sliding pillar suspension

[exasperated]

Greetings from a new member,
I live in Napier, a small village in  S. Africa, approximate 3 hrs drive from Cape Town.
I have an Appia 3 which I am restoring. Unfortunately this model was only sold, in limited numbers {95} for 3 years and was assembled in S.A. Thus information is scarce. However all the spares which the Agent had was taken over and are now available from Lancia Auto S. A.
My car when I bought it seemed reasonable, but turned out to be anything but. In its life it had been rear-ended and repaired with body filler. This had resulted in the body being out of alignment and also much rust. But enough of that tale of woe.
My query today is about the sliding pillar suspension. I have disassembled the unit, which I am sure those of you who have done this is a formidable task. Whatever is taken to pieces must be put back together again. Considering that it has a reservoir of fluid, it must be expected to leak,---restored cars should not leak oil.  But where from? To me the most likely place is at the shock absorber adjusting cap.
I will appreciate your comments on this puzzlement.
Kind Regards, Exasperated

[lancialulu]

It maybe that you have overfilled it. They are not a sealed unit and will leak till the correct level, then continue to leak during use hence the topping up system (though only top up when it starts clonking and only enough to maintain the natural level. Easy to explain to an MOT man that the shocks are based on a loss system and are not leaking as in failed.

[exasperated]

Hello lancialulu,
 Thanks for your reply, which raises another question. What is the correct level? Whilst this may sound like a stupid question, I have to admit that I have very little knowledge  regarding an Appia, having grown up with Fiats of that time. They were much more straight forward in layout and a lot cheaper to buy. Lancia"s were what was known as 'exotic'. Regards exasperated.

[lancianut666]

Hi exasperated
Your first port of call should be to the viva lancia website here at https://viva-lancia.com/specials/cd/appia-cd.php A nice man will sell you all the documentation you will ever need to maintain your car. if you were to join the Appia Consortium we can supply a comprehensive range of spares NOS, used and remanufactured.
Jim Clarke
Lancia Appia Consortium (UK) Manager

[will]

You might try http://lancia.co.za they have a lot of Appia spares
 I always clean my sliding pillar suspension before an MOT