Aprilia Diary

[simonandjuliet]

Thank you for your comments , gents

The only significant marks on the leaves are the coil spring marks in the photo. I am not sure whether it is best to grind these out or not , I will probably leave them . There are a few rust pits as well.
The paint used was a thin coat of my usual satin black acrylic, because I don't want any extra thickness on the leaves, and it should be flexible enough not to crack - will let you all know !

Similarly, I am not sure about covering the spring in tape. I think I would rather keep an eye on it and clean everything from time to time.

Andy, I think it makes sense ! The Aprilia spring is different to Aurelia springs because it is a single transverse spring, pivoted in the middle, so there should not be too much stress on the rubber so long as it is clamped up when the spring hangs equally like an "n" from the centre. Will post pics when I do it.

Still not sure if it is grease or copperslip, will probably decide on the day - Black waxoyl is a good tip !

[simonandjuliet]

The delightful Colin and Marcella delivered the spring compressor today, it is so heavy their Alfa spider touched its exhaust coming into the drive.

As a thank you , and as a great way to meet new friends, we went out for lunch in the Aprilia ! So .......

Aprilia Lunch
Restaurant Anais in Ginestas
Cream of veg soup
Chinese roast chicken on cucumber and pineapple salad
Meringue nest with lemon sorbet and red fruits
Wine and coffee

I was thinking of making a copy of the spring compressor, but it is severely substantial and beyond my welder's capacity, so maybe need to rethink !

[DavidLaver]

It looks agricultural...you are surrounded by farmland...there MUST be someone with the grandmother of all mahoosive arc welders within a few minutes for the welding, and I bet they have a big power hacksaw as well, and if not in a rush could make a copy at a "time filler" rate.

David

[simonandjuliet]

David, will be pursuing the "agricultural" option ....

Our village fete today and there was a "classic car" show which we crashed ..... well 10 cars from a local club and the Aprilia. I gave Mathilda the camera to record the event and this is what we got , apart from the picture which I took of the Aprilia in front of the school, alongside a "Licorne" (Unicorne) from the 1920's.

Her list included a Dauphine, Peugeots 404,504, Mini , Traction 11, Morgan 4 Wheeler (indeed M managed to spot the sliding pillars !) and her best friend selling plants he had grown ....plus someone who was selling rabbits - to eat !

[simonandjuliet]

Gathering of the southern Lancisti at Chateau Cabezac - for us it is almost too local, the engine didn't even get warm ..... but good company and enjoyable lunch

Not everyone came in a Lancia, but it is always interesting to see an R5 Turbo 2 especially lined up next to a Zagato. The Guilia Super really was super, unrestored and only the door bottoms repainted. The owner has had 2 nasty bumps in the last 10 months, a Fulvia which was side swiped and a 2000 which was T boned. Very unfortunate because they are both borderline repairable and neither his fault.(if anyone has a good 2000 bonnet ?)

I have a particular soft-spot for this particular Alfa, I had one when I was 19 and I have very fond memories of it !

Mike Jennings arrived in his BMW and there was also lovely B21, which I have not seen before. He has fitted Renault Frigate rear lights which I am not entirely sure about if I am honest.

Finally a lovely picture of Mathilda and a couple of her Lancia friends in the back of the Aprilia - hopefully they will make up the next generation of Lancisti !

[simonandjuliet]

Mini service before mini-break !

Mathilda (9 yrs) disappeared off on a school trip for 3 days so Jules and I took advantage and headed west. Firstly a quick check over - new gasket made for header tank, shutters fixed open (very hot and dry here) , driveshafts greased, prop couplings checked (!!!!) oil levels topped up etc etc.

The spring picture shows the broken leaf which I will change next week, also the original type grease-gun

First stop was Castelnaudary, famous for "Cassoulet" a bean based stew with confit de canard, saucisse and various parts of pig. Sounds terrible but actually delicious, especially in the winter ...

It is also a significant port on the Canal du Midi. Picture of the Aprilia on the old bridge , built 1680 ish. Nice place for a short stop and a beer

We stayed overnight at a Chambre d'Hotes (with Table d'Hotes) just outside the town. Very pleasant place to stay - "Chateau Coquelicot" . Delightful Belgian owners , lovely food, perfume inspired rooms and fields of sunflowers outside the windows.

"I wonder how Mathilda is doing ?" asks Juliet. "Mathilda - who ?" replies Simon ......

Next day was a fantastic run through the Black Mountains, stopping at Saissac, the site of a wonderful castle and ancient small town. Followed by further fabulous, empty roads to Caunes Minervois for lunch. Just a short hop back home.

