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1980 Talbot Solara 1.6 GLS


Dayno

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EFA :mrgreen:

Fair points there, at 80 on the W Plate, Five Speed FWD and Leccy Windows was a 'got there early Chrysler Talbot, it took Austin Rover a couple of years later, Maestronego and Vauxhall with the Cav MK2

 

I can vaguely remember my mate pointing out 5 on the floor but his Mum must have gone for poverty spec cos I can't remember leccy windows.

 

Five speed was less impressive when you were used to Triumphs with Overdrive on 3rd and 4th. I never considered this to be Six Speed but did consider it to be as good as any five speed. The change from 4th to 4th OD remains 'super cool' in my mind.

 

IMHO, by the time we got to 1983, Talbot were behind the game with that rattle old 1970's Simca derived engine. Didn't they knock out the Tagora as well about then, that was a disaster wasn't it. The 1980's wasn't their finest decade.

 

Nevertheless, it is great to see this Talbot being pressed into use, they are very rare now.

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I've got an April 1980 brochure scanned here : https://flic.kr/s/aHsk73Z3ZA

 

I think the styling of the Solara was pretty neat and modern by the standards of the time, it would have looked more up to date that a Mark 1 Cavalier or Mark 5 Cortina.

 

Thanks, it's interesting to see the different options you could spec at the time, the velour seats in the SX look amazing!

 

 

The povo spec LS trim definitely didn't get you electric windows or power steering iirc. Or head restraints. Or a trip computer, sunroof or tinted glass.

 

But it was £3799 on the road and you still got 5 gears.

 

Mine doesn't have power steering so that must have been an unticked option according to the brochure. Do you know how much more it was to upgrade from an LS to GL, GLS, SX, etc?

 

I'm pleased to say that after its second drive since cleaning the fuel pump and adding a fuel filter, it seems to be running spot on now. There also used to be a strong smell of petrol/oil coming into the cabin, this is no longer detectable so I won't be getting high on the fumes anymore  :-P

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Mine doesn't have power steering so that must have been an unticked option according to the brochure. Do you know how much more it was to upgrade from an LS to GL, GLS, SX, etc?

 

Trigger has scanned this price guide from May 1980 https://www.flickr.com/photos/triggerscarstuff/8247662641/

It doesn't include the newly launched Solara, but the Alpine prices give some idea.  Unfortunately the engine range was different, but the trim levels are the same.

Sticking to the same engine size (1.4) across three trim levels, the prices are £4340 for LS, £4826 for GL and £5607 for GLS.  Then a large jump up to £6495 for the SX, but that had a larger engine.

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A delightful balance between shonky, bloody horrible and intensely desirable. Well done!

 

I thought about buying an Alpine at a local bomb site dealership near to St. Helens Hospital (likely in the mid 80's). They wanted a goodly sum for it and even then it was rusting like a bastard. Common sense actually kicked in and I walked away. 

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That's fantastic. Would look amazing pulling my wee samba rallye behind it!!

 

That would look good! Your Samba looks very smart.

 

 

A delightful balance between shonky, bloody horrible and intensely desirable. Well done!

 

I thought about buying an Alpine at a local bomb site dealership near to St. Helens Hospital (likely in the mid 80's). They wanted a goodly sum for it and even then it was rusting like a bastard. Common sense actually kicked in and I walked away. 

 

Thanks, you've pretty much described it right there :)

 

I spoke to soon, it's back to running poorly again with the same symptoms described earlier. Not really sure what else to look at, could be crap already in the carb maybe?

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Another new member with a car of many winnings, and returning it to the fold. Welcome, sir.

 

I put some useful engine info on Grey the Floydian Sergal's Annie Alpine thread http://autoshite.com/topic/32790-1985-talbot-alpine-minx-annie-alpine/?hl=annie+alpine and scroll down a few posts.

 

I had no idea the Simca 'box had a 5-speed version; I'd only ever seen series 1 Solaras and Alpines with the BE1/5. You learn something new.

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Another new member with a car of many winnings, and returning it to the fold. Welcome, sir.

 

I put some useful engine info on Grey the Floydian Sergal's Annie Alpine thread http://autoshite.com/topic/32790-1985-talbot-alpine-minx-annie-alpine/?hl=annie+alpine and scroll down a few posts.

