Lancia Motor Club

Hello all, Im a recent member and this is my first post here.

I bought my Flavia Coupe iniezione in 2009 with brake problems, I replaced the master cylinder, bought a rebuilt servo and new calipers. All went good for some time until the brakes jammed when parking in the garage. I then sent the MC and servo to italy to be repaired. They came back OK and all went good for about 2 years until last October when they started jamming on again. As soon as I touched the brake pedal the car would brake hard and stay braked in the middle of the road, when this happens the brake pedal is impossible to move and brake lights are one. To release the pressure from the system I have to open one of the servo bleaders and the car moves again. The scariest part happened when returning home only using the handbrake and the car locked the wheels in the middle of the road without any warning (the car behind me thought I was crazy).

As I was tired of having problems I decided to try to repair a spare servo I had home, only maintaining the vacuum chamber and the control valve from my servo. The servo seems better as it has a better feeling when braking but I still have jamming problems. Now it only jamms when I apply hard the brakes for about 20seconds, and I have to release the pressure from the bleader once again.

Has anybody ever had any problem like this? I'm starting to loose some confidence to go far from home with the car, but I also want to maintain the original Lancia MC and servo.

Thank you

These are well-known Flavia problems. The Consortium has details of a modern replacement and I have fitted this to my Flavia Sport and I have had no problems since. It looks almost original too.

I fitted one of those Frenos Iruna servos in my Flaminia about 3 years ago - http://www.lancia.myzen.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4142.msg35019#msg35019 - have had no trouble since.

In terms of space required they are double ended, they have a hydraulic cylinder out of each end, so need different mountings. 

With a single carb its quite tight to the airbox, I've seen one with it at a slight angle.  With twin carbs there's space for it to go in straight as Brian as it above.  I've yet to see one on an injected car...  I'm sure Colin Clamp would know "if" and exactly "how".  He also knew off the top of his head who'd done the neatest job on the plumbing, it might have been Brian with the Tee fitting out the back that saves the space for access.

David

Not familiar with Flavia servos but I did have a similar problem with a Fiat 124 Spider - problem was the pushrod acting on the mastercylinder itself was very slightly too long. If you can get the brakes released by slackening the mounting bolts between the mastercylinder and servo that might be an indicator that the pushrod needs to be shortened?
Guy

Thank you all for your replies. I think I'm in the last effort to keep the original equipment, if I do not succeed making it work properly I will undoubtedly go for the Frenos Iruna servo, what is the size to be applied on the flavia? I think in the iniezione it will be a little more difficult as it seems to be less room, even now removing the air filter box it touches the servo!

Guy, do you mean the pushrod between the pedal and the pump? I just checked and it has a little play before pushing the pump, so I guess there is everything ok there.

I just came back from the garage, I tried to brake with the car turned off and as I suspected nothing happened. After I turned it on, started braking normally and everything was normal.
I then braked hard and the brakes jammed on, at first I felt like the pump was stuck (a lot of play until the pushrod touched the pump) but then I felt it coming up until it reached the limit. The pump became impossible to move, I guess some pressure must be coming from the servo, right? Turning the car off changes nothing!

To see if the rear wheels were also receiving pressure I opened the brake line going to the rear wheels. Doing that made some oil go out and I head the servo moving to its rest position.

After this last test I was no longer (at least for now) able to make the brakes stick on again, and I now feel the pedal operating a little bit downer, could it be air in the system? I might take the car to work tomorrow to test it.

This is the UK supplier:

http://www.s-v-c.co.uk/product/dual-remote-servo/

There's a chance Colin has one on the consortium shelf.

David

No, I'd expect to see a mechanical link from the pedal to the servo but this link wouldn't be physically attached to the master cylinder. This link would push against a plate that is inside the servo. On the other side of this plate there should be another rod that moves the master cylinders piston, at rest it sits on it's stop within the servo body and the tip that sits within the master cylinder should have a small gap. If this rod is set too long it's possible that can exert a slight force on the brake system. When everything gets hot and expands this might prevent sufficient fluid returning to the reservoir and the brakes lock on. It's exactly what happened on the Fiat 124 Spider rebuild to me. Fortunately, on the Spider, the rod was adjustable, at it's end was a dome headed nut or bolt that could be screwed in to shorten it, job done, no more brake problems!l

Hope that helps a little more!

