Resurrecting Jalpa #359

Really looking forward to you getting into this one!

Cant wait to follow this.

From what I can see the paint looks a little dingy, a good polish and clean should bring it back.

I had a mechanic contact me a few years ago, he was having some electrical problems with a Jalpa & wanted to know what a certain relay operated. My car worked 100%. So I pulled that relay out. It was the same position that was causing him problems. So I go put the relay back in & all of the sudden I had the same exact problem he did. I pulled the relay back out, checked it, it was fine. Still nothing. A new relay, again nothing. Wtf did I just do crossed my mind. I pulled the plastic cover off that the relays plug into. One of the terminals had came off. I pressed it back on & now everything is back 100%. This turned out to be the fix on the other Jalpa as well. Before you go crazy on the electrical problems, focus on that relay panel!!!

This.

I LOVE THOSE WHEELS! They remind me of old school OZ Rally Wheels:

 

I like that. I'd do that to the Jalpa wheels.

Earlycat is dead on,

 

I had a lot of electrical issues when I first got my car. As mentioned here, the sockets in the relay and fuse panels push out on the inside. When I got into my car, I found several that had been pushed out and were not connecting. The uninitiated makes it worse by pulling things out, checking them, and pushing all the female connectors out of the panel when they put it back. Once you see how bad it is in there, you will take the panel off every time you plug something in. Also the grounds get bad and the fuses get corrosion on them.

 

I cleaned all of my fuses, cleaned all of the relays, cleaned the grounds here and there and went through the fuse panel and made sure everything was connected. Several systems came back to life and I have not had any electrical problems since with one exception.....

 

....The ignition switch in the back of the ignition cylinder goes out frequently on the Jalpa. Behaves like someone reaches over and turns the key off on you at random times. Also will not activate the starter at random intervals. Evans Auto has replacements.

 

Based on my experience, I too would recommend a quick cleaning and check the fuse box before getting more serious. You might solve a long list of issues with little more effort than removing a panel and scrubbing some stuff off.

Electrical issues are trivial...I would make sure that the motor runs and the gearbox functions...A guy here in Montreal got quoted $ 23K for (just) parts for his motor...this is stuff that would have cost us $ 5-6 K 10, years ago. Part prices (particularly from places like "Eurospares") have become staggering !

 

Paul

Yeah..... I am with Paul.

 

Not running is a major concern.

 

I get the impression you are excited for the project and fully capable. Just be prepared to pay some hefty bills once things get rolling.

 

I am excited to see this project get underway. I will lend any help and advice I can. I also want to help you keep your expectations realistic.

 

It is nice to know there is another Jalpa in the state!

Electrical issues are trivial...I would make sure that the motor runs and the gearbox functions...A guy here in Montreal got quoted $ 23K for (just) parts for his motor...this is stuff that would have cost us $ 5-6 K 10, years ago. Part prices (particularly from places like "Eurospares") have become staggering !

 

Paul

This will eventually cause the values to go up.

Congrats, very cool.

Electrical issues are trivial...I would make sure that the motor runs and the gearbox functions...A guy here in Montreal got quoted $ 23K for (just) parts for his motor...this is stuff that would have cost us $ 5-6 K 10, years ago. Part prices (particularly from places like "Eurospares") have become staggering !

 

Paul

 

 

That's just stupid. The gasket kit is on ebay for $650. Evans has a source for the pistons that he uses in his rebuilds. The valves are replaced with Manley valves, clutch is also on ebay but can be rebuilt, timing belt is a Goodyear number. I think Raymond's site Jalpa.ch has the bearing part numbers along with other parts. Still nothing is cheap on a Lamborghini, but your friend is getting full retail list prices.

You're pretty much spot on. With these old cars you have to really just spend time connecting the dots to realize the a $495 part can be had by cross referencing and asking questions and such......for $49 bucks!

 

With the Urraco, new struts are a fortune...if you can find them. After many phone conversations with a 2 guys and reading Raymond's site, it was Joe Fraser (remember him!) that told me to basically remove the old cartridge and fluid, drop a washer in the strut and then drop a VW corrado inset in there. At the time he did his, he used a Nissan cartridge. The only bitch part that most machine shops could not do was grind down the shoulder of the cartridge. I had to go to a Pratt and Whitney contractor with a big company that had serious machining equipment.

Thanks guys. I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot of searching for cross references regarding parts. The support from the community is awesome. Thanks

 

The 914 left on a transport yesterday. I've been busy sorting, cleaning and rearranging my garage since my shelves now have what feels like 500 less boxes on the shelves from all the spare Porsche parts. I decided to be nice and just let them all go with the cars.

 

 

Can you spot it? Because when I did it made my day.

 

 

Is that the rear end of an F1 I see peeking out from the top of the transporter?

 

Yep, you nailed it! The guy didn't say anything about it until I freaked out. "OH MY GOD, is that.... a Mclaren F1?" and he just got a huge grin on his face. "Yes... yes it is." made my day.

Is that the rear end of an F1 I see peeking out from the top of the transporter?

 

Holy crap you have good eyes.

Holy crap you have good eyes.

