Aprilia Cabrio - here we go again

[chriswgawne]

I use the same coiled flexible  conduit where appropriate but only when I have the correct OE fittings for either end which sadly are often missing.
Nice job Simon - I love rewiring - probably because its so logical and either right or wrong with no middle ground.
Chris

[simonandjuliet]

Yes Chris, a number were missing. I have soldered the ones I have however, I have also used loom tape to cover the exposed ends to stop dust, crud etc getting into the conduits

Tim, the loom is very similar to a saloon, the rear section is slightly different because the wires to the trafficators don't go to the back and the internal light runs inside on the floor. The second series is quite different because there is an extra fuse box

Tim, the HF was used to attach the wire-puller so I could slide on the conduit, I suppose any 1970's Lancia would do the job

A couple of other steps forward, I have trial fitted the seats and they look great with the black/old-vine-carignan-red combination, although under artificial light the photos don't really catch the colour properly

Plus, I fitted the engine and 'box this morning. I have always found that getting an Aprilia unit fitted is very tight. Others may do it differently, but I fit the engine and box together (like an Appia), with the chrome gear lever support as well. This removes the risk of moving the selectors if you are trying to fit it later, then it can be a real pain to line them up again

The unit goes in at an angle and then as the rocker cover touches the baulkhead then you jack up the back of the box as you slide the sump over the front axle - there is probably only 5mm clearance. You can get a bit more with the rocker cover removed, but I don't like doing that because the valve gear is exposed

I think it is easier on an S1 car than S2 because you can move the engine mounts out of the way by removing 1 bolt and rotating them

Overall, without rushing , it took me about 40 minutes to fit and loosely bolt in place

[DavidLaver]

Seats have wide flutes, gives them a comfortable look.

Impressed with engine on bits of rope not a modern tilter thingy.

[davidwheeler]

I was initially shocked, then I saw that the rocker cover had only minimal bolts in place so you will doubtless be removing it and painting it now the risk of scratching it is past!   I am going to have to re-do my car this summer when it is warm enough Oop North to spray paint but I shall never achieve your standard I fear.

[simonandjuliet]

Seats are very comfortable, just need to be used and stretched a bit. New rocker cover has been loosely fitted as well until I have sorted out the upper seals and I have sourced a good set of plug extenders

A bit more around the engine bay. The first picture shows the elements of the throttle linkage. All cleaned and coated with acrylic - I decided against painting everything black, I'm not sure if they would have been painted originally.

The lever on the top is for the hand throttle which is still to be fitted (lever under the dash)

The loom covers are on so you can't see my new loom anymore !

A difficulty is how best to clean up the information plates to an acceptable standard. So far they have been scotch-brited and then cleaned/protected with Autoglym polish. I will see how they look when the rest is done - they may stand out like a sore thumb, or they might have a nice patina , we'll see !! (before and after photo)

Final picture shows the pedal block, all cleaned and painted, but I do need to buy Aprilia pedal rubbers instead of the Citroen covers

[DavidLaver]

I forgot about those lovely roller throttle peddles.  Augusta is similar.

Pleased with the lacquered steel for the links?  When new would they be bare metal and a wipe (mist!!!) of oil?

[stanley sweet]

Top work as usual Simon. I've noticed that on the latest craze for restoration programmes that when something delicate needs to be cleaned and protected out comes the baby oil.  (Why do babies squeak so much?). But as you've used Autoglym I can't see that the oil would add anything. I can't see you can go any better than the one you've cleaned. The missing paint is never coming back. If they are extremely rare I can only think that artwork could be recreated for a specialist the remake. It depends if you are aiming for very good and usable or almost a concours finish?

[tzf60]

Simon,
At this rate of progress, you'll have the car on the road before the summer is over!

Like most things Lancia, the throttle assembly is an impressive design, and over the top, of course!
 
Jai Sharma has pedal covers advertised on eBay - you probably know that already.
 
Regards,
Tim
 

 

[simonandjuliet]

Thanks for your comments, think it will take a bit longer than that ! However, I have agreed with my "interior-man" to attack all the outstanding bits in early August. We will work together to dismantle, remake frames, resew and then fit

Plus, thanks for the tip about Jai, I have ordered from him instead of elsewhere - he's got some nice stuff !

Re plates, they look very acceptable now that they have been refitted. I have seen one of them re made, BUT they have corrected the errors !!

I have been pottering in the garage this week and spending a ridiculous amount of time on the dash. I will keep it brief but in order to fit the dash - a 2 minute job - I have had to re-make the wiring for the petrol gauge, strip and clean all the gauges and light holders , find solutions for missing or broken bits. There is little available for dashboards

For those not not au fait with Aprilia petrol gauges, they are a genuine work of art with an unfeasably large number of bits - both at the tank end and dash end. I could (and may yet ) write several pages on them. The ends are connected to each other via a 12 core cable (S2) or 11 core (S1)

I have used very fine computer style wire and low power LED bulbs - I had to change all the 6V bulbs anyway.