 

I had no idea the Simca 'box had a 5-speed version; I'd only ever seen series 1 Solaras and Alpines with the BE1/5. You learn something new.

 

Thank you, some helpful tips there, will definitely refer back to it.

 

I have a couple of ideas as to what might be causing the hesitation and stalling at idle... I've read that it might be vapor locking given it was only happening when it warmed up, but I took it out last night and it started doing it when fairly cold as well so that kind of rules that one out. I'm thinking along the lines of maybe the carb being too lean or a weak fuel pump perhaps? I might have a play around with it in the next few days.

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Thank you, some helpful tips there, will definitely refer back to it.

 

I have a couple of ideas as to what might be causing the hesitation and stalling at idle... I've read that it might be vapor locking given it was only happening when it warmed up, but I took it out last night and it started doing it when fairly cold as well so that kind of rules that one out. I'm thinking along the lines of maybe the carb being too lean or a weak fuel pump perhaps? I might have a play around with it in the next few days.

 

 

Mechanically these are pretty tough engines, but it wouldn't surprise me if by now the diaphragm in the fuel pump is gubbed. Carb(s) could possibly do with another thorough clean out as more crap may have been sucked up since you last had a clear out. Could also have a perish in a fuel line; or a sticky valve, especially if the rockers are especially loud and you get some spluttering and popping. Vapour lock? Maybe, my horizon didn't ever suffer with this. Go over every rubber hose, replace and re-route as necessary. More inclined to say it's fuelling as opposed to electrical, but possibly worth checking the plugs, HT leads and ignition wiring.

 

Thankfully these engines are pretty easy to work on and have very good access all round; give it a thoroughly full service; oil, coolant, plugs and leads; set valve clearances, timing, then set the mixture and idle speed. From memory these engines should run at around 1.8-2% CO depending on engine and carb fitted, but get set up on a gas meter that displays everything to show =1 or an AFR of 14.7:1, I doubt it's still at the book figure for CO by now. Might need a local friendly mechanic for this. Is it running a Solex PBISA or a Weber?

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Cheers for the ideas, much appreciated. I have a new pump on its way which I'll fit that to see if it makes any difference as it looks like the original one on there at the moment, was only £15 so worth a try! The rockers are still quiet but it does pop and backfire a bit on overrun. The fuel hoses all seemed okay but I'll check them over again, same goes for the electricals. Will also see if I can get the AFR checked, luckily I know of a local mechanic who said he is happy to have a look at it. It's running on a Weber carb which I understand is fairly new.

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I had no idea the Simca 'box had a 5-speed version; I'd only ever seen series 1 Solaras and Alpines with the BE1/5. You learn something new.

The Psa takeover was put in to practice quite early on with the Solara and Alpine facelifts. The 5speed box used on these prior to the Series 2 being introduced late in 82 was the unit out of the Citroën Cx.

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Worth bearing in mind that fuel hoses these days don't seem to last five minutes. I'm planning to get some marine grade hose ordered in soon I've got so fed up of changing them every five minutes.

 

If you don't have an in line filter somewhere readily accessible, fit one. Especially if there whole fuel system hasn't been gone over as the last thing you want is bits of disintegrating fuel hose clogging jets in the carb.

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The rockers are still quiet but it does pop and backfire a bit on overrun.

 

 

This would suggest a rich mixture and/or a tight(ish) exhaust valve. The rockers will never be particularly quiet on any Poissy lump, even if you knock 0.01mm off the clearance they'll still be quite noisy. As this is an earlier engine without the hardened valve seats I wouldn't run them slightly tight, if anything I'd add 0.01mm to the clearance.

 

 

The Psa takeover was put in to practice quite early on with the Solara and Alpine facelifts. The 5speed box used on these prior to the Series 2 being introduced late in 82 was the unit out of the Citroën Cx.

 

 

Thanks for that info, I shall add it to my growing arsenal of relatively useful but largely redundant Chrysler/Simca/Talbot car information. I thought the Series 2 came in early 1984? Seem to remember it on a handful of A-Reg cars and anything B-D reg

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I thought the Series 2 came in early 1984? Seem to remember it on a handful of A-Reg cars and anything B-D reg

The Series 2 Alpines Solaras and Horizons were officially launched at the 1982 Nec Motorshow, along with the Samba Cabrio and S and significantly the first use of the Xud diesel in a car- the Horizon Ld. The early S2 cars appeared on the Y plate tand carried through until 84 on a B. The run out Minx and Rapiers appeared at the Nec in 84 and quietly soldiered on until stocks ran out in 86 so they came in B C and D plate favour.

