1980 COUPE 2000

[Radman]

Hi,
New member here on account of acquiring a metallic red 2000 coupe with beige interior and what might be a factory sunroof, first registered in January 1980.
The car has done a whisker over 80 000 miles and seems mechanically OK.  Some not too disastrous rust areas will need attention the worst of which is the sill behind the drivers door for which a repair panel has been obtained from BetaBoyz.  This is planned for sometime in mid May along with a general going over.
  When I last drove it I noticed a slight misfire at over 4000rpm and picked up a NOS Bosch electrical ignition unit just in case.  It has a factory boot spoiler but with it fitted the springs do not seem strong enough to hold the boot open, any suggestions?
Will add photos when the car is moved for the work.
This is not my first Beta as I had a 1600 coupe back in the late 1980s in metallic bronze with green interior which was fabulous and took us on a memorable trip to Saas Fee in the Swiss Alps.  Sadly met its demise on a diesel spill in heavy rain a week before I got married!
There is one other Lancia in the stable which is a Fulvia Zagato 1.3S with Dellorto carbs which has been restored but has some issues still to be resolved, hopefully very soon.
Best wishes all,

Jem
North Yorkshire

[smithymc]

Welcome Jem

You will get plenty of help and advice here.

Mark

[SanRemo78]

Have a look in the boot at the springs each side where they clip into one of three slots. If they can be moved towards the back of the boot you can increase the tension which helps lift the lid open. I'd recommend getting a decent hook tool to do it with.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294363711902?_skw=spring+puller&epid=9024229991&itmmeta=01JTBPC3GKE0QKM8PR1BA21VDE&hash=item448971c99e:g:acYAAOSwqvNhKqw7&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA0FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1fcPEsum8%2FnJ%2BHlM3fVRkqX48y5dIQ8ks51Lv6MpralH002WFoIJqS47oPZL1kHFAIlP7LCaR0eOsjrZKa%2B%2BOuVQ8QFbOCQ8q5I7lGtR2%2BXi9lVVvWe8sCjWidXoev0SKq1PmgLuOQzzpBsJZBwStbpcPKMHilJBRlE0NgeU86optuj7kd4pSUL%2BcqMJn0zgbL%2BT1MMkY%2FJ3jj%2FRWGxUH%2FYrcQikrjDK4MWrZd68jA4Ts0T92qD3lZup510Km0S0H4%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8C4sPbSZQ

Other sellers available!

Guy

[Ferrit]

C'mon post some pictures :-)

Welcome

[Radman]

Thank-you for that suggestion, I just popped into the garage to check and unfortunately the springs are already hooked into the rearmost location.  Maybe they are a little tired?  As I recall when I looked at the car at the time I bought it the boot spoiler was not fitted and the boot opened fine, the seller said the car had a spoiler and fitted it before collection so that is how it arrived.
I'm assuming if I remove it there will be holes drilled into the rear of the boot but I don't remember seeing any when I inspected the car before buying however.
Did cars with spoilers have stronger springs?

Jem

[Radman]

C'mon post some pictures :-)

Welcome

I'm trying but haven't worked out how to do it successfully yet.
I had a detailed image which I resized to reduce the data and is now 1.3Mb but nothing happens when I try and post it.

[rossocorsa]

I don't know if later cars had stronger springs but only the final series had a spoiler fitted at the factory this car is too early. There will be holes on the boot lid top surface for the badges that would be there if there was no spoiler. The UK modified 'hifi' version had a spoiler fitted in the UK by tickford but I don't know what modifications they used to make sure it still opened. Looking at your photo I'm not surprised that it won't open easily, I'm not sure of the origin of that spoiler a picture of the rear would be useful.
Regarding the sunroof it is mostly likely factory as the majority of UK 2litre coupe's came with them, make sure that the drain tubes are clear and ideally redirect the end of the front tube so that they don't drain into the sills. In the photo it looks a very tidy example.

