Aprilia back on the road

[Scarpia]

sure it was the electric pump? could be some dirt in the carb that passed through and cleared itself.

70 mph, just taking it easy during the running in I assume then?

[DavidLaver]

Any pictures of the special?  I can remember many years back coming to see it in your conservatory - and of course in the "specials" book.

David

[apriliadriver]

David,
I will have to get Trevor Pask to send me a picture of the Thompson special, then I will post it. I doubt it will be on the track this year, but could be a contender next year.

Has anyone looked at the, er, rather extraordinary Aprilia 2-seat special on PreWarCar. com ? It is top of the list in Lancias for sale. Eek !
Nick

[apriliadriver]

Passengered & navigated by Mike Benwell, I took the Aprilia into Kensington for the LMC lecture at the British-Italian Society meeting. Mike and I survived the perils of being squeezed by an erratic tourist coach from Heckmondwike at the Shepherds Bush roundabout, arriving at Heythrop College (part of Univ. of London) located in one of those backwater oases of calm and peace you can happen across in London on a spring evening. The college has a garden with parking at the back, bounded on one side by High St Kensington Tube station. The LMC put on a good show  -  John Turner's desirable Lambda, an Appia, a B20 and - joy of joys  -  a Hyena.

The lecture was well-attended by LMC members. The Aprilia went very well  -  all temps and pressures being on the button despite the traffic. I bypassed the fuel-pump switch and had no recurrence of the problems experienced recently, so I am pretty sure that the (old) switch is the fault.

Return journey was in the dark  -  the first time I had tested out the lighting and I was agreeably surprised how good the headlights were. Now just a few more finishing-off items to do, and then it's ready for the Sliding Pillar in mid-June.
Nick

[apriliadriver]

Latest lesson : beware of using petrol tank sealant in older cars. I learnt this lesson 22 years ago, but forgot it in the last five years.

The Aprilia, crewed by myself and William Glynn, had a great time on the Sliding Pillar Rally on June 18th to 20th , having driven down to Somerset from W. London. The Aprilia performed faultlessly for 3 days, then conked out about 3 miles from the SPR hotel on the return journey on Monday morning. It proved to be an insoluble fuel-pipe blockage.  AA Relayed us back and later I tried to clear the blockage : no luck, but I did retrieve what looked like a fragment of white clingfilm. Luckily, the inline filter had done its job, so there's nothing upstream towards the carb  -   thank heavens !

Last weekend, I removed the tank and the inside was strewn with large pieces of white petrol tank sealant, so not just a small area of a problem, but a major one. I have taken the tank back to the feller who rebuilt it, and hope to pick it up just before the Belfry AGM. He said that he had washed the tank thoroughly, etch-primed it twice internally so that the coat keyed on to something good and then sealed it. But the material had even detached from some clean metal on the baffles.

So, unless you  have absolutely no alternative, I would recommend avoiding sealant, however highly-praised it is.
Nick

[chrislg]

Just for information, who did you use to repair the tank (and would you recommend them) and what sealent/process was used?
I know you said to avoid them all, but there are some which come with a lifetime warranty, so I would be interested to know as I am about to get my Appia tank repaired and would like to know who to go to but more importantly what to avoid!

Chris

[apriliadriver]

Chris,
I did not use a specialist  -  was just one of the services of a general restorer. I do not know what sealant was used.

My comments apply whether there is a lifetime guarantee or endorsement from the Archangel Gabriel  ....  do not use unless there is no possible other option  -  two bad experiences in 20 years is enough.
Nick

[davidwheeler]

I did much the same, opening and cleaning the tank, priming it and the painting it with Smoothrite!   (I have a friend who is a tinsmith who put it back together again.)  Big mistake,  I have two filters in place but still the electric fuel pump accumulates black bits every few hundred miles in its filter and stops and occasionally a carb. will flood and need the bowl loosened and a quick blast from the fuel pump to clear the bits out of the float valve.  I think the answer is to keep dry petrol in the tank and keep the little cover over the filler to stop water getting in.

That said, she ran home from Ben's in Bristolish at 70mph and 29 mpg despite twin carbs.

David

[apriliadriver]

At last I have been able to install the petrol tank after the fuel blockage on the way back from the Sliding Pillar Rally.

I had dropped the tank out of the tail and taken it back to the renovator to be fixed  -  the sealant they had sloshed in had peeled off the inside of the tank in large fragments and blocked the fuel line all the way to the filter  -  which did do its job properly  -  at least nothing reached the Weber carb.

