Aprilia Cabrio - here we go again

[simonandjuliet]

Still hoping for a photo of the "Handy Jack" !

Tune in for the latest youtube thriller ....  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxgkZlCmS3w&ab_channel=MatdAkatsuki

I can run the engine for longer now that the cooling system is fitted and watertight. The dynamo is in and connected and is working .... I think !

I have a bad dynamo light connection somewhere (in the ignition switch, I think) but a check across the battery when running shows 14V plus, difficult to be precise because it is an analogue tester

Oil pressure is spot on so happy with that.

On one photo you can just see the low pressure fuel pump that I have fitted , not sure if this is just a temporary thing yet. I have not needed to drill any holes to fit it and it's been useful for pressure checking the fuel line and reduces the amount of engine churning to get petrol up to the carb, so we'll see

A subject covered before I think, but been reading up on anti-freeze options, plumped for BluCol non OAT anti-freeze

But I am sure there are lots of other opinions out there !!

[Jaydub]

Engine starts well and sounds really sweet Simon. I agree on the non OAT antifreeze as well. Great job as usual.

[frankxhv773t]

As may have been said before, Brian Hilton's approach to fuel pumps is to have an electric pump manually switched for priming then turned off to rely on the original mechanical pump for general running.

[davidwheeler]

I use blue antifreeze in the vintage cars and red in the modern ones.   I think red is only for all aluminium engines.   I have also fitted magnesum sacrificial anodes to the Lambdas and will to the Aprilia if I ever have to take off the head.     I bought a huge chunk of Mg.  from a narrow boat supplier as I recal, much cheaper than from posh yacht suppliers.   The disintegration of the anode in the Lambdas is impressive and much preferable to the aluminium of the block going thus!

[tzf60]

That's fantastic, Simon! The engine sounds very smooth - you must be delighted with your progress!

[simonandjuliet]

Thanks, the engine is starting nicely and has great oil pressure

Last week I started pruning so days are busy again, but it has been raining so a bit of time in the garage .....

Both engine cowls are finished, the second one taking considerably longer because the release levers were more worn. I wonder if the carb side has been opened much more during its 83 years of use ? It does have the radiator cap - so water topped up more than the oil, who knows ?

The problem was wear in the brass/metal pivots. This meant that the levers after straightening , twisted and fouled the metal frame. I looked at my S2 and saw that the problem had been identified and resolved for the second series, so I took inspiration from this (grubby photo)

I drilled and tapped the pivot, glued in a short piece of M4 stainless rod and then held the lever in place with a washer and nut. It took the twist/tip out of the pivot and doesn't foul any more ..... all working nicely now

Another mod was the fitting of the aluminium side trims. They were originally held on with spring clips, but I was missing a good number of them. I tried making new ones from piano wire, that "sort of" worked but took a long time to make each one (28 in total) and I wasn't happy that  the trim would be held firmly enough, plus there was a high risk of damaging the paint when fitting

After trying a couple of other ideas, I ended up modifying M4 stainless set screws so that they could slide inside the rail and be held in place with nuts & washers. A couple needed be ground down so they didn't interfere with the bonnet mechanism, but it looks clean and neat

[lancialulu]

Looking fab!

[simonandjuliet]

Thanks Tim

A quick update on the front brakes/drums

I received the relined shoes and very happy with the quality and price (£12 each) and will get some more done for my stocks. However they cannot rebush the bottom pivots for a sensible price. Aprilia shoes , especially the early, rear ones gradually wear the bottom pivot hole and need to be repaired, because eventually they twist and catch the inside of the drum and make a horrible noise !

If anyone knows of a suitable engineer able to do these for sensible money, I would be pleased to hear from them

A follow up on the wavy washers, I clamped them on a spare drum and cover then ground them down. They now fit much better and are about half their original width

A final note about the steering arm bushes (for those who haven't moved to rose-jointed arms) , Robush were out of stock, but because a couple of us needed them, they have restocked both the large (tie bar) and small (drop arm) bushes

If you need them, get them now before the stocks run out again !

