me that despite there being an abundance of wires already waiting to find home I still hadn't got things like the Injector connections, or anything much else engine related.
The ECU with it's wiring loom was sat in the car so that went in with the wiring loom to it running into the centre of the car, did kind of wonder what the big hole above the steering rack was for!
Thankfully though that meant I could follow and locate most if not all of the connections so much happier that I'll actually be able to connect things up...

The exhaust manifold and outlet elbow looked decidedly rusty with the freshly refurbished turbo to bolt onto it so although I've resisted going down the route of painting everything I did think a coat of manifold heat resistant paint wouldn't be a bad thing...


The water connections I'd already cleaned and painted again with high temp paint so with a fresh gasket and new self locking exhaust nuts I got it all back together.


The oil pipe connections are also painted but as the turbo has been assembled with oil within it, held back by the plastic bungs, I'll wait until it's on the car before they go on.



Fingers crossed I'll be able to reunite the engine with the gearbox and transfer box on Saturday then with my day off next Wednesday I aim to get the lot lifted back into place....

The engine is now off the stand so the flywheel and new clutch could go on.


Gearbox then needed the bellhousing cleaning out of years of clutch dust mingled in with some gearoil, a right mess!

New release bearing sleeve went on which holds the new input shaft seal. The old one had silicon sealant under it which is a sure sign of a previous leak, which I doubt was cured!

As Rob was still up at the unit I got him to help me slide the gearbox on.



Had to remove it again as I'd not fitted the lower half moon plate that goes between the gearbox and engine, unlike every other car it needed to be fitted to the engine first despite being bolted to the gearbox, fitting with gearbox in place was impossible!


Got the transfer case and its' new seal ready to fit, sorted out the bolts etc, apart from I couldn't find them all...must be here at home somewhere..

Then spotted my error of fitting the stabiliser leg completely in the way of the transfer box.


Had hoped to have everything ready to wheel under the car for Wednesday but little stumbling blocks keep halting progress...

Italian car manufacturers must have employed someone especially to introduce problems (quirks) where there obviously was no need.

Good to see a strong rope on that expensive engine. Keep battling and posting I am enjoying following this as the agony misses me completely.

Good luck to you.

Yes mate, nice strong rope doing its' job

Shame I haven't done mine!

Not only am I missing the box with all the engine removal bits but it's dawning on me how much stuff I haven't seen since then, coil, dissy cap and leads, engine stabiliser, idle control valve etc...there must be a load of stuff I've mislaid....at least as it's a lot I shouldn't have too much trouble finding it....although just had an hour in the loft and shed and the only thing I'm finding is recalling how many bits I still need to find

KevJTD wrote:Yes mate, nice strong rope doing its' job

Shame I haven't done mine!

Not only am I missing the box with all the engine removal bits but it's dawning on me how much stuff I haven't seen since then, coil, dissy cap and leads, engine stabiliser, idle control valve etc...there must be a load of stuff I've mislaid....at least as it's a lot I shouldn't have too much trouble finding it....although just had an hour in the loft and shed and the only thing I'm finding is recalling how many bits I still need to find

Just so long as it turns up before you have replaced it you will be fine. I guess the car has moved around a couple of times which does not help. Good luck to you.

Talking to the chap who got me over my last few hurdles and he has a chum who is trying to do up 3 jags at once. Neither of us can see that working out, sadly.

Parts being moved all around has been an issue mate that's for sure, not only have I got bits in my loft and shed at home I also took parts off at Jims' place (now all cleared out from there, but to where?...) plus parts in both the units..

I don't envy them putting 3 similar cars back together, one is enough!


Decided that instead of a Sunday afternoon in front of the TV I ought to go have another look for the bits up at the unit, now I'd exhausted the loft and shed stores!


I fund the coil and a few other bits in the little spray unit, the integrale has only been in there as an almost bare shell for painting so how they ended up there I don't know, probably parts still in the car when it went to Jims' and then up to the unit.


The idle control valve plus the associated pipework for the intercooler etc were actually up with the car in a box, I found some new Samco hoses in the loft too which came with the car, bright blue so undecided on using them at the moment..


Still feel the bolts for the transfer box have disappeared somewhere but I found enough to do the job.


With everything cleaned up and ready to fit I tried to slide it all on but another own goal, the studs I fitted into the sump instead of bolts protruded down enough to foul on the transfer box to prevent alignment.



With the few threads cut off it all went on nicely at last.

Starter motor and support bracket on, new driveshaft seals so it's just about ready to be slid underneath the car for fitting..

The metal water pipe that runs behind the engine had rotted out on the original, I was lucky to find a very good used one which I had powder coated to ensure it lasts!


It really is quite a lump to be lifted up, not a chance in hell it would all go in from the top which I already knew, but there's some heavy lumps to be lifted into place...hopefully on Wednesday...

I don't like to do much work on a Sunday as you don't get a break but I'm happy I did this today instead of leaving it, not a bad weekends progress really despite the searching for parts!

Yes, the Lancia certainly has some guts to it mate.
That is quite a sizeable piece of hardware to manage on your own
Good luck.

Kev,
Looking on Wiki it seems they turned the head 180 deg in 1986....just like that!

So your car being 88/89 has the exhaust on the front.
My 82 Beta has the exhaust on the rear

Now explains why your engine has always looked different from mine.

I wonder what made them do that.....