Now a proud Spider 2.0 owner

[MyLanciaBetaSpider]

Hi everyone, I'm new to E-forums so please bear with me. I'm now the proud owner of a 1980 Spider 2.0 (formerly from SA) to add to my 26 year-old BMW Z3 3.0i and what a difference those 20 years make! Despite owning more than 30 different wonderful cars over the years, this is my first Lancia but, technology-wise, it doesn't appear to be that different from old Alfas I have owned. However, I'm now discovering that many of the old bits-and-bobs, ceramic fuses, etc, that I though I had kept 'just-in-case' have disappeared during our many house/country moves. Sadly, due to neck and back issues, I am limited as to what maintenance I can do myself so I will be seeking help with keeping both of these vehicles on the road.
Currently I'm contending with a few issues such as a broken glovebox catch, badly rounded wheel bolts and the possibility that both sets of Lancia/Cromodora wheels I own (4 of each design, images attached) may have a Magnesium content so will require specialist renovation; any help/advice with these issues would be most welcome.
Hopefully I can attach some images of the car and the wheels with this thread, let's see if that works

[Ferrit]

welcome where are you based?  That car was London advertised?

I also have a SA Beta, in Coupe style

[MyLanciaBetaSpider]

Hi Mark,
Thanks and yes this was advertised in London. I was often a passenger in a Beta Coupe during 1981 which a colleague owned during some of my specialist training at West Drayton. We are now based in Somerset where I organize Z3 and Jaguar XK car runs.

[peteracs]

Hi John

Welcome to the forum. Hopefully should have your glovebox lock sorted now, have messaged you.

On the wheels, I am not aware of the standard wheels (first photo) being anything other than standard alloy, however the optional ones in photos 2 & 3 can be both. I acquired a mag version of one quite unexpected and will post a photo as the castings are subtly different, so may help to identify if they are. In general the standard alloy version will the most common.

Peter

[rossocorsa]

The wheels on your car were never offered on the spider rather on Berlinas and HPE. There are two versions which are almost identical but only one version is magnesium. If I am remembering this correctly the normal versions have 'originale lancia' on the edge whereas the magnesium ones don't. The FPS wheels are the standard style alloy for spiders and should refurbish fine. The magnesium ones, if they are, will be difficult I had some done years ago and after maybe 6 months the finish started to craze and lift. Personally I don't feel they would be worth the expense and effort.
Anyway congrats on the car, if the body is rust free you have the holy grail especially for a spider. Any mechanical niggles will be well worth fixing and are much easier than bodywork. Make sure that it's well protected

PS the magnesium wheels are very light, you'll know as soon as you pick them up if they are mag or not.

[MyLanciaBetaSpider]

Thanks Peter, do you know know the style name for the 'simple' alloys and also for the 'fancier' ones fitted to the car?

My wheel specialist has only seen the photos of the 'simple' wheels so far and thought that they looked to have steel inserts (where the bolts mate with the wheel) and thus are probably magnesium? to me they look and feel like aluminium alloy and have ORIGINALE LANCIA and also CROMODORA in raised lettering.

I look forward to fixing the glovebox catch before the hinges start to give-up!

[Nigel]

Welcome to the forum John.

Looks like you have acquired a good Spider there, and hopefully
was recently imported therefore rust free!
Perhaps you have some documentation showing TAK as the original
selling dealer in Johannesburg?

Nigel

[peteracs]

Hi John

The ones in your photos 2 & 3 are Cromodora and here are photos of the mag version, the telltale is as you mentioned the fairly obvious metal inserts for the fastening bolts, the alloy ones do not have them, just part of the alloy casting.

If the ones in photos 1 also have steel inserts then suspect they are mag as well.

Peter

[peteracs]

From photo 1 it does look like a pretty standard FPS alloy wheel as supplied on most Betas.

Peter

[rossocorsa]

The ones fitted to the car are code CD51 but I think that is for the magnesium ones which look very slightly different

[rossocorsa]

See photo, cromodora also did the same style wheel as the FPS one, visually it is almost identical but with no FPS logo. It seems to have been fitted to some final series cars, it did have a CD code but I can't find the reference at the minute.