Guy

Whats the internal diameter of the first stage of the replacement Spanish master cylinder/servo unit? And what is the I/d of the original Flavia unit I wonder?
There is I believe  a problem getting replacement 1st series Fulvia remote servos and I am wondering if this Spanish unit is a possibility? Space might well be a problem of course but the I/d would be useful to know.
Chris

does anything happen if you remove the servo hose from the engine, does it release then?

Brian
8227 8)

Chris - does it need a remote twin circuit type as well?

What this is reminding me of is a gorgeous TAV page of the Flavia based Super Jolly, with twin callipers and a think also twin servos for what might be four circuits...

David

If I understand the query in your post correctly David, the Fulvia GTE has one remote servo which works on the front brakes only then in the rear brake circuit, there is a 'moving ball' pressure limiting valve hidden away under the floor just above the  removable rear subframe member. I never knew this limiting valve was there until Martin Cliffe told me about it a couple of years ago and I have never seen a diagram of the Fulvia GTE braking system which shows this valve. It is however mentioned in the GTE supplement in the Fulvia Sedans drivers handbook.
Chris

If the front brakes are on the same circuit then a "conventional" remote servo would do it.

http://www.s-v-c.co.uk/product/lockheed---delphi---powerstop-type-servo/

I've seen pairs of remote servos on some Alfas.  I looked on Alfastop briefly but couldn't see one.  Not sure if this one is remote:

http://www.ebspares.co.uk/news49.htm

This site has a variety of single and duel remote servos.  I failed on the menus but got them on a search:

http://www.carbuildersolutions.com/uk/compact-remote-brake-servo
http://www.carbuildersolutions.com/uk/large-single-circuit-remote-brake-servo-3-1

http://www.carbuildersolutions.com/uk/compact-dual-circuit-remote-brake-servo
http://www.carbuildersolutions.com/uk/large-dual-circuit-remote-brake-servo-booster-3-1

The big ones are whoppers...

David

Thank you Guy, I think I understood it now, there is a rod attached to the vacuum membrane that links to the piston that makes pressure on to the wheels , that must have a small gap (I have a sketch that shows what it should be, I'll look tonight for it), I didn't change mine as I didn't want to change something I wasn't sure how to measure. The rod is adjustable, do you think I should try to shorten it?



Hello Brian, I havent tried that approach yet, I'll try to ride the car this evening, If I manage to make it lock on again I'll try to remove the hose. I'll keep you informed.

Hi Seara, welcome to the Forum!

I had a similar problem recently with a friends Fulvia Sport and shortening the actuator rod from the peddle to the servo seems to have cured it. It seems that when the engine heats up the rod heats, expands and closes the gap.

You might find the thread helpful

http://www.lancia.myzen.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=5484.15

Robin.

The servo is remote.

David

Yes the servo on the flavia is remote, I've been using the car the last days trying for it to stick on again but with no results. I bled the system again to see if it changed anything but nothing happened.

From what I've seen from online research this is a common problem with remote servos. Most of the time it's the air valve piston that gets stuck, removing the vacuum intake hose would confirm my problem I guess.

If it doesn't stick again I'll do 3 thinks at the same time:

- Replace all the vacuum hoses and clean the non-return valve.
- Adjust the pushrod length as specified by the lancia book.
- Grease the air valve piston and make sure its movement is totally free.

I'll have a 3day 1500km tour on the beginning of May, it will be a good test. If the brakes stick on, if I remove the vacuum hose can I use the brakes safely?

Thank you
(http://)

Just a thought, have you checked to ensure the srvo hose hasn't collapsed internally?
Might be worth changing it anyway.

Brian
8227 8)

Hello Brian,

Do you mean the hoses that connect the intake manifold to the servo? I bought some new hoses I'm going to replace soon.

Yes, That's the one.

Brian
8227 8)

Yes I'll replace them shortly, do you think they can be sticking the servo?

