LE 30 Discussion Thread

Please feel free to advise and comment here.
I am a bit overwhelmed by the project already, this car is the most complex thing I have worked on, except for that G500 mouse I modded!

Tidy LE, potential for a show winner

Funny you should say that Joe, because that is what I thought when I bought it. Wait till you see to corrosion though! You may be

Oh....

Nothing that can't be repaired

KBT, where did you get that pristine undertray? I want one

Looking good KBT, these are the kinda threads I love reading. Keep it up mate

Undertray came from Joe, think it might have been the last one though.
Just got my pillar badges today, so you can shop away now patch! Also new dash badge, pollen filter and a sample stainless caliper bridge - shame it doesn`t fit, they couldn`t supply a technical drawing of the ferrules so I had to guess and I guessed wrong. Oh well.

Pillar badges, shopping, where from??? Tell me!!!

Partsworld-UK via ebay. Thought you had bought your first pair already? I got the chrome on grey ones, think they will be a pain to paint though. I haven`t found the turbo badges as yet. If I spoke better German things would be easier, there are some parts there and in Italy too I suspect. I am wondering which is the correct FIAT badge at the back, the solid one or the individual letters - both are at Partsworld-UK. Just going out to the garage, so small update later methinks.

what I was trying to say was. Yes I have some, but if I can buy new red LE 20VT badges, I would

Do you know the part number by any chance? Bunging in part numbers seems to bring up the German sites. I still haven`t been to FIAT dealer here, on my to do list.

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Partsworld-uk?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

154504011 is LE code, no longer available it seems, but maybe in Russia, couldn`t translate webpage tbh.
turbo badge is 46317003, seems to be available in Germany.

ohh well, I've sent him a pm JIC
Thanks for that, Ross.

They are a reproduction, Joe may just need to order them, not as cheap as a second-hand one though. My air-con drier has a stone embedded because of no undertray though so...

Just trying to keep my engine bay a bit cleaner for longer I don't mind if it is a patent part, it won't be noticed down there so long as it fits well.

eh what, dozed off...

How old was that picture Ross? The car looks stunning. I have a bit of a picky eye for the coupe now and couldn`t see much to fault. Nearside foglamp maybe?

The undertray is a very good fit, assuming your drop-legs are where they should be of course.

I really look forward to when our cars can rub shoulders.

I take it the corrosion hole is on the O/S in the boot
Looks serious
Nothing a man of you skills can't fix I'm sure

Thanks for the comments on the P.C. article, good luck with the rest of the project, I'm sure we'll meet up one day and yours will defiantly be the tidier of the two

Yes, there is a smaller patch on the other side which I have yet to investigate, may be surface only. Serious if left for 3 years and not straightforward to repair either as at least 3 sections join here. I have decided that even if the chassis is holed where I don`t like the look of it the car will still be repaired - I have no alternative and she is making a very good test bed for my wacky ideas.

I can see that from your recent addition to the Modified or Standard thread. Mine is in for minor cosmetic surgery at the moment in exactly the same locations. But I'm sorry to say yours is worse than mine
Good luck

And I thought yours was in because Joe needed a new T tray.

I did see the thread you started last year, just not before i`d bought this car sadly.

Hi mate.. coming along very nicely!! Are we going to see this sexy beast at a club meet when your done??
be rude not to show it off ay! Lol
going to look at a vinci le myself tues, touch wood she's a good un! Wanted a vinci since iv owned coupes! Lol just never been right time but im going to keep mine standard as it wil be a more daily driver type, my red one is for modding! Currently running around 360bhp, not to bad but would like bit more one day..

What hp is yours going to be once your done?? Well itsma never ending quest with coupes but lets call it your first incarnation! Lol

When I DO the blower mod, I hope for 200 lbs torque - just above tickover, the way the blower could be controlled these days, whoosh, power when you want it. I have some electronics in stock from model making that I will play around with soon for motor control. Top end - 540bhp. Different engine though, i`m not going to do much to this one and will get Flea to re-map for max driveability on the new induction setup, which I can finish now that my muppet supplier has worked out a - the difference between aluminium and stainless, and b - what the term o.d. means. Muppets.

Best of luck with the Vinci, hope all is good - I would like one aswell, and a black one and a silly track car - today I got advice as to what perspex I should use for this.
I will be doing some shows and meets, but i`m very low-rent, anti-authority so I don`t know exactly how i`ll get round this. (Probably just wear my `Hi my name is fccuk you` badge.)
I actually think the club should issue me with one of these instead of the window stickers which sadly are the wrong colour to put on the car.

