Appia furgoncino - A fettler's voyage

[simonandjuliet]

Frank, thanks for the suggestion. I am lucky that there is no rust on the underside, apart from a bit on the rear valance that has been replaced. The rest still has the original underseal. I have gone over it to check it is not loose and then as you suggested, I "painted" over it with black waxoyl. Now it has dried (always slightly tacky) it looks very acceptable.

Vendanges finished yesterday, so hopefully I can get a bit more time in the garage before the next (building) project starts. Today I dismantled the clutch mechanism.

There is a large 32mm 2-sided nut holding it all together, however this is recessed and inaccessible with spanners and a standard socket will not fit. The trick with this is to compress the pressure plate using a couple of G-clamps so the nut extends beyond the sleeve, turn the unit upside down and clamp said nut in the vice.

I dropped a couple of bolts through the mounting holes and then undid the nut by turning the unit with a tyre lever

It appears that the release bearing had already been replaced because the nut had been slightly damaged.

Second picture shows it all in bits because the TAV isn't entirely clear as to how it goes together, the spring (part 17) is actually at the far right, after the nut, not before as shown. This is from a 1st Series book, but it is the same for later series.

Thought you might like the ad from Vinisud 2014 !

[the.cern]

I find it amazing that some of the TAVs are so inaccurate/misleading!!! I had the spring location problem and so stuffed/jammed a short piece of cardboard tube with 'spring' written on it into the true spring position until I was raedy for the final re-assembly!!

Excellent work as usual ....

                                Andy

[stanley sweet]

Ingenious way of undoing it.

[simonandjuliet]

In between pump-overs and pigeage (pushing down the grape-skin cap) I have had some time in the garage and have started on the wiring loom

It only really needs checking over, cleaning and refitting, but it takes a lot of time .......

First off was to clean the aluminium tags, photograph and record everything so that hopefully everything will work afterwards ! I used an artist's brush and white spirit to clean the tags.

Once everything was recorded, I removed the fusebox and other ancillaries, before sliding off the sleeves. I have bound each bundle as well to help re-assembly. Now I can clean the wire and sleeves properly

New master cylindre seals have been received and fitted (usual Omicron efficiency) so the master cyl is in along with the brake fluid reservoir. This was stripped and checked. Putting it back together can be a fiddle because you have to compress a spring and line up the wobbly plunger rod with the hole in the main body.

Fortunately there is a drilled hole in the top of the plunger so you can hold it in place with a welding rod and then thread that through the main body before compressing the spring and screwing it all together.

The steering column surround and gearchange mechanism have also been refitted along with the pedal box. All the threads have been cleaned etc etc .......

Lots of other detail but not that interesting !

[simonandjuliet]

Wiring has taken ages, some wires missing, others not connected and all of it was a mess (first photo shows how it arrived).

Back to basics, all cleaned, checked and circuits followed. One of the wires to the voltage reg was missing all together and there were no wires for the brake switch etc etc

Only major problem was that one of the fusebox terminals was utterly seized so needed to be remade. I drilled out the grub screw, retapped the terminal and base because it sheared as well, made a mounting bolt and new grub screw and refitted and soldered it all. It is the main charging circuit, so no real surprise that this one was slightly charred/seized - it does mean that I will need to check the charging once it is all back together and working.

The rest has been a question of following the wiring diagram and putting it back as it should be.

This afternoon was spent refitting the steering column, steering box and drop arm etc.

It all went back together nicely until I pushed the column fully home, then it became tight and "graunchy". There are a lot of things to get in repose, the column, its housing, the steering box, the steering box clamp and so on. The main problem I found was that the bearing at the top of the column housing, just behind the steering wheel, was damaged. It looks like a white metal bearing à la main bearing on an Aprilia and others.

Indeed, if you have tight, sticky steering on an Appia (and I suspect, Aurelia) this would be worth looking at !!

I ran a hone through it, greased it up and then refitted everything carefully, always rotating the column as I tightened things up. If anything started to get get "sticky" , I backed off and re-positioned it. After several hours (!!!!) it is beautiful and light - as it should be.

As per the suggestion from Chris Gawne a while ago, I chose the nicest section of the steering box for the "centre".

Also refitted the suspension oil reservoir and (new) pipes, oil pressure pipe, heater pipe surround, lighting circuit conduits etc. A significant amount of time has been taken trying to find the right screws/bolts and so on. It was all dismantled and put in boxes, so trying to find the correct "domed, phillips" set screw, for example,  can take an age ...

Might try dropping in the engine this week and see how it looks and fits

Last picture is of the pedal assembly for David, I know he likes detail !!

[stanley sweet]

Everything looks so neat and tidy. Nice work indeed.

[simonandjuliet]

Thanks Stan, Appias are very nicely designed and put together .......

More this week. The clutch cover is back together with a new release bearing (Cavalitto) and new fibre washers that fit behind the springs.