It seems that since I opened the rear circuit to relieve the pressure the brakes did not stick again, and I'm using the car as a daily driver!

I did hear that some Flavia owners had a jam jar and 8mm spanner in the car as insurance!

Not sure, just offering up possibilities ::)

Brian
8227 8)

Not that good looking vacuum hoses, just started replacing them!

I did yesterday 220km in the car, brakes never sticking, although i started to feel the brake pedal with a longer travel, not sure why ???

Just a caution on hoses - they need to be specified for vacuum. Heater hoses are not up to the job... Just in case you had been supplied with those....

I could never find the corrugated vacuum hose locally...

Thank you, I didn't find the corrugated hoses, although I would to prefer to maintain them for the original look, are they available?

I asked for a hose for the servo of a car and the one they sold to me has written on it something like "high air pressure" (I cannot recall exactly), does it seem appropriate?

Ricardo

If it is low air pressure ie vacuum should be ok. In my experience (limited) hi pressure does not stop a collapse under vacuum. Fit and keep an eye on them....

Ricardo

Any chance of a picture of the car?

David

Thank you for the advice, I'll confirm if it's high of low pressure, the hose seemed tough and not likely to collapse, but I'll definitely check!

Ricardo


Of course, here are some pictures of yesterday's tour! Douro region, Portugal  :)

Ricardo

Bellisimo!

That's a nice looking car with, presumably, no history of corrosion etc having spent its life in Portugal? I would like to see pictures of the other  cars you list as well if possible please. Is the early Fulvia Sedan a single carb model maybe?
Chris

You're a lucky man - both the car and the landscape.

I hadn't realised it was an injected car, a rare beast indeed.  Any issues with that side of things?

David

Out of interest what is the white rectangular box next to the rear view mirror?

What a lovely way to spend a day. Flavia's have such class.

David,
I bet that box is the Portuguese equivalent of the Italian Telepass for motorway tolls. The Motorway from Lisbon going South can accept these I believe.
Chris

Ditto for France, saves so much time....

Peter

Thank you all for the kind words!  ;)


Yes beeing in Portugal it has almost no corrosion at all, the car only had one previous owner, and was painted once, it isn't as good as it seems in the pictures but acceptable to maintain it this way!
The 1963 Fulvia Sedan is a single carb version! Its commission number is actually 1246 witch makes it the 246th Fulvia to leave the factory, I believe its the first one registered in Portugal!!

Of course I can post pictures of the other cars, as I'm recent to the forum where is it more convenient to post the pictures?


Thank you, I bought the car in 2009, and the injection wasn't that good, the car ran nice if cold or hot, in between it wasn't so smooth. I remember starting the car after being parked for one hour and it ran only in 3 cylinders for some miles. I believe all of this was due to the car being stooped for many years before being sold to me, the only thing I did was to apply a thermostat (I found out it was missing) to keep the temperature steady at 70º. Since then I can tell you that the more miles I put in the car the better it behaves, and now is almost perfect, really really smooth drives in the car  ;D


And yes the rectangular box is for the "Via Verde", to pay for tollbooths without having to stop, it saves a lot of time! I usually take it out when not in use but I forgot to do so this time!

Hi Ricardo,
Can you post photos of your Normale Berlina on here please, Normale's are rare in most places except for Italy, there is a very nice on in the Netherlands.
The donor car for my 2c was a UK Normale that someone in the club found for me.
In 2004 I was with other Lancia's with Club Vincenzo Lancia from Germany, run by Frank Dehler as we met up with the Portuguese Lancia owners at Esphino with the local club while the local Lancia Dealer sponsored the Event while in Esphino.
We were on the motorway on the way to Braga while all of us had to stop to pay at the toll booth, the Portuguese contingent just sailed trhough, we wondered what they were doing, but found out later about the box, typical Lancia owners they didn't slow down for us but just assumed we would catch them up, which I did on a downhill section showing 90mph on my 2c's speedo. ::)

Brian
8227 8)

Ricardo,

I am pleased that someone is still running a petrol injection Flavia - there must be very few still in existence. Presumably yours still has the original mechanical Kugelfisher injection system. My Flavia was a 1967 Vignale convertible with Kugelfisher and it gave me lots of high performance pleasure in the 1980s.