[Radman]

I'll get a photo of the rear uploaded tomorrow hopefully.  The chap I bought it from was a bit of a hoarder and said he had owned around 20 Betas over the years so it is possible the spoiler was from another car and he decided to throw it in as part of a clear out!  He also gave me a box with a set of new spare headlights.
I had to get the car transported back to N Yorkshire so it was a bit of surprise when it turned up with the spoiler fitted although he did mention it when I looked at it.  Aesthetically I quite like it without a spoiler, wonder if it has much useful effect?
It's not bad for a 44 year old example although you are definitely seeing its better side.  The bonnet is rust free which is a bonus as this seems to be a problem area.
The plan at present is a sympathetic tidy up for use rather than full on restoration.  The panel repair might end up needing a repaint however which would be a bit of a shame to lose the factory gold trim line.

Jem

[peteracs]

Hi Jem

Welcome, looks like a nice starting point given the starting point for some of us!

On the photos I usually resize mine to be 1024 x whatever the resized image works out at. Eg your above photo is 1024 x 576 and comes in at 236kb (see below).

Was the gold stripe actually original? Someone can tell us I am sure.

On the sills, when you go in check to see the ends of the middle sill as these have a habit of rotting out.

Look forward to meeting you in the future.

Peter

[rossocorsa]

Was the gold stripe actually original? Someone can tell us I am sure.

They aren't factory original but a lot of dealers fitted them, they might be in the dealer fit options catalogue I'll have a look tomorrow

[Radman]

Hi Jem

Welcome, looks like a nice starting point given the starting point for some of us!

On the photos I usually resize mine to be 1024 x whatever the resized image works out at. Eg your above photo is 1024 x 576 and comes in at 236kb (see below).

Was the gold stripe actually original? Someone can tell us I am sure.

On the sills, when you go in check to see the ends of the middle sill as these have a habit of rotting out.

Look forward to meeting you in the future.

Peter

Thanks Peter, this car is intended to be used for attending shows and maybe a road trip or two, there is the unfinished business of the honeymoon which involved driving a Peugeot 104 to Saint Tropez instead of the 1600 coupe as intended thanks to my unfortunate incident.
I think this car was originally supplied in the Wakefield area.
Anyone thinking about attending the Auto Italia car show at Raby Castle which is highly recommended I will be there, possibly in the Fulvia Zagato if it is sorted.  Brakes are currently seized during time spent in a storage container.

[SanRemo78]

I'm putting money on this being another Beta HiFi spoiler appearing Peter! Having never seen one in 40 odd years I now have one on the spare bottled of my car, a spare one that was given to me and know the location of a third one (On a car about to be restored in Farnborough!).

The original fixing method was three bolts bonded into the spoiler with nuts inside the boot lid. They rusted somewhat. The one fitted to my boot lid has had a flange made and it now Sikaflexed in place.

If you decide you really like the HiFi look I can also let you have a full set of (gold) decals to complete the look. Then you'd only need the front spoiler.

I suspect that the boot springs are never, ever, going to hold the weight of the HiFi spoiler and will need some extra assistance! It might be worth dropping in on Jim in Farnborough to see if I can get a closer look at the HiFi there!

Guy

Guy

[rossocorsa]

I'm putting money on this being another Beta HiFi spoiler appearing Peter! Having never seen one in 40 odd years I now have one on the spare bottled of my car, a spare one that was given to me and know the location of a third one (On a car about to be restored in Farnborough!).

The original fixing method was three bolts bonded into the spoiler with nuts inside the boot lid. They rusted somewhat. The one fitted to my boot lid has had a flange made and it now Sikaflexed in place.

If you decide you really like the HiFi look I can also let you have a full set of (gold) decals to complete the look. Then you'd only need the front spoiler.

I suspect that the boot springs are never, ever, going to hold the weight of the HiFi spoiler and will need some extra assistance! It might be worth dropping in on Jim in Farnborough to see if I can get a closer look at the HiFi there!

Guy

Guy

I believe that the front spoiler was usually snapped off so they are even rarer than the rears.

[Radman]

Looking at images of the Tickford HiFi special edition findable online their spoiler looks quite a bit bulkier than the one on my car.
I'll upload a photo tomorrow or Monday depending on how the bike ride goes...

Jem

[rossocorsa]

Some contemporary information

[Ferrit]

Same colour as all my previous Beta’s bitd.

So my soon to be here Beta has the same rear spoiler i think.  Ask me again in a few weeks.