Classic Alfa Forums

Simply fantastic Kev.

Cheers mate, thought the interest had gone or I am boring people

At the risk of doing so...

Got the 5th gear fitted tonight along with the rest of the selector mechanism, just about complete again now. Thought I'd just show the tricky to re-assemble little sprung rollers that fit inside the hubs to keep it in or out of gear. They are fiddly to put back in as being rollers that's what they want to do! Springs just ad to the fun.
Attached back to the gearbox and with the retaining plate on to stop them popping out, this is pictured with 5th gear engaged. Normally on a pair like with 1ST & 2ND gears the other gears baulk ring would prevent the rollers from popping out, the 5TH is all by itself so needs the plate. Note too how the gap looks almost enough for the roller to escape!
This last shot is from the same gear but with the gear not engaged. I hope this makes more sense to what happens and how.

At the top of the picture the selector fork is engaged in the sleeve ready to pull said sleeve downwards, remember this sleeve is splined onto the shaft so it spins at shaft speed and the gear at the moment is free spinning.
As it travels down over the synchro hub grooves it pushes the brass coloured baulk ring downwards engaging the grooves and as it is tapered it grips onto the gear itself, the little pointed teeth directly above the helical gear teeth are all part of the same piece.
As the speeds become the same then the synchro hub engages the pointed teeth on the gear completing the path and locking the whole lot together.
Incidentally the sound we here when crunching gears isn't the helical pieces trying to mesh like we assume, they are already in mesh! It's these poor little pointed bits that haven't been able to synchronise speeds before being able to get into line.

Hope that makes sense?

So logic dictates that a little bit of mechanical empathy on a road car equates to less gearbox wear and sloppy 2nd gear on our Suds? Hope I've got this right 'cos occasionally I can "feel" that it's not changing down smoothly and will double de-clutch.

Hat off to you Kev, I will be honest I know my limits and I could never tackle anything like that.

Nearest I get is a replacement of clutch kit and sump gasket.

Never bored with your projects, just admire your talent.

Question : What is the worn bit here ? If you waggle to check neutral, the arm pops out if you push too hard. Is it the arm or the removable piece with the cut out? Obviously, this is a Sud ti gearbox

All good stuff Kev you are making me a little jealous though owning a Integrale something I've always dreamt of should of bought one 15 years ago when even Evos were just about affordable! Made do with a 1300cc then a 1600cc GTIE and finally a HF Turbo which are long gone now I remember picking the HF Turbo up with a mate and racing him back home 100mph plus on rough B roads then finding once we got home on closer inspection the rear struts top were so rotton the shocks and springs must of been holding on with will power alone!! No surprise to see you needed to do extensive work to the same areas on the Integrale , Are you sticking with the 8v Motor?

Always interested to see how you are getting on with your many projects Kev, you have some stamina and a very tolerant wife!

Ian

Would really love to be able to repair and re assemble a gear box as I find them like a dark art.
I know a lot simpler but I used to repair and reassemble Sturmey Archer bike hub gears in minutes but couldn't ever really understand how they worked properly even though I could repair them successfully and quickly, now we have compact 8 speed hub gears in the cycle trade, I now just leave it to the mechanics in my shop to sort them.
So one day I will have a go at a car box and I guess it may as well being be an Alfa box.
Kev these last few posts have been really interesting to me and the detailed description has been great too.
Even though I know you well, like still like the others on here, I still don't know where you find the time to fit all the work in let alone the write ups too. Amazing.

Kegsti66 wrote:Hat off to you Kev, I will be honest I know my limits and I could never tackle anything like that.

Nearest I get is a replacement of clutch kit and sump gasket.

Never bored with your projects, just admire your talent.

Question : What is the worn bit here ? If you waggle to check neutral, the arm pops out if you push too hard. Is it the arm or the removable piece with the cut out? Obviously, this is a Sud ti gearbox

I've not actually ever done a Sud 'box mate to be honest, always left them to Tom after reading about disappearing detent plungers although he always assured me they weren't that troublesome to do!
I can't quite picture what's happening, I'm guessing the lower shaft with the arm pointing upwards is the part attached to the lever which should be moving the above section?
More often than not a worn/broken or stuck in detent ball will allow stuff to move where it shouldn't.
A wider shot may help me make a better guess mate, but I really am no expert on these things! Saying that though taking them apart to find out how they work is the fun part.
My Dad used to hate me taking his grass track Mini spares apart, usually because I couldn't get them back together and he only found out when he wanted them

Sud 145 wrote:So logic dictates that a little bit of mechanical empathy on a road car equates to less gearbox wear and sloppy 2nd gear on our Suds? Hope I've got this right 'cos occasionally I can "feel" that it's not changing down smoothly and will double de-clutch.