There are some potential problems with this system to be aware of. One is that if the car is left unused for a long period, the ‘o’ ring seals on the plungers stick and won’t return. It sounds like you are out of this problem, but it makes sense to use an additive in the fuel to help provide some lubrication to those parts that only otherwise see pure petrol.

Another problem is that for the injection system to work the petrol pump needs to feed it at much higher pressure (3 or 4 atmospheres!) than a carburettor system. This pressure is at the limit of the original pump design and the pump needs to be 100% good to achieve this. Any fuel vaporisation because of high temperatures can cause the pump to fail --- and the engine stops!

Also, this high pressure pump strains the flexible pipes and joints that lead from fuel pump via filter to the injector unit so that any tiny leak of fuel into the engine bay spells disaster. Quite a few Flavias went up in smoke for this reason and others were converted to carburettors to avoid it.

Colin 

Hello Brian, I'll create a new topic for the berlina as I have some advice to ask regarding the engine. In the meanwhile here is picture of it!

So I knew your car before! I had crossed this text from you a while ago and knew the car from some internet pictures! http://www.vincenzo-adventure-tours.com/INFO/2004%20-%20Portugal.pdf

I always found amazing to make a big trip in a 2C, what was the average speed you kept on motorway or off the motorway? I hope to make a big trip in mine on day, but it struggles when climbing!

I only participated in the Lancia Club Vincenzo meet in Portugal in 2001 and in 2002, and this year they are making another Tour here, were are organizing an event and will meet them on the 25th of April.

Ricardo

Hello Colin

Thank you, an injection Vignale is ultra rare, amazing!!

Yes for now I had no problems, I had a small fuel leak from the unit but is was so easy to repair that I forgot to mention it! What kind of additive do you recommend? I want to prevent future problems!

As for the fuel pump I bought the car with the original unit, but I was having problems, the yellow (low fuel pressure) light was sometimes coming on until it eventually stopped working. Seeing no possible repair my mechanic at the time fitted another pump, a modern one, near the fuel tank, I think its a good option as it runs cooler this way.
Are you certain about the fuel pump pressure? I had read somewhere it was about 1-2atm, but never confirmed it. I'm asking it as I do not trust the pump that was fitted and I'm looking for an alternative, It gave me no problems regarding the pressure but sometimes it makes weird noises and it already stopped twice (I have to hammer it to make it work again ::) ). I lost contact with my mechanic so I don't know what tipe of pump was fitted, I think I'm going to try to measure the pressure as is now.
I replaced the rubber fuel lines, but they really are subjected to high pressures!

Ricardo

Seara - that's a beautiful Berlina. You have a very nice collection.

Brian - that was some trip! The Mondovi week seemed longer than it was so the two week Portugese trip must have seemed like forever.

Hello Ricardo,
If you were on the 2001 trip we must have met, simon and myself flew over for the meeting as "Fay" wasn't ready yet for her first big Continental tour, a Lancia was arranged for us and we borrowed a 1.6 Lybra Estate from a young lady who worked for Fiat.
Never actually worked out the average speed as we stopped at places of interest, but pushed on at a brisk pace while on the move, off the Motorways we were usually running at 60mph-70 mph depending on the roads, many of which as is usual in France were straight, so you could get a move on if you wanted to, and on motorways 70-80mph.
Probably the best run was from Salamanca right across Spain in 30c heat, it was so hot we were sitting on towels, and I had to hang one on my door window as my right was burning as it was so hot, the drive up over the Pyrenees then down the other side to St jean Pied de Port was also very memorable, the longest drive was the 490 miles home on the last day, all the actual running days were long days with up to 10-11 hours a day driving.
My comments regarding overheating was more due to the gauge reading high than an actual problem, something that I've only manage to sort out in the last couple of years.
 
