Lambda....the journey begins!

[Dikappa]

time for an update!

We're locked in here in Belgium, and many customers have closed with spare time as a result!  
Just before the lockdown I picked up the steering box shaft, which had a damaged tread rectified.
I then could assemble the box, and filled it up with the penrite stuff, feels good!

However on test mounting the steering box and column I found that the steering wheel was lowered by some 30mm in the dashboard, and to accommodate this the box will have to rotate as well.  I think the best solution will be to make an offset bolt, this way the body and box can stay original.

Today I spend some time on trial fitting and measuring the exact offset necessary, and made a drawing for the bolt.  Rest of the day was eaten away by fitting the aluminium connection blocks between engine bearing tubes and body, which required again some measuring and rectifing of the body sides, and shimming out of the blocks.

I also fitted the front brake pulley boxes.

Al this in preparation of building a jig for the re-assembly of the front suspension frame, which came in two halves with the center tube partly missing.  The remains of the center tube were machined out, so I need to get it hard soldered together now.

[Dikappa]

A question: any tips on how to treat the brake adjusting parts like in the picture?  They are now plain steel, are they left naked steel and only (well)  greased or is it better to have them anodised or treated one way or the other?

[JohnMillham]

A question: any tips on how to treat the brake adjusting parts like in the picture?  They are now plain steel, are they left naked steel and only (well)  greased or is it better to have them anodised or treated one way or the other?

Mine are painted black, apart from the threads, which are just greased.
.

[simonandjuliet]

If you like the metal look you can use an acrylic spray which I have used regularly. A few light coats and they are well protected - I don't spray the threads, just grease/coppaslip as suggested by John

[Dikappa]

Thanks for the suggestions!  I've thought of covering 'm in bee wax, which I often do with warm rolled steel, it gives a beautifull finish, but is not a very good protection against moisture.
Since everything else underneath will get a coat of epoxi and matt black I guess I'll follow Johns advice, and grease the treads.

Today most of the day was spend on the fabrication of a support for the dual windscreens.  I need to get that in place before mounting the dashboard, so have to get it over with.
Based on the measurements of the shapes I could print out the curve on three A3 sheets and tape them together, then made first a cardboard version to check the fit (which was very good....)
I then made a wooden jig, and carefully bend the iron UPN 35 into shape.  This took about 50 bend/check/bend again/ check again walks but very pleased it worked out the way it did.

I also made some seperate brackets which bolt to the body and to which the UPN support will be bolted in turn, as there's now way al this can be mounted in one piece.

A lot of work for something that will never be visible...

Hope to finish that one tomorrow, then comes the horrible job of drilling holes in the painted bodywork....need to gather some courage for that! (and a new drill)

[Dikappa]

Another question (or two ): is there anyone who can shed some light on the following:

1. the trajetory the main battery cable follows from the battery (under the drivers seat) to the starter motor.
2. were the cables running to the rear lights protected in some sort of sleeve or tubing?  Can't imagine them running through the car unprotected?

Many thanks!

Koen

[Dikappa]

No Corana here till now, but acute subframitis....

Decided to let the windscreens rest for a bit (brackets painted and drying) and attacked another matter that needs resolving.
With the project came a subframe that showed signs of earlier rectifications on the left hand side.  There was another one that had been torched in two with the center part of the bottom tube missing.

With thanks to Nick Benwell I could find the missing center castings and had the remains of the center tube machined out of the parts needed.

I then thought it would be best to make a jig on the actual car to see where that led: it is now confirmed that this led nowhere!
I made a negative jig on the car, then in the jig made again a positive jig to use for fitting and eventual welding.  However could nog get the parts to fit to my satisfaction.

This morning (after considerable overnight thinking....) decided to make a more scientific approach:
I dug out Mr Falchetto's original drawing but quickly came to the conclusion that not much relevant measurements were given.  Through Photoshop I succeeded in getting a copy into a drawing program so that I could scale the image and make more measurements on the original drawings.  (This sounds simple and probably is for those who know how to do this, but for me stuff like this is a real struggle....)
I then made full size drawings on white cardboard, and used those to make a second (!!!!!!) positive jig, exactly according to the drawings.
It turned out my cars radiator frame is leaning a bit to the right of the car, so I'll need to rectify that.

In any case the subframe parts fit together much better now, although some corrections will need to be made to the body.

I'll make some PDF drawings with the dimensions I used, might be (or not?) of interest.

[simonandjuliet]

Looks as if you are having too much fun !

[Dikappa]

Trial fit of the subframe halves on the car, and with some minor corrections this seems ok now.  Sadly the welder is in quarantine too so the welding will have to wait a bit...

[davidwheeler]

Make sure the pillars are parallel and leaning backwards by 3 degrees so as to give a little trail to the steering.   The castor angle is in the stub axles.  There is a diagram in the technical information thread.

[Dikappa]

I'll check that David, I have a device to measure the angles somewhere, but it seems to have misplaced itself.....
I abandoned the subframe for a moment, as the welder is not available due to Corona....and reverted to front windows.

Made a cardboard model which I fitted to the car this morning.  The one on the left side (of the car) is 3cm higher then the one on the right.
I made also the fixed panel a bit higher then I think they were originally ( This is all more or less derived from the few pics I found in various books of the original )

Sitting in the car and looking at the looks I sort of decided the height of the lower one is only slightly insufficient, so I'm now thinking of lowering the fixed panel by 2 cm's, brining it closer to what it should be, and keep the bigger window.  Mind there will be a window wiper motor on the RH window, cluttering it even more.

I have designed the support frame so that it will be very easy to swap the complete outer frames, as I want to make a second 'one piece' fixed window, which I think will be much more comfortable for longer trips. 

Opinions welcome!!!

[DavidLaver]

To my eye that looks "unusual".  I'd expect either:

A - pair of "conventional" aero screens
B - One bit of glass, perhaps that folds.
C - Split horizontal, bottom fixed, top opens.

Not that I can remember seeing it but perhaps on a sporting Alfa of that period?

D - Two bits of glass, join in the middle, fold either left or right.

The closest I've seen to that shape might be on a small Amilicar, perhaps a Brescia, but they tend to join in the middle and be a V-screen.  I don't remember that style folding left and/or right.

I went looking for a picture - AND FOUND ONE THE SAME AS YOU'VE DONE

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1644210

[Dikappa]

Here's two pics, one of the original my body is a copy of (there's more in capolavoro), and one of another copy.

[Dikappa]

And this is what I arrived at today, took some time to get the Bosch wiper motor going to determine the angle of it's movement.
I want both windows to have the same height as opposed to the Peter Giddings replica.

[Mikenoangelo]

V windscreens work well - the wind and rain get deflected over your head and round the side, unlike the typical British flat screen which sends a wet draught onto the back of your neck!  The French knew all about it and here is my Salmson - no hood, no wipers but drivable under most conditions with Rainex on the glass to disperse the wet. If it gets really bad there is a sweet spot for a couple of inches above the screen through which I can see without getting a faceful. This is an original 1925 screen, but I have made another to the same pattern which was an interesting exercise.

Mike