1985 Talbot Alpine Minx (Annie Alpine)

[dozeydustman]

She's looking good Grey, I'll have to watch the video later on today though as computer time is limited today.

[Rusty_Rocket]

Yes... the transformation from your first photos, to how it looks now is incredible.  You've certainly saved this car.

Good luck with the MoT!

[dozeydustman]

Just watched the video. What you were mentioning about not shoving the gear lever over to the right enough could be the nylon ball & cup I mentioned in my first comment, but as a starter I'd lift the gearstick gaiter and adjust the cam at the base, testing it each notch round until the 1-2 gate is a more positive action, but not engaging reverse instead of first.

 

Not sure how easy it would be changing to the later (1988-on) 205/309 type BE1 with the cable operated reverse gatelock. There are also 2 adjustable rods at the gearbox that need to be within certain min & max lengths to get the gate spot on as well. I can't for the love of me remember what the lengths should be.

 

For rear fog lights, they will only come on if you are on dipped beam. Really nice to hear from a previous owner as well, hopefully you can contact him through YT and send him photos etc, and see if he has any further history on the car.

 

Excellent progress sir.

[captain_70s]

For rear fog lights, they will only come on if you are on dipped beam.

My Acclaim is the same. Guessing this isn't the case with moderns?

[dozeydustman]

My Acclaim is the same. Guessing this isn't the case with moderns?

 

I dunno Cap'n. The Saab won't let me put rears on with just sidelights on, but they can go on with main beam. Perhaps some do some don't.

 

I always put it down to being a hand-me-down from Simca.

[Grey the Floydian Sergal]

Just watched the video. What you were mentioning about not shoving the gear lever over to the right enough could be the nylon ball & cup I mentioned in my first comment, but as a starter I'd lift the gearstick gaiter and adjust the cam at the base, testing it each notch round until the 1-2 gate is a more positive action, but not engaging reverse instead of first.

 

Not sure how easy it would be changing to the later (1988-on) 205/309 type BE1 with the cable operated reverse gatelock. There are also 2 adjustable rods at the gearbox that need to be within certain min & max lengths to get the gate spot on as well. I can't for the love of me remember what the lengths should be.

 

For rear fog lights, they will only come on if you are on dipped beam. Really nice to hear from a previous owner as well, hopefully you can contact him through YT and send him photos etc, and see if he has any further history on the car.

 

Excellent progress sir.

 

Thank you very much. I think the rods are requiring adjustment so I'll see about whipping them off & having a jolly good look. Apparently, the gearbox in the car is a BE1, the same type as fitted in the 305 according to the Simca club (a club I very much want to join) but the previous owner says he replaced the selector to achieve gears

[dozeydustman]

The BE1 was PSA's main FWD car & light van gearbox from 1982-1990 so think of most XU(D) or Poissy engined PSA products of that era and it'll have a BE-1.

 

Once the rods are set correctly they shouldn't really need adjusting unless you've removed the gearbox. Put it in 3rd and if you have more than 10mm slop side to side, or it can wobble around in a circle without disengaging the gear then the bushes etc in the shift mechanism under the car are knackered, or if you're really unlucky, the whole gearbox is shot. If the shift is nice and tight I still think the reverse lock cam would be your best first bet, as it can be done in the car without getting mucky.

[wuvvum]

The gearshift was fairly tight when I had the car (and I doubt it's done many miles since) so I'd be surprised if the 'box itself was goosed.  Usual PSA comedy narrow gate though so any slight slop in the linkage will cause more issues than it would in, say, a Series Land Rover.

[dozeydustman]

Usual PSA comedy narrow gate though so any slight slop in the linkage will cause more issues than it would in, say, a Series Land Rover.

 

 

Typically what a bad BE1 feels like

 

R 1?      Pot Luck - could be 1 3 or 5, but more likely still in neutral

|   |                                      |           |

---------------------------------------

    |                                      |

   2?                    4th, but might be 2nd

 

A well set up BE1 should be tight and slick, and yes the gate is narrow going across it. The later BE3 feels all stiff and clonky in comparison. Bit like a DAF LF45

[Grey the Floydian Sergal]

Typically what a bad BE1 feels like

 

R 1?      Pot Luck - could be 1 3 or 5, but more likely still in neutral

|   |                                      |           |

---------------------------------------

    |                                      |

   2?                    4th, but might be 2nd

 

A well set up BE1 should be tight and slick, and yes the gate is narrow going across it. The later BE3 feels all stiff and clonky in comparison. Bit like a DAF LF45

 

it feels more like 1st occupies the space very next to 3rd actually

[Grey the Floydian Sergal]

The gearshift was fairly tight when I had the car (and I doubt it's done many miles since) so I'd be surprised if the 'box itself was goosed.  Usual PSA comedy narrow gate though so any slight slop in the linkage will cause more issues than it would in, say, a Series Land Rover.

