Aprilia Diary

[simonandjuliet]

The mirror comes from a big Healey. The only thing I am going to change is the adjusting screw. I will swap it for a slotted screw instead of the Phillips one

[Scarpia]

Looks nice.
if its any consolation , the only thing you see in the oval rearview mirror are the rear passengers. The chances of a direct view through the rear window is about the same as the sun at dawn above the alter stone at stonehenge.

[davidwheeler]

 I find that
http://www.vintagecarparts.co.uk/
have an excellent supply of things like mirrors for not too horrifying prices.     I appreciate your point about the repeaters (?2CV) but prefer to have some such in view of the doziness of many modern drivers (particularly OLD ones)   I have fitted some quite neat and inoffensive LED ones I found in my local trailer shop to the lambdas.  After all, flashing indicators are non standard anyway.

[simonandjuliet]

After a trip back to the UK , I've had a bit more "garage-time" to get on with the interior. First up was redressing the flat pegs that fix the top edge of the door panels in place. There were several missing so I remade them from sheet steel and used a jogglar to get the correct offset. Coat of paint and they await refitting.

I have dismantled the driver's seat prior to sending away for re-upholstering. I was sure it was broken and lo and behold, the backrest was badly twisted and had snapped in several places. It had also been rewelded at some point, but poorly, leaving it misaligned.
It is not surprising that the frame was broken because my stepfather is no lightweight and nor am I, and as you can see the frame most definitely is lightweight !
Easiest thing to do was to cut the bottom off and straighten it all before welding back together. I used 8mm threaded rod inside the tubes to strengthen the joints.

The original upholstery was beautifully done, high class work and materials. Lots of horse hair and wool felt all held in place with yards of twine.
One nice detail was how the bottom frame rail was covered, fabric sewn to a card strip before being riveted to the frame. Very time consuming and expensive

The only problem is that the Aprilia is now off the road until I can get the seats back in the car, but winter and is coming so not so much of an issue !

[simonandjuliet]

Now that I can't drive the Aprilia whilst waiting for the front seats to be upholstered , I plan to take a few other bits to pieces and repaint/repair them

Today I removed the running board in order to clean it up before painting. I have done a spectro on the colour and have found "a perfect" match so I thought it best to start on the least obvious piece. The colour looks very good on a sample and some touching up, so worth a punt !

Removing the aluminium ribs was a delicate job because the bolts are tiny. Indeed some were already broken and the rib was held on by a loop of wire

The challenge now is to find/remake these bolts. They slide in a narrow groove on the back of the rib, entering via a slight widening in the middle

If anyone has already done this job and has any of said sliding bolts, I would appreciate a few, or if you know where I can get some please let me know. Approx sizes are M2 threads with 9x4.5 flat bar tops and about 8-10 mm long, nut is 5mm socket

Fortunately no hidden nasties behind the running board !!!

[simonandjuliet]

Fiddly little job, this one ! Trafficators have never worked for as long as I can remember .....

Firstly removed the interior light and side panel, then the top nut for the trafficator is behind the bulb for the interior light - the int. light is part of the trafficator - and the bottom screw is accessible from the outside once the arm is raised.

3 wires to disconnect - top is for the int. light, the middle for the solenoid and bulb (from indicator switch) and the bottom one for the dash return to light the warning lamp

The problem with the unit appeared to be that the insulation on all 3 internal wire had perished and the only way to replace them is by taking the arm off and drilling out the rivets holding the lens and terminal in place, re-thread and solder new wires, clean and re-assemble it all - easy as that !

After a couple of hours fiddle, all working again, a new rubber gasket cut from an old inner tube and ready to fit. Not sure yet quite how I am going to make them work in tandem with the flashing indicators, but I am sure I can fashion something !

Now for the other side ......

[BlueSky]

Simon,
This is the circuit diagram that shows how the trafficators and flashers are wired in my car. There is no warning lamp, hence I fitted the buzzer. Hope it helps a bit.
Noel

[lancialulu]

Simon

You were brave. My trafficators worked ie came out and in but the bulb never lit up. The carello assembly is so frail I decided not to try to disassemble but managed to thread some very thin ptfe insulated wire (from Maplin) through the top and fish through to connect to some led replacements I made up because I could not locate those thin (6mm?) long (30mm) festoons in 12v.

Tim

[simonandjuliet]

Noel
Thanks for the diagram, have ordered some relays !

Tim
You are correct the units are delicate, but unfortunately all the wires were cream-crackered so I had no choice !

[simonandjuliet]

This evening's little trial was getting the switch for the interior lights to work - I knew the wiring was OK because they flickered when you pressed the switch but didn't stay on

It isn't evident from the picture, but the small pulley has a square block inside it that is rotated by the hook on the upper contact. The block is half brass and half bakelite, so when the brass side is lined up across the contact, it is on - etc !

It needed the contacts cleaning and re-profiling before it would work - touch of oil and all is well

[apriliadriver]

I spoke to one Aprilia owner who drove his restored car for one year with just the semaphore arms in operation  -  no flashing indicators. After 12 months, he told me, "it was b****** dangerous  -  no current driver ever looks for trafficators : right-turns were suicide".

I fettled my trafficators, installed them disabled, and just completed the wiring for the interior lights  -  which work a treat. The semaphores look fine, just do not operate.
Nick

[davidwheeler]

Trouble with semaphores is that they do not return if you are going at any sort of speed at all and so are only of any use in town.   Mine work from the original switch but I have a separate switch for the flashing lights.

[lancialulu]

Trouble with semaphores is that they do not return if you are going at any sort of speed at all and so are only of any use in town.   Mine work from the original switch but I have a separate switch for the flashing lights.

Mine were wired to operate from the original switch which operated the flashers with a cunning circuit using 2 lucas flasher relays.

[simonandjuliet]

Re trafficators, I plan to try them in tandem as per Noel's diagram (and probably Tim's car as well) and if I suffer David's  problem then I can revert to the separate switch ! Forewarned is forearmed as they say ....

Having removed the side panel to access the trafficators it became apparent that the side panel was not entirely well so I need to remake it in the same ply as the door panels.

As always, some nice details which I need to reproduce - chamfered edges and covered cut outs for the door pins etc. As before, if anyone wants a template, let me know

[DavidLaver]

With the trafficators will you have them wave in sync for hazards

David