B10*2283

[williamcorke]

Some of you might know that I've had an Aurelia B10 for a while and that it's been 'stuck' with a body/paint specialist since 2007.  Well today I'm going to collect it.  Not under entirely ideal circumstances as the specialist in question is closing down.  I spent an hour there yesterday sorting to the chaos to try and make sure that none of my B10 bits have been lost.

The main missing items yesterday were both windscreens and their trims.  Eeek!  Thank goodness they turned-up this morning, so I'm off with the trailer to collect the car, screens, and anything else I can track down.

There's a page on my Aurelia blog about this car which has a few pictures on it (it has been painted, quite well I think).  I have uploaded more than 1,700 pictures of the body restoration to Picasa, which some of you might find interesting, useful as reference or perhaps as a cure for insomnia.

Links to the Picasa photo albums are at the bottom of this page:
http://b20no2959.wordpress.com/about/b10-2283/

[Sliding Pillar]

Looks great in the original grey paint and nice to see an early car with the wing semaphores, do you know up to which chassis number these were fitted?

[williamcorke]

Looks great in the original grey paint and nice to see an early car with the wing semaphores, do you know up to which chassis number these were fitted?

I'm not sure what the last car to have semaphores fitted was, no.  My car had later wings fitted for some reason, but the taped-over wiring for the semaphores was still sitting there poked through the grommet/hole in the A-post/inner wing; so I'm pretty sure that the car would have originally had them fitted.

The other lighting question that I had to make a decision on was whether to have the separate indicator/sidelight below the headlights.  Earliest cars didn't have these and I like the clean look, so the holes in the wings were filled.  Easy enough to add the lights later if I change my mind.

[Parisien]

William,

Had a quick run through of your albums........boy was that a labour of love and devotion.

Ball park as to number of hours it took to do body?

It certainly looked pretty bad in parts!


P

[williamcorke]

William,

Had a quick run through of your albums........boy was that a labour of love and devotion.

Ball park as to number of hours it took to do body?

It certainly looked pretty bad in parts!


P

How many hours?  I might have to plead the 5th amendment there...  The invoices exist, so if I care to tot them up a total number of hours charged will appear. What would the total be if I were to do this (I'm not going to); at least 800, probably more.

The body didn't look bad when I got the car, and the floorpans (for example) didn't need and have had no work to them at all.  Quite a large proportion of the time spent was in rectifying the bodges of an abortive attempt at restoration in about 1967.  I have the Swedish history of the car, which was in Italy for 2-3 years before being imported to Sweden where it was taken off the road in the late '60s.  So the first mile I drive in it will be first time it's been driven since then.

It's takes love and dedication to resurrect a saloon car after 40 years stuck in a barn, for sure.

A lot more work to do but you could more or less describe it as the home straight now, albeit a Roman Road of a straight.  The Via Aurelia perhaps.

[williamcorke]

B10 - still on trailer - is now in 'back-up barn', which has a sorry history of bird lime attacks on cars.  Not ideal for a car with new paint, or any other really for that matter.

So I have (ingeniously if I say so myself) rigged a large tarpaulin over the B10 which should keep the blinkin' pigeons away when they're in that sort of mood, which seems to be most of the time as far as I can tell.



The second picture shows a neighboring car that hasn't been so lucky and so has more deposits on it than a under-priced flat in Knightsbridge. By the time the 750B is removed for restoration it will truly be 'barn-fresh'.



Now that I have the B10 back, I have been making lists (shopping, work) and really can't wait to get on with re-assembly.  A lot of mechanical parts have been refurbished while the body was away, with the help of (mainly) Peter Harding and Tim Burrett.  I will have quite a few questions for the forum as I problem-solve my way through the usual Aurelia complexities.  By the time the car is done I should be better equipped to sort out the SIV B20...

[Parisien]

Love the pics William....very atmospheric.......hope the rebuild goes well


P

[the.cern]

That must be so great to at last see the B10 'back home'. I must agree with Frank, the photos are very atmospheric, you are so fortunate to have such spaces in which to work.

Please keep up regular posts on the re-assembly, I'm hoping to learn a lot for my B20.

Good luck and best wishes,

                                   Andy

[williamcorke]

Yes it's great to have lots of space, though old barns are impossible to keep clean, so I don't try much.  McLaren it aint...



The other factor to be wary of is the old car lover's version of Parkinson and Boyles laws, which states that the number of cars expands to fill the space available.  This can lead to all kinds of complications, but is a nice problem to have, most of the time.

[williamcorke]

Quick question about paint finishes.

I'm about to refit steering box and suspension / brake reservoir to the B10.  Both seem to have been finished originally in black paint.  I've sometimes seen them in unpainted aluminium - which does show the nice castings off - but what is correct?

Assuming black is correct, what finish; satin / gloss / semi-gloss?

There's a B10 for sale in Belgium at the moment that has a chassis number quite close to mine - it's 2221.  Seems very original.  No trafficators...  On this car the reservoir (seen on the left in the photo below) is unpainted:


And here's another one that's unpainted:


Whereas, here's one from a '51 car that's painted black.

[ColinMarr]

I think black satin finish is correct as per original, but drips of brake fluid very quickly make a mess of the paint and that's why most have been stripped back to bare aluminium. If you want it black, I suggest you use some magic paint that is resistant to normal brake-fluid, or use silicone fluid. If you choose the latter you had better check with the experts that the seals that you are using are OK with silicone fluid - I believe some aren't.

Colin

[chriswgawne]

In my experience the offending brake fluid which damages the satin black paint usually comes from the seal around the plunger having slightly overfilled the reservoir. This seal which I think  is either rubber or felt becomes damaged over time and so before painting the reservoir I would suggest spending some time trying to improve this seal. Not always totally successful but worth a try.
Chris

[williamcorke]

Looks great in the original grey paint and nice to see an early car with the wing semaphores, do you know up to which chassis number these were fitted?

According to a technical bulletin published by Lancia (AST Sketch 1211) in June 1965, the early B10 / B21 wiring diagram that shows trafficator/semaphore and front sidelights within the headlights, applied up to chassis 3355 for the B10 and 1038 for the B21, so this setup is correct for my car.  

Found this in the electrical section of the indespensible LMC Aurelia workshop manual; I should read it more thoroughly, but have been immersed in the Ricambi / Tavola and lists for the past 2 weeks trying to figure out difference fastener specifications.  Will post on this at some point.

[williamcorke]

I have two possible boot seals.  One has a simple rectangular cross-section, the same as a B20 (or at least the later ones) and the other is a 'V' profile.  The 'V' seal is, if you compress it to close the top of the 'V', more or less the same width and height in cross-section as the rectangular item.  Both made of the same black foam material.

Anyone know what's correct on an earlyish B10?

It looks like the 'V' would possibly do the job better than the rectangle - would be glued to the boot-lid on the seal's long side.   Not sure if the open side of the V would point towards the inside or outside of the car though...

If it helps I could photograph and measure....

If the V isn't for this application, then what is it?!

[williamcorke]

The Berlina now has its own blog http://b102283.wordpress.com/.  I thought it probably deserved that.  A few posts so far and a couple of 'pages' which I'm planning to add according to the parts Tavola so that they have more chance of being useful as reference.

News today is that Elvezio Esposito has made a new headlining, but that he's not sure he will be making any more as they are very hard work to hand-stitch!