Getting ready for the road again

[TELBOY]

I was curious when looking at your photos. Both my cars had exactly the corrosion at the same place. The only thing i could think of was it was very near where the cooling pipes run so maybe the jeat or a small escape of hot air steam could have caused it.

[Anders Dinsen]

That's interesting!

I had the same thought, so I asked Roy who maintained my car for the owner while it was running in England, whether he knew of any coolant leak by the lower hose. He didn't and suggested that the corrosion could be due to the galvanization being thin in these areas. Inspecting the problem closely, I had to agree, and actually could even spot the edges of the zinc layer around the corroded areas.

Now, if you look at this photo, you can actually see that the right hand side of the car was on top when the chassis was submerged in the zinc bath. I think the corrosion we are seeing are signs of bubbles having developed during the galvanization on the inside of the front beams.



Source: http://www.matrasport.dk/Cars/Murena/Gallery2/Med/galv_2.html

[Anders Dinsen]

Some pictures taken today with my DSLR. I have an album on Flickr with the photos, by the way: https://www.flickr.com/photos/adinsen/albums/72157674225364871

[TELBOY]

Very nice album. What wheels are those with youur winter tyres ?

[Anders Dinsen]

Very nice album. What wheels are those with youur winter tyres ?

Thanks. They are Borbet CA, it's a good rim for winter use as it has a heavy coat of paint on the inside. Also it was available in a size fitting the Murena:
https://www.borbet.de/de/ca-crystal-silver

I don't have tyres on the original rims, that's why I've got her on the winter tyres. I might sell them once I''ve got the original rims tyred and back on the car as I don't expect to run her in snow (though the Murena is quite good in snow!)

[Anders Dinsen]

The vacuum actuator is now functional again, just waiting to be refitted. The seal I've fitted is an 18x10x4 oil seal. The little cover which the seal used to be sitting in is reused to hold the seal. It's fitted with liquid gasket. The shaft is lightly oiled and everything is cleaned, sanded, brushed, fitted and pressed together, and painted with zinga plus a coat of alu-zinc paint to make it look fresh

[Anders Dinsen]

Discovered a small problem yesterday as the bellow around the lower joint has split. I think I've found one of the right size on eBay, but so far hasn't had success releasing the nut in order to split the arm from the ball joint and take a correct measure. For some reason, there's a plastic cover sitting around the nut so I can't get a perfect grip on the nut and has therefore not wanted to apply force. I guess I'll let it soak rust solvent a few days more and perhaps cut down the plastic. I wonder if anyone would know why it's there (the plastic)?

[TELBOY]

Sorry Anders just checked.mine and they dont have that ( sort of washer) Bit of a guess....could it be to lock tbe nut in place?

[Anders Dinsen]

Sorry Anders just checked.mine and they dont have that ( sort of washer) Bit of a guess....could it be to lock tbe nut in place?

Thanks for checking, Terry! Yes, it looks like it's a washer of some sort, shaped like a bowl with edges. You may be right. I'll take a better picture looking from below. The nut is a locknut, so I don't see why additional locking would be needed. I had the lower joints replaced for precaution 12 years ago, so it is certainly not 'original'

[TELBOY]

What am I talking about? of course mine wouldn't look like that as I replaced mine too..however I found a photo showing the track rod ends before I replaced them and they have the same washer..... I also dug out the "old" nut from the ball joints and will post a photo.it shows a locking mechanism and I distinctly now remember they had the same washer which I just cut off. I f you zoom in to the track rod end you will see it

[TELBOY]

a better picture also the "nut" the washer I think went "around" the locking part.

[Anders Dinsen]

Thank you, Terry! So apparantly it's a thing with some ball joints. A google search so far haven't given me any clue, and as the picture here shows, it's obviously not locking anything... It's a mystery!

[TELBOY]

Hi Anders sorry to be a pain. Going back to your wheels,
I am presuming they are 14 4 x 100!  How near to the et did you get them?

[Anders Dinsen]

Hi Anders sorry to be a pain. Going back to your wheels,
I am presuming they are 14 4 x 100!  How near to the et did you get them?

Ha!, that took a bit of checking my files and the rims, but here we go: They're 6Jx14 ET30, LK4x98 with Alfa/Fiat/Lancia center rings "ZP 5237" (don't know what that number means).

I bought them from Reifen.com in 2006, and I still have the invoice

I don't remember the ET of the original Murena rims just now, but 30 is quite close to that, AFAIR.
No, they're not 4x100, but 98 mm bolt circle.

Now that I'm at it, here are two photos of Sunday's work, one showing upper control arm rust protected. I disconnected it from the upper ball joint and gave it first a coat of linseed oil, then a coat of black rust protection. It's still very sticky after 24 hours, so I need to keep the front suspension lifted a bit to avoid it staining the chassis. Plenty of cardboard pieces helped shield the spray from the chassis, but the pretty white zinga did take a few stains. Not that it matters...

The other photo is showing the almost clean inside of the front left chassis beam. Still some work to do before it can be zinga-coated.

/Anders

[TELBOY]

Thanks Anders. Original et is 28.
That looks like new...Great work. Must take some time.