I have a similar problem as yourself with hill climbing as everyone on the 'Fulvia Knights Rallye' in 2013 can testify, but she goes like the clappers down the other side ;)

You're a bit worse off than I am as I've got best part of a 20BHP advantage over your Normale, coming back over the Alps from Turin in 2006 to Grenoble my fuel consumption was something like 14mpg on the climb due to the low gearing, and the fact that she weighs about a tonne in weight doesn't help.
Your Normale looks lovely, did you have it in 2001 as I don't recollect seeing it? any chance of emailing me more photos, and email me if you have anything I can help you with.

As long as you prepare yourself and your Fulvia properly you shouldn't have any problems with extended touring distances, I always carry a lot of spares, working on the principle if you've got it with you the chances are you won't need it, but if you do, you've got it anyway!
Breakdown and recovery insurance is a must, at least that way if you do break down, you can get home ;D

in 1999 the mileage on the clock was 27.000 miles, recently I've doubled that mileage in my ownership, and more than 1/3rd has been  covered on trips to France,Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium & Holland.

When you meet up on the 25th please give everyone my best regards.
Brian
8227 8)

Stan,
could have done with another couple of weeks !

Brian
8227 8)

Ricardo,

The truth is that all injection Flavias were rare even 30 years ago and are ultra rare now. The two photos attached are just to show that my Vignale went very well and I enjoyed it.

I can’t recall which additive I used – it was one that was supposed to clean the injectors and provide some lubrication. I am sure there are modern equivalents.

I might be wrong about the fuel pressure, but I seem to remember that 30 psi (more than 2atm) was the minimum. On my car the pump was in the engine bay, just above one of the exhaust pipes and if it over-heated in traffic (or after a long run), it just stopped and would not re-start. Yes, the low-pressure warning light stayed on until everything cooled down!

The Kugelfisher system was used on other cars too in the 1960s, including the BMW2002tii. See this website for more on this – it mentions 50 to 60psi for the pump, which is 3 to 4 atms. http://www.2002tii.org/kb/116

Good that you have relocated the pump to the rear, near the tank, but beware those long fuel lines under high pressure!

Enjoy your lovely car and let us know how you get on.

Colin

Colin,

While I'm reminded seeing that photo again just how tall the gearing was, what strikes me afresh is what a wide angle lens you must have had.

David

When you think about it, that's an incredibly clear speedo. As David says, high gearing too, nowhere near the red line, could cruise like that all day.

Hello Brian, in 2001 I was just a little boy, but you must have met my father, I went with him and my mother on a white 2nd series Fulvia Coupe. I dont know if you have crossed this video already:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrrRvr3Mdsw
The fulvia was at the time only accompanied by the Thema 16V, then my father's everyday car. The collection has grown a bit since then (the white coupe was sold), mostly by my influence and passion on Lancias :D

On my berlina I tend to stay at 70mph on motorways, I dont have a rev counter so dont know the revs, but I only recently discovered the previous owner fitted a 2C gearbox as I noticed the 818.100 on the blue lancia plate! This way I think it is even slower accelerating and climbing but keeps a good pace when cruising.

The only trip I made was to Italy two years ago on the Beta Berlina, I know the feeling of crossing spain in a hot summer day by classic car ;D we also took some spares and only had to replace the fuel pump as it was still the original unit working! We did 3450miles in 10 days, not bad!

I will give them your regards ;)

Please see the topic I just opened about the berlina, I'll e-mail you some pictures tonight when I get home.

Ricardo

Hello Colin,

What a beautiful picture! I love the Vignale!

I will search for some additives thank you  ;)

Yes now I have more hoses in high pressure, I must keep an eye on them, the BMW website isn't working now, but I'll check again later, just to make sure I replace for a correct pump.

