Headlight fixing rings

[JASPER_40]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me if the rings that secure the headlights in place are supposed to be satin black or chrome on a 1982 Beta ?

Mine are satin black but have clearly been painted (badly) and seem to be chrome underneath.

A wider question would be.....when did Lancia start painting all the brightwork satin black such as door frames and gutter trim etc.

Cheers,

Steve

[WestonE]

I think they have always been Satin Chrome or if you are lucky brushed stainless. The Stainless trims were typically on SIEM Headlights, but the reflectors rotted.

[Ferrit]

I am going to guess that the black trim came in very early 82.  My car (Spring 82) was black but a lot of it has been removed.  I have a Tech Doc that suits my car perfectly - printed in Jan 82, showing cars with black trim only.  I will upload it to the docs section as soon as I get the time

Mark

[rossocorsa]

The light trim was always chrome as far as I know. The rest of the trim was black from the final series S2FL2 /series 4. The trims are stainless and simply painted which rubs off eventually so people often just removed the black. 1300 models had partial black trim as far back as series 2

[JASPER_40]

I have scoured all the pics I can find on the internet and all I can tell is that the front edge of the rings on all cars seem to be chrome but there are just no close up shots. I would agree that I think on balance they should be silver and a previous owner painted them is a rather cheap satin black.

On the wider question of when the other silver trim became satin black....My 82 (series 4) Austalian delivered coupe has had all the brightwork sprayed with the same cheap satin black to make it look more like the IE or Volumex. What I am struggling to understand is if my 82 car originally had satin black trim from the factory ?. I can see from many pics on the internet that this black trim doesnt last well and fades to expose the substrate colour.

Looking at images on the internet some series 4's had bright silver trim all over and some were black. All the IE's and Volumex had black but some of the normally aspirated Series 4 cars appear to be silver.

I am pretty sure mine was all silver as I have noticed that there are several chips on the satin black on the door frames and headlight rings which suggest to me that all the trim was the polished stainless steel.

Was hoping someone had a definitive rule as to when the S4 went black. I would tentitively suggest that the S4 went black when the IE and Volumex were introduced ?
The Australian market did not get these latest variants and so all S4's were carb cars......how confusing.

Cheers,

Steve

[JASPER_40]

I am going to guess that the black trim came in very early 82.  My car (Spring 82) was black but a lot of it has been removed.  I have a Tech Doc that suits my car perfectly - printed in Jan 82, showing cars with black trim only.  I will upload it to the docs section as soon as I get the time

Mark

Hi Mark, This Tech doc may resolve this.

I did notice the trim on yours all being stainless...with the exception of the rear light clusters. I think I prefer the Stainless look

[rossocorsa]

AFAIK the ie was introduced at the same time as the Series 4 versions. They were announced in 1981 I think but didn't reach all markets straight away. The trim was always polished stainless underneath the black. I can check the brochures when I have a minute to see if I have the official release date.

[JASPER_40]

AFAIK the ie was introduced at the same time as the Series 4 versions. They were announced in 1981 I think but didn't reach all markets straight away. The trim was always polished stainless underneath the black. I can check the brochures when I have a minute to see if I have the official release date.

Did the UK get a normally aspirated S4 or did the S4 do straight to IE or Volumex ?

[Nigel]

Did the UK get a normally aspirated S4 or did the S4 do straight to IE or Volumex ?

The S4 (extended bumpers) in the UK were IE and VX only, on 2000 versions.
The 1600 was always carb.
However, in certain Euro markets, carb 2000's were still produced.

Nigel

[JASPER_40]

I am now sure that the headlight rings are supposed to be chrome and not black.

In my case, another example of the PO covering up rust and/or dull brightwork.