Buy my shite: 1981 Lancia Beta HPE NOW £220

[dollywobbler]

Retarding the ignition is purely to avoid pinking due to lower octane fuel. Valve seat recession is caused by a lack of lead in the fuel, but most aluminium heads have hardened valve seats anyway. My 2CV for example. I thrash the knackers off that all the time, and valve seat recession has never been a problem. The Mini has an iron head and definitely suffers from the issue - it was the engine used for FBHVC tests of additives. Yet ours has completed 30,000 miles on neat unleaded with no issue. Doesn't see much high-speed engine loading which helps. Well, not when my wife is driving it anyway...

[fiatdaft]

These engines are unleaded friendly so not to worry there,also no need to take the engine out to do the belt,its not that hard !

[Captain Flimble]

As for the bodywork etc... yeh she is pretty solid consdiering its a beta, 30 year old italian metal and been stood for 16 years.

 

I was highly amused to learn that the Beta was the first car ever in the UK to be sold with a 6-year anti corrosion warranty! Apparently it was the early betas that rotted away - the later ones were much better protected as can be seen in this one. She seems to be ziebarted liberally.

 

Also i was planning on leaving it an automatic. They are really quite sparce in automatic trim, manuals are a lot more common chiefly for the reasons already said by others in this post. I would persoanlly leave it automatic and see how it goes, then if its not to your taste or obtaining spares is difficult convert it to manual spec.

 

I've definitely decided to putting her back on the road as an automatic for two main reasons. One, that everything is low mileage and probably works OK with hopefully plenty of life left, and two, that as you say, it is now a rare model. If I ever did swap to manual I'd keep the autobox, pedals and trim anyway so she could be put back again. The manuals and stuff would be a real help - thanks!

 

These engines are unleaded friendly so not to worry there,also no need to take the engine out to do the belt,its not that hard !

 

I thought it might be awkward with the engine so close to the inner wing. I guess I'll wait and see what Mr Haynes says (and then do something different )

[explosive-cabbage]

Any progress on this now? Im interested as I have recently bought one...

[Tayne]

The dead Volumex off BV72?

[Bucketeer]

Have you got the YAJster now Will you absolute hero?

I'm guessing it is that one as there can't be too many 1.3 Beater Coopays about.

I chuffing love that car.

 

[John F]

explosive-cabbage, on 29 Dec 2014 - 12:30 AM, said:

Any progress on this now? Im interested as I have recently bought one...

 

Capt. F doesn't come on here much nowadays, Will, but I saw this car recently... the interior has been stripped out in preparation for welding, but a complete dearth of leak-free fuel tanks in Europe has stopped progress for some time now.

 

Also, Capt. Flimble has acquired several more Calibras and at least one Fiat X1/9 in the meantime, and has built a new garage, so my guess is that the Lancia has dropped down the queue a bit.

 

He'll be up north for a clay pigeon shoot in mid-Jan, I'll find out more for you then.

[John F]

 

Tune in this week as Captain Flimble and I attempt to perform a blitz WIP on this Lancia HPE...

 

It's been sitting in a garden under a cat piss tarpaulin in North Wales for the last 5 years. When parked up it had rotten sills, a borked exhaust and a hole in the fuel tank.

 

Will it achieve an MOT by next Friday?

 

[Dermist]

Good luck, we're all counting on you. /airplane

 

Any pictures to cheer me up?

[Captain Flimble]

Right - I've just got back from two 12 hour shifts on the railway, getting up at before 5 in the morning, and a beaming John F has just rocked up and thrust a stubby lager in my hand and pointed me at the laptop to give you a preamble to the task in hand. The Beta has been sat under a cover under my carport getting greener and no less rusty. Mission statement is as follows:

 

1) Go down the pub and discuss...

 

...more to follow!

[skattrd]

2. Buy mig wire

[Six-cylinder]

I had the fuel tank repaired for one of my BMWs that had been fibre-glassed to the lower quarter and it worked out well so I will dig out the details if needed.

 

This was my HPE great cars! (Unfortunately mine was written off while parked by falling timber is a storm.)

[skattrd]

The fuel tank in my old HPE had been replaced with a custom made ally one as replacements weren't available.