 

Not going to lie I didn't see it at first. I had to zoom in 3 times on the actual picture before I realized what it was. My first though was a K-car but the rear window wasn't right. Those circle tail lights were a dead give away.

Wow, a green 914......a green/blk 914 was my first car over 30yrs ago. Very cool. Then 4yrs later it was an orange/tan 2.0 914. Them were the days except the goddamn battery tray and rotted rocker underneath it and the constant broken weld on the truck hinge.

Mother of GOD F1! I didn't even spot it at first on Facebook.

Very cool Jalpa! I am moving to Bend soon, hope to see you around!

Very cool Jalpa! I am moving to Bend soon, hope to see you around!

 

Awesome, it's a nice area out here!

Congrats on your Jalpa!!

 

I think you'll really enjoy it! I had an '83 (DLA12071) that I owned from 2002 until 2009 when I got my Countach.

 

I'm up here in the Seattle area.

 

One site that is a big help is Raymond's Jalpa site. He has accumulated a lot of data from all us Jalpa owners over the years. He has even posted a copy of the electrical schematic (which it sounds like you'll be needing!) that I made up years ago for mine. The thing that you'll find, is it seems like every Jalpa had different wiring! LOL! But, at least its a step in the right direction!

 

http://www.jalpa.ch/

 

With a late serial number like you have, one nice thing you have is the later brake master cyliner/brake booster. Mine had the earlier twin Benditalia units (one behind each headlamp) that were a royal pain in the butt to restore!!!

 

Feel free to ask any questions, we are all here to help!

 

Here is a shot of my old baby.

 

Mike

Congrats on your Jalpa!!

 

I think you'll really enjoy it! I had an '83 (DLA12071) that I owned from 2002 until 2009 when I got my Countach.

 

I'm up here in the Seattle area.

 

One site that is a big help is Raymond's Jalpa site. He has accumulated a lot of data from all us Jalpa owners over the years. He has even posted a copy of the electrical schematic (which it sounds like you'll be needing!) that I made up years ago for mine. The thing that you'll find, is it seems like every Jalpa had different wiring! LOL! But, at least its a step in the right direction!

 

http://www.jalpa.ch/

 

With a late serial number like you have, one nice thing you have is the later brake master cyliner/brake booster. Mine had the earlier twin Benditalia units (one behind each headlamp) that were a royal pain in the butt to restore!!!

 

Feel free to ask any questions, we are all here to help!

 

Here is a shot of my old baby.

 

Mike

 

I know for a fact the ignition unit is no good on my car. I see the common upgrade is the MSD units and a full MSD installation. I saw it on the site you mentioned a few weeks ago. It's in part of my plan on getting the car back to normal shape. From what I've read, it really helps the car as well on waking up the ignition.

 

Thanks for the advice on the brake booster. Given the age of the car, I've considered refreshing all the hydraulics just so they are of no concern. Any good ideas on where there are rebuild kits available?

I know for a fact the ignition unit is no good on my car. I see the common upgrade is the MSD units and a full MSD installation. I saw it on the site you mentioned a few weeks ago. It's in part of my plan on getting the car back to normal shape. From what I've read, it really helps the car as well on waking up the ignition.

 

Thanks for the advice on the brake booster. Given the age of the car, I've considered refreshing all the hydraulics just so they are of no concern. Any good ideas on where there are rebuild kits available?

 

Not 100% on what the later model Jalpa's used for their brake master. I would guess that its Benditalia, Bonaldi or ATE. Those 3 seem to be all that was used on Lambo's, Alfa, Maserati, etc...

 

Another option is to send the Brake Master cylinder to a place like Whitepost. They will re-sleeve it, rebuild it, etc. They'll do the same for your brake calipers, etc.

 

You can also check with folks like Chad & Raymond on this site. Another great source for older parts is Bill @ GT Car Parts in Arizona.

 

Mike

 

I know for a fact the ignition unit is no good on my car. I see the common upgrade is the MSD units and a full MSD installation. I saw it on the site you mentioned a few weeks ago. It's in part of my plan on getting the car back to normal shape. From what I've read, it really helps the car as well on waking up the ignition.

 

Thanks for the advice on the brake booster. Given the age of the car, I've considered refreshing all the hydraulics just so they are of no concern. Any good ideas on where there are rebuild kits available?

 

I was told by Lamborghini Portland once upon a time that rebuild kits are not available. I had mine sent out to a specialist who rebuilt it. Most information was a little suspect from the Portland shop, but I don't think the rebuild kits are easy to find. Let us know otherwise, but I think you will need to send it to someone to have it redone. I would recommend it since it has been sitting so long.

I was told by Lamborghini Portland once upon a time that rebuild kits are not available. I had mine sent out to a specialist who rebuilt it. Most information was a little suspect from the Portland shop, but I don't think the rebuild kits are easy to find. Let us know otherwise, but I think you will need to send it to someone to have it redone. I would recommend it since it has been sitting so long.

 

I think it'll depend on what a leakdown, compression test and inspection shows first. Sitting for 1 year or even 2 isn't really enough for me to go, "Well, engine rebuild time!"

 

I at least want to take a look at it first before going down that road, especially if it doesn't end up being necessary.