A simple respray .... ?
Way too many years have passed since we received this white Fulvia s2 coupe. The car was purchased in Gauteng and actually made it all the way to Cape town on its own steam. Then it was parked for many years in a moist garage in Rondebosch, with very detrimental effects. Brown color was showing through the white paint. Hence the car had to be resprayed again. We did suggest to first look at the mechanical, as it is uncomfortable to do mechanical repairs on a newly sprayed vehicle. This is is how the story started.
In the following we will give some photographic highlights of what we found. Virtually everything we opened was broken one way or another and needed attention. Most of the damage however did not come form the ages but was man made. I will start with the current issue:
The reason why the new brake system was never fitted it simply because it sits on top of the steering box. I never trusted the steering, and I know there removing the steering box under the brake master cylinder is s pain. So The is weekend Litha and me bite the bullet and remove the complete steering system from left to right. What we found is that the steering box was filled with water instead of oil, with the result that half of the bearings were badly rusted and have to be replaced. Unattended this steering would have failed completely in due course
The idler could be rebuild with the parts at hand:
The track rods were puzzling as they were all home made. Only later it deemed on me that the car did have a heavy accident on the from sub frame. So obviously the steering was badly bend, and they made up new arms instead of fitting the correct replacement units. This has finally all been done noe
We are now waiting for the replacement parts for the steering box
The other major issue is the bush in the gear shift shaft that had all but vanished completely. I have no Idea how the gear change even worked. I was very reluctant to remove the gearbox or lower the drive train. Our son Litha, who is only staring with Lancia mechanics has actually managed to get the part out despite a very tight fit, and dome removal of a sub frame brace. I how the new part will go in the same way
As you can see on the other side the reverse gear lock was missing
Let us continue with the rear axle. As you know Lancia employed propitiatory nuts that were supposed to be opened with propitiatory tools. Now this one has been converted
In side everything was rebuild
Sadly this was not the end of the story: The handbrake lever was badly manhandled. On only was the actual lever bend, the mounting plate was broken and had to be welded.
Disaster can strike in the most unlikely places: The pedals are a part of the car that never receives any attention, and what for ? But what happening here ? The grease in the medal shafts had mutated int he last fifty years from grease to glue, and the pedals were so sticky, it was not acceptable. A sticky brake pedal can even be dangerous, as it keeps pressure on the mastercylinder and will block the opening to the reservoir. I first considered to fix this in situ, but eventually i listened to my wife and ripped the whole thing out and overhauled the complete unit:
On the above picture we can see that the bolts for the steering column are missing, they are sitting on a support bracket to enable assembly: all gone. I had to make new pieces for later.
The result is convincing, smooth mechanical function in Lancia style.
Some time ago we dod the complete heaterbox and the controls. While often considered an unncesssary accessory, the heating system is actually a legal requiremnt to operate the wwindscreen demister
The engine had only a minor inspection, considering the car drove down from Gauteng it could no have been too bad, never mind the surprise I got to find the lappie under the water pump. How it did NOT get caught in the chain escapes me.
>Not that the cooling system looked any better
While the top of the car is now coming together, and it starts to look like a Fulvia, I am painfully aware that more disaster linger in the deep.... like the very badly bend control arm.
One of the easy things: The clock only needed a service and is now happily ticking away....
A major area of concern were the rear light. While the lenses were ok, the plastic base plates had completely disintegrated. To build those things up is an absolute pain and not even very successful. By sheer coincidence we got in a set of lights that are "as new" so they are fitted now.
A stupid issue that wasted an hour of my life: when trying to fit the center console I noticed that from the 3 captive nuts on the top rail only one was present. To find the 2 missing ones I had to remove the WHOLE dash section which is a rather elaborate job. That is how you learn to hate the previous mechanic.
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Here it needed a plan. We had to sacrifice a bezel, and cut in 2 windows though which the welding could be done. 