[John F]

I had the fuel tank repaired for one of my BMWs that had been fibre-glassed to the lower quarter and it worked out well so I will dig out the details if needed.

 

This was my HPE great cars! (Unfortunately mine was written off while parked by falling timber is a storm.)

 

Any helpful pointers would be gratefully received. We are toying with the idea of welding the old one and petsealing it. (kaboom?).

 

Your brown HPE looked great - can't imagine many cars looking good in that hue.

 

The fuel tank in my old HPE had been replaced with a custom made ally one as replacements weren't available.

 

See above - if kaboom, won't be required 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I sliced my Argenta's fuel tank in half then welded it back together again without anyone dying so I'm sure this tank can be fixed.

[Captain Flimble]

3. Recover from hang-over. 

[brownnova]

It's been sitting in a garden under a cat piss tarpaulin in North Wales for the last 5 years.

It'll be fine then... Here in North Wales for every five years of progress in the rest of the UK we move forward about 6 months... So the rot won't have advanced much!! Especially seeing as it never rains here.

 

Hope to see it traversing the A55 in no time!!

[Six-cylinder]

These are the people I used to rebuild my fuel tank.

 

http://radiator-repair.co.uk/classic-and-vintage-fuel-tank/

[Captain Flimble]

EDIT: this is John F, I'm on Flimble's login

 

O. M. G.

 

And I thought my Maserati was rotten. But more of that later.

 

Today's fun & games have mainly revolved around working out why there's no ignition or dash lights at all. And sucking rust out of the carb with a cunning hoover modification.

 

Can't upload pics at present, will try again later.

[gdhaydock]

EDIT: this is John F, I'm on Flimble's login

 

O. M. G.

 

And I thought my Maserati was rotten. But more of that later.

 

Today's fun & games have mainly revolved around working out why there's no ignition or dash lights at all. And sucking rust out of the carb with a cunning hoover modification.

 

Can't upload pics at present, will try again later.

Please upload pictures

[John F]

This episode is bought to you by the words Arsebiscuits and Fucksticks.

 

The electrics are borked. The ignition switch has been tested (12 V is present and it appears to be switching correctly) but nothing is happening when the key is turned. All relays appear to be working when bridged with 12 V, but we're obviously still missing something. The starter solenoid can be made to click by taking a feed directly from the battery but the starter isn't spinning - so it might be stuck on, and it's a bastard to get at. There's no useful info online, and the only manual we have (a HBOL) only goes up to 1980 and this is a 1982 car (which has e.g. five more fuses than are shown in the earlier wiring diagrams).

 

Still can't upload pics, this laptop won't talk to my iPhone. And it's pissing down.

 

Sod it, I'm off for a beer

[gdhaydock]

Connect iPhone to filmble's wifi (or the pubes wifi) and open AS on said device and upload pics

[John F]

Day 1 summary: the wiring is fucked.

 

Even with a healthy battery there's not enough power getting through to operate the hazard lights, the relay just clicks 'please let me die' in Morse code.

 

So we're now resigned to the fact that it'll not be getting an MOT this week. 

 

BUT we will crack on with assessing the state of rot tomorrow, and see if the shell can be saved. Capt F can then sort out the wiring at his peril leisure.

[John F]

Pics so far...

 

Cat piss tarpaulin shot:

 

 

"Is this your car? Pretty car." (\italianjob)

 

 

Fucked.

 

 

Fucked.

 

 

Spiders.

 

 

Bonnet removed, trying to sort out the running fault. Note the cunning 'fuel tank' drinks container.

 

 

Fucked sill.

 

 

Fucked sill again.

 

 

We found the leak in the fuel tank.

 

 

Hmmm.

 

 

The rust had spread pretty much everywhere, including around the inside of the rear suspension turrets.

[John F]

OK. An unusual turn of events today. 

 

Firstly, the Lancia decided to re-boot itself overnight and now has working electrics. Might have something to do with leaving the battery on charge overnight I suppose, although there was enough charge in that battery to start the Calibra it came off... rather odd.

