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Simple SpaceMarch 22 A few little jobs (part 1)Well it has been a busy day on the car. Monday we're off to Oulton Park to see the Brit GT car series and to support Team Modena along with some other members of Lamborghini Club UK. The following Friday I'm getting a new exhaust made and fitted. I saw the prices the Larini & Tubi are quoting and after being resuscitated I found a local firm that will get a specialist fabricator for the day and make it there and then. For the money the big firms charge a good engineering shop could make it out of billet. Anyway, I finally sorted out the drivers window, which wouldn't stop going up. I previously traced this to the fact that the restraining cable had snapped. A new one was only £10 from Lamborghini, so the only problem has been getting the time to strip the door down. Additionally, I've been missing a cover from one of the fuse boxes, in the front compartment. It isn't critical, but when it rains hard, they get wet and the popup lights start going nuts. Last time one of the started going up and down, winking at everyone. Despite assistance from the guys on Lamborghini-Talk, I'd struggled to find the part. After Jalpa-Mike posted a picture, I managed to find a company in the US, called Re-Originals, that has had them remade. Their web site is shockingly bad as a store. Lots of broken links, missing images, etc. So I gave them a call. Turns out they are 6 hours behind. So I waited a few hours and called again. Part arrived 2 days later. Cannot fault them for customer service. As usual with buying from the US, the cost of shipping is very similar to the cost of parts, but hey it is required for Monday's trip. Currently, the forecast is for snow and I don't want winking headlights in that sort of weather.
Now I just need to track down the correct screws and washers for the interior (not too hard) and the little plastic clip that covers the spindle for the windscreen wipers (very hard). I may even have to go back to Re-Originals and get some new wiper arms... We'll see. July 30 DVLA Fun & GamesSo I bought a private plate, J40 LPA and sent off the paper work to the DVLA. The local office notified me all was in order, so I got plates made & mounted. Now they've written to me telling me I cannot have the plate, they're not liable for any costs and I must get a new V5 & pay UKP25 foz the privilege. October 03 Jalpa Clutch CylinderI've recently completed the first major repair on the car, and I have to say it feels good.
Basically the clutch slave cylinder, the bit that actually moves the clutch, after you've pressed the pedal had failed. Naturally it is a very small part, i.e. a small rubber seal, that pretty much stranded the car. Oh, and of course it was on the day that I was due to go to a local Lamborghini UK Club meet and had spent the previous day cleaning the car...
I posted the problem on www.lamborghini-talk.com and got, pretty much, all of the detail that I needed. Also, Raymond, pointed me to his site, www.jalpa.ch which has some great photos, explaining what to do.
The slave cylinder is quite an expensive part. Lamborghini UK, wanted UKP400 for it. Meanwhile, Eurospares (www.eurospares.com) had one on the shelf and still wanted UK315, though lower it is still way too much.
The rebuild kit, is a US manufactured item, by Raybesto (#CSK1359). After some digging it also fits a 1987 1.6l Toyota Corrola. I have to admit, I could of gone down to the local store and got a compatible part, but I chickened out and went with the Raybestos kit. It is known to fit and the process it well documented, so I bit the bulled and paid the extra to get the part shipped from the US. For USD7.40 and only USD76.00 I got two shipped over night, via UPS, from Autoworks. Strange how most stockists of this kit would not ship internationally.
So with a clear weekend and the parts in the garage, I broke out my spanners and socket set.
Thefirst thing to do is to remove the Airbox and associated gubbins. Underneath is a large metal plate, part heatshield and mud shield. To remove this, first you have to move the coolant expansion tank as well. Once all of this is out of the way, the cylinder is exposed. But of course you're not in the clear yet. The Engine Mount needs to be removed as well as the Gearbox Breather. The Gearbox Breather was a bugger to remove. In the end I had to soak it in WD40, every few hours till it finally came off.
With all of this done, the actual work on the cylinder was a breeze. Using as many of the original parts, with the exception of the failed piston, it all went together fairly smoothly.
The final problem was the bleed nipple, which had rusted in place. I noticed that it was in danger of sheering off, so it was back to the WD40 and soaking it, till it eventually came loose. A quick trip around my local car part stores managed to locate two new ones.
One of the great things about this car is that it is all metric. My Land Rover is a mixture of Imperial and Metric bolts and threads, as it was made as Land Rover was gradually phasing in the Metric system. Therefore the bleed nipple managed to fit first time, with none of the problems I have seen on the Land Rover. So now I have another spare.
Bleeding the system was done via an Ezebleed system. They are great, none of that pumping the pedal business anymore. It is all done using a spare wheel as a compressed air source and forcing the fluid through the system.
Once bled, putting ti all back together took less time time, than a good movie, which left me plenty of time for an extended road test. :-)
In total it probably took a day from start to finish, though in reality I needed to go and get the right sort of circlip tool, some more clutch fluid, bleed nipples, etc. June 27 The renovation continuesI recently returned from holiday to find some parts had arrived from the US. I ordered a new washer bottle and the missing A/C knob from LamboStuff.