Driving along roads like this you realise just how good Aprilias are. Our roads are bumpy and rutted, filled with "nids de poules" - literally hen's nests , or less imaginatively, pot-holes. Aprilias soak them up, easily keeping up with modern traffic - we even overtook some of them. But then again, it was a Peugeot 205 diesel with a farmer and his wife having a row !

I think it should be mandatory for every Lancia-lover to drive an Aprilia, it is like a driving a pre-war Integrale ... only more fun (polite replies only please !)

So, new spring, new driveshaft couplings (going to try a set of those developed by Ben) and minor fettling before Italy next month

[Parisien]

Just divine Simon........sounds utterly blissful........


P

[fay66]

Quote,
I think it should be mandatory for every Lancia-lover to drive an Aprilia, it is like a driving a pre-war Integrale ... only more fun (polite replies only please !)

Chance would be a fine thing
I recognise the photo of the Canal du Midi as I've one from close by taken with my Dedra back in 1995.

Brian
8227

[davidwheeler]

Absolutely agree!!  and I'e overtaken quite a few Cumbrians in my Aprilia.

[simonandjuliet]

Finally got around to replacing  the rear spring this weekend. A friendly garage-ist lent me his lift for a night/morning for a few quid and a couple of bottles of wine.

Apologies for the number of photos, but I don't think anyone has written up an Aprilia spring change for a while

Firstly, the correct tool is essential, I have changed one before without it, but it was hairy and difficult, at one point requiring several people to sit on the back seat to release the tension on the cables - the folly of youth !

Lift the car and remove the rear wheels
Undo and remove the 4 nuts holding the brackets on the central silentblocs (if not the tool saddle fouls them and they cannot be removed)
Block the action of the torsion bars by wedging a chunk of wood between the bumpstop and the trailing arm
Fit the tool and tension it
Support the tool/spring
Continue to tension the spring until the wire hangers begin to flex
Remove the 17 mm greasers (nuts) from the side of the trailing arm and gently tap the central peg towards the centre of the car. If the spring is sufficiently flat the peg will withdraw, if not continue tension it further.
Once the pegs are out , lower the spring
Once on the floor, the tool is unwound and removed

In the end I found 2 leaves broken, both shorter leaves where the end 3 inches had snapped off

The above took a couple of hours, however the thing that took most time was making sure that the car was safe and correctly supported on its jacking points before lifting !

Once the spring was off, it took a couple more hours to remove, clean, check and paint the hangers and associated bits. Interestingly, on one of the bearings located at the end of the spring, the central tube had shattered, so the bearing needed to be replaced. Fortunately I had a new one ! I also replaced one of the wire hangers because there was the vaguest hint of wire damage

The following morning I put the painted bits back together and went back to the garage and then, as they say, to refit is a reversal of the above !

I took her for drive along one of my favourite testing roads, lots of undulations and bumps, tight corners ,long straights and she was lovely, no harshness, nice and supple. She sits about an inch higher and looks better poised !

[simonandjuliet]

more pictures

[Mic]

You did well, Simon.  Years ago I had a 1959 250GT Ferrari which has half elliptic rear springs.  The eyes on the left hand one were siezed on their hangers.  Fortunately I had been warned that these springs, when released, curl up something horrible and if you did not know could easily knock you out.  At the least.  I got around the problem of a spring spreader by borrowing one from a friend who had one he had used for a Model T Ford.

This was simply a substantial centre piece made of two parallel lengths, each end closed by a welded and internally threaded end.  In other words a ruddy great turnbuckle where in either end is inserted a screwed rod, one right and one left hand thread.  The outer end of each formed as a chisel which engaged under the spring end.  Rotating the centre part thus increases or decreases the length of the device equally either end and meant I could reduce the tension quite accurately to take the force off the spring and worry about unsiezing the eye.  That took another ten days.

And if you make your own spreader, substantial is the word.  Oh and don't buy an early Ferrari, they rot.

[ben]

Good job Simon.
Just wondering why you put the wood blocks in 'tho. Could you not let the torsion bars relax to their neutral position? You would certainly have had to if you had wanted to remove them at the same time.

[simonandjuliet]

Ben, not sure if the tool could "over-flatten" the spring which I think it would need to do if you don't block the trailing arms. Plus if the trailing arms are solid, the hanger pins are easier to remove. The wires are slack and the arms don't move.

I'm sure you could leave out the blocks, but I didn't try !

[simonandjuliet]

Final prep for Italy next week. Spring done , new 'Ben-style' couplings and iPod charger (!) to fit later today and final check over and spares box to do.

Can anyone help with a place to stay on Thursday night ? I am looking for a cheapish hotel with parking and not too far from the autoroute. I aim to reach the area between Menton (France) and Genoa

Thanks