Report on (slow) S2 Coupe rebuild progress

[Jaydub]

Great narrative as always, thank you Norm. It will come in handy for me in a year or so, if I get that far.

[nthomas1]

Well, much head scratching with the electrical testing today.  I thought I was home and dry testing everything that should work with the ignition on ST setting.  My concern that the open-door lights weren’t working properly was mis-founded.  Turns out that opening either door activates the lights on both doors plus the interior dome light.  I was expecting the light on on a closed door to go out when the other door is open but that’s not the case.  Also, wipers and washer pump are both working correctly.

The head scratching came when I operated the sidelight slider switch.  That caused the door lights and interior light to go off.  Testing the fuses showed that 7 and 8 had gone off, and 1 and 2 had not come on.  Can’t yet figure out how that can happen!   MTR, as Colin Chapman often wrote on design sketches given to him……. more thought required. 

I’ve been working on trim and mechanical tasks in parallel with the electrical testing, so plan to do some work under the car next: fit handbrake cable, heat shield and new Imasaf exhaust system.  I’ve somehow managed to lose the lower dust guard for the handbrake so if anybody has one that they don’t need I’d be pleased to buy it.   It’s item 19 in the TAV picture below.

[nthomas1]

Took the bonnet off in order to apply some clear Dinitrol wax proofing to the cavities, then fitted some closed-cell foam sound proofing to the areas between the braces.  While it's off I'll refit the bonnet-top 1.3 S badge with the correct star clips.

[nthomas1]

I’ve fitted the new Italian Imasaf brand exhaust system to the car.  I started with a dry fit of the three sections.  The tail pipe fitted fine, but the two-into-one section and middle section wouldn’t fit together at first. I had to file the edges of the two-in-one section to get a bevel, and smoothed the inside of the receiving section.  Then with some grease and with a friend holding the middle section braced agains the wall  the fit was achieved, assisted by a metal rod between the two downpipes acting as a lever to rotate as it was pushed into position.  The clamp was left in position to be tightened later, as I could see that some rotational adjustment would be needed during fitment to the car.

This two-part assembly was then slid under the car, hooked over the rear axle, and supported on a couple of stacks of 2x4 timber boocks while the manifold end was connected with a new metal gasket. After then swivelling the middle section to get the tail box parallel to the floor of the car I tightened the clamp holding the two sections together and then
 connected to the two rear support points with the rubber hangers that came with the new exhaust. Finally, I fitted and clamped the tail pipe, and suspended it with a third rubber hanger.   While under the car I refitted the heat shield.

All fairly straightforward stuff, but my first time fitting an exhaust so all of it a learning curve!

[nthomas1]

I've fitted the seat belts.  I bought Securon static belts as I like the look of them.  I've had static and inertia belts before and am quite happy with static.

I somehow lost the two brackets that hold the centre stalks but managed to find a used pair which just needed de-rusting and painting.  I decided to fit them directly to the floor of the car and cut a slit in the rear carpet for the top of the brackets to pass through.

That's another job ticked off the list.

[nthomas1]

I finished off some detail work on the bonnet before refitting it to the car this morning.  Glued the foam rubber surround for the air intake in place, and fitted the 1.3S bonnet-top badge with a thin smear of clear silicone and two star clips.  I fitted the leading edge rubber seal by fitting the two curved L-section metal supports in place with self tapping screws, cutting the moulding to the correct lengths and fixing them in place with impact adhesive.  Finally, I fitted the U-section edging strip to the two sides of the bonnet, also with impact adhesive.

[Beckerman67]

 Hi Norm

 Just curious about the L shaped metal strips along the front of the bonnet that the seal is bonded to. I appear to have no such strips!
 Did you have them or acquire them?

 On a different tack, does anyone know where I can buy a pair of wiper arms for a RHD? Nobody appears to stock them including that well known Norfolk based company?

[lancialulu]

Looking good Norman.

When are you going to fire her up and go for a run before the weather closes in....

[nthomas1]

Hi Norm

 Just curious about the L shaped metal strips along the front of the bonnet that the seal is bonded to. I appear to have no such strips!
 Did you have them or acquire them?

 On a different tack, does anyone know where I can buy a pair of wiper arms for a RHD? Nobody appears to stock them including that well known Norfolk based company?

Robert - I had none on my car when I bought it.  I had a pair made up for me by Omicron (£54 plus vat and shipment) as they have to curve to fit the bonnet, so are beyond my capabilities. They are L-shaped, whereas the original equipment items have a short return lip on the longer side - so more Z-shaped than L-shaped.

[nthomas1]

Looking good Norman.

When are you going to fire her up and go for a run before the weather closes in....

Tim - before taking the car on the road I've got some brake and electrical work to sort out, and I've got to reconnect the fuel supply.  Of course, fitting the driver's door and seat would be a good idea as well.  I'm in no hurry, and will carry on at the current pace and should get there before too long.

[nthomas1]

Having installed and checked the refurbished indicator stalk I decided to fit the hazard flasher that I bought on Ebay a while back. The S2 was not factory fitted with one, although the later S3 was.  An after-market unit was recommended by Jaydub as a more straightforward option than trying to wire into a spare dashboard switch. It cost £32 on Ebay and seems well made and well thought out.  

I made up a bracket to fit under the right side of the dashboard from some left over aluminium edge strips from Ikea furniture.  My metalworking skills extend only to simple bending in a vice, and cutting with an angle grinder cutting disk, but the resultant bracket works fine.

I wired it into the indicator stalk and existing direction indicator Flasher, with a new power feed brought across from Fuse 7 so that the flasher is always operable.  Thanks again to Jaydub for help in interpreting the wiring diagram that came with the unit.  I'm happy to say it works perfectly!  

[Jaydub]

Looks good Norm, easily accessible and not in your face. Car is looking really good, very impressive workmanship.

[nthomas1]

Nerve wracking job today - drilling 12 holes in the rear panel.  I'd taken detailed measurements of the positions of number plate, badges and reflectors on other people's cars at the last AGM.  A case of measure twice (or more like six times) and drill once.

Number plates should have been straightforward, but despite giving the supplier photographs of the frames, and aperture dimensions, the plates arrived exactly the same sizes as the apertures.  I was expecting them to be larger to allow for overlap.  Shows you shouldn't make assumptions!  The supplier agreed to provide me with some oversize aluminium plates free of charge to glue the number plates to.

The rear "Lancia" and "Fulvia" badges have been fitted with star clips, and I'm waiting on a couple of new reflectors to arrive.

[SanRemo78]

Looking great Norm! But can you fit the chrome trim around the back without removing the bumper?

[nthomas1]

Looking great Norm! But can you fit the chrome trim around the back without removing the bumper?

Hi Guy - you obviously didn't notice in the third picture that I've already whipped the bumper off.  Putting the trim on is tomorrow's job!