After a bit of a saga, I got the tank back the Thursday before the AGM & Rally. Simple job, I thought, just position the tank, tighten up 3 nuts & bolts, connect the pipe and vent-pipe and off we go.

By now I should have learned that nothing on an Aprilia is simple. The tank had been returned, completely cleaned internally and with a very thick rubberised/bitumin-type external coating, up to 2 to 4 mm thick. What I had not clocked as the tank came out was that even with a thin coat of old paint, it was just about an interference fit.

So when I offered the tank up, it would not fit  -  too deep externally fore-and-aft to clear the rear of the diff housing and the back of the bodywork. After persevering for 6 hours on my own, (and I have the bruises to show it), carving off bits of bitumen coating,  I concluded it was a two-man job. So, no Aprilia to take to the AGM w/end. Curses.

Trouble was that the nearest helper who would be prepared to lie on their back on a grubby garage floor wrestling a recalcitrant tank into position was 70 miles away  -  there are few if any Ruislip suburbanites who wd be likely to accept my invitation to get their hair oily.

At the beginning of last week I secured the services of a helper and with some pushing and shoving, finally got the tank back in. It certainly is a snug fit now  -  even if the mounting bolts failed, I don't think it would drop out. Refitting the tank sender, vent-pipe and the upturned dog-dish over the tank sender was speedily done, and after a 5 week lay-off, the Aprilia is back in operation.

The next bit of work is to try and take some of the judder out of the clutch engagement  -  I think that I will renew the fabric flexi-couplings on the prop-shaft (current items are pretty s/hand) and see if that improves it.

Any ideas from readers about who has got a stock of flexi-couplings ?
Nick

[Dilambdaman]

Nick,

Talk to Morris Pary (Runningboard) I think that he might be able to help.

Robin.

[DavidLaver]

He'll can tell you how to make them from conveyor belting.

David

[BlueSky]

Nick,

I bought a set of couplings from Cavilitto and they have done the job very nicely. The car had a bad vibration in the drive train which disappeared after I changed the them over.
There has been discussion here in the past regarding clutch judder, I think it seems if you have the early six hairpin spring version, in 1st and reverse, they just do. The other thing is to make sure the springs have the correct clamps under each bolt to locate them correctly. If you have the later clutch I'm afraid I don't know!

Noel

[apriliadriver]

First proper test run after the tank clean-up was to VSCC Prescott on Sunday morning, particularly to savour the infinite variety in the pre-war car park in the Orchard.

About lunchtime, Ron Purbrick (his Aprilia d/h parked in the campsite  -  brave man !) introduced me to Joe and Bev Wilson, Aprilia owners visiting from Australia. Joe and Bev have just completed a tremendous Aprilia restoration. He has finished his car in a light grey which looks superb in the photos.

There were several lovely Lambdas in attendance and John Baker in his Aurelia.

The weather was perfect and the sight of the day was Mark Walker in his 1903 25-litre LSR V8 Darracq, who scored an incredible 47.96s climb on Sunday.

The journey from London is about 180 miles round trip & the Aprilia averaged 45 mph on the journey and about 25mpg, although the petrol consumption figures are still a little imprecise. On the M40 section, we rattled along at 65 to 70 mph.

What a very useable car the Aprilia is !
Nick

[apriliadriver]

There were three Aprilias at the Lambda Lunch today at The Phoenix, Hartley Wintney, cradle of the VSCC and a holy place in the vintage and post-vintage thoroughbred pantheon.

Ron Purbrick arrived in his drophead, now sporting an Italian sized front numberplate showing the recently-reallocated original registration; Mike Benwell in his S1 Aprilia, black with black wheels and my car, black with green wheels. Alongside three Lambdas, Colin Marr's Appia, Robin and Margaret Lacey's DiLambda, a Fulvia, a 1750 6C Alfa and a brace of beautiful Bugattis, they made a fine sight.

Over 20 Lancisti turned out, which for an irregular event with the Lancia Casuals is pretty good. The weather was fabulous  -  sunny and 18C  -  and we got the chance to look round the cars in Nick Benwell's workshop, chief amonst which was the Lord Raglan T51 Bugatti  ...  and how often do you see one of those ?

I put my Aprilia through its second MoT a week or so ago -  no problems, but rather surprised/disheartened to find that I had done just 1300 miles in the last twelve months.

So  -  resolution for 2011  -  do more Aprilia journeys.
Nick

[ColinMarr]

Nick is right – it was a great gathering of wonderful cars – including the two Aprilias in the photo below.

But Nick is wrong about the Appia, which is owned by Will How and sadly not by me! I was there as a mere passenger in a Fiat Panda, which didn't stop me enjoying the event.

Colin