That should have read 450bhp! I`m seeing this a lot all of I sudden, I mix my letters around.
My thyroxin level is near fatal again, i`m still working and pushing myself but am due for some kind of crash. Reason is I can no longer swallow my meds. - like worming the cat it is in part psychological. However, I am going to take a break for a few weeks so see you all soon.
Jon
p.s. My latest Youtube channel (no car stuff yet though - sorry)
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgPvKNcAdsX7aKQEgYNGw7Q

Hi jon...

sorry to hear your not feeling to well, im simaler situation myself so I feel your pain!
Nothing worse than wanting to get a project finished but your healty stops you, the joys of getting older ay! Lol...

can you tel me more about this " blower" set up your thinking of?
I take it when u say blower you mean supercharger?
But a electronically controled for only used when turbos not on??
Have I grasped it?

Iv always thought about putting the coupes vis unit onto a turbo coupe so it acts in a simaler way, i.e opens the intake as rpms increase to improve the dreaded turbo lag! Only reason iv never bothered to try is what ever barbz did to the engine on my coupe when he owned it but my god its got good low down torque, very very little lag, I imagine its the head work he did as she was the original guinea pig for the head work he does , either way I like it! Lol...

Unfortunately the situation is critical healthwise and the NHS is so far beyond being able to cope with the vast numbers of sick that I can`t even get a prescription. So far I have waited 72 hours and my heart rate has climbed to 180 bpm which is still low in comparison to my peak. Time to look seriously at alternative medicine.

The `blower` is a 2 port supercharger made by Abarth. The unit is from a Lancia Beta. The 037 Rally had a 3 port, and I think the Delta S4 3 port also. I can`t fully remember but I think on the original installation the unit ran at 70% of engine speed, however I only need it to do anything between tickover and about 1800 rpm - based on my current engine setup.
It seems sensible to use an electric motor to make it spin, I did one valve design using off the shelf parts but due to an insufficient bore of the part I am having a rethink.

Due to the further level of change required to implement, I think I must just concentrate on returning the car to the road. So even the re-loom has to wait, the old one has only had 3 earths snipped so easy to refit.
Not that I have stopped working on it, there is a bloody great pile of Deutsch/Souriau connectors now fitted to the cfc junction cover with some more due to arrive - I have now started buying them new. At last. Not paying list though, currently about 30 percent of!

I am sure the Joe has done a 20vt vis unless I am quite mistaken, you could enquire. I think I am watching a vis as it happens.

I love freebies.

Hi mate.... terminal?? Dam that is some bad news, hope things improve soon!!

as for your blower idea, well all I can say is put me down for one once youv got all the gremlins worked out!!! I had no idea lancia used blowers, learn something new everyday ay! Lol

think I'll have a search for joes vis mod.. im suprised more people haven't done it do be fair, I can really see it improving the coupes drive massively, especially for standard coupes wheir the lag is prity darn bad! Lol
must be prity expensive mod is all i can think..

Invariably fatal without treatment. All very hit and miss it seems, I think the best option is to have the thing removed but then you must take Thyroxin daily for life.

Blower is from a 1984 car, if you could find one expect to pay up to a grand. This one needs a rebuild as i`m not going to have it spray oil everywhere. It`s oil res. needs to be checked more often than a 20vt engine too. A different blower could be used - perhaps a smaller one.

I am bucking the trend with turbo pipework, mine has a max 57mm o.d. until a step up to the throttle body, i`m not expecting any power restriction and what I term `redundant volume` in the induction system is reduced and so is lag.

I`ll put up a video of the last drive I had at some point soon, the throttle response is not bad and I had only made minor improvements at that time.

I`m not 100% about the vis but I must have read something about it.

You have a pit.....and lights.....


And a sleeping bag I presume




Most of this is over my head, but a good read nevertheless!

Minus one light now.

Probably will move into garage for the winter.

I am totally out of my depth - but that`s life.

Simon, I have some honeycomb speaker grilles from Alfa 145 - when I noticed the pattern I thought of you. They need a mod. to fit though but I thought a nice touch for your car.
Free to you, PM me if you want them, I also have a hardly used blue Bailey, sadly not free.

Ha! Thanks Jon for the speaker offer - do you mean the door grilles?

