New Year Delta Dilemna!

[mark]

Hi All

I wonder if you can help me with my Delta. Its a 1991 white HF Turbo that I have owned for 6.5 years. Its been a great car, used daily up until 04/09 with very little trouble and notching up 50k miles. Previoulsy owned by Nigel Henton who was also a LMC member.

The problem I have is that whilst the mechanics are fine (with an almost full service history) and the interior has held up surprisingly well, rust has taken hold in all the usual places - under the windscreen, around the rear arches (worst bit, almost rotted out on the outer arch), around the rear screen (though not too bad), a bit on the sunroof and at the top above the hatch. I'm also concerned that the rust around the rear arches could have nibbled into the sills behind the covers.

Do you think the car can be saved or is it too far gone? The other issue I have is trying to find a specialist in the Sussex area where I live who would be capable of doing a quality job. Would anyone have any idea of the sort of cost I'd be looking at?

Would welcome your comments...

Thanks
Mark..  

[chugga boom]

hi mark, a few yrs ago i welded up a really rotten hf turbo for a friend, it had gone in the same sort of areas that you mention, the main thing he did for me was stripping the car of interier and any flamable trim, he cleaned the rusty areas up for me with a sanding disk in the grinder then handed it over to me, the welding didn't take long as all the time consuming work was done, my advice to you to make the car economical to repair would be to go this route, it doesn't really have to go to a lancia specialist, any good body shop can sort them out its really not that much of a complex car but the dreaded tin worm can take a good grip in the rear arches, atleast if you strip it out yourself its cost nothing even if yo did decide it were un-economical to repair, when i used to work in body shops the insurance companies would usually give almost as much time to strip and rebuild the car as to repair it, other options i would concider would be if the tailgate has rotted i would buy a good second hand unit approx 100gbp, to weld up, then fill , prima and paint a rotten one would cost more if you were paying someone to do it, it seems a shame to junk the car with such good history and milage, hope this helps and good luck with your project, james

[neil-yaj396]

Mark

Think you need to get in touch with Chris Owen, the LMC press officer. I think he had his 1300 Delta rebuilt from the ground up.

If you're not doing most of the work yourself I'd budget for a lot of money, a lot more than buying another car in good condition for sure.

Good luck, it will have to be a labour of love.

Neil

[DavidLaver]

While it has an MOT just keep enjoying it...whatever the weather...

David

[fensaddler]

Hi Mark - I think we corresponded many year's ago, when I was initially looking for a Delta.  First thing to say is that repair is unlikely to economic in any rational sense - it will have to be justified on other levels.  What it will cost, unless you are a vehicle repair man yourself, will exceed the value of the car even when the work is done.  However, it can be done - my car has seen both sills replaced and the arches welded up, rot around the screen seen to, and various other bits and pieces sorted.  However, I didn't have the tailgate and roof rot that you've had.  For all the work you are looking at, you may be in for £5k.  If you can do some of the prep yourself, perhaps less - if you can weld, much less.  You don't necessarily need a Lancia specialist for much of it - do you have a competent local bodyshop (they may specialise in crash repairs) who could do work?  I went to a local firm for the first phase of my work and found that though they mostly did insurance work, one of the guys there rebuilt his own classics in his spare time, and saw my car as a chance to have a bit of fun in his working time - a bit of light relief from bent Lagunas.  You might even find you get closer to mates rates that way.

But - Deltas have reached the bottom in terms of value, and they won't lose any more - so once you start factoring in depreciation, this could be seen as an investment if you have long term plans to keep the car (and I know you've been a Delta fan for many years).

Hope that helps...

[mark]

Hi, thanks all for your help, much appreciated.

Unfortunately due to work and family commitments I would not be in a position to do any of the work myself. I'd love to give it a go but spare time is at a premium at the moment. 

Looks like I may have to sell her on as I don't have enough in the kitty to get all the work done. Something to chew over as this is my last Lancia now (had them since '97) so would be sad to see her go.

Thanks again

Mark..

[fensaddler]

All I can say is, don't give up on the dream just yet!  Get some quotes, see if the work can be staged, and see if you can get some help somewhere along the line, especially with parts and expertise.  You may yet be able to make it happen.  It took several years and a lot of parts collection to get my car to where it is now, and I still have a to do list, for when time and money allow...

[Neil Lewis]

I know that it might not be the "proper" way to go but I was just about to sugegst the same thing as Chris.  Find out which bits will cause teh car to fail it's MOT.  Carefully examine them and decide which bits can be hidden with body filler and/or underseal and just have the other bits welded.  You'll know what's wrong with it so you can attack those when you have the time and funds.  But you'll still have a Lancia to drive when you want to.

The other thing to remember is that repairs made which are hidden from view (underneath or behind plastic trims, don't need to be pristine.  You don't even need to grind the welds down because no-one except you will know that they're there.

I take my Integrale to a local MG specialist to have welding/painting done.  I do this every year so I keep on top of the problems and, given I compete on road rallies where the bodywork stresses are higher than usual, I have a very sound car (but not concourse).

And to the rest of you, please don't shout at me...

Neil

[mark]

Thanks again everyone .. at least the cars tucked up in a warm garage at the moment so I've got a bit of time to make my mind up!

Mark..