SA Import Beta 2000 Coupe

[Ferrit]

Oh that’s interesting to know.  I will test drive and report back

[Ferrit]

so it wouldnt go away.  I had the top of the carb off a few times and all the jets out to clean.  Still no good. 

By Saturday it was getting worse (in some ways better?).  So last night, after a afternoon of doing a cambelt and water pump on the in-laws kids Polo, the whole carb off and stripped the lot and blasted it out with carb cleaner.  I dont have a compressor for air so this would have to do.  I think I found it here, that wasnt there previously so must have been moved along from somewhere.  I think its gasket or something like sealant gone hard?  Back together after midnight but not tested so I cancelled a day out at Goodwood for the Greenpower’s challenge on Sunday inc lunch.  Gutted.

Greenpower’s challenge is for school teams to design, build and race their own electric cars, giving young people practical experience of engineering, teamwork and problem-solving.

www.greenpower.co.uk

And in true sod's law standard this morning the problem was gone.  The rest of the day I checked the downpipes that were very slightly loose (again), and did some cleaning from a very slight oil leak from the other manifold stud that I previously sealed.  This one is very slight for the 1300 miles I have done since I was last under here.  Topped up the less than 200ml of oil to take it to the top and went to see a mate who lives on the other side of the Surrey Hills.  Which was 50 miles of mostly nice and quiet roads.  I now have the 2nd choke woking which now is good fun.  I felt on the way back I was settling in.

Next week check valve clearances and look at doing the smooth black line stone chip maybe?

[Ferrit]

Last weekend I went to a Brooklands/Pistonheads meet. 

Surprise surprise I was the only Lancia there.  I went with two mates who have a 35 Lagonda and a Lotus Elise.  I was there quite late as I had a lot of children and dog chores, shame as soon as I got there people were leaving and wasnt able to go and look at a few I spotted on the way in.  Namely the Ford Consul Classic (my dad had one).  I had quite a bit of interest in the Beta, questions on what its like owning one and spares etc?

On the way home I spotted a Surrey RS Club meet at a local pub and so popped in.  I went straight to the Escort Harrier (basically a 1600 Sport ltd edition), I had a couple Escorts - my first car and then a mk2 RS2000 thats still out there.  The guy had owned it for 40 years bought it when it was worth nothing.  A good one is up for sale for £54k at the moment.  Such a basic car in comparison to a Beta.  Makes me realise what a great car it is!

I did go for a spin in the Surrey Hills for an hour after the meet.  I think the combination of the recent work on the carb, and exhaust rattle, and me getting more used to the car has resulted in it really feeling good to drive now.

Yesterday I did a check of all the valve clearances - so std 2000 (as stated in my 1982 Lancia Service Manual) is Inlet 0,42mm +/- 0,03mm, and Exhaust is 0,48 +/- 0,03mm; whereas 130TC (my cams fitted are 130TC's) is Inlet 0,45mm and Exhaust is 0,50mm.

My results were a pretty good (I think), Inlets: 0,43mm (ish) across the board, and Exhausts were: 0,47mm (ish) across the board.  I think I leave alone...

Later I carried on between decorating and garden chores, to fit the gauge cluster to my plastic dash trim.  Almost there.  I have worked out the wiring so I can disconnect the current supply to the dash and swap over to theses gauges.  Then just need to swap the senders.  I went for VDO gauges because in theory I was able to buy senders that should just bolt straight on.  Ideally I want all the gauges to work, but that plumbing job can come later.

Next couple jobs are:

can I make the seat belts work better with a strip and clean?
change the engine oil and filter, and gearbox oil - inc sorting out the drain plug now have the right tools and approach
I want to replace the current stone chip (black line below the doors etc) with something nicer (and smoother), but this might have to wait until Spring
when I have the rear panels off to look at the seatbelts I have another really runny wax product to trt and have a container per sill to go nuts with a ext lance

[Nigel]

Hi Mark,

Looks like you had a very good day!

Re seat belts, I had a sluggish set in mine and tried cleaning the webbing
by immersing the belts in a bucket of soapy water. A lot of grime came
out, judged by the water colour, and let them dry.

I also squirted some silicon spray into the reel ends.

In my case it didn't make much difference. The belts still felt stiff.

Nigel