I had a problem when I bought the car, the differential was very very noisy. My then mechanic was able to get me a gearbox from an old crashed car and guaranteed me it was from an injection model. The truth is when I fitted the gearbox I noticed no difference in the ratio at all, but I had done very few miles on the car.
I'm bringing this up because my rev counter was lazy, and showed less rpm than supposed, at 3000rpm i was going as 120kmh (75mph). I sent it to repair but it came back wrong, showing double the supposed :o I sent it back and now it shows a more correct reading, even if at 3000rpm I'm only doing 90kmh (56mph). I don't know if its still reading bad or I have an incorrect gearbox  :-\

Ricardo

Seara/Colin

I was interested to see Colin's photos. My Vignale (1800 carb NOT INJECTION) is only geared at 17mph / 1000 in 4th (checked with GPS against the car rev counter which a crudely calibrated with a car test set in the garage) which makes motorway driving a bit heavy on petrol. I too have not tried to find out if the gearbox is a correct one although I believe it is as I have the complete history on the car and it has only done 56k miles. What should the respective gearbox identification plates show??

Tim

With regard to gearing I'm reminded of an article on Bill Amberg's Zagato.  He thought it happier at 85mph than 70mph.

David

My Vignale Flavia, back in the 1970s was extremely economical, always returning about 32 mpg, no matter what I did with it! Even towing the Austin Seven on a trailer to the Nurburgring with two pals on board. Barrie Crowe and I spent a weekend getting the Kugelfischer fuel injection to work without any special knowledge of how it was meant to work. I had the round instruments, but perhaps that's because it was left hand drive. It was a very good car and certainly amongst my favourite Lancias.
Regards, John

Lovely John, what was the event?

Isn’t it great to find such positive memories of these lovely cars from the past, at the same time as comments from those enjoying them now?

According to Oude Weernink’s book, the late type Farina Coupe and Vignale Convertibles with fuel injection (type 815.400) had a final drive of 10/37 giving 20.1 mph per 1000 rpm. This suggests that the photo of my instruments is about right – with say 4200 rpm corresponding to 85 mph, plus a bit for speedo error. Yes, it would cruise happily at this speed and it was easy to see more than 110 mph - but I was wary of taking photos at that speed!

With regard to the angle of the camera lens - the camera I used then and right up to about 2005 (when it was stolen from my bag in Paris) was an Olympus XA. This was a compact non-automatic 35mm film camera with coupled rangefinder. I became quite adept at winding the film on single-handed and shooting blind, perhaps altering the focus at the same time – not to be encouraged today! 35mm film cameras then had ‘standard’ lenses with focal length of 50mm (which was supposed to represent normal vision), ‘portrait’ lenses of 80mm, ‘telephoto’ of maybe 120mm +, and ‘wide-angle’ of 35mm. The Olympus XA had a 35mm lens, which worked well for general purpose, but I doubt if it is seen a ‘wide angle’ by the standards of modern digital cameras.

Happy days ….

Colin

1975 Nurburgring "historic" meeting. Nearly every event won by the Brits!
Regards, John

http://www.diaxa.com/xa.htm

Sounds lovely, I still have my Minox 35GT which unfortunately doesn't get used these days, one disadvantage with it compared to the XA is that it has a separate flash that has to be mounted to the camera, although I suspect in bare camera form it is smaller than the XA.

Brian
8227 8)

Rollei 35 for me.  Now when did that last see a roll of film...

I loved my Rollei 35 (a 21st birthday present) until our house was burgled.....some 14 years later...

My youngest son, a professional photographer, enjoys using his late grandfather's Rollei. However, it must be said that his standard tools of the trade now are digital!!! My wife, also a photographer, was a late convert to digital but succumb she did!!  I just use my phone  ....

                                                 Andy

We're off topic but:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollei_35

I'd forgotten how the flash fits to the base and that the case comes off to replace the film. No battery required for the meter, that seems so strange these days.

David

I still have a Leica 2 that I use every now and again, 1932 from memory

I love all this distraction about old cameras. The Rollei and Minox compacts were great, but for me never quite offered the quick point-and-shoot ease of use of the Olympus.

Linking this back to Lancia (which is what it’s supposed to be about!) I offer the attached photos (sorry, some of these have been posted before). Again it’s 1991 and driving solo in my Flavia on the M40 I just happen to catch up with another Flavia Vignale – and I couldn’t resist taking this sequence of photos, shooting blind.

The red car was being driven by its then owner, Bob Summers – it was owned later by Roger Elias.

