Author Topic: And So It Begins.... (Read 51820 times)

HFStuart · « **Reply #440 on:** April 02, 2025, 12:12:55 PM »

email sent!

SanRemo78 · « **Reply #441 on:** April 02, 2025, 01:48:36 PM »

Not received yet? it's guymayers@mail.com - did you send it to gmail.com?

Feel free to PM me here, I'll pick it up.

Guy

SanRemo78 · « **Reply #442 on:** April 03, 2025, 05:27:06 PM »

Well that's one of the wrong filler flaps off to a new home with Stuart. I have a perfect saloon one painted metallic grey if anyone needs one and one to return to Mark in due course (also for a saloon).

Not much to report so far this week other than cleaning years of crud and underseal off rubber blanking plugs isn't fun but it is coming to an end I think. Worst one (so far) was the oval one underneath the gear lever. I must have spent an hour on that one, working on the best one I had, to get it to a state where I could try to superglue the worst of the cracks in it. Then I found another in the boxes of stuff and that looked even worse but underneath all the baked on underseal it was in great condition except for the topside which was showing paint overspray. No easy shifting that but the flanges all came up uncracked so that one is cleaned an in place now.

I thought I had a decent handbrake cover/gasket but closer inspection shows that needs blasting and powder coating so it's time to put a batch of stuff together again. Everything that should be satin black I think!

Hopefully tomorrow we will get a new garage door fitted so I'm praying the weather is as good as forecast as both cars have to vacate the premises for the day!

Guy

SanRemo78 · « **Reply #443 on:** April 04, 2025, 06:24:41 PM »

The car(s) have been out for the day whilst the new garage door went in. Much more secure now, draught proofed and created a little more headroom in the garage too. Marginally brighter too with a clean white surface too. Hadn't realised how dusty the Beta has become after a few weeks in the garage so it'll get a careful dusting this weekend! Happily both cars are back where they belong this evening.

SanRemo78 · « **Reply #444 on:** April 07, 2025, 12:12:57 PM »

It's so close... The new garage sectional door is installed and with the car nose into the garage I could start risking it on the mid rise lift. With the original door opening at a much lower height this new door is giving me about 6 inches extra headroom but it was still a squeaky bum moment using it for the first time! The lift has a safety feature with physical locks on the frame to stop it dropping until you press the down button. The issue with that is that, in all but the fully up position, when you push the down button it raises the lift before it comes down again.

So, with the door shut I could raise it bit by bit to check the body wasn't going to hit the RSJ or the joists and I eventually got it up to full height and there's plenty of clearance on the RSJ and joists.

However, with the garage door open it's too close for comfort. There are hinges along the panels of the door and it looks like one of those will just catch the roof if the car/lift is at full height. There's less than 1cm in it so I'll have to see if the hinge can be modified or moved slightly. The other slight worry will then be if I modify that hinge will the actual door foul the bow of the roof? Solution for the time being will be to switch off the garage door power supply when the lift is fully up. And get a warning sign made to ensure I Switch the door power off before raising the lift.

SanRemo78 · « **Reply #445 on:** April 07, 2025, 12:17:49 PM »

Even with the screen in (whenever) there's no risk of it hitting the joist. Luckily for me, when the built the garage, the joist isn't quite central in the roof!

SanRemo78 · « **Reply #446 on:** April 07, 2025, 12:19:29 PM »

And plenty of clearance on the roof too. With the garage door shut!

SanRemo78 · « **Reply #447 on:** April 09, 2025, 01:44:34 PM »

The car is currently breathing off the vapours from the Dynax S50 - with a couple more tubes on the way to complete the job - I hadn't appreciated how many box sections there are to find, probably missed a couple too, mainly the sills at the moment!

So, on to other stuff today. I'm working on the headliner and A/B/C pillar trims. I got the headliner with the replacement roof section complete with tensioning bows. The original is being used as a pattern and I've decided to do it in black Alcantara. Then I realised I hadn't prepped the parts, found the bag with the front/rear retaining straps that clip over the first and last bows and they needed a wire brushing and a couple of coats of paint. Why they should rust is beyond me - they were plated from the factory but i guess moisture must get in and wick along the headlining and bows (which are also rusty!). Topcoat next!

It'll be time to drag the sewing machine out this week. Time to learn a new skill.

Guy

SanRemo78 · « **Reply #448 on:** April 10, 2025, 05:52:31 PM »

Headlining pulled out of storage this afternoon ready to start the stitchery stuff. Except that's delayed for a day or two. I tried to pull the bows out of their pockets but nothing doing. In the end i just cut them out and it was immediately obvious why they wouldn't pull out. There is rust. What a surprise.... Out with the wire brush and then KuRust the remains which still have a lot of springiness left in them, certainly enough to do the job. The only points not corroded were the ends that sit in the plastic sockets in the body shell. Zero protection on this steel, not even plated. They'll get a coat or two of red oxide and a topcoat before reassembly. Probably totally unnecessary overkill...
Guy

SanRemo78 · « **Reply #449 on:** April 10, 2025, 05:54:28 PM »

And yes, that raggedy diagonal line in the last picture is a roof bow. Should have adjusted the contrast a lot.... Soz!

chrisc · « **Reply #450 on:** April 10, 2025, 08:58:42 PM »

Be interested in how you get on with that lift... I have the headroom in my garage for one but couldn't convince myself that a half height one would be worth it, particularly as a lot of them seem to attract poor reviews on the quality side!

Been deferring it as a house purchase with a double garage is on the horizon but it's tempting!

