International Lancia Forums

Dear old Harry Manning had a rig for setting up the carbs on a Fulvia. It comprised a U-shaped tube part-filled with Mercury. The idea was to get the (pulsating) columns level.

Obviously the ultimate solution. However I always do them by ear, and provided the engine concerned is in reasonable condition and the carbs are not full of white powder and have slack spindles or a broken throttle return spring (very common), I am usually pretty successful.

Paul

Talking of tuning twin carbs:
The Fiat Strada 130 Abarth I had was easy to tune as it had a bolt in a threaded insert on each exhaust manifold branch into which a gas analyser could be inserted. Having two twin barrel solexs, each barrel could then be tuned individually which made it super smooth, and made a big difference eliminating flat spots. If I get a manifold fabricated for the fulvia I would attempt a similar set-up although the access may be a bit problematic.
From memory the difference between my mechanic tuning by ear vs. tuning it with the gas analyser still produced a worthwhile improvement (he had at least 25years worth of experince with Italian cars of various types, mostly fiat and alfa twin cam, twin carb set-ups)

In the Italian workshop manual for 2nd series Fulvia is a picture showing a Fulvia that has 4 tubes welded to the inlet manifold for the same purpose. The tubes are brought to the front with the last part vertical just behind the grille. I have seen this on some 1600's. Works well.

Well, after coming back from a trip abroad, I was surprised by the length and complex argumentations of this thread. Good and interesting reading.
I have little to add but a few points might be useful:

1. Mechanical rad fans. Yes, my GTE still has one and yes, it is noisy. So far it will stay in the interest of originality. To me the main drawback of the mechanical fan is that, in summer at idle, it is not very good to cool the coolant if the car gets stuck in a traffic jam or moves very slowly. Other people may be lucky to avoid traffic jams or they live in colder climates. Even if your Fulvia has a top condition rad, good thermostat, good water pump, fine engine tuning etc, stay away from traffic congestion when driving your Fulvia during your Italian summer. The Fulvia was simply not designed to cope with a situation which was very rare in the 60s.

2. Winter. In their time all Fulvias used to be run with a rubber muffler applied to the front grille to restrict cold air delivery. Even nowadays there are good reasons to continue this practice in winter.

3. Many (possibly most) aftermarket thermostats have a much narrow opening section than the original one. Hence, even when fully open, the flow is significantly less. I did some measurements myself, though I don't have these values at hand. With an aftermarket thermostat you may have problems in summer. Especially risky are trips up to a mountain when the car has to climb steep slopes on a hot day. It is useful to try to rejuvenate an old thermostat by leaving it for one day in a descaling solution, or strong vinegar, or even the solution used to clean dentures (the last tip is from my friend Darren). Always test the correct opening of the thermostat in a pan with heated water and a reliable thermometer.

4. Electric pumps are very useful to start the engine after long inactivity. I use them mounted in parallel to the standard pump and operated by a remote switch. Building up oil pressure on the starter motor is not a very reliable method. In my experience it can take up to 30 s spinning to get a slight reading on the oil pressure dial; so the engine turns with minimal oil pressure for significant time. Note also that a number of Fulvias have damaged flywheel teeth perhaps as a consequence of a lot of spinning when starting. On the other hand, the older the fuel pump is, the better. They very rarely fail and when so, the cause is somewhere else (dirt in the line etc).

5. Fuel pressure regulators may be useful, though I have seen many Fulvias running very well without one of them. One problem might be to source the correct replacement filter currently sold at silly prices at classic car markets.

6. Correct balancing the carbs is really very helpful for good running and fuel economy. Note that with the modern fuel (at least the type sold now in Europe), it is not possible to eliminate dark deposits in the exhaust end left by overrich mixture when using old type petrol years ago.

Ciao
Andrea

Thank you for your addition.

When going to Italy on vacation during the sixties, it was quite common to see dozens of steaming cars with their bonnets open on the slopes to the Alpine passes. In fact the old Ford (Prefect I think it was) of my dad, which was overloaded with dad, mum, 4 kids and all camping gear had to cool down occasionally. I fully expected to experience similar problems when travelling to Italy for the first time with a 20 year old Fulvia ten years ago. Not so. No adventure. Just a smooth ride to Italy and back over the Alpine passes as on numerous other occasions since then either on hot days or through snow using chains. Also in city traffic at temperatures approaching 40 degree C, no problem. When returning from Italy some years ago with the S3 coupe, I got caught in a 7 hour queu before the Gotthard tunnel. No problem. The only cars on the emergency lane with their bonnets up where brand new Mercedes's.

Only with the 2C I bought in Livorno I had a temperature problem (as well as a few other problems) on the Apennino, but that 1964 car still had the original radiator, hoses, waterpump, thermostat etc. It also had the original 1964 Michelin X tires. On the way to the nearest tire dealer in Livorno I lost the thread on two of them and arrived driving on the steel belts. The tire guy found 5 pieces 155R14MX tire in Rome which he could have the next day. He lived in an appartment over the shop. During the night an explosion woke him. He went down to check the shop and found nothing. The next day he noticed that the spare wheel of my 2C had exploded which had blown the bootlid open. Plenty of adventure with that almost 40 year old and neglected 2C. Trips with all my other Fulvia's were always very dull. Well, except the trip to Holland with the dark red S2 coupe (said to be restored and in excellent condition. The one with the riveted floor pan.) I bought in Verona, but I was not driving that myself. Freek and Bob were driving (and pushing) that one. They almost got arrested in France when they approached two elder ladies to borrow a jack to change a blown tire. French was not a strong point of either of the two.

Anyway, there is a watertemp meter in every Fulvia. Plenty of time to take action if the needle goes up too much. A potential source of instant trouble is the membrane in the heater cock of als series 1 Fulvia's and the series 2 berlina's. If it is too old, it tears or simply disintegrates and cooling liquid flows to the street rather quickly.

I do use a rubber muffler on all my Fulvia's during winter. On some of them I also change the thermostat to a 89 degree one. I have experimented with an extra sheet of rubber in front of the bottom of the radiator and the return hose to the waterpump because the return water from the heater causes water flow there, but it does not make much difference.

The Solexes do not need pressure regulators. They are specified at 0,3 or 0,35 bar and are less sensitive to pressure changes. The original mechanical fuel pump delivers a pressure which is right for the Solexes. It is just that Dellorto's are more sensitive due to the spring under the float needle.

My Fulvia's are between 30 and 40 years old. In my opinion that gives them the right to last another 30 to 40 years. This means they will last longer than I will. I like to leave them well documented and as original as possible which happens to be the same thing. It is easy for and often very tempting to a technical person to change ('improve") the Fulvia's. It may become a problem if the car goes to someone else if it is not very well documented. My wife frequently drives one of the Fulvia's. Occasionally one of the kids or their partners borrow one. Any special instruction will be forgotton before they turn the first corner. This is another good reason for keeping the cars standard and in good order.

If anybody thinks I am holier than the pope, he or she is wrong. I did make some modifications:

1. change the wiring loom to have all lights go off if contact is switched off. I had more starting problems related to flat batteries than empty carbs
2. change the wiring to have the back up lights also go on when the lights are off as today those have a signalling function
3 perforated brake discs to also have instant response when the discs are soaked
4. microswitch on the brake pedal of the S1 coupes so that brake lights go on before pressure is built up in the master cilinder. The original hydraulic switches need quite a bit of pressure. With the hydraulic switches the brake lights are always much too late for today's dense traffic.