The Portuguese Aurelia B12 .....and so the journey begins..........

[chriswgawne]

Whenever a project of mine gets a bit gutty, i just swallow hard, share my feelings my wife and then conclude - 'what else would I rather be doing with my time and money?'
And then I just continue.
Chris

[Parisien]

Chris...its a slow burner, in it for the long run.

Hoping not too many crisis points, I have great confidence in the guy doing most of the work, just hoping the selected body man doesn't turn tail during the project. Plus only involved for the next few weeks until he lays his hands on it for a prolonged period, bar photos every few weeks.

Having said that, still lots to refurb off the car, track down and organise.


P

[the.cern]

 Quote          'what else would I rather be doing with my time and money?'
                   And then I just continue.


Chris, you have said this for many of us !!!!!!!


Keep going Frank, I'm sure it will most definitely be worth it in the long run. The sense of satisfaction with bringing something back from the edge will be enormous and more than justify all that you put into it.

The photos are a little grim, but that is all part of the challenge. There were areas on my car far worse than those I can see in the photos, choose a good body man and have faith.

Best wishes,

                Andy 

[Parisien]

Cheers Andy.

As ever I shall reciprocate the sentiments in your post above.

Awaiting the sandblasting with trepidation though.

Down again this evening for another few hours, truth be known, I quite enjoy it!

I left a copy of "Fifty-five years of dirty hands" by the late Clive Beattie of Australia with my mechanic for more tips etc....plus have printed off info from all the kind contributors on this forum.


P

[Parisien]

A few more hours a few more bucks...........did some more underseal removal at rear to nearly finish that area off, we need to remove rear brakes, gearbox etc to get into the next area needing done, but will by pass that and do main underside of body next week.

Also tonight we cut out the most relevant sill section and made a metal profile for Bill Lewis to make up both sills and intermediate leaves. My mechanic is very impressed with both spot and seam welding of same. It took a good hour to release said section with out distorting and keeping the various little bends and finishes intact. We were a little surprised at just how much good metal was in there!

[the.cern]

That looks familiar Frank !!!

A tip from Jim, he welded a couple of tags onto the inner sill member to hold the wiring loom up to prevent it from melting when the bottom edge of the sill is welded. The loom showed signs of damage, presumably caused when it was in the factory !!!!

Keep at it,

              ndy

[Parisien]

Thanks Andy, he wasn't quite sure where the wiring was situated so he was very careful when using the disc. It could be reusable or at the least templated for a new one, though there were a few changes to things as the car aged....such as the non-original front/rear stop and indicator lights plus the absence of the foglights!


P

[Parisien]

By now you will have all heard me going on about being a newbie to the Lancia scene, this is likely to remain so for the forseeable future!

I know where to source lots of bits and pieces by now, so just in case I thought I'd ask as I went along if any current members might just have a little stash of a few bits and bobs secreted away or just forgotten about, that may be useful to me in my restoration.

The doors on my car have a few of the bolts holding the hinges to the body missing, are they common to other Aurelia models, anyone got any spare?

Secondly the pins that mate the hinge to the door are worn, same question as above?

Feel free to pm me with any and all suggestions, offers, tips or direct links if needs be.

Thanks in anticipation,

P

[ColinMarr]

From my limited experience of these things I think it is best not to disturb the hinge bolts/ fittings, either to door or body. If the door has to come off then driving out the pins is, I think, the approved method.

When the doors were re-fitted to my Fulvia I made new pins from stainless-steel rod, which was I think 8mm diameter. I simply cut them to length, ground a lead-in taper and a groove near the top-end to take a circlip. Sounds easy, but I have to confess I wasn’t around when the doors were put back on!

Colin

[Parisien]

Hi Colin,

Well to get car painted etc, need them off, mind you when doing the welding to sills they will be in situ! Difficulty with two doors was that the hinge was only mated to body with one screw/bolt instead of 3...hence the request.

Cheers for pin info too


P

[Zetaman]

P,

Can you share the chassis/engine number of your B12 with me?  Paul Mayo

[Parisien]

Hi Paul,

You have a pm....thanks!

P

[Parisien]

The full floor pan underside area now cleared...5 hrs work.

Finally the engine is ready to be lifted out next Tuesday.

Then the week after final bit of underseal removal after propshaft and rear brakes etc dismounted before the sand blaster man gets his paws on it early December

Up-dated photos next week


P

[Parisien]

Still doing research, printing off all and sundry information.

Both my bumpers are pretty battered, kinked, etc

I have been told that as they are made of brass, they need to be dechromed first, then annealed in a furnace when hot, then allowed to cool down over a 36-48 hour period, only then are they safe to work on without fracturing etc.

Has anyone done this on the forum, any and all information relating to the subject welcome, including where to have done and recommendations.

Thanks


P

[Parisien]

Any further info on the annealing mentioned above?

Engine has been taken out this evening and partially cleaned. Bit of a hiatus now, only working on it 2 evenings in 2 weeks, but then full on til ready for sandblasting.

Pics to follow.


P