I'll bear in mind the Irish Cream....just testing out my cleaned-up item over the next few days

Yes, but the tabs do not align so ally tabs would need to be screwed on, but would not be seen. I will try to mock an image for you in the next few days. Obviously they are mint.

If you remind me of your addy, i`ll post for free too, just not till October.

I bought new originals as some person had smeared copper-slip all over them. Impossible to clean up.

p.s. The worst bit of your DV is the dreadful plastic connection to the actuator. I think the oil difference is down to the HKS multi-venting but at a different velocity, somehow the oil does not appear. I won`t be burning the oil for much longer as breather system is getting the ²ö¿²ö treatment.

Free bees to go with the freebies, I`ll mod. them for you, pm you when they are done. Don`t hold your breath though - up to my neck in things for a while.

Shame to spoil it

That's a lot of trouble Jon, should I putting in a vote for the Stannary?

Maybe you could mock up a couple of wings at the same time

I`ll enjoy it. Will cut genuine FIAT tabs off my old ones and pin them on with cfc pins probably. Round here we are used to working for nothing anyway!

p.s. I liberated the bees from our admin department today.

Can`t be in any more trouble than i`m in already as during a particularly stupid low-flying incident yesterday, `my pilot` hit a tree.

Really interesting reading all round, like an episode of CSI!

Thank-you for reading - there is more to come.
I`ve never seen the show, however, I suspect my eldest son would say i`m more `the wire-in HD` - but he is a cynic.

Once you've finished fettling Jon she's going to look mighty smart as well as packing a punch. The headlights are awesomely shiny

Here's hoping no ill has come out of Pandora's box!

Just had a catch up on the build thread mate..

sorry to her the bad news that she's been in a crash at some point and with the welding that needs doing..
that's the trouble when cars get to this sort of age, can look mint frm the outside but peel back that carpet and boy what a can of worms!! Lol

luckily iv been very lucky with the 4 coupes iv had vus far, saying that though I do check them over with a magnifier!! Lol
on more than one occasion iv had to walk away as the owners wouldn't let me jack the cars up for a good pock around!

Have you do anymore work regarding the blower?? Very very intrested in doing the same to my red moded coupe..
maybe install the bmw mini supercharger?? Been looking into it but unsure which unit wi
Fit best as they aren't cheap if I buy the wrong type! Lol

The lights are new. I`m glad they pass muster.

I would not recommend even considering a blower mod. until you had tried other ways of reducing lag - like reducing your turbo pipework length to minimum, matching turbo/cooler/pipe i.d. to airflow required.
I can`t go into any detail at this time but I have another couple of ideas to develop. I also have to be offline for some time, so, apologies. (will pm you Clive when I have some more info)
All the best.
Jon

Never say never though.
One of 3 very different setups tried in one evening.

Hi jon.. its not so much the lag im trying to reduce as my engine was rebuilt by barbz himself who has done head work, matched intake, outtake ect ect, hybrid bearing turbo ect ect so theirs very little lag thanks to the magic hands of babrbz! Lol
iv got one of his old coupes you see and he rebuilt the engine ect before it was sold.

so the blower idea is just more for pure fun factor! Lol.. as she's only my wkend toy not my daily driver..

Speak soon mate...Clive

Well, watch this space...

@ mr_cheese : you have a pm
@ world : hello

You're a bit mental attempting a twin charging project with so little room in the engine bay, but hats off to you sir! If I was you, I would see if you can get in contact with 2 people. One is a chap who has twin charged a Volvo 850 T5 and another who has twin charged a Misti Evo, although the latter will want a small fee for information, but needless to say, his RR graph is like walking up Snowdon, all the way to about 800bhp!

I have been making room except I forgot about the strut brace so for the intended install I require an alternative brace.

Thanks for the heads up re other twin-chargers but the point is I wanted to do no reverse engineering so have designed a valve I call SICV which has 4 ports and bolts on. The prototype is too bulky and will take time to decide on the best type of internal valves and getting the response time down - it needs to outperform driver reactions, not a problem with most people. I`m still working on the electronics which incidentally I have dabbled in since I was 3. I`m quite out of practice though and an aftermarket ecu is the favoured option. Throttle body already modded with control switch and probably f.t. scramble switch also for the as and when.

I have heard there is also a twin charged Scirocco (old shape) but again I don`t want to look until I have finished the build.

As for being a bit mental i`m frankly insulted...

