Aprilia Cabrio - here we go again

[lancialulu]

Its like magic. Can't wait to see it!

[simonandjuliet]

Why not come over for breakfast Tim !

A couple of hours playing this morning so the dash is finished. I stripped cleaned and painted the wiper motor and mechanism before refitting, plus the glovebox was lined with fabric and the glovebox door refitted. All looks a lot smarter

There is a photo of one of the spindles. At the bottom end is a "bearing" which I packed with grease and also fitted new round washers in the top cup to help seal the shafts

I don't think that the wiper motor mounting is original, the bracket looks home-made, albeit well done. Indeed the whole setup is a bit crude making you wonder if the were originally fitted, however a photo at the PininFarina factory pre-war does show the cars with them already there

Next is to to put her back on the ramp and start re-assembling the axles and suspension

[DavidLaver]

That interior light switch is an intriguing wee thing.

In what way do you consider the wiper system crude?   

Lovely to see all the details as ever...

[tzf60]

Lovely work, as always, Simon !!
The glovebox is quite a size, compared to the sedan. I think the wiper mechanism looks pretty smart.
 
Tim

[simonandjuliet]

Just in case you think there's no progress, whenever I get a few minutes (difficult during harvest and subsequent fermentation time) I have ticked off little jobs. Each of these jobs takes a ridiculous amount of time because every catch, switch, frame is stripped, cleaned and refitted, often requiring new solutions.

For example, I have been unable to find the correct profile for the door rubbers so a modern one has been modified and the wood frame it is screwed to was missing and had to be remade

The second door seal probably took 8 hours over the course of a couple days - I'm glad I didn't pay a professional restoration firm £45/hour to do it !

Some re-chroming has come back as well, so the dash has had its final details finished and the "new" chrome bootlid catches mean that we can fit the bootlid next. It had Citroen Traction handles fitted and I found some pre-war Lancia catches that I preferred so we have modified the bootlid and body to take them - photos later

Other chromed parts included the air-filter. The filter is a complete unit that has 2000 small aluminium rings trapped between two plates that needs to be washed in petrol to clean it, so it needs a petrol resistant and heat resistant finish.

The retaining mesh has been chromed and then the top and bottom plates have had a wrinkle-black paint applied. I chose this because I have found the wrinkle paint to be very scratch/petrol/heat resistant and I think it was a period finish (no proof for pre-war Lancias, but I have seen it on other pre-war cars)

You can tell that Juliet was away because it spent 2 days drying in the downstairs loo !

More interior bits have been refitted including the footwell panels - the eagle-eyed will notice that the carpet need a slight mod because Clément hadn't appreciated how the panel fits, but that can be easily done

Final bits include the cleaning of all the door catches and window frames for the passenger door - just needs refitting and lastly I am waiting
for a special non-drying mastic for refitting the windscreen

[simonandjuliet]

more ....

[simonandjuliet]

More time consuming detail .....

I have put the grill back together after painting the back of the surround and the recesses on the inner, fluted piece

The surround had already been re-chromed when I bought the car however the fluted piece had not (see photo - painted blue like everything else) and it was a bit damaged. After a significant amount of time (and expense !) it too has been rechromed - only for me to paint it again !

Aprilias should have only the "nose" of the flute visibly chromed, the recess and crossbars should be black, so using 8mm masking tape I masked up the noses, etched and painted the piece, back as well

Badges and clip cleaned and polished and it looks and fits as it should

This car didn't have shutters or the lower baffle with it but I managed to source a good set and will clean them up and fit as well. The only problem is that the radiator doesn't have all the brackets and wax-filled thermostat so I will need to find another solution to this

[Jaydub]

" The devil is in the detail" and your detailing is excellent as always! I like following your threads as I like to think I have a similar approach to problem solving etc. and you set a great example to us all.
Keep up the good work.

[simonandjuliet]

Thanks John , yes the detail is important to me, but it takes sooooo long !

A bit more over the weekened - refitting some of the re-chromed covers on the hood, plus fitting the rubbers around the side windows. I have been able to salvage all the window rubbers but the ones for the leading edge of the side windows are borderline

They , along with everything else had been painted blue and getting all the paint off has been a challenge, so I am on the lookout for some replacements. I suppose if I can find something similar , but with a different mounting rail, I could fit a new rail as well

I have replaced all the mounting screws with nice nickel woodscrews bought from Woolies

The windscreen pillars have leathercloth covered, wooden frames that had also been painted and so these have been recovered and the re-chromed top plates fitted. As others have found, it is quite a challenge to find out where all the bits go when you buy a car in boxes, so it is great to find homes for everything !

Finally, I wasn't happy with the end caps for the roof "tape" and I had quite a few spare Aprilia interior, grab-handle end covers, so these have been fitted instead and look much better to my mind

Waiting for the modified carpets to come back and the new door covers, then the interior is finished. Plus waiting for a special mastic for the windscreen so that can go in as well - then it's up on the ramp for the suspension ....

[DavidLaver]

I like those little end caps.  Good idea!

As for "it takes sooooo long" you'll only have to start another when this one is done, so savour every detail.

[tzf60]

Simon,
Hats off - or 'chapeau' as the cycling fraternity might say - for all the progress you're making!
The re-chromed grill looks brilliant!
 
Tim

[simonandjuliet]

A bit more done between rain showers (it's pruning time .....)

The shutters and lower blanking plate have been stripped and primed and are waiting for their satin black, although I've run out and need to buy more. Plus the first of the door panels came back

I wasn't 100% happy about a couple of small details so I have been sorting those out before fitting the panel, which does look very good. One thing that I will have to change though, is the carpet trim at the bottom of the panel. There wasn't enough carpet left to do the trim in one piece and the join is not acceptable to me, but once I have bought some more carpet it will be easy to re-make

I haven't decided yet if I will repaint the wood at the top of the door (evidence suggests it was painted) or to strip and varnish it, probably the latter but still deciding - hence the unfinished look

The front carpets have been modified and the interior boot panel has been trimmed, with a nice flap to allow access to the brake-adjuster cover

The chrome steering wheel has been trimmed in leather as well and I just need to make some braids to finish off the cut-leather ends

As you may have seen elsewhere, the wing/body trim that I had re-made has arrived, so I can now ask Dog to start on the wings

[frankxhv773t]

Although varnishing the wood on the door tops is a nice idea you have to ask yourself if the wood itself is good enough to take it. If it was originally intended to be varnished they might have used a more decorative wood or even veneered it. However, your aesthetic sensibilities seem to be in good working order so I am sure you will make the right choice.

[davidwheeler]

The wood trim in my Weymann Lambda is painted black but I remember the cars of my childhood, a 1932 Lanchester 10 and a 1935 Rover 12 having wood coloured trim.

[DavidLaver]

David - have you a photo of the painted trim?  Its not something I can remember seeing in any car other than perhaps a flat black wooden dashboard.