Appia furgoncino - A fettler's voyage

[the.cern]

Simon, I must say that both the rocker cover and the inlet manifold look very impressive, well done.

I think that is the route to follow, thank you for your help,

                           Andy

[simonandjuliet]

Been busy here with body prep - lots of detail. It is taking loads of time to make small steps forward, but it is worth it. Dog has been getting the lines perfect and all the corners cleaned and sanded ready for the second primer coat. All the door seals have been removed and cleaned because it is here where we will finish the paint because I am not painting the inside.

Once cleaned you can see all the lovely spot weld marks ..... indeed on a section at the back where a plate had been welded in, we have reproduced them with a punch , how sad is that !

The only part of the inside that I am going to paint is the spare wheel well, which obviously had some water in it and has pockmarked the surface. A couple of small plates in the corners mean that we will paint up to the first hinge but not touch the floor

I have also been making a batch of T bolts to hold on the "bumper" - a thin aluminium strip that bolts to the bodywork. It makes Aprilia bumpers look useful ! Other bits include stripping and painting the spring mechanism for the filler flap and repairing a broken split- pin

[simonandjuliet]

Very exciting, first topcoat ! The spare wheel recess has been painted. The colour is spot on. It was a bit too "high gloss" after it went on, but we sanded with 1200 wet and dry to remove any dust/imperfections (inevitable in a standard garage) and then a fine abrasive paste to matt down the shine. Very happy with the result - not too new .....

Good test for the rest of the bodywork.

The under bonnet plates have polished up nicely and I have been able to keep the transfer/decal on the oil filter, although the top was too far gone , so that was stripped and repainted

[simonandjuliet]

Starting to get ready for re-assembly, preparing ancillaries etc.

Question - Is it better to put the engine and gearbox back as a single unit , or gearbox followed by engine (or other way round !) ?

Any tips /advice would be welcome, I haven't put an Appia back together before, and I didn't take it apart .....

The bodywork is pretty much prepped and I think there is less risk to shiny paintwork and better access if I fit the engine/box before refitting the wings and top coating the body

[fay66]

Starting to get ready for re-assembly, preparing ancillaries etc.

Question - Is it better to put the engine and gearbox back as a single unit , or gearbox followed by engine (or other way round !) ?

Any tips /advice would be welcome, I haven't put an Appia back together before, and I didn't take it apart .....

The bodywork is pretty much prepped and I think there is less risk to shiny paintwork and better access if I fit the engine/box before refitting the wings and top coating the body

Simon,
I can't offer any particular advice on the subject, but when I worked for Vauxhall Motors and before the advent of subframes, we used to have a hefty contraption that fitted into the backend of the gearbox where the propshaft would normally fit, this had a pair of hefty bearing type wheels so that the complete power unit and gearbox assembly went in as one piece, with the wheels enabling it to roll into place under the car without having to have someone guide it in.

Brian
8227

[St Volumex]

Assemble the engine, clutch, and gearbox, and put them in as a unit.  Otherwise getting the clutch to engage nicely with the gearbox shaft is a b....

[simonandjuliet]

Thanks for the advice, hoping to get a bit of time on the Appia soon, the Aprilia brakes have got in the way, plus waiting for some bits to arrive from Don.

In the meantime, Dog has had some time to attack the front wing, the last bit to prepare. I had Bill make up a repair section using Chugga's wing as a pattern. And a little while back, a lovely, shiny repair panel duly arrived

Way too easy ! Unfortunately as we all know, these cars were hand made and the wings turned out to be completely different. The recess, flange and door shape are awry . The recess is more like 15mm + on my car and less than 10 on Chugga's. So effectively Dog has started from scratch ..... without stretching/shrinking tools it has taken a while. Unfortunately Father Christmas didn't read that page on my list !

Initial shaping was done on the door frame, then fitting it around the door itself before finally being fitted to the wing. The wing and door are now both in place so the final fitting can be done - planned for tomorrow. I daren't tell you how long this all took because it is a complicated shape ......

The rest of the wing has also been stripped ready for priming. All looks sane under the red-lead. It is so good to see the back of all that thick, red paint !

[DavidLaver]

How was it made?  Is it several sections welded?

David

[simonandjuliet]

Single piece , stretched and shrunk using hammers and dollies. Dog has these funny hammers with a dimpled surface which apparently shrink the metal - dark art !

[simonandjuliet]

Big psychological step forward today - fitting the radiator grill !

The repaired wing has been re-fitted and final profiling done whilst in place. There had been a previous repair to the wing which we have kept because it is very solid.
There is more "weld" than I would like, and in an ideal world, where there are specialists in the traditional art of the English wheel around every corner, I would remake the whole rear wing-quarter, but we live in a quiet backwater of Europe where there are few wheels and fewer English .....

Dog has done a marvelous job of creating the back edge and it fits like a glove. A very light skim of filler and it is perfect. Whilst at it , I have welded up the side light holes which were added at a later date to satisfy the Italian regulations.

The grill is fabulous, nicely patinated chrome and only a small dink on the centre vertical, which I have straightened as much as possible, and plan to leave with a small imperfection rather than risk re-chroming. The back of the grill still has the black paint on it which I am not going to touch up either.
I've got a brilliant cream for cleaning chrome, it's an old "Amway" product that came from someone dedicated to the company years ago. It was the only thing in their range I ever rated ! Coat of the usual "super resin polish" and it should look nice for a while.

It shows the quality of the chrome, because the furgoncino sat, languishing in a field for more than 20 years

The fluted section took a while to remove and only needed one of the screws drilling out and re-tapping (4x0.7 for reference). I will clean that up tomorrow.

The shield-badge will take a bit more time because it has separated with the heat and is "quite tired" ! - How do you Aurelia owners repair these ?

[Parisien]

It wears the grille with pride Simon, lovely.

Not sure if a new repro badge is the order of the day, its a clear plastic over a painted metal?

P

[DavidLaver]

What's the badge made of?   I've heard of this company before but they can only help with certain types of badge:

http://www.badgecraft.co.uk/

While I think about it have you details of your gasless MIG?   For everyone else - have gasless MIGs "got good" in the time I've been away?  I remember them being barely a step up from an ARC set with one of those crazy vibrating stick holders.  When did I last see one of those...

David

[simonandjuliet]

The badge is made from 2 layers of plastic. A black, back piece that has some of the colour printed on it .Plus a clear plastic cover that is engraved on the reverse side and is silvered.

The whole badge is then glued onto a metal frame which is held in place in the grill with a small nut.

New badges are available in Italy (116 euros) but as Frank suggests, a shiny new badge won't be right. If I can find a good second hand badge then I can risk renovating my own.

[Parisien]

I am wondering if the plastic outer cover can be "repolished", surely there are the techniques and materials to do so, slightly more abrasive to remove deeper scratches, finer to buff up?

Same goes for re-painting the badge aspect, a model soldier painter for instance?


P

[tzf60]

Simon, is the profile/size of the Appia badge similar to that of the Aprilia? Could you use an Aprilia badge while you refurb the Appia badge?
I had an Aprilia badge restored by Pamela Davids (Devon?), but while the workmanship is superb, it looks a little too new....