Lancia logo badge replacement

 Yesterday I spend a little time to replace the Lancia logo badge on the tailgate. Here is why:

Clearly this is unacceptable so I had to get a new one on it. I figured it would be clipped on the backside with some kind of toothed washer. As such I had the cover removed on the inside to have a look.

As can been seen this is not the case, apparently it does have some plastic push holders. Click the photo to enlarge:

So with a screwdriver, a little force and patience I tilted the badge out. Unfortunately one pin broke off.

At home I found by surprise two new logo badges with exactly the same size, but with both pins cut off. Not sure why and how I obtained these.

They had a different part number stamped on it though (46777346). Although the size was the same it did not fit since the original badge is curved at the edges so it fits in the recessed area.

So I had to source a new one. This appeared more difficult as anticipated, online practically nothing could be found with the part numbers (606828230 / 46425475).

I dropped a few email requests to the known Lancia specialists in the Netherlands. And Leo Arendse responded the first. So I quickly purchased one. Not much later Martin Willems responded. He just received a new batch of 10. Good to know, as said; you can't find these online available on the internet. Strange though as they also are used on the Thesis, so you would expect better availability.

And it arrived earlier this week. The following photo's for the records and part nr details.

Thus time to mount it. I drilled out the broken off pin and then glued the new badge (the original stickertape was not strong enough. Happy with this cosmetic upgrade, looks so much better now. This exercise costed € 25,- 

What's behind me is not important

Well, it can be annoying though. I was driving in the evening this week and got a little blinded by strong headlights via the rear mirror. It was only then when I noticed the rear mirror was not functioning, as it does has a build-in dimmer with a little switch and an illuminated light indication for Lo or Hi adjustment. 

I was fearing this would be another electrical gremlin or malfunction. When I checked it today I was surprised to see the connector at the back was simply not attached. Easy fix though. Again, why has this been done?

Turn up the bass

Today it was time to install the front speaker. I had to remove the panel first which I had put back with a few screws only. This time I was able to reach one tiny screw on the inside as the main last screw was impossible to remove. In any case, the panel came off:

Clearly it's visible they have been messing around before but I have no idea what they have been up to. Also the speaker frame was completely loose and the screw holders severely damaged, why??? I found some bits and pieces on the inside at the bottom.

I sourced some screws, bolts and nuts and was able to put the speaker holder back again

And now with the speaker fixed and connected. Good I have the original speaker as it all fit's nicely and the cable connectors as well.

And before putting the panel back again I also had the speaker grill fixed as one of the clips was not fitted correctly meaning it was partly loose as well. Now everything is firm and correctly put together. So nice to have a good stereo in the car again. And no rattle when closing the door.

I did however had the subwoofer checked as it sounded not good when turning up the bass. 

Well, I had to be in that area as well for another shortcoming. More on that in another blog.

Here you can see the subwoofer:

On both sides the cone has a severe damage, so maybe I need to source another one:

Hello Music Lovers!

As per previous blog the radio I purchased was slightly broken and I made an attempt to fix it. 

By the way, this is the old radio that came out: JVC KS-F350R  Anyone interested?

Back to the Lancia Blaupunkt radio. As said, the cassette / LCD screen lid was partly loose. My guess is they have forced it open (no idea why?) and due to this the lower touch keys were also partly loose. As can be seen on this photo the gear is damaged:

I was able to remove that part completely but there was nothing that could be done to fix it. When taking the LCD lid off the flat cable also came out by itself. Sigh

I was hoping this could be easily fixed:

And yes, this was possible, I expect it was pulled out with a little force from the socket as the black holder was still firmly closed. So with a screwdriver I opened up the socket, put the cable back in and pushed the holder back. Phew!

With a little play and force I was able to get the LCD front back in it's postion - this required to have the push button also to be removed but this went fine, nothing broke off. Now all is put nicely back together. Time to test it. Luckily the connectors from the previous radio were identical and it was a matter of plug and play. Except for the antenna. For this I had to buy an adapter which costed me another € 5,42

And all fitted nicely:

And presto:

Everything appears to be working fine. The opening and closing of the LCD screen is however, as expected, partly working. It does open and close but not entirely due to the damaged gearwheel. So you need to give it a gentle push by hand. So I picked randomly an old cassette from my archive and I was very pleased to hear it again, I guess it must have recordings on it which are more than 25 years old. One of my all time disco favorites: I feel love - remixed by Rollo (Faithless). 