Each dial has been stripped and faces cleaned with an Autoglym glass cleaner. It is very mild and hasn't damaged the delicate black/white lettering

Everything has been bench-tested as I go along.

Next up was the speedo which was seized. This need to be dismantled so that I could get at the drive. The pin was removed and then the faces were gently cleaned up and oiled. The needle was repainted and then all re-assembled - This was quite a fiddly job !

Second photo of this shows the eccentric pivot that turns the counter wheels

The oil pressure gauge had a broken glass so the same procedures followed

Finally I fitted a nice Jaeger clock that I found in a vide-grenier. The original Metron clock is missing and very difficult to find, but this looks good and fits without any mods so if/when I find a clock I can replace it

The indicator updates mean that the dash lights need to be re-wired differently so I fitted a small green LED into the original indicator (damaged anyway) and then tried various circuit options. On small problem with LEDs is that they don't work with a classic 3 pin (+/L/P) style relay which is a shame because I have a lovely 1950's SEAM unit ....

Final mods were a couple of nice chromed blanking plugs for previous holes and a nice new push button for the horn because the period, after-market steering wheel doesn't have a horn push in the centre of the wheel

PS it is VERY warm here at the moment, they're not fibbing .....

[simonandjuliet]

more .....

[peteracs]

Hi Simon

Wonderful as always, no idea how you find the time for starters....

As to the led with the relay, I am not familiar with the relay, but cannot understand why you cannot make the led work with it?

Also quite pleased not to be at our place in France, sounds as bad as last July which was not much fun.

Peter

[simonandjuliet]

Been quiet again - life gets in the way !

Re LED, interestingly with exactly the same set up, but with a standard bulb, it all works. It was a NOS 1950's mechanical relay.

I have been putting the driver's door back together. A lot of detail and time involved. It took a day to strip and clean everything before painting, or in the case of the winder mechanism and plate, varnishing. It was so nice that once cleaned up I couldn't bear to cover it up with paint !!

The glass frame had to be split as well because one of the sliders had become detached and needed welding. The little window rollers were freed off, the door lock and catch all stripped , painted , greased and re-assembled

The only "problem" is finding the correct rubber profile for the outer aluminium trim, where it scrapes the glass. I will have to come back to this, but it means stripping the door again. I have re-used the window channel guide rubbers because , again I can't find the very large (20 mm outside, 13 mm channel) so as and when I find them both I can do it later

I bought and fitted the sound/resonance damping, diamond pattern bitumen for the doors as well

With everything fitted the door now closes with a satisfying "clunk-click"

Before all the door-work, I spent a day fitting a door seal, not difficult per se, but it took a while to find a compatible rubber and finding a way to fit it because I can't get hold of the original profile. Another time consuming part was identifying all the correct bits of trim because they had all been removed before I got the car, so it was a case of offering up the bits and seeing if the screw holes lined up !

A lot of the trim panels are screwed onto wooden frames, themselves screwed onto the metalwork, some of these were missing and had to be remade

Slowly, slowly ....

Oh , a picture of Nick Mason's concert in the Nimes Roman amphitheatre just slipped in - amazing spectacle and only 2,000 people watching, surreal experience listening to tracks from "Obscured by Clouds" in a 2000 yr old venue .....

[DavidLaver]

Is that a big clock spring in the window winder?

Knowing you I feel your pain having to modify something to fit a different seal.  Fingers crossed the window wiper will turn up and its not the same game again. 

[Jaydub]

Great work and attention to detail as ever!
Re LEDs and relay.
 LEDs do not have enough resistance to make the relay operate. For example: I fitted very small motorcycle flashers with 6 watt bulbs to a customer`s Jaguar XK120 and the flasher relay wouldn`t work?  Cause: 2 x 6 watts = 12 watts ( one side of car) 12w divided 12v = 1 amp of current.  Normal flasher bulbs are 21 watt, 2 x 21w == 42 watts divided by 12v = 3.5 amps. Relay required at least 2.5 amps to make it work.  Fix was to add another bulb holder with a 21w bulb under the dash. We now have 33 watts divided by 12v = 2.75 amps and relay now works!. I suppose I could have sourced a resistor but that was a quick fix.

[peteracs]

Hi

The actual problem is I think that LEDs have too much resistance and do not draw enough current. The old flasher units work based on heating a metal bar which requires a certain higher level of current which the old style bulbs draw, but LEDs do not hence the bar never heats up enough to make contact. There is an explanation here.

https://auto.howstuffworks.com/turn-signal2.htm

The answer would be to use a modern electronic flasher or as per above add some sort of extra load to draw enough current.

Peter