2 January 2016
Saturday 2 January I drove the car back to Bedosti for several adjustments and modiciations. Weather was quite cold and rainy, the engine was not going well at the first miles, luckily the highway cleaned its spark plugs and I arrived in Faenza slowly (those tyres....) but quite safely
It is surprising to see how much similar are the 1947 Lancia Aprilia Touring and the 403
Tool tray/box
Windscreen wiper blades have to be replaced
The lever under the dashboard controls the flow of fresh air
Rubber stops on the door pillar
20 January 2016
Rear reflectors are tiny, but indispensable all the same
Rear RH mirror
The cover page of the 2016 Bristol Owners' Club Calendar shows this immaculate boot: is it an Aerodyne? I don't know if it is a 401 or a 403 and if the carpeting is correct, but it looks so nice... I would like to put the same carpeting in my own 403, of course.
This splendid photograph, as the other in this calendar, is due to the skill of Sam Frost who is also the tireless Editor of the BOC's excellent 'Newsletter'. Congratulations Sam!
13 February 2016
Marco Gordini disassembled the three Solexes to investigate the cause of the rough running and found the reason: one of the three carburettors, that had been overhauled in 2013 (click here for the pics of the Solexes in original condition and how they looked after the refurbishment) had a plastic float, completely different from the two classic metal jugs. You can see the difference in the picture above, the two 'good' floats being the 2 on the right, the bad one is on the left.... and it leaks, too! (see below)
Above, the original metal float is stamped 'Solex 11 GR' (left) while the plastic one is full of gasoline so it cannot obviously float anymore. Small wonder that the engine was running rough
Apparently, I need parts 52180 and 52204 and the most important of them all, float n. 51638/3
Update, 17 February 2016
Mr Labanti & Amanti kindly supplied an original brass float so Marco Gordini was able to reassemble the three Solexes and balance correctly them all: the engine now purrs
This the leaking RH rear suspension arm bush and seal
LH side does not show leaks yet but we will change it anyway
The Koni label on the LH rear damper
21 March: new rear bushes
The arm was prevedibly scoured, it was chromed, turned to measure to fit in the new bearing that was fitted with a custom seal
22 March: Tachometer
Monday 22 March I drove the 403 from the Gordinis' garage to Andrea Bedosti's bodyshop in Faenza to fit the clock and other stuff. I told him that during the highway transfer the tachometer was noisy. I didn't have to ask him to do something about it: Mimmo dismantled the instrument and fault that a bearing was dirty and therefore noisy, therefore he refurbished it on the spot. As they were there at it, Andrea and Mimmo had a new glass cut for the tachometer and, just to leave no stone unturned, for the rev counter as well. A final touch: the tachometer needle was repainted
As good as new...