Something I also discovered is that there is a subwoofer mounted in the bootlid (this is original). All speakers still give good sound. So coming saturday I still need to place the missing speaker in the left front door and all is good.

For the records the radio id: 60661734. Sorry Paolo, I had to keep this one for myself.

 

Radio + Speakers and a lot more

Last week I found on Ebay the correct Lancia radio in combination with two front speakers. Unfortunately they wanted to ship to Germany only. In fact I could not even bid on it. Luckily I have a good source in Germany so I toggled to my German address and was able to bid and make a fair deal. Next it was up to Jos to declare the package and ship it back to the Netherlands - due to Corona it could take a while before he would visit the Netherlands again. And I simply did not want to wait that long. So yes, I'm ending up twice the shipping costs. The initial deal was € 90 including shipping. 

The package had a nice surprise as it contained an original navigation manual which I did not order (and never seen before either). But the radio had a failing cassette mechanism - the cassette opener/screen was partly loose and next the flat cable came loose as well. Not sure if I can fix it. More on that in a separate blog.

So today I made an attempt and wanted to start first with the right door since that side had other malfunctions (failing power window, failing mirror, failing central door locking, failing interior light). When I wanted to remove the door panel I had the impression it was not touched before as one of the screw caps seemed to be scratch free. Before doing all other screws I removed the power window button. To my surprise this side did had a radio speaker (contrary to the other side). I'm clueless why they only removed one speaker?? 

My guess for the other failing items on this side was failing cabling, meaning not connected properly back. But since the doorpanel had not been touched I considered that a low possibility. So next I checked the large cable connect at the door. To my surprise this was not firmly connected as I could partly moved it. I noticed on top it had some kind slider protector which could be moved out:

Next I could put the connector firmly back so it fitted correctly and push the protection slider back:

And you guessed it, this fixed all issue's on the passenger side: speaker working, mirror working and the central door locking working. Unfortunately the power window is still not working, you can hear the clicking though and I noticed the lights slightly dim (thus using a lot of current) - so I expect the motor is stuck/seized. I also noticed the interior light still fails when opening the door - this might be a known issue with the door lock which contains a micro switch that fails (I had this issue twice on my kappa coupe).  The same door locks are used on a Maserati QP IV.  So more work to do. I wonder how that connector came loose and when that happen? Glad that is sorted now.

So on to the next side as I wanted to install at least the speaker. And this would also cure a small rattle as the speaker holder was hanging loose - this is especially audible when closing the door. 

Clearly this door panel had been removed in the past and it was noticeable. I fear they used brute force or did not understood how it was clipped. The reflector was partly glued with kit as it was damaged, so I need to source another one:

The triangle shaped plastic cover was also glued with kit as all connections were broken off, sigh. So antoher one I need to source:

Removing the complete panel turned out a difficulty as one final screw could not get out as apparently the backside was ruined somehow. Again, I'm unsure how they managed that. The other side of the mouning bracket is having 3 screws and I only managed to get 2 out it. I don't have the right tools at home to reach the 3rd screw. Sigh! 

That's it for now ...

Carkit microphone removal + reading light sorted.

I ran out of time today so I was not able to do a lot on the SW. I have "fixed" two minor things though. 

The carkit microphone was still hanging out loose at the ceiling lightcase. Plus one of the reading lights was broke. When removing the cap and fiddling around the lightbulb it worked instantly. Easy. Removed the housing to cut off the microphone wire - the entire wire I will remove another time. Some additional photo's for the records. Might be silly to keep track of these little items but I know in the end it adds up. 

Roofbar caps

Due to Covid I'm obviously driving my car lesser as usual. However on the few occassions I noticed the roofbars are causing a very annoying wind noise. Exactly around the speed at 70 - 100 kmh.  So I would like to remove the roofbars after all (although its a nice original accessory). I was still awaiting my caps by someone who had a salvage SW. But it was taking to long and the person was not very communicative. So I got ahold by another owner (in Germany) who had them spare but these were from the Turbo trim which is in a different color (and over my budget as well). So I made another attempt and via via I ended up at Auto Europa Italie (now added to the sidebar). He had them available for me. So for € 42,50 (incl. shipping) the deal was made yesterday and today I received them. Yes.

It's a very simple and clever push system:

And mounted. I have to admit the car looks even better without the roofbars. This stationwagon is having one of the most beautiful roof lines build (at least in this era). Another masterpiece by Pininfarina.

And now the old roofbars back in the boot. Note the optional original Lancia floormat

And the spare boot underneath is having one as well:

Case closed