Aprilia Diary

[Parisien]

Simon...that was epic.....if I had a medal to hand I would award it to you without further ado!

Lucca is gorgeous, was over there in March.

Great you got back and did your Aprilia. and Lancia proud


P

[fay66]

What a great adventure! and I loved the makeshift wiper mechanism! however if you've never given it a try I can recommend Rain X, although you need to re apply it fairly frequently it works well without depriving the female members of your family of there underwear support

Brian
8227

[the.cern]

Brilliant Simon, juliet and sister. Where there's a will there's a way.

Glad it all went well in the end and you had a great family bash. It all makes me even more determined to get the B20 sorted.

                         Andy

PS in an emergency a potato is not a bad alternative to Rainex, so I am told!!

[chriswgawne]

Simon 'rain X'd' his windscreen whilst here but the rain was  torrential and it only has a certain ;ife. I had forgotten how unique the Aprilia exhaust note is as Jacky and I heard him coming (from the front) well before he arrived and when he departed on Sunday morning going down our valley. we could hear him for what must have been 2 km or so. Lovely.
Chris

[stanley sweet]

What a memorable trip! The bikini wipers are fantastic. I've heard too that a cut potato smeared on the screen would help but I don't suppose you'd packed many potatoes in your luggage. As Chris says, with that kind of rain, nothing is going to last long. I have fond memories of camping at Lake Garda and then further down and visiting some of these places in the Fulvia. I seem to remember that at Maranello the landscape changed suddenly from flattish to the classic hilly poplar covered Italy we think of with beautiful roads to match. Lancia driving country. Apart from the wiper motor, sounds like a pretty successful shake down run.

[simonandjuliet]

Thank you for your comments and Mic, I have been in touch with Vintage Supplies who may be able to supply a temporary solution.

I have stripped and cleaned the motor and have identified the offending part. As suspected it is a damaged bakelite cog - the one driven directly off the motor. There are only 3 damaged teeth but it's enough. The rest of the mechanism is perfect.

So either a new cog or get a watch/clock maker to remake it - any suggestions ?

[fay66]

Thank you for your comments and Mic, I have been in touch with Vintage Supplies who may be able to supply a temporary solution.

I have stripped and cleaned the motor and have identified the offending part. As suspected it is a damaged bakelite cog - the one driven directly off the motor. There are only 3 damaged teeth but it's enough. The rest of the mechanism is perfect.

So either a new cog or get a watch/clock maker to remake it - any suggestions ?

Just a thought Simon, Does the cog rotate through 360 degrees or does it only work on that particular section, if so is it possible to reposition the spindle 180 degrees on to a fresh section?

Brian
8227

[williamcorke]

Just a thought Simon, Does the cog rotate through 360 degrees or does it only work on that particular section, if so is it possible to reposition the spindle 180 degrees on to a fresh section?

Or invert it?

Perhaps the central mounting could be modified to bring an undamaged section into play as Brian's suggested by another means.

Photo?

(Update - sorry, just saw the photos posted earlier. Having looked at the (6-lobed drive to the offending wheel, It looks as if it needs its whole circumference to be in good condition to operate properly.

On the other hand, why is the damage all in one sector? Perhaps because there is a greater torque load at the point the wipers change direction? So if the wheel were mounted 180, or 120 degrees from its original position, you might find that it works again.

Another thought. Can the clearance between the two cogs be adjusted? Perhaps reducing the axial distance between the two wheels by some means would mean normal operations were resumed?)

[simonandjuliet]

Thank you for your thoughts, the only problem is that the cog cannot be inverted due to the other small cog above it. The cog spins in one direction around its whole circumference, so there is not one section that takes more wear. There is a tiny bit of movement on the motor shaft but without major remachining it is not possible to reduce it.

I think that the damage has been caused by a wiper blocking or over centre-ing and forcing the mechanism. Once I have the new bits I can check all of this

The simplest thing is to find/make a new cog.

I have also invested in a new motor that I can modify to fit (keeping the original set up) and then have as a running spare

[stanley sweet]

If you can get both cogs made from steel it would be a lifetime solution. Unless it's possible to make a mould and remake in a hard plastic/nylon?

[DavidLaver]

Epic!!

I've a memory of Tim Burret persisting with original Aurelia wiper motors and doing something with gears...

David

[simonandjuliet]

Plans afoot re gears, but not a quick fix. In the short term I will need to remachine the Vintage supplies motor, both the thread and spindle are too big and too long to retain the standard Lancia wipers

Few stats following the trip:

2600 km (1625 miles)
220 l petrol (49 gals)
1 l antifreeze
1.2 l (2.1 pints) engine oil

= 33 mpg or 8.6 L/100km

Mixed driving conditions and speeds. Lots of hills and heat so overall, not bad !

[frankxhv773t]

A couple of points. Wasn't the potato solution for anti misting on the inside of the windscreen. I can't imagine it would last very long at all on the outside in the rain.

About that cog wheel. Unless an original replacement is available I would certainly look at making one in a more durable material. As was said, a watch or clock repairer could do it as could any lathe operating engineer or a model engineer. However, sometimes when you think you know better than the original manufacturer you discover later that they knew exactly what they were doing and why.

It is possible that the original cog is made of fibre precisely so it is a sacrificial component that will give way before something else is damaged.

If remaking the cog, nylon and similar materials can be machined so casting would probably be an over complicated solution. If using metal I would consider possibly making one out of brass or similar. The headlight wipers on the Dedra had steel cog wheels. Once the spindle rubbers got a bit old and ceased to seal properly the wiper mechanism filled up with water and the cogs rusted into a single solid lump. That's why you don't see Dedras with headlamp wipers any more. (although rust may be why you just don't see Dedras any way  any more).

Frank

[fay66]

A couple of points. Wasn't the potato solution for anti misting on the inside of the windscreen. I can't imagine it would last very long at all on the outside in the rain.

About that cog wheel. Unless an original replacement is available I would certainly look at making one in a more durable material. As was said, a watch or clock repairer could do it as could any lathe operating engineer or a model engineer. However, sometimes when you think you know better than the original manufacturer you discover later that they knew exactly what they were doing and why.

It is possible that the original cog is made of fibre precisely so it is a sacrificial component that will give way before something else is damaged.

If remaking the cog, nylon and similar materials can be machined so casting would probably be an over complicated solution. If using metal I would consider possibly making one out of brass or similar. The headlight wipers on the Dedra had steel cog wheels. Once the spindle rubbers got a bit old and ceased to seal properly the wiper mechanism filled up with water and the cogs rusted into a single solid lump. That's why you don't see Dedras with headlamp wipers any more. (although rust may be why you just don't see Dedras any way  any more).

Frank

My 1990 Dedra 2.0iese had the headlamp problem Frank refers to, but my 1994 LS had high powered jets instead and much more useful.

Brian
8227

[frankxhv773t]

Looking again at your pictures, might you be able to build up the missing teeth with epoxy resin and file them back to the correct profile?

Nothing is really lost if it fails again.

Frank