 

So, the car now runs

 

trim.34E1AE41-D21E-4CB3-818B-A2332D5F7D82.MOV

 

However, and this is a big 'however': the shell is MUNTED. It's as rotten as a pear along the entire bottom edge from front to back on both sides. It's a real shame, as *some* bits are in great shape, e.g. the floorpan, but the car has a multi-skin construction which makes the job of resurrecting it so much more difficult. For example, the rear part of the sill extends underneath the rear quarter panels. The real killer came when we discovered that the rear suspension turrets were also shagged... at a mimimum, the car needs 4 new tyres, an exhaust (or enough exhaust components to make one), cam belt, fluids, etc. as well as a few miles of mig wire, and it's more than it's worth in terms of time or cash IMO. It's a worse design than my bloody Maserati in terms of rot traps, and that's saying something.

 

So basically, I suspect this one will be broken for spares. That being said, I'm only here to help out on this job... I'm prepared to crank up the mig and throw pigeon shit at it for the rest of the week  if Capt Flimble decides it's worth saving, ATEOTD it's his car. So I'll let him have the final word on the matter. 

[skattrd]

Betaboyz do repair panels, but it's looking a bit beyond them:

https://353652584127257704.weebly.com/store/c32/Repair_Panel.html

[Captain Flimble]

4. Go back to pub.

5. Remain there.

[Tamworthbay]

I would love to see this saved, but if it is broken I know someone who would be interested in a couple of bits. Would be a real shame though.......

[John F]

Yeah, it is a shame. Especially since it's so low mileage as well. But it's too far gone to save without spending a fortune (and shedloads of time) on it.

 

Drop Capt Flimble a PM with the bits your mates would like - same applies to anyone else that's after Beta / HPE bits.

[Captain Flimble]

R.I.P Lancia.

 

The steel piranhas have now picked the shell (I was going to say "clean" but it doesn't seem very appropriate). John F kindly helped me strip obtainable decent bits off the carcass and then we used his Disco to take the shell to the Ravioli tin factory. Weigh-in produced the princely sum of £4.80. Apparently the price-per-ton of iron oxide has gone down as low as £10. I just hope the Astra doors I threw in made it worth the scrap man's time - at least he got some metal for his money.

 

Sorry it had to end like this - I know you were all hoping for better for the old gal. I don't feel great about destroying such a rare car, and I hate giving up on a challenge, but I'm sure there are people out there who would benefit from the bits for their cars. Had it been a Calibra it might have been a different story 

 

 

Parts list (so far) as follows:

 

Front valance (rusty but solid)

Front calipers

Rear calipers

Front struts inc. hubs, springs, shocks

Rear struts inc. hubs, springs, shocks

Front discs have hardly any wear and would skim up nicely

Rear discs (not yet inspected)

Bottom heater hose

Radiator

Carb radiator mounting pad 2No.

Front seat belts

Rear badges

Rear view mirror

Steering column surround

Footwell pockets

Footwell pocket backplate

Interior door handle 2No.

Seatbelt pivot covers

Seatbelt support covers

Door handle bezel

Stainless seatbelt trim 2No.

Door lock buttons 2No.

Steering wheel

Rear seat side bolsters

Rear interior panels

Door mirrors (vertical type)

Interior light cover

Front quarterlight

Rear quarterlight seal

Rear quarterlight

Front indicator/side light assembly 2No.

Number plate lights 2No.

Wing indicators

Steering rack

Steering column

Battery tray

Fuse box

Automatic gearbox fuse box

Veglia digital clock

Fuel sender

Dash clocks

Wheels

Rear light cluster 2No.

Rear screen louvre

Rear windscreen (still mounted in somewhat-rusty tailgate)

Centre console (lower and upper sections)

Passenger grab handle

Fuel filler pipe

Front and rear bumpers

Dash

Electric window mechanisms (not tested)

Ignition barrel/switch with keys and matching glovebox lock, door locks and boot lock

Auto gearbox (although for the life of me, why anybody would want one....)

 

There is a tidy complete interior, but I've had a sniff already from another Autoshite member who gets first dibs.

Probably other items I haven't catalogued yet; hoses, cables, looms, etc - please ask if there's owt you need.

 

I have the sweeeet 2000cc twin-cam, twin-carb engine with all the ancilliaries still attached. Not sure if I will sell it yet as I would love to do something myself to experience this legendary engine to the full. I'll keep the driveshafts as they are compatible with my X1/9.

 

Advertised here first, and no immediate rush to shift the stuff, so plenty time to let me know if you are interested.