Lamborghini Urraco P250 front valance repair - part 1

I knew the front end of my car had covered up rust issues - the rest of the car is really good. So I decided to get stuck in.

The lower valance had been paneled over with that looks like the remains of some other car  and that whole area was full of repair patches done badly.

So have many grinding discs I've got back to solid metal throughout.

I had to remove the radiator and wiring loom and of course bumper and lights.

I think the pictures make it look worse than it actually is. OK there's going to be a fair amount of new metal going in - but the car will be totally rust free up front once I've finished. I think most Urracos will have issues around here as the lower centre valance piece if a double skin so a bad moisture trap.

Lamborghini Urraco P250 ATE BMW 2002 front brake calliper rebuild

Urraco P250 front brake callipers (ATE similar to those fitted BMW 2002) are dry but each piston has rust residue on, usually caused by the section of calliper forward of the hydraulic seal which rusts. It shouldn't as each piston has a rubber dust/moisture seal, but most people don't add rubber grease behind the seal to help prevent moisture sitting between the calliper and housing.

With the hydraulics still attached, push each piston nearly all the way out by clamping the other three at various stages.

Calliper removed use compressed air to push them out the last bit. Be careful!

You can see the ring of rust on the calliper body which is beyond the hydraulic seal (removed). It's expansion is usually the cause of seizure x 4 pistons per calliper = stiff brakes that don't freely return.

A careful trim with a Dremel to clean the rust off has the diameter back to normal. Compressed air and brake cleaner to clean off the resulting dust.

The pistons on this calliper were perfect after cleaning off rust residue. Main ring seals back into the cleaned up calliper.

A drop of brake fluid spread around the calliper and pushed back in by hand. Add red rubber grease around the exposed part of the piston and push it back all the way. Refit the old or new dust seals and it's ready for refitting to the car following a degrease and repaint in Hammerite smooth silver.

Lamborghini Urraco P250 suspension rebuild

I appear to have taken my Lamborghini apart.. I'm detailing up the suspension and fixing some knocks at the front end. The factory "don't remember" where they sourced some of the suspension components from and they didn't write stuff down in the 70's, so it's an extra fun challenge trying to renew parts  Turns out Volvo 240 (brick) suspension tops are similar and the front brakes are ATE BMW 2002 4-pot (40mm pistons) as fitted to the Turbo models but with a space to accommodate vented discs on the Urraco

Urraco P250 rear suspension and hub re-assemble

So with the hub and strut dismantled I set about cleaning things up. The lower part of the hub carrier mounts to the rear suspension arm with a simple long king-pin design. It was all in good condition with no wear on the kingpin or bushes, but either end is sealed by these discs which are like mini-pistons and have three sprung piston-rings to provide the seal. One was ok, the other the rings were seized.

After a good soaking and cleaning the sealing rings freed up. I cleaned everything up and painted the solid disc for protection.

Here you can see the rear suspension arm and where the hub carrier lower pivot king-pin mounts.

And the cleaned up parts, kingpin, thrust washers, sealing rings and big suspension bolt!

With the hub carrier cleaned up and painted, king-pin reassembled and greased from the bottom (on it's side for access in this photo). The bolt inserted just to keep the sealing plates in place whilst greasing.

Cleaned and painted strut re-assembled and back in the place. I used the original strut top mount which actually seems to be in good condition. Spring was media blasted and painted in a close match to the original green.

View of the cleaned and painted hub carried bolted up. You can see the handbrake cable mounting lug - all very simple.

Lamborghini P250 Rear control arms

Time to give the rear control arms a clean and repaint. The ball joints are in good condition, but I found a split in one of the rubber boots which is an MOT failure nowadays and will of course cause the ball joint to wear quickly if dirt gets in. Used an off the shelf boot cover found on ebay from these guys http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=171151984973

Lamborghini Urraco P250 rear suspension rebuild.

Now that the weather has set in (and the MOT ran out) I decided it was time to go through the suspension at each corner. There are a few clunks at the front end so the MOT man would likely spot issues.

I've pulled one rear side off and will go through cleaning and painting the various suspension parts. It's in good condition, just doesn't look so pretty and I like things to look nice and clean.  It's very simple technology and really just like most "other" 70's Fiats in terms of how it's put together.

The only suspension issues seem to be the top mounts (of course) which is my first task. It'll be nice to de-rust and paint this lot over the next couple of months back to the factory colours.

Footman James Manchester Classic Car show

My P250S made an appearance on the Lamborghini Owners Club UK stand in September at the Footman James Manchester Classic Car show. It looked great on!

More details on the show here https://www.facebook.com/ManchesterClassicShow