Aprilia Cabrio - here we go again

[Parisien]

Simon, I know its all a bit late in the day, plus it may have been mentioned before or indeed you have the copy concerned, but in the VL edition of April 2002, theres a Jack Romano translated article on the restoration of an Aprilia convertible of 1940 vintage. If you don't have it let me know and I can do a photocopy/scan.

Secondly, theres also an technical notes article on Aurelia and Aprilia distributors by John savage in the March 2005 edition.


P 

[simonandjuliet]

Bit of a delay since my last post ...... but lots going on with Fulvias, Appias , motorbikes/ercole and last but not least, Aprilias

Dog has had the chassis for a while and has done a lot of the body prep, straightening out dents, welding up the "noughts and crosses" in the engine bay and making a new battery box

I have had the engine ready for a while so am starting on the clutch/gearbox

Having found all the correct bits (I think !) I have started cleaning them all. First job is the clutch mechanism. It is an early car so I am going with the 6 spring set up. It has the smallest plate size, but hopefully with with a new back plate, friction plate and new springs it will be good enough

If anyone wants to see the later version let me know and I can post pictures. The later release fork and friction disk diametre are different as well, but as far as I can make out, they will fit an early bell-housing.

One question around release bearings - I have 2 types and am not sure if they both fit. I think they will but if anyone has any thoughts please let me know
 

[tzf60]

Hi Simon!
Dog's work on the battery box is very neat. But what is the purpose of the box on the left?
 
regards,
Tim

[simonandjuliet]

Hi Tim, the jack, handle and tools fit in there. If I decide to add a screen washer, the reservoir could fit as well

[DavidLaver]

"Screen washer" needed a seat in the car back then, or a tip at the petrol station.

[simonandjuliet]

David - you might have to explain that one to me ......

More clutch musings.

Shown are photos of all 3 clutch types - early, late 1st ser and 2nd ser

As far as I can make out, all 3 fit inside the same bellhousing, so theoretically a 2nd ser could fit an S1 if the flywheel is changed, but I don't have an S1 available off an engine to measure. The S1 flywheels that I have all appear to be drilled to take early and later clutches

The later S1 clutch fits the early flywheel, the holes line up.

Also the later release bearing (late S1 & S2) should fit the early S1 plate

All S1 plates appear to be the same and markedly smaller in diametre than the S2

The release fork and clutch withdrawl mechanism are significantly smaller on the early S1 and the release arm is straight compared to the curved later arm. It appears as if the curved arm fits S1 & S2

Finally, the early set up doesn't have an extra spring between the mechanism and gearbox

The pivot/oil filter activator arm appear to be the same across all versions

I can take my anorak off now ......

[GG]

Well done! Great to see this level of detail...

[Parisien]

Well done! Great to see this level of detail...

Plus one!

Invaluable Simon, another very useful post, do keep wearing that anorak!!

P

[simonandjuliet]

Thanks for your comments.

We have a bit of a lull in the harvest now. First batch of early drinking red (syrah) and a rosé (carignan) have been picked and Jules is doing her "stuff" - I just have to go into the winery now and again to lift things or prevent leaks !

I have an S1 box that hasn't been used for years so want to strip, check and clean it. However I have never stripped an Aprilia 'box before so am doing it slowly and carefully

So far the front and rear housings are off and the selectors removed. Plus I have removed the bearing locator dowels. They are threaded so a set screw, washer and nut were used to withdraw them

A question for you Aprilia-owners out there is how best to remove the shafts and gears. Ideally I would like to keep them as complete as possible. So any tips will be greatly received

[simonandjuliet]

Bit more today ....

Firstly thanks to fellow forumistes David Wheeler and Noel Macwhirter for their help and guidance

Following their advice I sourced a bigger oven to heat the gearbox because it wouldn't fit in my garage one nor was Jules happy for me to use the kitchen one - and you thought she was tolerant !

So I went to the tip and found one in a skip, re-wired it and then heated the gearbox up to about 80°C for an hour. Once done the primary shaft popped out by gently tapping the mainshaft with a rubber hammer. It came out of the front of the 'box complete with bearing and top gear.
Next , I tapped the rest of the mainshaft forward, leaving all the other gears in place, lifting them out afterwards

Once the top row was out, the layshaft came out backwards, again leaving the gears in place to be lifted out later (taking care to note the spacers and correct order)

I haven't taken reverse out yet because it took me a time to find the correct thread for removing the shaft (M10x1.00) and I need to heat the box up again

Pretty good news, apart from it being dirty, all the bearings are perfect and there is only wear on first gear - usual Aprilia problem, being straight cut, but I have seen much, much worse

Next job is to clean it all up and re-assemble

Dog has also finished the engine bay and it has been painted satin black

ps the other photo shows the freed-off pinch bolt that holds the rear gearbox sillentboc mounting in place. This car should have the other type of mounting - a single, rear mounted affair - but has been changed at some time in the past for the sturdier crossbar type

[DavidLaver]

A good workshop asset.  See any dishwashers?

[davidwheeler]

Aprilia clutches all judder.    I understand that the proper friction plates are designed to obviate this problem in that the friction rings are rivetted to alternate arms/blades of the metal plate so that there is compliance when the clutch takes up.  Does anyone know if this is true or just a figment of my imagination?

[simonandjuliet]

Re judder - my 2nd ser isn't bad at all, maybe they got better !

David, not sure about dishwashers, but Juliet thinks that maybe I should have a bed out there

Back to gearboxes - it is back together and all gears select correctly and it is a lot cleaner. Re-fitting wasn't too difficult. The case went back into the oven then it was put back in the following order:

-Reverse gear and shaft
-Lay-shaft pushed in from the back - the gears all marked so they went back in the same position as when it was built originally
-Rear output shaft bearing was fitted with the dowel
-Gears placed in the box and then the mainshaft was pushed through from the front - there is an important thing to remember, 1st gear has    a recessed inner tooth that has to line up with the double-ball-bearing on the shaft. If anyone is interested I can add some photos of this
-Primary shaft and bearing pushed in from the front
-Selector forks fitted and then the pushrods fitted and bolts fitted

The only things that required particular care were the bearing dowels - they are very precise. In case anyone didn't notice, the bearings all have a groove on the outside which has to line up with the dowels that are fitted though holes in the side of the box, again more photos if of interest

Next job is to make new gaskets and then finish putting it back together

[chriswgawne]

The gearbox all looks very 'Aurelia like' but no surprise there. Early Aurelia clutches are often relined incorrectly with the new linings riveted to every paddle  - the linings should only be riveted to alternate paddles which gives a smooth take up.
Great photos by the way - close up photography is an art in itself.
How is your grape harvest going? Our Pinella grape harvest   has been a record volume wise @ 1,485 kgs from our upper vineyard (but the sugar content could have done with being a little higher) and  other growers of white wine grapes in our area have had very poor crops due to summer heat. Our lower vineyard which we let out had poor volume this year.
Chris

[Martin9]

Hi Simon,

What an amazingly well timed post.

Only yesterday I acquired 2 Aprilia gearboxes that need some tlc to make into one good-un.

Keep on posting!

Martin