The extra brake pipe and unions also arrived.The rear pipe has been made up and fitted along with the main positive lead that runs along the sill from behind the driver's seat. Many months ago I made a new sleeve to go around this, the old one had rotted unsurprisingly

A before and after picture shows how the lead and brake pipe are threaded through the pedal assembly

Lastly, at the front end, the bonnet release catch refitted, red tape to stop me spiking myself every time I walk past !

The rear drum came off very easily and everything looks sane inside, however even with my 41mm Lancia spanner (and even bigger socket and bar) the centre nut will not come undone. Think it will require heat and will have to wait until the axle comes off

Included is a photo of the old underseal (LHS) then cleaned up with the waxoyl (RHS)

I have also stripped and cleaned the heater. It looked as if the fan blade had been catching because there were scrape marks on the casing , so whilst it was in bits I re-peened the blade to the cuff so that it no longer wobbles.

Next, I think I will do a trial engine fit to see if I have all the bits !

[simonandjuliet]

Not had much time recently, but did get the nut off the back axle. After trying with a very long bar and shock treatment it would not move and I risked damaging the nut, so I invested in an induction heating coil system.

It works - 60 sec heating , no risk to surrounding paintwork and it came off easily with a 10" knuckle bar ...... impressive !

Now to see if it works on the seized shackle bolts, these will be more af a challenge because you need to get the heat down the shaft

Dog has been flatting and polishing the paintwork and I am equally happy with the results. It is giving a deeper, flatter shine, more in keeping with "classic" paintwork. The photos don't really capture it .......

[simonandjuliet]

Even though I am still exceedingly young at heart (51 last count) ,I find crawling around on a cold , damp floor, less and less enjoyable.

Here , we don't really know what cold or damp means ..... however , I have been toying with the idea of a car lift for some time and they are becoming increasingly accessible.

How many of us have full-height car lifts ?

My garage has height and width restrictions so the choice has been limited, so initially, I decided to fit a scissor-type lift. They are not cheap, starting at £2,500 (delivered) and they do have access limitations, but if you are width limited they are very practical.

I have 3.35 m max width available and until now, 2 post lifts were not an option because they needed at least 3.45m. After a lot of research I came across a new, very slightly narrower 3.5ton lift at 3.33m - I know an extra 4" is not that interesting (!) but it meant I could fit a 2 post lift - plus they are more than £1000 cheaper !

It was delivered last week, weighing in at 720kg. I dropped it onto a trailer behind my tractor and brought it over to the garage. We used the engine hoist to lift it off (in 2 parts)and onto the floor , then a trolley jack to bring it in to position. After that, 3 of us lifted the posts into the vertical and bolted them to the floor, taking extreme care to get them lined up and parallel.

So far so good, and I hope to get the rest connected up tomorrow (1 person, even with 1 &1/2 hands) and will report back.


Plus, I got to drive the Aprilia and Appia again after 3 weeks abstinence

[Parisien]

Thats fantastic Simon, a great piece of kit, you won't know yourself, nor will your creaking joints!!!


P

[chriswgawne]

Fascinating Simon. I have always wanted either a lift or pit. What height does your new piece of kit need and may I ask who the supplier is?
Chris

[the.cern]

Fascinating Simon. I have always wanted either a lift or pit. What height does your new piece of kit need and may I ask who the supplier is?
Chris

You are not alone there Chris. However, I do not really have a problem with this. It is a definite NO, right from the very start!!! I have drainage connections under the floor and a headroom of about 3m .... and that applies to both the garage and the workshop!!

I do think that good access to all parts of a car can really up the quality of the finished product and that is in addition to the greater ease and speed at which jobs get done!!

A good buy I think Simon, one you will never regret and one where you will wish you could have done it sooner!!!!!!

                                       Andy

[simonandjuliet]

I have a sloping roof starting at about 2.5 m at the front and nearly 5m at the rear - garage is approx 6m deep.

The lift is set back a bit further and I will need to move some shelves . So long as I reverse the furgoncino in, I can lift it to full height (1.8m off the ground). The 3rd series is fine because it has a boot .....

BUT - I will need to be careful !!

The supplier was "Automotech" , there are a lot of options, some cheaper or with better options, but I bought this because it was the narrowest

[frankxhv773t]

Did you think to order a transmission jack at the same time? It is invaluable for lifting heavy bits up and down to fit them underneath a car on a hoist.

Frank T

[simonandjuliet]

Frank, yes I bought the transmission jack at the same time - plus a 20 ton bearing press ....... postage was the same for everything. I saved so much buying a 2 post lift over the scissor lift that I was going to buy, it seemed a shame not to !

Anyway, I finished the hydraulics and electrics etc today, took 4hrs because I was one-handed. I think that 2 people could do the whole thing, start to finish, in a day. It was not difficult

I lifted the furgoncino a couple of feet to try it out, couldn't go higher because I only had 5l of hydraulic fluid and it is a public holiday today , so no shops open - need another 5l

Very happy with the result and the quality of the lift.

Hopefully things will get a whole lot easier ......