Series Three Berlina returned to the road

[Jai Sharma]

That is nice to see

[GerardJPC]

My Appia usually lives in a small garage, dry and warm.   But I am a numpty.  I mislaid the keys in my house, while the car was parked outside.  I eventually found the keys down behind a bit of furniture, but by that time the Appia had a flat battery.  Then I found that the boot, where the battery lives, had magically locked itself and refuses to unlock.  The key turns, but the poppy out bit doesn't pop out.  WD40, jiggling, and swearing in Italian have all failed.   Now the poor Appia is getting wet and cold.   Grrrrrr. 

Is there anywhere in the engine bay I could jump start the car from?

[GerardJPC]

By the way, the Appia came second in the Adwell House car show last July, but I know the bloke who runs the show so perhaps the fix was in.

https://adwellvintagevehicleshow.co.uk/home/

[lancianut666]

Re Jump starting
If you get under the front of the car behind the dynamo you should see the main battery connection on the starter motor solenoid connect if possible the +ve jump lead (red) and the black jump lead (-ve) to the earth strap on the engine mount. The car should start from the key.
As always have fun
Clarkey

[GerardJPC]

Thanks Jim!  I shall try that.

[nistri]

The Appia starter lock on the dash does not pop out, in fact it "pops in" if the kurnled ring is removed with a pair of large pliers. Once there is a viable battery connected even outside the car as suggested, turning the key and pressing it should start the engine (with full choke on). Allow time for fuel pump priming if unused for some time. If it does not start, the key mechanism is probably not touching and making contact with the rest of the unit. In this case, undo the 2 screws holdiing the key unit in place and fit at its end 2 or 3 small, thin copper discs cut to size between the key unit and the starter unit. Good luck.

[GerardJPC]

Thanks!  You may have misunderstood my post above:

"Then I found that the boot, where the battery lives, had magically locked itself and refuses to unlock.  The key turns, but the poppy out bit doesn't pop out. "

The boot locked has jammed.  The starter lock is fine.     Persuading old cars that have been sitting around for a while to start is of course part of the fun of having old cars!

[nistri]

To free the boot lock try a daily dosing with WD40 for a few days applying it liberally inside the lock and around it. My suggestion to start the car was for any problem to start it after a very long time if the jump start does not work.

[GerardJPC]

I am sure that you are trying to be helpful.  I have owned classic cars for decades, and Lancias for several years.  Not everyone here is an ingenue!  I have, unsurprisingly, tried the WD40 approach.  I shall try various other jiggles and what not, and maybe include some fruity words in Italian; and if need be send a small person into the boot via the cabin (a bit of a wriggle).  If all else fails, I shall replace the lock.

[nistri]

Perhaps you have seen on TV an episode of Wheeler Dealers when they bought an S1 Flavia coupe with a stuck bootlid. In the end the lock (similar to the Appia one) had to be drilled out....I wish you good luck to solve your problem.

[lancialulu]

It sometimes helps if you press down on the boot while jiggling the lock/key, but I guess you have done this already...

[GerardJPC]

I have, but I plan another attempt next week.  I am focusing my jiggling skills and rehearsing some persuasive and/or insulting Italian terms.

[GerardJPC]

Hello all.  

My Appia's boot is still jammed shut.  I did not fancy rolling around in mouldy wet leaves under the front of the car, so I removed the rear seat, removed the carboard trim panel behind the seat, and reached past the bracing cross members to connect long and heavy duty jumper cables to the battery.  I passed the cables through an open rear window, connected them to my Lancia 2000 HF, and the Appia coughed into life on the third go.  

I took the car for a good run up and down the nearby A road, and then put the car into the dry and warm garage where it usually lives.  The carpet on the driver's side is pretty wet (there is a fan heater in the garage).  There are signs of surface rust here and there - on one hubcab, the rear bumper, and the door locking mechanism at the base of the clap-hands bit. Some areas of greater concern where the paint is bad may have worsened.  Hey ho, that's my fault for losing the keys and then, after finding them, being busy in London and unable to sort the car out while it sat out under a tree.    My mechanic is in Taiwan, Chinese New Yearing with his family, so he could not assist.

I had left the car in neutral with the handbrake off, and neither the brakes nor the clutch were seized.

On the same day that I mislaid my Appia keys (dropped behind a bit of furniture), I also mislaid the keys to my Series III Land Rover (in a bag that went to London).  The Landy was at least under partial cover in an open sided barn, being used for ablutions by a barn owl and some wood pigeons.    I found the Landy keys last week, so yesterday it also got jump started via the 2000 HF.  I took the Landy for a run and a wash.

The Appia is as yet unwashed.  Here it is looking relieved but also a bit ticked off that it had to spend half the winter out of doors only a twenty second drive from its garage.

PS: Yes, the engine does leak oil more than it should - needs some new gasketry, I think.

PPS: Many thanks to Jim for sending a new petrol cap and seal, as it needed those also

[lancianut666]

Lucky you had the 2000HF.

[GerardJPC]

I always feel lucky to have the 2000 HF!


I gave the Appia a wash.