Fireinstarter !

It has been more than six months since my last post and owing to life, work and everything else I have not had a chance to post an update.

In my last post the starter caught fire and it was clear that it would need to be changed. Since then the starter issue has spiralled into pain, pain and more pain.

I have an extensive haul of spare parts and included in my cache was what looked like a recon starter motor so the plan is to swap it out. If that starter is faulty then being in Birmingham I can easily get my existing burnt out starter reconditioned and refit it worst case.

The starter motor has three bolts securing it to the gearbox. I removed two bolts OK with copious amounts of WD40. Then disaster struck, the third bolt which for my gratification and compliance with sod's law was the one located in the tightest spot right next to the engine block snapped off.

After much foul language in an agitated Brummie accent, I set about trying to address the sheared bolt.

It is my understanding that the gearbox hole through which the starter is bolted is not threaded. The bolt has sheared off on the gearbox side just inside the gearbox mounting hole. You would think that I could simply use a punch to try and push out the remaining part of the bolt but it would not budge.

I then proceeded to apply a lot of WD40, heat, foul language to no avail. I then drilled out the remaining part of the bolt via the gearbox mounting hole and tried to use a punch to push it out.

That was an epic failure and now to top it off the punch is stuck in the hole. Despite many attempts to get the punch out I have had no success. The punch spins but is stuck!

At this point I have concluded to try and cut the bolt in the gap between starter and gearbox using a dremel and this is what I will be trying next. Once I have this starter on the bench I am confident I can get the bolt piece out. I plan to drill out the gearbox starter mounting hole even if that means sacrificing my punch.

At this point to be honest I have become a bit disillusioned with my Lancia project and this has probably led to me not working on it for a while. I knew it was not going to be easy but I am not giving up.

I plan to try again this weekend.

I have been watching the Ant Anstead show (the one where he is restoring a house and classic cars at the same time) which is excellent I and am feeling motivated.

Lets see how we get on!