[simonandjuliet]

First fit of the bonnet this afternoon

Job one was to fit the shutters to the grill , a couple of the mounting holes needed to be re-threaded and a couple of small adjustments, screws cut down etc - all of which takes more time than you think !

The bonnet was split in order to paint it so first job here was to fit the new hinge pin. Part of the old one was missing so I bought some 9mm stainless bar from Germany and cut it to length - bit at a time

Originally the forward section of the hinge pin was sprung, a short lever withdrawing the peg to take the bonnet on and off. This was the section missing , so for the time being I have left it as a single rod and if I feel inspired , I will return it to original in the future.

However, I may leave the solid, single rod because it makes the hinge stiffer and there are no swaging lines as on an S2 bonnet for example

The only problem is that the grill mounted pivot is too small because the front section of the rod was ground down, instead I will modify an Augusta mount/pivot to take the 9mm rod - photos later

Can't do too much more now because ideally the wings need to be on because the grill fits on top of them and affects the final position of the bonnet as well

[tzf60]

It's all coming together nicely, Simon! I can't wait to see the wings fitted 

[simonandjuliet]

Quite a bit of faffing today ....

For some reason, the hinge had been painted and unfortunately the thickness of the paint was too thick to be able to open the bonnet without scraping the paint.

So I have stripped the paint from the 2 halves of the hinge and polished it before putting back together

Some of you may remember that I bought a large lot bits from a dentist that closed down (including false teeth ....) and the small instruments have been brilliant for all kinds of jobs.
They came into their own today for scraping the paint - just like having your teeth done by the hygienist ! They are sharp, strong and thin

Indeed, small surgical tools are very useful for car maintenance/restoration and I was always raiding my stepfather's surgery for spencer-wells, scalpels etc - but that's a different story !

Another job was to remake the front section of the hinge - the part that retracts so you can remove the bonnet without unscrewing the bracket on the grill. As I said before, I have never had one of these that works but this is 90% done, I can't finish it until I do the final bonnet fit after the wings are on (not for a while yet ...)

I was going to use an Augusta plate, but decided to do it properly !
Last little job on this is to make a better looking lever - the screw , although functional, isn't pleasing to the eye

[chriswgawne]

Allow me to go off on a slight 'Dentist' tangent please.
I happen to have been a patient at the same dental practice for 58 years and in that time only had 2 dentists attend to me. My current dentist of 28 years is a lovely woman who always sets me up with either a camera or a mirror so I can see what's going on ( I find it interesting and after all its my mouth and teeth!!) and over the years we have had several conversations about new 2 pack products to repair broken teeth  which seem to have high adhesion coupled with pretty good wear characteristics. I see her roughly annually and always give her a couple of bottles of our wine (as a gift) in the hope that one day she might gift me a sample of one of the products she uses to repair my teeth ( I assumed the public couldn't buy her products) as I believe it could be really useful for repairing some items on our old cars.
Well, if you are still with me, have a look online for the 'Would I lie to you?' episode with Bob Mortimer in which he tries to convince the opposing team that he does his own dentistry using 'FUJI 9'. Its hilarious but more importantly this is what my dentist uses to repair my teeth on occasions so I have ordered an equivalent online to play with.
If its any good I will then be onto Simon for a kit of dentistry tools, not to do my teeth but to apply the Fuji 9. I believe my Dremel will be  suitable for a any mechanical shaping and polishing of the compound. For example I have a damaged Weber carb which may be able to be repaired and therefore usable.
Chris

[lancialulu]

Does Fuji9 need a strong UV curing light???

[chriswgawne]

No, that's the beauty of it Simon.

[simonandjuliet]

I got a UV curing lamp with the kit as well .... oh and a mechanical vibrating plate (not found a use for this yet) and an egg incubator !

No idea why a dentist had an egg incubator