I`m completely mental.

I got this old game fired up today after some teething troubles running such an oldie.
I couldn`t believe how off the pace I was or how hard work it is to go flat out, the amount of wheel and pedal input needed is huge and how sweaty you get.
Point is, racing games are a good way to learn race tracks. I doubt i`ll get to any foreign circuit and I think my choice in UK would be oulton park so i`ll pound round there for a while in case I get the chance to do it for real.

Conspiracy initiated.

Theres a marea in the fiat forum which started out as a plain 20 valve and he bolted a mini cooper s blower on it where the air con compressor went. He did a nice job too. So theres half the battle perhaps?

It is far more complex than people realize when there is also a turbo. No offense intended either.

This motors installation is not friendly to add a blower even in N/A guise as to drive from crank the blower would be sited too close to exhaust and the length of pipework would negate some of the benefit. Having said that, adding to a N/A engine is very possible and if boost level is kept sensible a small re-map would be required with no other mods.

It took Lancia a whole season to iron out the balance at a cost of how many million - not Lira either.
I believe other manufacturers certainly had the opportunity to reverse engineer from S4.

My design is quite good I think. I have over-designed to hide the simplicity of the unit but also to enable running with blower off while still maintaining original throttle response. The design would allow considerable boost from throttle opening - extracted 7.5 psi from the Volumex blower.
If I had the money and facilities I would have prototype running by now but my facilities are a column drill, a dremel and a few hammers.

Also this engine has been mapped by Leighton and I don`t want to with it as it is perfect - pussycat or hellcat, the power delivery is a bit violent but I think I will find that the variator is not functioning and the timing may have been set wrong to compensate.
I don`t know much about this engine as yet, but when I smell a rat it usually means there is a rat.

To get the best from my system will require a lot of fine tuning and I think i`ll need aftermarket ecu that I can map with a laptop - Brizzle is 200 miles away.

Thank-you for your input - goes off to find the Marea.
Jon

I see what your saying the blown NA versus the twin charge set up, the idea sounds great and I'm glad people are doing stuff like this.
When people suggest a new way of doing things they mostly get jumped on for thinking too far out of the box.

The twin turbo thread on here is a great project. If the guy had not done it before suggesting it he may well have not built it from being shot down.

I do enjoy reading your updates as it pushes me to get on with my own.

Yes, I can just imagine the "no shit sherlock" comments.

If I blow up an engine i`ll be the first to say "you idiot Jon", we can then all have a good laugh at my expense.

Folks will have a long wait though, i`m trying to get stuff done at the back of car and bashed my right arm, hand and fingers so many times yesterday I had to stop as had gone dead. No money either, actually did scrap run yesterday and was amazed at the value of copper - no wonder there are so many thefts of metals.

I wish you the best of luck with your treatment Jon keep your chin up and think positive

Stick around on here Jon, it's a fair haven for many and a source of light relief at times

Your banter and expertise on various subjects are always worth a read

Become the forum's competition setter?

You mean like the dog?

Thank-you for your thoughts etc.

The good news is that at this time i`m told not to worry about the MRI results!

The less good news is that they want to use the Iodine treatment to kill off my Thyroid to an extent. I am a bit concerned about this. I really don`t do being in hospital.

I have had 2 surgical procedures.
1 - micro-surgery on a severed vein in my thumb, without anaesthetic. Six people held me down.
2 - some teeth out. I had been listening to the surgeon explain to the previous patient about being sorry about the snapped drill, we have x-rayed your chest etc. before being wheeled in.

Yes Begbie seems to be on track most of the time

an amazing story so far...

makes me think I'm not making an effort!

Oooh, saucer of milk for you

Video/slideshow I have slung together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5MLitfq_II&list=UUgPvKNcAdsX7aKQEgYNGw7Q

Why didn't you rotate compressor housing on turbocharger to avoid that 180 degree pipe? Is some hose of coolant in the way or something else?




Keep up the good work mate!

Good idea to rotate housing but until I decide which cooler i`m using the pipework is just a rough guess made of bits I have lying around.

Also I don`t know how to rotate housing yet, is it a simple matter of removing the water pipe to rad., undoing 6 bolts, rotate housing and replacing bolts/pipe?

Thank-you for the ideas and support.

Yeah, it's dead easy, in theory. Don't touch any of the oil or water pipes, undo the bolts on the comp housing, then rotate the housing. The only thing is that you'll need to relocate the waste gate actuator.

