Back on 4 wheels. Although car not starting again, I think it's the fuel pump again as I had the tank stored outside and it may have suffered water ingress. Also the brakes seem to be a pig to bleed but not surprising given the system sat mostly drained for quite some time.

stephen79 said:

Also the brakes seem to be a pig to bleed but not surprising given the system sat mostly drained for quite some time.

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Good to see, well done. I had an endless supply of air bubbles when bleeding one side, is that your problem? Is the load valve working? PS where are the plastic side mouldings? They do look better without as per the Mk1

jonti said:

Good to see, well done. I had an endless supply of air bubbles when bleeding one side, is that your problem? Is the load valve working? PS where are the plastic side mouldings? They do look better without as per the Mk1

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I have no idea re the load valve Jonti. Its brand new but probably out of adjustment. I had no fluid going to the passenger side front but have fluid at all 4 corners now. Probably just needs repeated bleeding. The side strips were a tale of woe, some local hoodlums pulled at one of them and bent it so I decided to remove all of them. Lines look purer but I didn't realise that fiat in their infinite wisdom had 2 holes in the front wings for the aforementioned trim so not sure what to do now!

Still needs a load of welding at the rear valance but will have to farm that out to someone else as its beyond me.

Crikey they can't have much else to do . Yes there a couple of locating holes for the strips. The Porter manual is good on the valve set up, needs a load in the boot and the hook weighted up before tightening the nut. It is not mentioned in Haynes at all, nor can I see it on Page 17, was this a fitment that appeared on Mk2s?

Rear sedicivalvole seats cleaned and fitted. Not quite plug and play, I had to modify a number of brackets.

jonti said:

Crikey they can't have much else to do . Yes there a couple of locating holes for the strips. The Porter manual is good on the valve set up, needs a load in the boot and the hook weighted up before tightening the nut. It is not mentioned in Haynes at all, nor can I see it on Page 17, was this a fitment that appeared on Mk2s?

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Bizarrely there are only locating holes for the strips on the front wings, none of the doors have holes. Piles still to do Jonti, once brakes are setup and bled then the front end needs a load of work! Need to change brake discs and pads, two track rod ends, anti roll bar bushes, change timing belt and auxiliary belts and then all engine mounts need changed. Also have a new sump to fit to the engine! Car will look like a shed but has any amount of new parts in it!

Load proportioning valve was on all Tipo's as far as I know Jonti. Both the scrap 1991 petrol and 1992 diesel Tipo's I have both have this valve on them.

stephen79 said:

Car will look like a shed but has any amount of new parts in it!

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A fair bit do then. Are you changing the parts based on their condition or getting it done for the future whilst it's off the road. Anyway keep us updated.

jonti said:

A fair bit do then. Are you changing the parts based on their condition or getting it done for the future whilst it's off the road. Anyway keep us updated.

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I am replacing most parts as they are worn Jonti. Car has approx. 63k miles but I reckon very little was ever changed on it since 1994. Track rods are seized from lack of use mind you. CV boots are split so they have to be changed. Engine mounts are badly cracked and split so not sure they would pass a test, they possibly would. A part I am really struggling to source are the clips holding on the distributor cap. Can't see them anywhere. I can buy a complete distributor but its expensive. Some previous owner lost the clips and used wire to secure the cap! Belts I am changing for peace of mind. I can't see the car hitting the road for a few months yet as need to engage the services of a good welder. No doubt there will be a multitude of small loose ends to tidy up as well.

It amazes me how much is starts to add up. Most Tipo specific parts are not a lot nowadays, but add these to consumabales, paint, abrasion pads, new tools, any bought in services it adds up to far more than you imagine.

jonti said:

It amazes me how much is starts to add up. Most Tipo specific parts are not a lot nowadays, but add these to consumabales, paint, abrasion pads, new tools, any bought in services it adds up to far more than you imagine.

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I wouldn't like to think how much has been spent up to this point! Must sit down and tot it up at some stage. Definitely not economical but that's not what it is about I suppose! Although thinking about it and expenditure to date I don't think I could justify tackling my 1995 Tempra as that needs too much doing to it. Hopefully having refreshed the running gear and tackled any small bits of rust my Tipo will at some stage be a candidate for a respray. Will need rear door skin repairs though soon as I notice that under the quarter lights on the rear doors is in poor enough condition. Thanks to help from my 8 year old son I got the brakes bled out last night and the pedal feels good. Just waiting on a replacement petrol pump now.

Fuel pump arrived this morning so managed to fit before the rain arrived, started fairly easily and turned it on my driveway. Unfortunately the brakes don't seem right, pressed the pedal when turning the car and initially seemed ok but then heard a clunk and the pedal went soft so I presume I have an issue with the setup of the load proportioning valve which will require further investigation.

stephen79 said:

I have an issue with the setup of the load proportioning valve which will require further investigation.

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Good news it is moving, one step forward one step backward eh. Has a connection sprung off or is there leaking fluid somewhere? I think the brakes should work with the regulator in any position, it is either allowing more, less or no flow to the rear.

jonti said:

Good news it is moving, one step forward one step backward eh. Has a connection sprung off or is there leaking fluid somewhere? I think the brakes should work with the regulator in any position, it is either allowing more, less or no flow to the rear.

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The weather is rubbish here at the moment so I can't check in any great detail. I found one very small weep of brake fluid in a pipe connector under the bonnet (on the bulkhead behind the battery) so tightened that up. The spring on the load proportioning valve all looks intact and no drips so will bleed out and try again. Need to change out the front discs and pads and that gets the braking system fully overhauled. Hopefully I am not having any issues with the master cylinder but all will be revealed after I carry out the bleed. Its quite possible I have the load proportioning valve incorrectly setup. I just pulled a 'guestimate' weight on the valve where you can pull down on the linkage with the pivot bolt slackened.

Well I found my issue. I tightened one pipe on the load proportioning valve which was fine but I then noticed fluid leaking under the rubber gaiter so praised this off and two circlips Fell out! So much for 'new' parts. There are 2 pistons within the valve and I notice an o-ring sticking out of one piston.. o-ring was split. Will get an o-ring and see if I can rebuild. Most disappointing as the valve cost over €80.

Stripped pistons out of the load proportioning valve. The o-ring at the bottom right was split. Most disappointing for a new valve.

Valve with the pistons back in place after I changed the split o-ring. One of the circlips then promptly broke upon refitting! Luckily I had a spare.

All back together. Hopefully will get the fluid back in over the weekend and get the system bled out again..

stephen79 said:

All back together. Hopefully will get the fluid back in over the weekend and get the system bled out again..

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Life's hard enough without a major new component exploding, what a potentially catastrophic farce. You did well to repair it. Mine came boxed up as a Bosch from CarPartsinMotion off Ebay at about the same. The old one was seized solid but after hitting it with a hammer it still hasn't fallen apart.