my new integrale

[Kevinlincs]

The method I've used before on plastics is to melt some aluminium mesh into the back of the split. To do this I've a flattened screwdriver that I heat up red hot with the acetylene torch then use that to press the mesh into the plastic, this melts the plastic and forces the mesh into the plastic itself. Do this in a series of times and it melts the mesh fully into the plastic bridging the crack, reinforcing the break.

[Kevinlincs]

Once repaired they needed to match the rest of the black parts so they got sprayed with the same satin black as the door parts etc.
A pair of new badges completed the job.

[Kevinlincs]

New badges made all the difference 

[Kevinlincs]

The time had finally come to get the car booked in for an MoT.
It'd seemed an age to wait but all at once we were ready, seems to happen like that with such a long list of jobs, you think it'll never happen..
The day it went in for the test was the wettest it'd been for ages, so much for one last polish the night before!

[Kevinlincs]

Thanks to Chris for being the first to really give an opinion on the car, seems it was good enough to get a pass!
His first drive of an integrale was on the same day as mine 
Taxed online so able to do a few miles straight away.

[DavidLaver]

Impressed with the side skirt repair - a new one on me.  Mrs did a lovely job on the sunroof.  Wheels look great, hopefully one of those jobs where you'll soon stop looking and forget both the time and the edges not as crisp as you hoped.

BIG milestone getting the MOT, and well done on first time pass.

What's it like to drive? 

[Kevinlincs]

I've used the repair method on a few bits and it seems to work well, the mesh bridges the crack to reinforce it whilst becoming part of it being melted into it. I once used some mesh with fibreglass resin but that was laid on, not such a strong repair.

This was one my first attempts on my Alfa sud Ti.

[Dilambdaman]

Congratulations Kevin! What an inspiration to those still plodding on with restorations.

Having been through a similar scenario with both Modestine and the Fanalone I can promise you that the heightened sense of achievement and satisfaction at having completed the work almost entirely by yourself won't leave you for years to come. I still catch sight of myself in the rear view mirror with a stupid grin on my face!

Look forward to seeing you and the car soon. Will you be at the AGM?

Robin.

[Kevinlincs]

Hi Robin. Thanks for kind words.
It has been a trial at times but as it sits on my driveway now then it all seems worth it, as you say there's a huge amount of satisfaction at doing the cars yourself.
I will indeed be at the AGM on the Sunday in the integrale if anyone is interested to see the car I'd be happy to see all, and hopefully see if the reality lives up to the thread..

[Parisien]

Congratulations Kevin! What an inspiration to those still plodding on with restorations.

Having been through a similar scenario with both Modestine and the Fanalone I can promise you that the heightened sense of achievement and satisfaction at having completed the work almost entirely by yourself won't leave you for years to come. I still catch sight of myself in the rear view mirror with a stupid grin on my face!

Look forward to seeing you and the car soon. Will you be at the AGM?

Robin.

Truly epic Kevin, we take our collective hats off to you, a great thread and a wonderful outcome, a great credit to you, enjoy for years and years!


P

[Kevinlincs]

For those who didn't read the magazine I'd always promised to take the car back to the original owner, a promise that spurred me on at times, not wanting to let anyone down. Part of the deal in me getting the car was that I'd repair it and take it back to show him.
Thankfully I was able to do that, on the same day as I got it tested.
He seemed genuinely pleased to see it done, despite me keeping him updated and him following progress in the magazine.

[Kevinlincs]

It's been a month or two now since the car was deemed done, to be honest though I've not been able to drive it much.
A niggling but very hard to find fault meant that anything much above half throttle and boost starting to build up saw the car completely cutting out. Not the sort of drive I was looking forward to trying!

After lengthy stays at my local guy to try and  find the fault he had to just set the boost low to allow me to go to the AGM. Issue my chap was having is the car seems to not want to talk to any of his equipment and his memory of stuff from 30 years ago mixed in with modern stuff in his workshop just went on to confuse. Things having to be checked manually without and fault code readings.

At last though a glimmer. I managed to get a fault read with a bosch tester, crankshaft position sensor. We had suspected it would be a sensor, but there's loads of suspects. Guessing could get expensive. In the back of my mind I had thoughts about the whole loom needing changing... That wouldn't be easy, or cheap!

[Kevinlincs]

Yesterday I fitted the new cps and tried the car, hoping it would be cured but knowing I'm never that lucky, but £25 for a valeo sensor was worth a try.

At last!!!

Could finally use full throttle and see the boost ride up to 1.2b boost without me headbutting the dash!

I've been out today in the pouring rain to finally get to try the car properly for the first time.
I can now see what all the fuss is about.
The road holding in the wet is astounding, corners that would be a visit to the scenery in anything else I've got, or had before, were just taken without drama. I found that punching it through the corner on boost loaded up the outside wheel so you could feel the car dig in and power out, this on wet roads. I can't imagine how stupid you'd have to be in the dry on the road to be in trouble, way beyond what is deemed sensible.
Acceleration is great, in a wait for the boost kind of way that modern turbo diesels just don't suffer from, or more accurately they don't give the feeling of the boost building with the grins!

I always said it wouldn't be a pampered car, not that it will see road salt again but a bit of rain and mud? Why not. A rain soaked cadwell park just for starters, only the grass viewing areas this time though. 

[DavidLaver]

What a relief - and joy.  WELL DONE !!!

[Rob]

Well done Kevin you did well to fix that fault. A problem like that can be so difficult to solve as it could be any number of reasons. Sometimes a bit of luck is what you need  .