Spyder restoration - long time coming

[peteracs]

Not had the enthusiasm to sort out current draw on the wipers, but did have a quick play to establish which wire does what which is not so obvious for all of them.

Simplest is the grey wire which is the fast speed, seems to work without help from any of the others.

Blue during intermittent, when relay clicks on, starts wipers, when relay clicks off, stops wipers. During slow seems to run them all the time.

Blue/White moves off start position in slow mode, not really sure what else it is used for as appears a little redundant?

Blue/Black This is permanent power which is used to return wipers when you switch off etc.

Hope this is useful to someone!

Peter

[peteracs]

Back at the Restoration Show last year I bought a pair of unbranded ‘white’ H1 (Xenon?) bulbs which I put into the full beam lights. They came up much whiter than the main beam ones which were original Halogen yellow. Nigel also bought a couple and one failed pretty quickly, so I decided to buy a pair of branded ones for the main beam. I bought a pair of Ring H1 XenonMax bulbs and they are suitably white in comparison to the old ones, hopefully will prove to be reliable as well…

Peter

[Nigel]

You have an effective recall Peter, and yes, one failed very quickly.
I can't remember what I've got in right now but that's a recommendation worth
pursuing.

N.

[WestonE]

I fitted Night Breaker Bulbs in the Montecarlo. I think they were from Osram who are a major Brand. They are very clearly better. I will consider the Beta Sypder bulbs change to LED when I have a running driving car.
 

[peteracs]

Recently for the HPE I added a ‘chromed’ plastic collar to the top of the gear lever gaiter. I was really pleased so I bought one for the Spider’s gaiter. Happy with the result again.

Peter

[SanRemo78]

That is so neat Peter! The trimmed early centre tunnel is much nicer than the later ones. I'm in two minds about what to do there and have a spare (very damaged!!) dash to experiment with in the coming months.
Guy

[peteracs]

The trimmed centre console was done by the trimmer and not original, the one in the HPE will be left as original.

[SanRemo78]

THat's fine Peter! Mine won't be original. I'm already planning a black Alcantara headlining and pillars, a modified dash and a VX interior. I'm not going to win any prizes for originality! I'm building it how I want to. And that's now going to include a blingy gear lever gaiter. 

[peteracs]

And that is how it should be!

[peteracs]

I think I have finally stopped an annoying drip from the hose leading down from the expansion tank. I had replaced it with a better second hand one I had, but still had a regular drip. In the end it turned out to be small bits of rust embedded in the inside of the hose where it mates with the expansion tank and the lower water rail. Will teach me to check any second hand ones I deem as serviceable in the future.

One job I have put off so far this winter is the under body protection wax type spray. I have not done anything under there since originally getting the car on the road, so it was time. I did inside the sills a few weeks ago with Dynax S50 and now it was time to use its sister product Dynax UB.

[peteracs]

I finally managed to finish using the Dynax UB which went well, if a bit messy of course. On applying the Dynax S50 to all yne cavities on the HPE recently, I realised I have missed some on the Spider which will be addressed.

With the arrival of the HPE, the Spider is currently living with Mark H's cars on a farm half an hour away, thanks Mark, but have just managed to find a secure place to store it in the next village which I am going to visit over the coming days. Plan is to move the car when we return from France in May.

On a further note, I have been mulling over this storing the car away from the house for a while and not too happy with it, so have decided to attend various events up to September such as Laon and LMC weekend and then the car will be for sale. This will give me both the impetus to get on with the HPE and not split my time over the winter etc with having to do jobs on two cars. Not an easy decision, but one which was going to have to be faced at some point. So...... if anyone fancies a Spider later this year please get in touch.

In the mean time plans for it are to replace the oil and filter, refresh the brake fluid and put a fresh MOT on it as has been nearly 2 years since the last one.

Peter

[peteracs]

Back from France and collected the car from where it has been stored, thanks to Mark H for a space on a farm where he keeps his cars. This is approx 45 mins from my house, so not that convenient, however just before we went to France we were offered a place in a very secure barn (rodent and people) in the next village to us, so a brisk 15 min walk which is perfect. Will be living alongside the vehicle they use to ferry shooters around the farms during the shooting season.

Once I got it back home I did the annual oil change, nothing untoward to report and the other fluids look ok including the gearbox. I was thinking of having it MOT'd before going to France, but decided against it as I did not fancy having to sort any unknown issue as it is only 2 weeks to go and the car is running very sweetly, thank you very much.

[SanRemo78]

 Now you've got better storage nearer home are you coming round to the idea of keeping it Peter?

[peteracs]

Hi Guy

No, the plan is to sell it, I can only drive one at a time and having two will delay me getting the second back together. Depending if it sells then will mean no Beta for next year at least, but hopefully worth it long term. If it does not sell, then not a big problem either. Spiders do seem to hang around for sale for a while.

Peter

[peteracs]

Hi

Bit of an own gaol, whilst in storage at the farm I meant to disconnect the battery for the 4 weeks or so I was away, but forgot and the battery was pretty low when I got to the car. No problem I thought, I jump started it and it came how. It was charging all the way. Also restarted as expected that same day. However when I came to restart it 3 days later, battery was not flat, but unable to start the car, so suspect it not so healthy. It is still within its 5 year warranty (just), but not holding breath re getting it sorted, so have bought a new one from Tayna (same Varta C6 Silver). There could of course be some extra leakage started over the time away, but no chance to investigate before going to France a week on Friday, so better to start with a known good battery.

Peter

[peteracs]

New battery (Varta C6 Silver) arrived thanks to Tayna and the 5% discount offered on Number 27 YouTube channel. Fitted and now cranks as expected. Left it disconnected so no surprises when come to collect the car on Thursday ready for last checks before off to France.

[peteracs]

Hi

France trip to Kaon completed without significant incident, 862 miles in 3 days. Very enjoyable event apart from the queuing which I guess you would expect with 750 cars….

Only issue is one which has been in the background for a long time is getting 5th gear became worse and worse. Nigel had a Quick Look and conclusion is way too much play in the gear linkage so that needs looking at before LMC weekend as now 5th is very much a lottery if I can get it

Apart from that all was good, cruising at around 65mph /3500 rpm is the sweet spot, my decision not to fit a radio was the correct one as would be impossible to hear it whilst on the motorway.

Photo is from the Hotel de Ville in Laon with Znigel, Alex and my cars in the square.

[Ferrit]

Thats so cool.  Outnumbered by Stratos.  Amazing 

[peteracs]

Hi

Yes not many Lancias in reality and good job the UK Stratos enthusiasts group came en masse. All were replicas FYI, but very nicely done. A mix of Hawk, Lister Bell and Corsa(?).

It was interesting that it felt like 70% of all the cars taking part were UK ones.

There was a particularly original S1 1800 Coupe the first day.

Peter