Exactly that Tony, the brass coloured part needs time to match the speed of the synchro hub to the gears which being in mesh will be spinning at a different rate, either slower or faster depending on if going up or down the gears.
A little wear on the tapered section means it can't match the speeds before the little castle gears are trying to mesh, which is where you get the crunch from. A little patience, even for half a second, will vastly prolong the life.

Whilst mentioning it all, I bet everyone has had the feeling when changing gear that the lever has only gone half as far as it usually does, or like you get two stages of movement? That is where the baulk ring gets engaged but hasn't fully engaged with the gear itself, letting the clutch out at that point gets the nasty noises!



And the Mrs? Indifferent to it all I'd say.

Rew147 wrote:All good stuff Kev you are making me a little jealous though owning a Integrale something I've always dreamt of should of bought one 15 years ago when even Evos were just about affordable! Made do with a 1300cc then a 1600cc GTIE and finally a HF Turbo which are long gone now I remember picking the HF Turbo up with a mate and racing him back home 100mph plus on rough B roads then finding once we got home on closer inspection the rear struts top were so rotton the shocks and springs must of been holding on with will power alone!! No surprise to see you needed to do extensive work to the same areas on the Integrale , Are you sticking with the 8v Motor?

I had a 1.5 Delta first, then a 1.6 GTie, a few prisma's then a 1.6 HF turbo, similar to yourself really!
The integrale has been on my wish list since watching the RAC back in the 80's.
Like you I wish I'd have picked up one years ago when half decent project ones were relatively peanuts.

The 8V will be staying. This car has a starge history, too long to go into here. But it is a 16V car with the 8V motor, not a Kat car either.
It has the group N ex Walkers RAC/BRC rally engine in it....

A break to my usual no working on a Sunday rule due to Jim being away this weekend so I won't be disturbing him, not that I'm religious or anything!

The drivers side rear wheel arch/strut tower area has one last task to attend to where the reinforcing section had some rot in it as can be seen..
Although it didn't look too bad the decision was an easy one in reality, chop it all out!
The lower piece where it overlaps the chassis rail didn't look too bad on the outside but no point in not having a look, glad I did as underneath it was the inevitable corrosion waiting to spread.

I was going to make one big plate to cover the whole lot but too many variables to deal with so I've made up a piece for the tower to fit on the inside out of 2mm stuff complete with some bead rolled ribs to aid strength, not easy in such thick steel.
This was welded on the inside of the car and overlapping the original thin inner wing for strength, also welded along the bottom edge to the chassis rail top edge.
A bit of a clean up then the usual etch primer to protect it and that'll do until I go back on Wednesday, quite pleased with a few hours on a Sunday to keep things ticking along.
As the Mrs is out with Sarah at Belton horse trials then it seemed rude not to do my own version of Sunday Lunch just now, about to settle down to World Superbikes then the British version, best Sunday I know of

And on a willow pattern plate too, how very British. Your living the dream Kev.

What colour are you going to finish this Lancia in ? Decided yet

Always planned on it being red, although as it will be a full on spray a colour change wouldn't matter..

Awesome work , cracking pair of baps !!

Kegsti66 wrote:Awesome work , cracking pair of baps !!

Like he said!

Been a couple of months now since I posted, for a few reasons, but back on track now just about...

This last week or so Jims' been on his holidays so I've had rule of the roost so to speak. Truth be told Jim lets me come and go as I please but I do sometimes feel like I'm in the way despite him saying to the contrary, so thought I'd take the opportunity to put in some late nights and break the habit of not working Sundays....this is me taking things easy

The rear arches got seam sealed inner and out, maybe not the neatest but functional and it's my car which I will use as it's intended so important that's it's sealed well.
The front strut towers I've reinforced where the joins are, in the hope it will be OK.

This last Saturday afternoon I set about scrapping the thick black underseal off with a paint scraper and heat gun, not the nicest of jobs. The knotted wheel would do the job but that black stuff is nasty being flung around, makes a right mess.