I say it's easy in theory because the little buggers can be stuck and a spanner isn't quite man enough.

Keep up the good work

I will be replacing the oil feed and return, hoping to get a carbon heat shield for the return pipe at the weekend - if I can afford it.

Water pipe to rad. might get customized, i`ve got into the wiggins fittings in a big way. They aren`t cheap but you only live once. I need to be able to weld aluminium and I need a lathe, then I can make real progress.

Weather is rubbish but i`m going out to look into this now, might manage a project update later tonight.

Thank-you for the info.

I didn`t finish but managed to whip the housing off.
Thank-you to you both, what an easy mod. which I wouldn`t have otherwise attempted.

Hello starkness bye u-bend....

My uncle died at 7.30 this evening.

Having a break from frivolity as a mark of respect, back soon.

I have to travel tomorrow to the funeral on Wednesday.

Hoping to get back to work on the car this weekend.

Wouldn't paint thinners be better to remove the overspray?

Thinners would work but care would be needed to prevent the plastic from softening. There is a tough primer under the red also.

I can just pour on Nitromethane, leave for 5 minutes and then remove completely with scotch type washing up cloth.

In fact I started already using the nitro as it damages my p.p.e. less than brake fluid would and cleanup is also easier.

Will update project with results later.

Sorry I have also placed this in the "project thread", but I use oven cleaner for these jobs.

I`m proud to say that i`ve never cleaned the oven so no oven cleaner in stock, but handy to know of products that work.

I have seen projects where the owner just resorted to black paint on an area like this as they didn`t know how to get rid of the overspray so....

Re rear under arch rust, comparing my coupe with my marea, it seems that the coupe rusted at the seam where the bottom edge of the arch liner finishes.
Looking at the marea a which has no rust at all in the same seam, and it doesn't have an arch liner at all.
I'm surmising that the lower edge of the arch liner, being so close to the seem, collects mud and road cr@p and holds it against the not so well protected seam which then leads to rust. If it had just gone another couple of inches further down it would have protected the whole area.

An awful lot of the seam sealant has not covered the joints properly, like there was some jig alignment issue at the factory.

Good info. Steve, your analysis of the problem may be more accurate than mine as in all honesty I am currently unable to fully inspect the area and my thoughts are only based on what I have seen of the spread of corrosion at the four mounting holes.

Don`t read on if you are of a sensitive nature folks.

I haven`t done any further dismantling as it isn`t safe for me to work on the car at present - I am wearing an eye patch over my left eye as I can`t close it, it is oozing pus and I have tried to claw it out in my sleep. I hope it will improve but only time will tell.

I am limited to refinishing parts already removed and even that is a challenge as I can`t judge distance. I know someone who lost an eye a long time ago and I gather you get used to it.

Bloody hell. I had conjunctivitis once that was close to your description. It was awful, and my left eye has never fully recovered. Sometimes I have to hold the lid off the eyeball as it feels like there's a razor blade stuck in there.
Usually it happens if I've woken up too early and not adjusted to the light.
Hope you recover from it soon.

Thanks Steve.
The infection is in the tear duct and is very uncomfortable, but the patch is driving me bonkers. A positive side effect is my right eye grows stronger. I realize my troubles remain minor compared to some but I find it very hard to slow down - currently giving some brackets an acid bath in my living room.
Can`t understand why i`m single....
All the best.

Reminds me of when I lived in a shared rented house. I was charging the battery from my Fiat 850 in the lounge, and knocked it over, spilling acid on the purple (!) carpet. My bio-chemist house mate shoved some bicarbonate of soda on it and we ended up with lots of white spots on the carpet. I tried to cover them up by snipping off tufts of carpet and gluing them over the spots, but needless to say, we weren't able to pull the wool (or even the carpet) over the agent's eyes and had to pay something for the damage.

So be careful with that acid bath, don't get in it for example...

Re rental carpets: an ex-girlfriend taught me that a 303 cartridge case makes an excellent cutter, when used under, say, the wardrobe, to make inserts for cigarette burns...

Your house mate wasn't Walter White was he

Some nice cleaning going on there, KBT - my washer bottle is (a) still dirty and (b) stops the water sloshing out with a milk carton lid... so if you find a replacement lid that fits, please let me know!

Apart from the fact that it is blue...Alfa 145.
Whip the brake/clutch fluid res. out at the same time as they don`t seem to yellow.

