ardea pickup.........THING!

[chugga boom]

I'll put some photo's on when i pick it up next week, may even give it a wash first 

[rogerelias]

Strange name Mrs Though.

[Scarpia]

I don't know who the young spectator in the second photo is but the facial expression says more than most of this thread put together...Is that admiration or disbelief.?..

I would make an opening hatch in the bulkhead and add an elavating canvas roof to make the first ardea based campervan.. ideal for attending events for the vertically challenged... .

[chugga boom]

wish i'd had a camcorder! owen (my apprentice in photo) and my gilfriend fell about laughing when they saw THE BEAST and really ripped me to death  saying "your not serious are you" anyway the photo was taken just after i'd handed over the deposit ! a small price to pay even if it were only for the look on both their faces..........absolutly priceless probably the highlight of the day!

[Sliding Pillar]

Good to see the Ardea might actually get finished! Best of luck with it.
Ade.

Here's a pic of Ron's other Ardea pick-up

[chugga boom]

pretty confident it will get finished............  my dad is very enthusiastic , we've pretty much decided what we're doing with it, probably a change of power plant as its engine is siezed and we feel 30bhp in a pickup is a little poor, also fairly sure what we are going to do with the back end too, going to finish my augusta 1st while i gather all the bits that i want for it, new powerplant is still lancia and still v4 as not much else will fit, i was drooling over ron's other ardea and would have loved to have bought it , then again i'm more than happy with what i've got

[Scarpia]

The 16OOHF engine would be fun....

[DavidLaver]

Be a shame to lose the original engine - and I assume also the five speed box (says the two faced he who is fitting an Aprilia engine into an Augusta) - BUT how about an AMR300 blower?  They're tiny.  Link below.

The other random thought - with the van's gearing would it make a classic (MCC) trials car?   It must be pretty capable given the hills in Italy and the state of their roads post war.  I bet its a proper little mountain goat.  No trouble with getting ballast over the rear wheels either!!  I'm not 100pct sure of the regs, but I think that keeping standard gives you the easier routes and less severe stop-starts etc.

Then again - if the motivation is something for the business - I can see that being able to get somewhere and back, in short order, outside of a major city, with a reasonable load, you'd want a bit more straightforward reliable power as an Aprilia would give you...or is it Appia power you have earmarked??

David

http://www.autospeed.com/A_110294/cms/article.html
http://www.adelaidejap.com.au/Turbos%20&%20SChargers.htm

I think this guy has one - it was on his stall at Prescot and very tempting for an Austin 7.

http://www.7ca.co.uk/index.htm

To quote from the autospeed link:  "Fitted to upmarket versions of the Japanese-market Subaru Vivio/Pleo, this blower is lightweight and can be squeezed in very tight engine bays. It measures approximately 18.5cm in length (including the pulley) and the main body is around 15cm wide and 10.5cm tall. Although fitted by Subaru, the blower is manufactured by Aisin and is coded AMR300. This code suggests it displaces 300cc of induction air per revolution.

The 660cc supercharged Vivio engine is rated at the class regulation 47kW and has 84Nm of torque, so the AMR300 blower is suitable for only low power applications. This makes sense when you look at the small 45mm OD blower outlet pipe.

We’d be reluctant to push the AMR300 supercharger past 70kW - which means it’s good for only sub 1.0-litre engines."

[rogerelias]

Hi James, you know you can rely on me to come up with something silly. So how about calling it an Interardea, that would be a challenge. Regards Roger

[chugga boom]

Hi James, you know you can rely on me to come up with something silly. So how about calling it an Interardea, that would be a challenge. Regards Roger

ARDULVIA?...APRILEA?...APPEA.....NOW A FULVIA 1600HF COMPLETE SUBFRAME MOUNTED IN THE BACK SO ITS MID ENGINED NOW THATS FUN!!!

[chugga boom]

got the beast back, what a trip!!! only 80 miles each way but severe flooding in some of the villages we had to go through made the trip interesting, at 1 point if you can imagine it the water was over 1.5ft deep covering the car trailer completely, looked hilarious as the dicovery was obviously half way up its wheels in water yet the ardea appeared to be floating/driving on top of the flood! wish i could have got out to take a picture but forgot my wayders, engine appears to be siezed solid, anyone know of a spare motor condition unimportant, seriously concidering supercharging as its easier than completely changing the running gear, any suggestions? ron francis has nothing for sale

[davidwheeler]

Do not give up on the engine just yet.  Fill the bores with diesel - or even put the whole engine in a taknk of central heating oil and leave it for a few weeks and you may be pleasantly surprised.  Seized engines are usually so because of rust on the rings and sometimes, if soaking and rocking with a long lever on the flywheel does not work then taking off the head and tapping the pistons with a suitable shaped block of wood can free things up.  It is unlikely that the bottom end is seriously stuck.  I admit to boring out my Aprilia engine but it is still a first series engine in a first series car, just invisibly enhanced. 

[chugga boom]

got it soacking with wurth rostoff ice so fingers crossed

[johnturner]

Well worth persevering with the Wurth and a big hammer.  I remember that John Maltby once acquired a comprehensively seized Augusta that, after filling with diesel, some levering on the flywheel and towing up and down Watford Way for a couple of days was one of the nicest and quickest I have ever driven.  John put this down to the rust having provided the kind of microcellular finish on the bores that was otherwise only available in a very expensive, then new, Porsche 928.   

[chugga boom]

bit more progress made today, i've bought a morris 1000 pickup rear cab section......before i bought the ardea........in anticipation , anyway the ardea is at my parrents and the rear section was at my unit, anyway as we were quiet in work today i sent the rear panel up with 1 of my employees, by the time i got home my dad had tried it into place, after i looked at it i have to admit amazingly its going to fit!!! it needs 3>4 inches chopping out of the center first andabout 2 inches welding allong the bottom edge but its very close, even the roof line is similar, when fitted this will give me about 6 inches more cab space allowing the seats to go far enough back to get in!, i am very shocked how enthusiastic my dad is about the whole project as its a bit modern for him , i will try to post some photo's over the weekend