 

could be an act of bodgery from that bloke in Lincolnshire I'd guess as the guy who owned the car from 2015 to 2017 replaced the shifter mechanism just to get to the gears

[Grey the Floydian Sergal]

Episode 6 is now live

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Any updates?

[dozeydustman]

I saw on DW's NEC report that Annie Alpine made it up there, so I'm assuming Grey's got her MoT'd.

[adw1977]

[Grey the Floydian Sergal]

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of updates, life got very hectic after I got Annie MOTed, thankfully, due to my video making habits, I've got three videos that should fill you guys in

 

 

[dozeydustman]

Good to see an update at last @Grey the Floydian Sergal. Sorry to hear you've had head gasket woes. Did you find where the gasket failed in the end? Looked like cylinder No.4.

The blocked sections of the gasket are like that on these engines, I did my Horizon's head enough times 20-odd years ago and worked on a number of 309s fitted with that unit.

How's the engine painting coming on?

[Grey the Floydian Sergal]

@dozeydustman Before editing the footage, I didn't think the gasket failed at all, but given the water in cylinder 1 (remember, French engines are generally backwards in labelling)  I think that I've got more fuel starvation that coincided with a head gasket failure

[dozeydustman]

Sorry I thought I saw something in or around pot no.4 as well. Could have been a warped head if the gasket looked otherwise fine and the core plugs were ok, or maybe slightly down on torque.

[Grey the Floydian Sergal]

@dozeydustman well the head's been skimmed out of pure precaution but the heads on these engines are fairly sturdy (or so I'm told) & the crack I found was in a not-so-difficult-to-fix but also rare place for them to crack, but that's sorted too

[Noel Tidybeard]

i subscribed yesterday cos what you've done with Annie and your videos of such are ???

[Dan302]

I remember my dad having an Alpine back when they were banger money, it was christened "Ticky Talbot" and it towed our Sprite Alpine caravan which I always thought was cool.

[Dan302]

And I've just been informed by my dad he hand painted it in hammerite (well I assume Smoothrite) ?

[Dan302]

Well I've subscribed on YouTube and am working my way through the Alpine videos, very enjoyable indeed.

[Grey the Floydian Sergal]

@Noel Tidybeard @Dan302 thank you both for subscribing to the channel & for your kind feedback, means a lot when people enjoy what I do & create. As for the story about the Alpine with an Alpine caravan, that's just pure ace. If only you taken your Ticky Talbot Alpine with Alpine caravan over the Alps then I'd be thoroughly amused

[Mr_Bo11ox]

If you find one of those caravans you should bring them both to the pub I drive past in Hilton, Derbyshire now and then, get lagered up and sleep in the caravan like a champ.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

13 hours ago, Grey the Floydian Sergal said:

@Noel Tidybeard @Dan302 thank you both for subscribing to the channel & for your kind feedback, means a lot when people enjoy what I do & create. As for the story about the Alpine with an Alpine caravan, that's just pure ace. If only you taken your Ticky Talbot Alpine with Alpine caravan over the Alps then I'd be thoroughly amused

...and it should have an Alpine stereo and speakers fitted....

[Grey the Floydian Sergal]

2 hours ago, Mr_Bo11ox said:

If you find one of those caravans you should bring them both to the pub I drive past in Hilton, Derbyshire now and then, get lagered up and sleep in the caravan like a champ.

Well, there's a Talbot Chapel near where I live

[Zelandeth]

Thought I'd already subscribed, but checked yesterday and realised I hadn't...so have now fixed that.

If you're ever in this neck of the woods again feel free to say hello.  I've never had a chance to see one of these cars up close.  Always liked the look of them, but have never known anyone whose had one.

Bit odd here at the moment...last time you were about (if memory serves you were with Holden when he collected his 306 weren't you?) I think the Xantia was the only car fully working...Lada had a jury rigged throttle cable, Invacar was still miles from roadworthy and the van was in winter hibernation.  They're all actually on the go currently!

[Grey the Floydian Sergal]

@Zelandeth I was, this was back in February if memory serves & I still remark about the Xantia & going down to Burger King in the Lada, was fantastic fun. Really hope to get down that way at some point, but with work not giving me much shifts, I'm struggling to raise the cash to get the car Taxed & Insured, but Holden & I do plan to come back & see you again