My Lancia Delta Integrale 8V restoration project

[samo]

Enjoying a little break from the project that took almost 6 years to get the car moving. Working on average 3 times x 4 hours during weekdays and at least 2 x 8 hours during the weekend. That sums up to almost 9000 hours :) I hope that I have the majority of the teething problems sorted by the time I hit the 10k hours mark.

I am now gathering little details and finishing touches new Lancia logos for the wheel centers, new OE rubber for the clutch and brake pedal, new sign for the front grill,.... still waiting for the wheels to get refurbished. They had to go for straightening and some minor welding. Then they are off to get the edge polished and the centers painted.

I received an oldtimer status certificate for the car today! Even though it is technically not old enough, it is suppose to be 25 years old (and it is only 24 years old) they committee ruled that this is a rare car and that it deserves special treatment. That's good news for me as it gives me 90% discount on insurance :)

[WhizzMan]

Congratulations on the certificate!

[Infectus-Guy]

Great work Samo, with the work you have put in you deserve every bit of that 90% insurance discount!
Guy

[samo]

Haven't done much because of work commitment. But did manage to get back to the garage today. Still have all the issues I had a month ago but I am taking it slow now. Did any of you guys experience oil weeping from the 2&4th exhaust manifold studs? I had an issue with threads if I remember correctly and i helicoiled them and now it looks like I get about 1or 2 drops of oil overnight. Nothing major but they fall directly on the downpipe and cause a bit of smoke for a few minutes when things warm up...

Looks like I am gonna have to take the bumper and the water cooler off to fix this. So NOT looking forward to this.

[Urbancamo]

Did you use any kind of sealant in those particular exhaust studs? If not, they seem to weep oil sometimes because they are bored straight thru to the cam box base where oil is...hot oil finds it's way out anywhere.

[Nobby]

^ And it will only get worse

[samo]

Done some good work today!

When I will be changing the front bumper I'll take of the rad and fix the leaking bolts... Till then I can live with drop per day.

[samo]

Does anyone have a photo of the OE wheels in GOOD ORIGINAL condition? I need to know if the bright rim is suppose to be polished or just turned on the lathe as it is now.

I was planing to have it polished but I think this might look better....

[TomLouwrier]

hi Samo,

I never actually owned one, but from memory they were turned. That was the fashion for most two-tone wheels back then. Polishing came later, chrome after that (mainly from the US).
Most picture I find on the web (searched in several languages) look turned as well. I think that is the correct finish.
Great project and attention to details.

regards
Tom

[Guy Croft]

Hi Samo

I am no expert but this page of Google images may be of some help,


http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=8v+%22 ... 24&bih=563

G

[samo]

I found that the wheels were indeed turned and not polished, but the "grain" was softer. Probably they were turned at a higher speed.

I will see what I can do.

[samo]

I decided it was to hot to work today but I fancied a drive....

[TomLouwrier]

hi Samo,

An object like your wheel is like a church bell. It will want to resonate (sing) when turned at high speed, especially when you clamp it in the centre. That will destroy the finish.

If you have a lathe that is big enough to clamp it around the outer perimeter of the rim, use that.
It may help if you wrap a big soft heavy rag around the wheel (in the well) and fixate that with tie-wrap of duct-tape. That dampens the vibrations.

Use a cutter with new ceramic bit, nice radiused nose, turn at pretty low speed and fine feed. Use a lot of fluid to cool and lubricate.
That should give you a beautiful machined pattern with 'rainbows' in the reflection.

Good luck.

regards
Tom

[tricky]

I don't know if this is of any use Samo, but lots of modern classic wheels get 'diamond cut' to achieve that type of finnish. What that is or involves I don't know but it looks good when done right, a quick google on that might help.

[TomLouwrier]

That's what I described :-)
Industrial diamonds were a step between HSS and ceramic tool bits. They are still around, but for most uses ceramics are equally good and much cheaper. I saw them used a lot on high end finish stuff like video recorder heads (that was in the late 80's) and even optical mirrors. Under the right conditions a diamond cutter in pure aluminium can make a better reflecting surface than chrome or silver plated.

regards
Tom