SanRemo78 · « **Reply #451 on:** April 10, 2025, 10:19:52 PM »

It's almost perfect Chris. This one will lift to full height within the garage without risk of fouling anywhere. So long as the lift is in the correct position on the floor. The only issue is that a row of hinges on the sectional door might foul the roof at full height. So that merely needs a little care - switch off the door when the lift is at full height.

The lift is the type that doesn't have the two platforms linked together at the top. This allows me access underneath to brake lines, fuel systems and exhaust systems. The ramps at either end can be fixed in the up position to lengthen the bed if needed. Or even removed and the hinges are held in place with circlips.

Whilst it's not the cheapest lift on the market at circa £2k it's pretty flexible and will allow engine installation from below which is a big plus for me. I may need to remove the bonnet for that though so I can see what's happening clearly. Once the project is done I will probably dispose of it, if you check eBay and Facebook Marketplace these things hold their value pretty well. Oddly I've held onto a hydraulic engine crane for longer than usual at the moment. I probably ought to be rid of that but I know I need one soon to do an engine swap on the Stratos. The mid rise lift is useless for that!

The last place we had only had a single garage but it was fairly tall. I managed to get a 4 post lift in there and that allowed two Stratos to be stored. Or a Stratos and a Fiat 124 Spider. But it was so tight just moving around cars was impractical let alone working on one!

Guy

SanRemo78 · « **Reply #452 on:** April 11, 2025, 02:46:47 PM »

And if anyone wants a (limited edition) model of my car....

https://otto-models.com/en/special-sale-g088/1178-lancia-stratos-gr-4-san-remo-1978-g088.html?

Yes, they used pictures of it in their publicity.... Albeit it in an earlier guise!

chrisc · « **Reply #453 on:** April 13, 2025, 09:02:32 PM »

Quote from: SanRemo78 on April 10, 2025, 10:19:52 PM

It's almost perfect Chris. This one will lift to full height within the garage without risk of fouling anywhere. So long as the lift is in the correct position on the floor. The only issue is that a row of hinges on the sectional door might foul the roof at full height. So that merely needs a little care - switch off the door when the lift is at full height.

The lift is the type that doesn't have the two platforms linked together at the top. This allows me access underneath to brake lines, fuel systems and exhaust systems. The ramps at either end can be fixed in the up position to lengthen the bed if needed. Or even removed and the hinges are held in place with circlips.

Whilst it's not the cheapest lift on the market at circa £2k it's pretty flexible and will allow engine installation from below which is a big plus for me. I may need to remove the bonnet for that though so I can see what's happening clearly. Once the project is done I will probably dispose of it, if you check eBay and Facebook Marketplace these things hold their value pretty well. Oddly I've held onto a hydraulic engine crane for longer than usual at the moment. I probably ought to be rid of that but I know I need one soon to do an engine swap on the Stratos. The mid rise lift is useless for that!

The last place we had only had a single garage but it was fairly tall. I managed to get a 4 post lift in there and that allowed two Stratos to be stored. Or a Stratos and a Fiat 124 Spider. But it was so tight just moving around cars was impractical let alone working on one!

Guy

Intriguing... my garage has a high roof and its a roller door so no sectional issues.

If we end up staying put I can see this being a thing!

SanRemo78 · « **Reply #454 on:** April 14, 2025, 08:43:00 AM »

The lift isn't nailed down Chris, it can be as there are holes in the baseplate for anchor bolts though. It comes with a set of removable wheels, you raise the lift to attach the rear ones (they slide onto brackets welded to the lower crossbeam that rotates as it lifts. The front has a single bracket that also slides on and it has a towing type socket that accepts a wheeled lever to raise the front end. Once they're all on it can be moved around the garage floor very easily. It only moves once fully lowered though. So, even if you moved house you could take it with you but the whole thing is not something you can lift without some serious muscle. It's big, heavy and unwieldy and the ground clearance with the wheels attached is very low, you couldn't drag it up onto a trailer. I think you'd need a few very strong mates, some lifting strops and/or an engine crane or and RSJ in the roof. Ideally something like pallet truck or a forklift once you've got it onto a pallet...

Guy

SanRemo78 · « **Reply #455 on:** April 14, 2025, 05:01:49 PM »

Headliner Progress! The headliner bows have been painted and the covers stitched up using the £20 Aldi sewing machine, not too difficult to use as it turns out but not heavy duty for the final task. The headliner itself has had 4 ribs sewn into it using the original as a pattern and just needs the bow pockets attaching. That'll be a job done by hand. Then it can be installed in the car where the final trimming can be done and it can be glued in place, a ton of Bulldog clamps will keep everything in place. I'm going to use the same material to cover the plastic trims on the A, B and C pillars.

SanRemo78 · « **Reply #456 on:** April 14, 2025, 05:04:39 PM »

And the flip side that'll be visible once installed!

SanRemo78 · « **Reply #457 on:** April 14, 2025, 05:11:00 PM »

I have no idea why it appears to have some brownish marks on it in the photo? They're not there on close inspection!

Neil-yaj396 · « **Reply #458 on:** April 15, 2025, 08:31:32 AM »

Quote from: SanRemo78 on April 14, 2025, 05:11:00 PM

I have no idea why it appears to have some brownish marks on it in the photo? They're not there on close inspection!

It will be caused by the built in filters on you camera.

SanRemo78 · « **Reply #459 on:** April 15, 2025, 09:37:43 AM »

Must be Neil, iPhone! Scared the crap out of me for a minute!

News:

Author Topic: And So It Begins.... (Read 51820 times)