Oh Bingo!

According to Eper, part number 7798958

!

I've got a thing like that to put washing liquid in the washing machine...

Keeps the newts and pollywoggles out when filling up from a stream.

I separated them as the filler isn`t needed on the Coupe and it bites the tank a bit too, so I wouldn`t fit to a brittle tank should you have one.

I used a 4mm ally rod with a sponge grafted to it to clean the tank.

Also from 145. I think it will fit the 16v engine.

It would need a further bush, I think - the 16v engine has two rubber bushes at right angles, separated by a short bar.

Top back right in the picture:

I see. I only have the Lancia 16vt for comparison, which has the engine side bush fitted to a housing bolted to the engine.

Notified today of proposed redundancy.

Bad luck Jon Anything further afield?

Did you get over the eye prob?

Eye got marginally better, but no change for some time now.
A recent visit to the eye clinic was awful, having pupils dilated and then having a torch held right by the eye. High thyroxin still but all that is just tedious, not having a job is terminal.

I just looked and they need to give me 11 weeks notice. There is a tiny chance of a reprieve but I doubt it. I`m shocked but will just have to get another job!

you have some patience and determination mate, over 2 years to get this far with health problems, funding problems and the condition of the car itself and still going strong.....Respect!

Thank-you for the encouragement.
I`m doing a few small jobs this evening.
Project will get updated soon.

Great to see some more updates, little an often so you don't over do it

I keep getting overtaken by snails.

Mate keep going and do what gives you enjoyment ....

never never give up !!!

Big respect

When you finish, this it's going to be Minter than Mr Mint from Mintonsville in Mintonshire!! Nice reading your thread KBT!

Removed from Project thread - sorry!

Wait till you see the new bolts.
They came from outer space! And Truro.

Shame not to get it rolling...

Much as the ultimate solution lies just a quarter of a mile downhill from my garage, I hope it won`t come to that.

Now, now Jon, you're making it sound like the English Channel....don't torment us!

I apologize, it`s just that i`m suffering from an excess of glee.

My TSH is normal for the first time since testing began. This means(as I understand it)that my thyroid now tells pituitary that thryroxin is produced. If this isn`t happening it gets told to make more. In short i`m probably in remission.

About 8 weeks ago I had a letter in my hand which basically said I could lose the ability to focus if there was any significant increase in TED as caused by RI or surgery or even just extreme emotional stress.
Want to know about having the fat drained from behind your eyes?
I didn`t either.
Then I had a seizure mid blood test. It was a Thursday. After asking me what I would be doing over the nest week the witty female member of the ambulance crew said "so we`ll see you on Tuesday is it?"
After the seizure I had amnesia to a degree.
I have had 6 in 20 years that I know of but no one has been interested and I didn`t know what was happening.
I was told not to drive. After passing all the eye tests too.....

Then I regained my memory, rather more than i`ve ever known as it looks like the entire illness was psychological/neurological/chemical disorder linked to repressed memories beginning with something I witnessed at age 3!
The movie is called Shine according to my psychotherapist, except my story is the hardcore violent version.

Fast forward...

I`m driving, thinking of buying another coupe...even been bashing at the Hammond.

p.s. I first sought diagnosis in 1985.

In the face of seemingly insurmountable odds you seem to be a survivor Jon, and a dab hand at many skills - including acronyms whose meanings are not immediately apparent to me

Feeling quite inadequately knowledgeable of your condition I find it hard to pass pertinent comment other than to rejoice at the news that things are 'looking up", if I'm getting the gist - I for one am certainly looking forward to hearing more detailed progress on the LE30 project

Well bashing at the Hammond is not a masturbation reference.
I really have an organus maximus and gie it laldy!

Ah, got you





Saw what you did there.....

Distinctive le footprint.

Looking good!


What on earth is that all about, is it a homemade crossover for the speakers?


And what is that electrical gizmo box thingummy?

Modded wiring is right next to ECU plug. I think it brings both the fans on with a rocker switch under the dash.
I would have done it differently, although when something is an afterthought there is always an element of compromise.
There will be a picture of the tidied version soon as want to get seats back in!

Black box is Blitz solenoid box. I modded the tabs into a C shape. Pleased with location as aiming for factory look, but I keep finding another part to refit which fouls on my mods.