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Ah, must have been the Horizon that got the Series 2 badging from 83 then. When I ran my B-reg one, my classmate used to drive his mum's one in every now and then, which was a Y-plate, with no S2 badging.

 

I never encountered a diesel Horizon, but knowing it was an XUD lump, always got me thinking, could a XU9J out of a 205/309 GTi drop in.....

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I never encountered a diesel Horizon, but knowing it was an XUD lump, always got me thinking, could a XU9J out of a 205/309 GTi drop in.....

I'd have thought that putting an Xu9 in to any BE1 equipped Talbot would be a fairly straightforward swap. It's something i had visions of doing to my Alpine back in the day. Seeing that Psa used the Horizon as a test bed for the Xud it's a shame that they didn't do the same with the Petrol variants to give the whole Poissy engined range a final boost to see out their days.
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  • 3 weeks later...

Just a small update. I've changed the spark plugs, distributor cap and rotor arm so far but this hasn't helped - the spluttering/stalling suggests it could be the coil as the leads look fine to me but I'll order new parts of both anyway and hopefully that will sort it out. In the meantime though, I've bought another car as I needed something to get me to work and back and didn't want to use the Talbot whilst it's poorly. 

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Coil is definitely worth a try. We had a Fiat Uno where it would start and run fine but would then suddenly cut out then refuse to restart. Usually if we left it overnight it would go again for a while. My brother changed various parts but once he did the coil, problem solved.

 

As also suggested fuel hoses could be worth checking over too for problems caused by old age.

 

Fantastic car by the way always had a soft spot for Talbot's as my first car was a Talbot Samba.

 

Dare I ask what the stand in car is?

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The carbs on these are an absolute cock to keep in fettle - that'd always be my first port of call for any running issues.

 

Yeah, I bet it's the carb. Just from previous cars I've owned, pretty much every one with a carb, had carb issues of some form...

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If it's not the carb nor the coil, try swapping the ignition amplifier, which is the If the seal goes and damp gets in, or a component is failing inside they can just cut out at random, hot or cold. Think it's passenger side of the scuttle on a Solara/Alpine

 

 

Thanks, I'll definitely try that if nothing else works. 

 

 

Coil is definitely worth a try. We had a Fiat Uno where it would start and run fine but would then suddenly cut out then refuse to restart. Usually if we left it overnight it would go again for a while. My brother changed various parts but once he did the coil, problem solved.

 

As also suggested fuel hoses could be worth checking over too for problems caused by old age.

 

Fantastic car by the way always had a soft spot for Talbot's as my first car was a Talbot Samba.

 

Dare I ask what the stand in car is?

 

Thank you, the car I've bought is a Nissan Bluebird :)

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Remove the air cleaner and see if there is a small triangular plate at the front of the carb which is held in place by three countersunk setscrews. If there is, remove this plate which holds a diaphram in place. With the diaphram removed there are two small brass passages at each side. These will be blocked and require blowing through with compressed air or carb cleaner. Carb cleaner with a straw held firmly against the brass opening should do the trick.

These block up regularly and really spoil what is otherwise a great car. I am cleaning mine out at least once a month and some times more frequently. This is a common fault with the 1.6 twin choke carbs.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Remove the air cleaner and see if there is a small triangular plate at the front of the carb which is held in place by three countersunk setscrews. If there is, remove this plate which holds a diaphram in place. With the diaphram removed there are two small brass passages at each side. These will be blocked and require blowing through with compressed air or carb cleaner. Carb cleaner with a straw held firmly against the brass opening should do the trick.

These block up regularly and really spoil what is otherwise a great car. I am cleaning mine out at least once a month and some times more frequently. This is a common fault with the 1.6 twin choke carbs.

 

Bit of a late reply apologies, but I gave this a try and no luck sadly, is this how it's supposed to look?:

post-26804-0-35574900-1547829241_thumb.jpg

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