The rubberised original stuff though does come off nicely with the knotted wheel on the 4" grinder. Painfully slow but comes off powdery and not in big clouds of dust.
Eventually though it was all off, which of course revealed a few more areas that needed welding...

Rear inner corners of the chassis rails got chopped out and made with 3mm stuff, a few captive bolts in the floor had bad rust around them so I chopped them out and made new plates. The bottom of the spare wheel well, all the usual little jobs that get ignored but take time...

I did unearth this little surprise too, a few cracks in the floorpan near the middle of the car
On looking inside the car they are near the drivers seat mount!
Thankful I spotted them at this point as very easy to weld the cracks and plate them over, much more so than if they'd appeared once it's back together.

With everything welded the outer seam sealer went on, inner rear arches are now mostly sealer
Monday after work I went down and etch primed it all, the front arches and strut areas I've still a little work to do then they'll be etched before it all gets a good soaking with stoneguard
Must admit it feels good to hold a spray gun again

This afternoon the plan was a simple one, clean up the front inner arches and strut towers then seal and prime them.

Of course life is never that simple..

For some reason I'd missed a rusty section right in the middle of the drivers strut tower reinforce where it sits to the chassis rail. A big of digging and a 3" x 4" hole needed filling in! Luckily some 3mm sheet was to hand so a strong plate got welded in to finally finish of the structural welding....he says with crossed fingers!

Time at last to seam seal all the repairs..
Then etch prime...
Before getting the whole underside coated in stoneguard, at long last!
It'll be a week now until I get back to it to put some red on...

floor and arches painted now, 2 thick coats of brushable enamel. keeps it watertight and hardwearing.

i'll leave it a week or so to harden off fully, I've other things to be getting on with.
then the plan is to get the car on axle stands to get the 'screen surround done and suspension back on...underside repairs finally complete..

That's better, it was about time you pulled yer finger out and got on with it.

Nice one Kev.
That is always a nice psychological boost when you start stonechip and paint.

I've been trying!

Is a big psychological boost to get some colour on it at last, even if it's just the floor.

Well I think so mate.

Looking good Kev
Rsfruitbat

KevJTD wrote:I've been trying!

Is a big psychological boost to get some colour on it at last, even if it's just the floor.

We are all aware of that, I am still struggling just with a door lock and a sump problem, while your roaring away.

Is the Imp being behaving itself ?

junior wrote:

KevJTD wrote:I've been trying!

Is a big psychological boost to get some colour on it at last, even if it's just the floor.

We are all aware of that, I am still struggling just with a door lock and a sump problem, while your roaring away.

Is the Imp being behaving itself ?

The roaring has slowed mate but the Imp seems to have turned a corner at last..

155 still needs finishing amongst other jobs...

With the underside all but finished and all the (lots & lots of) studs cleaned of paint etc it was time at last to get the shell off the tilter.
Sounds easy but is a tricky process as it sits quite high to enable it to be rotated, which means it's higher than a normal trolley jack will go to.
Handily enough Jim has a couple of high lift jacks so a bit of teeter totter and it's back on axle stands.
The repairs that I ddi to the boot floor could be cleaned up and sealed now that the frame is out of the way.

Doesn't seem like a big deal but it's one more step towards getting the shell prepped...
Just the 'screen surround to change and a scetion of the roof along the back edge to do...

With the week off work and other cars on the fleet needing more urgent attention the poor old integrale has been sat patiently wondering if it'd be getting a look in

The last big task to do was the windscreen surround/scuttle top needing replacing.
I'd already bought a very good used one a few years back, from a RHD HF turbo that was being chopped up.
Bonus with changing the whole thing is that I'll get the wipers facing the right way too


First job was to make a frame for a few reference points. Not everyone bothers but I'd like to have half a chance of it going back in the right place and things like the 'screen fitting!

Not ready for a banger race.....

After a bit of careful measuring the cut line was marked out up the pillars and a plan of action of where to remove the sections from the car and what to leave, making sure there is plenty of staggered joins to keep the strength. I've seen people just cut the pillar through the whole section and weld in one straight joint, not ideal!

Passenger side is in very good condition, hardly anything to repair...



Drivers side needs a bit of work but nothing much compared to what's been done so far!

Glad I decided to change it all though rather than repair the upper rusted sections and corners, the underside of the internal part was terrible.