Report on (slow) S2 Coupe rebuild progress

[Beckerman67]

 I have my heater box out at the moment and the third cable is held in by a clip that just pulls out with a pair of needle nose pliers.
 See photos:
 Hopefully you can help me. I've taken both side footwell vents off and can't remember which way they go back in. Is the side flap at the front or back?
 Please let me know if the number plate lights arrive OK.
 Robert.

[nthomas1]

Thanks Robert - I would never had guessed they fitted that way!   And yes thanks, the lights arrived yesterday and I've already fitted them.
Are these the flaps that you're referring to?

Guy - if you're reading this - you can pick up the remaining 4 number plate lights whenever you want and take your pick for the Stratos.

[Beckerman67]

 Yes they are the ones. When opened as per your picture, is the plastic deflector at the front or back?

[nthomas1]

Just checked.  Projecting flaps are towards rear of car on mine.

[SanRemo78]

[quote author=nthomas1 link=topic=9873.msg84234#msg84234 date=1593953382
Guy - if you're reading this - you can pick up the remaining 4 number plate lights whenever you want and take your pick for the Stratos.

[/quote]

Cheers Norm, put them to one side withe crimper for me and I'll collect the lot when you've completed the wiring!
Guy

[nthomas1]

Eureka!  With help from the forum I was able to remove the heater control assembly today.

I enlarged an existing small hole in the side of the glove box to gain access to the screw for the clamp that holds the middle cable. 

On disassembly it could be seen that all but one of the 6 large flexible washers had become brittle, and a couple were missing completely, probably broken up over time and the bits dropped into the footwells.  Similarly, the small flexible washer on the fan motor control lever spindle had disintegrated.

The cables for the middle and lower control levers are in good condition and I’ve sprayed some grease into the casings and will reuse them.  The cable from the top lever shows evidence of a previous botched replacement.  You will recall that the lever was jamming half way across its travel.  You can see the cable in the final picture.  It’s the very curved one.  The piano wire had been replaced with wire of a thicker gauge, which did not slide freely, and the end that fits into the control lever had been bent in such a way that it scraped against the top of the metal pressing, and fouled half way through its travel.  The correct way to bend the piano cable at the control arm end can be seen on the other two cables.

I’ve painted the metal housing and cleaned everything up and I’ve ordered a new cable, new flexible washers, and one replacement lever - to replace the one with the broken handle.  They’ll hopefully arrive (from Omicron) by the end of the week.

Onwards and upwards.

[nthomas1]

My front indicators came in a box with my car and looked to be in reasonable condition.  After removing the lenses I could see rust along the edges of the reflectors, and the rubber perimeter seals had become brittle and had broken up (shown at bottom of second picture).  I rust-treated the reflector edges and gave them a couple of coats of silver paint.  I’ve just been painting and weather-sealing some sash windows and had some left over rubber bubble seal, so I cut strips from it and they fitted nicely in the channels around the edges.  I cut strips from the curved part (a bit fiddly) as I didn't want to use the flat part with adhesive on.

Two of the indicator mounting brackets were easily removed from the bumper and cleaned up and painted.  The remaining two are stubborn.  The nuts are rusted in position and won’t budge and the posts rotate inside the rubber cover strips to which they’re bonded.  The other two nuts that hold the end rubber strips in place can be removed so I'm sure I’ll end up removing the strips completely.

Has anybody got experience of repairing a rotating post in the rubber bumper trim?   I think the screws rusting solid is a common problem on Fulvias, certainly the case on my second set of bumpers.  There’s a rubber strip (rear) for sale on Ebay at the moment  and the listing says that new posts have been “chemically bonded in place”.  I’ve written to the seller to ask what product was used - don’t know if I’ll get a reply.  

[nthomas1]

I’m waiting for my heater parts to arrive so I thought I’d crack on with the bumpers.

Following on from yesterday’s post I had a closer look at the seized studs in the front bumper where the indicators are held in place.  I managed to cut through the studs with a thin cutting wheel on my Dremel, and that has left enough of the studs to reuse them.  While I can feel that the ends that are bonded into the rubber decor strip are rotating, they have fortunately not torn loose.

I tried to fit the front indicator units.  No problem on one side, but on the other one of the mounting studs was broken.  It is a short 10mm collar with an M5 stud one side, and a thread for the M4 machine screw that holds the indicator lens in place.  Does anybody have one in their “box of bits” (or Fulvia shed in Neil’s case) by any chance?  