Colin 

Rollei's seem popular. I had a Rolleiflex 35M - my first 'proper' camera when I got my first job, replacing the Russian Zenith I'd had all through college. The Rollei had through the lens metering, a luxury. whereas the Zenith had a little lightmeter window above the lens and you then lined up a dial on top to give you your options. Good little camera though for I think about £20 new and built like a T34.

Great photos colin ;D

Brian
8227 8)

I used to own a little Rollei compact 35 mm camera which saved the day when my Leica M2 was waterlogged at a very wet Monaco Grand Prix. Water actually got onto the film of the M2, but the Rollei kept on working and produced adequate results. The Rollei had a Zeiss Triotar lens, which was the bottom if the range, but really not at all bad. Another Rollei I owned many years ago also had a Triotar and was particularly good. It took 120 film and the lens wasn't even coated, but took remarkably sharp photos. One shot from Dover Castle showd the French coast very clearly.
Regards, John

I have always maintained I am not a fan of the Flavia Vignale's looks but these photos might change my mind.

Choice of camera; Super Ikonta, Leica 3c, Contaflex or Nikon FE depending on what period of car I am photographing but for digital point and shoot I am rather fond of my original Canon digital Ixus. I wish I had as many Lancias!

Flavia frontal treatment always reminds me of a contemporary Maserati. Was it the Sebring which had a similar little 'snout'.

Tim, 17mph/1000rpm is not supposed I think, the book says the Berlina 1500 should do 18mph/1000rpm so your car should be better, can you see the code on your car gearbox? Mine is 815 430 (same code as the car) and is number 861, so I think it is a correct gearbox after all, my rev counter is still not good!

John your car seems to be as it should, can you recall if your red tape marking the speed was fast or showed a little delay when going up the scale? The one on my berlina behaves like that, and seems to show less speed than suppesed when compared to GPS speed.

Amazing pictures John! I see you had 3 round instruments, different even from the coupe, could they be this rare Svama accessory?

Ricardo

Great photos Colin, how nice must it be to randomly cross another Vignale!

HELP  :-\

I have a new problem with the brakes, but I think they aren't related to the servo.

When I did the 200km tour in the car I started to feel a longer travel in the pedal before it actually braked. I took the car out today and it became even worst, the servo was only actuated with the brake pedal almost at its limit.

I thought some air might be in the system, and I was right, bleeding the two nozzles at the servo from the two little pumps at the Master Cylinder showed lots and lots of air.

I then (not sure if I should have done it) opened the same nozzles with the car running and applying the bake pedal. This way even more bubbles showed up. I'm thinking that the problem must be in the pump, letting some air enter the system, and I noticed some bubbles going up inside the reservoir when braking and after braking, what can be letting this happening? I'll post a video next.

I seems like there is air entering the system but no oil leaking.

Ricardo

I had a similar thing happen to my Fulvia a few years ago. The pedal almost went to the floor. When a friend pressed the pedal air was bubbling up inside the reservoir on the master cylinder. We changed the seals but the same thing happened. On closer inspection the inside of the cylinder had some pitting. A new brake cylinder solved it.

Thank you, I'm taking the MC cylinder out today to check it's inside.

Here you can see the bubbles on the right of the reservoir:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=530EWPCsS_s

Ricardo

Long marathon last night with my father. We took apart the MC, the seals looked good and the interior of the pump, apart some minor scratches, was as new.

Reassembling and trying to bleed again we were having difficulties bleeding using the rear pump of the MC, it had some air stuck inside and was putting air into the system when pressed. We removed it and bled it successfully. Could the car have been badly bled before?

We also replaced all he coper washers from the MC and Servo just to be sure.

Now its time to do some miles in the car to check it its right again.

Ricardo

Someone on facebook has need of a servo, thought I'd bring this thread back to the top.

Jon Swingler

Hi

The restoration of my 1965 Flavia 1.8 Coupe feels like it’s slowly nearing completion, so I thought I’d share a few photos if anyone is interested.

I bought her from the Wayne Plitt collection auctioned by Coys back in 2018...and after what was supposed to be a gentle recommissioning to just have a nice-ish daily driver things got rather out of hand...