S2 fulvia assembly

[Simon B]

Hi Keith, I would think that manufacturing/assembly tolerances are such that the shims are just intended to centre the caliper and there should not be any error in alignment top to bottom of the caliper. So yes, keep it simple and use same thickness top and bottom. Mine were parallel or close enough not to worry. I just didn’t like the close proximity of caliper to the new disc (0.7mm), centred exactly it would have been 1.6mm/side.

[Keithver]

That makes sense. I'm with you on that. thanks

[lancialulu]

Keith

Did you load the windscreen rubbers with non setting windscreen sealant before fitting. Messy but works. New rubbers may still not seal everywhere....

Hi Tim, back to the windscreen rubbers. I have bought a tube of the non-setting-sealant. Am I correct in thinking that the sealant only goes between the glass and the rubber for installation. Not between rubber and body. Apparently the windscreens need to be fitted with the chrome lock strips fitted before installation. I appreciate your help and advice. Thank you

You load it in the gap in the rubber where the body fits - you can do the glass as well but not necessary. Very messy and you will not enjoy cleaning up!

[lancialulu]

Caliper adjusting shims: in theory there should be shims for the front and rear calipers. In the real world they are usually missing after such a long time. I have not noticed any difference in braking efficiency or pad wear with or without them. Andrea

I only have ever found a pair of shims (c0.4mm) per rear caliper on any S2 car and as Andrea noted sometimes missing. I have never found any on the front calipers.

[Keithver]

Tim, I should have believed you from the start. I slipped the drive shafts in, torqued up the outer main nut, put the lock washer and pin in and tightened the outer nut and hey presto. Absolutely no sign of wheel wobble at all. I almost ordered a new set of bearings. I'm glad I didn't, at nearly Euro 200 each. That is brilliant thank you.
I thought I had ordered locking plates for the inner driveshaft coupling. It seems i only ordered for one side. I have some of the correct material and I'll make another pair tomorrow so that I can complete the driveshaft installation - Happiness.
Once that is done I can move on to the rear brake calipers and rear window installation when I have someone to give me a hand
Thanks again to everyone for the support and advice. It is appreciated

[nistri]

Caliper shims: the reason why thse are normally missing from the front calipers is probably due to the need to remove the calipers to change the pads while at the back it is a simpler affair. Thus, repeated caliper removals led to loss of the shims. On my Fulvias bought in the 80s' they were present at the front and back. Andrea

[Keithver]

I don't seem to be posting in chronological order. the engine has been rebuilt as well as the gearbox, a while ago. I didn't have a clutch alignment tool so turned one out of hardwood. It did the job. I fitted them into the sub-frame easily enough and fitted it all into the car. As per normal, I woke in the middle of the night and realized that I hadn't fitted the gear change mechanism and gear stick. I'm sure that it can be fiddled into position without removing the whole lot, but I don't have any help and decided it would be safer to remove it all again. Its not a huge job if nothing has been connected up. I remedied the missing shifter and put it all back quickly enough.
My car is a Series 2, but has a number of Series 1 parts. The Series 1 center track rod has M12 castle nuts to hold it in place and the Series 2 has M14 nuts. I unknowingly ordered a series 2 rod and was unable to tighten the nuts enough to put a split pin in. The tapered shaft is too big. I knew the new track rod would take a while to arrive so put the old one in temporarily. The new one was fitted today. It took most of the day. You will see in the photo what is left of the highly modified 19mm spanner needed to do the job. The two notches in the handle allow leverage with a large screwdriver. it is in. Tight and split pinned - recommendation - don't do it like this if you don't have to.
I am slowly connecting everything up and adding all the bits and pieces. I have struggled to find spring clamps for the fuel hoses and the smaller water pipes. I will get them early next week and then will hopefully be able to start her. The final photo shows how she looks now.

I'm looking forward to going for my first drive.

[Keithver]

I am at the stage where I can start the car. I finally received the hose clamps I needed for the water and fuel hoses. I have filled all of the fluids. I was told that packing the oil pump with grease would aid the initial circulation of oil, which I did. I also squirted some oil into the bores. I removed the coil wire and the spark plugs so that I could turn the engine to check the oil pressure came up before the actual start up.
I turned the engine over for a good period of time, but got no reading on the oil pressure gauge at all. I'm pretty sure that the gauge registered when I bought the car. I have checked and there is now oil in the filter and on the cams and valve springs in the head. There is some circulation at least.
What would the next step be? How would one go about testing the oil pressure sender unit and the gauge. Are there any other things I should be looking out for. Thank you in advance for all of the fantastic advice that comes from the forum

[Wangler]

"packing the oil pump with grease" - Sounds strange to me. Oil pumps are designed to pump liquids, I cannot imagine how they would work if packed with grease. I also cannot think that introducing grease into small galleries etc. is a good idea.

I've built some engines (not many) a long time ago and just made sure that oil was liberally used on all the bearings, cotter pins, valve guides, bores, timing chain etc. Always worked for me.

[Richard Fridd]

I expect the oil gauge could be tested for a full scale deflection by putting the sender wire to earth. And the sender with a ohm meter and thermometer. Or put the sender in a heated environment and see what happens on the gauge. Just a light grease was it?

  Richard

[lancialulu]

Always prime the oil pump with engine oil not grease. I always slacken the oil pressure joint to see oil appear then tighten back up. It takes a certain time for the pump (primed) to fill the oil filter then get up pressure.
Crank with plugs out...

[SanRemo78]

Can you remove the sender and screw in a mechanical gauge? Does the dash have a low pressure warning light and is that staying on too?

[lancialulu]

Can you remove the sender and screw in a mechanical gauge? Does the dash have a low pressure warning light and is that staying on too?

No low pressure warning on Fulvia. Even a mech gauge (which I fit to all engines I rebuild to test for oil pressure shows no oil pressure for what seems a long time on a fresh build. I just unscrew for confidence rather than believe I am breaking an air lock....

Better to crank a new engine build till oil pressure appears than fire up on a dry engine that stays dry (for what ever the reason).

[Keithver]

Thanks for all of your advice guys. The photo shows what the oil pressure sender looks like. Bent and dented. I think I'll be doing myself a favor by buying a new one. I have taken the instrument cluster/gauges out and cleaned and tightened everything. After putting everything back together and cranking the engine, the oil gauge needle moves from the very left to almost halfway between the first two marks. Is this correct and is this enough to go ahead and start the engine. I would imagine that you only get a proper reading once the engine is running.
I checked again with the local expert and he confirmed that one should pack the oil pump with grease initially?

[lancialulu]

If that is an original sender unit (jaeger?) look on the underside and it will have scaling (0:6 or 0:7) these are not available afaik only 0:8 which will give you optimistic oil pressure!!!