I also fitted the rear bumper.  I had wondered about the welding in of new brackets.  Thank you David and Stephen for your useful input on this.  I’m not really in a position to shop around for stainless steel welding capability at the moment so I thought I’d make a temporary fix.   The main welded brackets on each side are in good condition and I think are strong enough alone to hold the bumper, but I wanted to have something in place to prevent any rotation of the mounting brackets.  I made a couple of simple steel brackets and cut rectangular apertures with a Dremel to hold M6 captive nuts.  I then Araldited them in place, with a small amount of filler either side to supplement.  A bit Heath Robinson, but they’ll keep me going until I can make a more permanent fix.  

[nthomas1]

The front bumper is assembled, with new wiring to the indicators, and is ready to fit. 

I installed the fuel tank this morning, and connected up the filler neck.  I used non-hardening body caulk strips from Woolies around the tank perimeter, and new captive nuts and machine screws.   Attaching the neck to the tank was a fiddly job.  I used a new square section sealing washer.  At first the neck wouldn’t line up, and it is imperative that it be dead square.  The section of boot floor that it passes through was a new welded-in section and the hole was slightly out of position.  After widening the hole a couple of millimeters the neck thankfully squared up.  Then a dozen or so attempts to get the plastic/nylon retaining ring to start correctly on the tank metal thread.  Hand tightened and finished off with a strap wrench being careful not to over-tighten.  I’d cut a hole in some sheet rubber slightly undersize, to give a good seal on the neck passing through the boot floor.

Almost got the fuel pipes fitted but broke off to watch the Grand Prix.  Well done Lewis, and great race (again) by young Lando Norris!

[nthomas1]

Expansion box and pipes fitted, and overflow pipe from the filler flap enclosure.

[nthomas1]

I did a job today that I was not looking forward to: fitting the stainless steel trim to the front of the car.

The external weld flanges on the Fulvia are quite a design weakness in my view.  Moisture gets into the gaps very easily, and most Fulvias that I’ve seen have suffered from rust somewhere around the flanges.  The problem is exacerbated by fastening the trim using retaining clips that bite into the metal creating further rust opportunities.

I researched the topic but did not find much information on the best way to refit the trim. Some people suggest fitting them without the retaining clips, and instead using a silicone caulk/adhesive.  One person fitted  the plastic chrome-effect strips as used on Mini weld flanges!

I decided that there was too much “spring” in the strips for silicone alone to hold them in place on my car.  I removed and discarded the old rusted retaining clips, and cleaned up the trim strips.  I decided to use 3 retaining clips each side (versus the 5 original).  I positioned one near either end and one pretty much half way, held in position with a dab of clear silicone to stop them moving during fitment.   

I did a dry fit, and found that quite a bit of force was needed to push the strips into place. I wrapped a piece of wood in a cloth to hold against the trim while using a rubber mallet to apply the necessary force.

As expected, on removal of the trim after the dry fit I found paint scraped off in a number of places, mostly just through to primer, but a few places back to bare metal (see second picture).  I painted the scratched and chipped areas and then applied a thin coat of silicone to the patches, as they seemed to be the most vulnerable areas.  I also applied a generous amount of silicone to the inside of the trim where the retaining clips were located - in the hope of covering any further areas of paint being scraped away during final fitment.

The front of the car is now looking much closer to completion - with the stainless steel garnish rims added to the headlamps.  I just need to find one of those hard-to-find cover strips for the gap at the centre.

[DavidLaver]

Looking good, and as ever a well considered compromise.

Nice to see "marine" on a product

[nthomas1]

I’ve rebuilt the heater control assembly incorporating the six new fibre washers, new upper control arm and new upper cable.  I first painted the edges of the slots in the fascia panel with some silver paint where the original paint had worn off. Assembly was fairly straightforward, although I assembled first without the fascia panel and then discovered the plastic ends of the control arms wouldn’t fit through the slots, so had to disassemble and start again! 

The new control arm came painted black so does not show up very well in the first picture.  Interestingly, top and bottom arms are identical, but are fitted the opposite way round.

Installation in the car was also fairly straightforward, though quite a slow process because of the very restricted access, and the need for multiple attempts to feed the piano wire into the barrel nipples on the pivoting levers for the control rods.   An extremely narrow screwdriver was essential to tighten the clamp for the upper control cable.

All controls now work smoothly and the actuating rod in the water valve now moves fully from open to closed position.

[SanRemo78]

Excellent work Norm! It's satisfying when it all goes together and works as intended!
Guy

[Neil]

Well done Norm, you are making good progress, I like the replacement fibre washers in the controls, I should have done that. I might replace my NOS water valve as it leaks slightly when operated, I hope yours doesn't when you get to that point.