Re the throttle cable...
The throttle cable is truly awful. You're right about the spring, I hated replacing the cable as had to get the cable on and off the throttle 6 times at least in order to get the length correct or make sure the grub screw was tight enough! Little flesh left on the knuckles after that.

I felt that I was a bit harsh about the non-design, but a colleague of mine who came to visit as I was doing it just burst out laughing and said in an Italianesque accent "If you stupid English want to drive on wrong side of road, you don`t deserve good engineered throttle mechanicals" so...

The reason for the spring is because it has a dual purpose - butterfly and throttle pedal return spring. I am working on a complete replacement 2 piece assembly, return spring can then be separate and TB spring replaced with one from Lancia Thema 16VT - I have one to hand even though it doesn`t look like it will in fact fit. The original spring could tag on to the post nearer the bulkhead perhaps to ditch some tension.

My original cable also had a big problem at the bulkhead, i`m guessing caused when retained for engine swap. It has been difficult to source relevant parts in small quantities but watch this space as i`ll come back to this.
I`m wiring today!

Forgot to say, I used a solder nipple TB end and used a barrel type to help set the length. The new adjuster offers less travel than the original, i`ll redo the thing with fresh teflon when I get round to it. My real aim is for never fail or roadside replaceable. I did have something of a fit myself after being crunched into the footwell over time, miraculously unbending the throttle pedal in the process.

Good to read there's some progress Jon, not sure on the headlight loom but they do differ across the models so wondering if that's the issue.

Thanks Joe.
There is some more progress, fresh problem in that the gear cables joggle at gearbox end, nearly killed myself dropping the assembly to sort whole thing out (collapsed in pit), selector shaft is seized so I must have dreamed actually doing the job already - guide down and don`t want to it up. Is it covered in the book? Must buy one but they don`t sell them at the local shop.
Ready to drop sub. though and can`t not get uprights/shafts refurbished, boots and stuff. Was planning to ask you but waiting till the GB of all time dies down.
Big list of your stuff to come but as you may know i`m suddenly saving not spending.
I assumed the headlamp loom the same across the models. I don`t know quite why FIAT did this but you wouldn`t want them to supply some unswitched gender confused sockets for your house.
I was delighted when I noticed it as if i`m equally blaze I can now make the autosport ecu loom with the cfc cover as have all the bits. Photo. was remade not new, I just forgot to bunk a couple of company shrinks on.

I am taking a break from the project for a month or so, the rust has come back and i`m going to convert the garage before I continue with the car.

I have decided to go all out on the job and the coupe is a bit expensive once you`ve gone bonkers for it being `just so`. I have been cringing at the expense but given the cost of what I am currently doing I will find finishing the car a breeze with luck.

What I am doing involves spending lots in Malvern...Buying a Varizoom MC100, Dynamic Perception MX2 etc. I want to spend some time animating again and plan to attempt to convert the head to step control. At the end of the day though it is a pukka live head and I have RODE mic. etc., just need to sort my power supplies now and some glasses and i`d hope to do some action shots.

Ignoring most of that.....
I did get made redundant, the company being insolvent. Slightly awful time.
I very nearly starting selling off coupe spares and still may as there are loads. In my mind there has been a question mark as to whether or not to just quit now, as it started to look like I couldn`t afford to get the car done 6/8k+? till I retire in 13 years time.
I`m not unskilled but there isn`t that much call in the area it seemed so I have decided to mold myself around the requirements of the day. Applied to an agency willing to just go and do the (possibly awful) placement tomorrow, hoping this will stand me in good stead.
For whatever reason the immediate start has evaporated but, unless I just got flanneled, things look brighter today in terms of being able to eat next month.

On the way home a Merc. was just washing my bumper, this is in traffic. I have just lightened the Coarser by 30kg but added a 15kg camera rig, which is very secure - multiple location/rachet strapped. (This is because of what i`ve been doing in my month or so off)
Long story short, I dropped it 2 cogs mid tight corner in the rain and suddenly........I wished I was in the Coupe.

During my break I somewhat updated my photographic portfolio/commercial presence which I abandoned 16 years ago.
I didn`t get any where near the number of shots in for the soundtrack in mind and I have to put in some effort with 4 social media accounts to feed, not that i`ve even started other than securing usernames.

I hope to get back to the coupe as there is a great potential left.

Here is a frame of my last decent shot. Apologies to the forum as it isn`t coupe related. If you come to Wally visit the valley, if you want your car photographed.
Jon