The original washer bottle had been damaged at some point and patched with some epoxy resin. The damaged area was also the mount, so it was being held on by two tie-wraps. Not a good look and obviously it was going to get replaced.
Anyway the parts were all sealed in Lamborghini 'Genuine Parts' bags and all wrapped up with 'Automobilli Lamborghini' tape. It is a little sad, but nice to know it is the genuine article you're paying for.
Anyway the washer bottle was damaged, I suspect that I did it when trial fitting it. The pump output was holed, so no good. Thankfully a local Auto Superstore had a replacement in stock, I just need to transfer the pump sticker across to make sure it looks period. Yes I know that is just plain sad.
Les from Ferndown has also been around and sorted out the door cards. The leather now looks great and he spent all day at it. He backed his Renault up to the car, opened the boot and revelaed a little treasure chest of tools, pumps, compressors and funny smelling things in jars. Anyway he spent the best part of the day at it and did a great job.
So much so that when I fitted the new AC knob, it looked totally out of place as everything is a deep rich black colour. A few squirts with Back to Black soon sorted it out and the car now looks complete.
The covers he had made for the old speakers are fantasic, though it looks a lot better than it did with speakers in them. So I can see I'll be getting them done again, but it can wait till next year.
In fact the only real problem that day was having the doors open all day, which ran the battery flat; there are small lights at the bottom of each door which clearly draw more current than you think. So we had to puch start the car.
It was my first time and thankfully the car park is on a slight slope. On the second go she fired up a treat. Needless to say Abigail didn't believe that I needed to charge the battery up and that was why I was gone for two hours. May 23 Lambo NewsI gave a mate a tour of the car and noticed a small problem with the alarm. When the Targa roof is off, it sits behind the seats and clips to the rear bulkhead. Right where two of the sensors sit. Not good. Thankfully the guys at BASE Systems have agreed to move them and, hopefully, they can do something about the microwave sensor on the back window. So she is back off into Preston on Friday.
I got an update from Les at Ferndown today. The majority of the door cards are complete. It just the awkward moulded leather part that is giving problems. He's subbed the work out to a specialist. I dread to think of the cost at the mo.
I've been looking through the file that I got with the car and some of the receipts are quite interesting. The engine was rebuilt in the mid 90s at a cost of £3200. There are a few good shots of the rebuild in there too. I'll try to get them scanned and posted on the site. The reason the seats look so good is due to the fact they were recovered in March 2005 at a cost of £700.
Other news I've, possibly, managed to source the correct knob for the AC. The same part was used on the Countach 5000S. A couple of chaps from Lamborghini Talk pointed this out. So I've order it and a new washer bottle from the US site Lambo Stuff. I had to go for the new washer bottle as there is no way I'm ordering a $4 dollar part and paying $15 postage.
I did speak to Lamborghini Manachester, who referred me to Lamborghini London, really H R Owen. They're telling me the parts are no longer available. So I may have to get creative.
Interesting I spoke to the insurance company and they're not offering a discount for having the alarm, etc fitted. I guess I should be happy they're £300 cheaper than anyone else.
If you like looking at spanked up cars, then have a look these sites: Eurospares and Wrecked Exotics. May 19 Not much newsSpoke to Les at Ferndown, turns out the door cards are a little more complicated, not only the pigmentation of the leather, but also that the leather has been moulded to suit the shape of the underlying moulding. SO its not a simple "cut to a template and stich" job. Oh well, I don't mind waiting for it to be right.
The only other activity has been to purchase an proper Parts Manual. I have the pictures on here, which are 'borrowed' from Eurospares site. I found it on Ebay a place called AtoZ Motors for only £31+p&p which is a bargain.
Okay its a lot for a reproduction manual, but all the photos, showing how things go together, etc are priceless. I used the Land Rover equivalent to great effect when rebuilding that.
I promise to do some photos tomorrow, whilst charging the battery. Just to record some of the work that is going in to her. I only ended up with a couple of shots after 18 months working on the Land Rover. This must not happen again.
Final thing, a mate and budding photographer Warren Seed has just agreed to do some nice shots of her, when the weather is better and all the parts are back. May 15 The Renovation continuesWell I picked the Lambo up on Friday monring, from the guys at BASE Systems. They've done a great job on the alarm system, with one exception. One of the sensors has been placed in the middle of the rear screen. Its not like there was a lot there in the first place, so now its quite difficult to see out. Also its quite visible.
In addition, to the alarm system the old door speakers have ben removed. That location was none standard and they were rather vulgar. Obviously this has left a large hole in each door which needs to be filled. There are quite a few scuffs, etc around the interior which detract from it. Which need to be sorted out. Therefore, after an extensive search of the area I settled on Ferndown Services to do the work.
Les came round on Saturday morning to get an idea of the job and to take away the door cards. He'll need to do some work to patch the backing where the speakers were inserted, strip it, match the leather, stitch a new piece on and then recover them. Not a small job, to my mind.
Les had a good look round the inside at various other scuffs, the wheel and the retrimmed seats. Basiaclly it just needs a good cleam, which I'm happy to hear.
That just leaves the carpets and the roof lining to sort.
Total spent so far:
Alarm : £410
Deposit for interior work: £20
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