Just bought a Stratos in Australia - Grateful for any Info on the Car

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Originally Posted by SBDaytona

Correct - the original fronts are around somewhere but have some cracking. The Hawk Gp4 rears look pretty wide - wider than the ones on this car. I there anything available in this width or do you have to go with either 8" all round or the big rears and flares?

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Hi,
Here's a link to a photo of the Omicron car fitted with 8" front and 10" rear Tecnomagnesio wheels.
Omicron Stradale
The magnesium 10" coffin spoke Campagnolos are the limit for Stradale rear arches. The offset on these wheels is exactly right for an original car. A 10x15" rim from a different manufacturer would probably have the wrong offset. I've seen 10 x 15" Revolutions on the back of a Stradale Hawk, and they were too wide for the arches. 10x15" magnesium coffin spokes are available from ROIN (see here)

I'm pretty sure the wheels on the rear of your car on the ebay listing photos, are Tecnomagnesio 9x15". I had similar magnesium wheels on the rear of my own Stradale arched Hawk, sourced from Udo Sparwald in Germany but manufactured in Italy. I had 270 section tyres fitted.

The Hawk wheels are available in 8x15 and 12x15 only. The 12" rears are far too wide for a Stradale, and you would need group 4 arches. People normally fit 285, 295, 335 or 345 tyres to to 12" rims.

Photo of Stradale with 12" rears!

Thanks for all the excellent information on wheels and offsets ProtoTipo - very useful indeed. I was not aware of many of the options and suppliers. I like the wheels, offset and flares on the car as it is. I will have to have the rears checked for cracks I hope they are ok as I am reluctant to go to a full Grp4 look. There is a serious level knowledge and experience available on this site - thanks again for generously helping out a newcomer.

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Originally Posted by SBDaytona

I like the wheels, offset and flares on the car as it is.

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Yep, I agree, 9" at the back looks good with Stradale bodywork.
Here's a car with 9 x15 magnesium wheels and 270 section tyres.

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Originally Posted by Guy Mayers

As has already been mentioned the chassis number is that of a Lancia Beta donor car. The Transformer (or Hawk) chassis number should be stamped in two places, most obvious one will be on the front of the servo mounting bracket under the front clip. The same number will appear on the rear of the chassis to the left of the removeable section. It's probably something along the lines of "SPY8805048" (which is my chassis number). This breaks down as a Spyder chassis from 1988, May to be precise, and the 48th chassis made by Transformer Cars.

Given that this car is Dino powered which is rare I believe that this is the car that was built by Peter Ashdown in the UK way back when! If it's this car I remember seeing at a show in the UK and talking to Peter, probably in 1988 or 1989, probably at Stafford. The car was on Gerrys stand with the front and rear clips open to show the engine off and the front suspension etc. We chatted for 20 minutes before he closed the panels up and I could see the number plates on the car. If you've got any UK registration documentation it will show PFY1T if it's this car. Which is REALLY annoying as I asked Peter to sell me the plate if he ever sold the car. Which he forgot to do.... My car is registered PFY3T you see...... AND the Fiat Punto I have is PFY2T. Strange that two Beta's, originally registered here in Liverpool two plates apart ended up as donors for Stratos replicas.

Should you have the registration docs for this car please PM me, I may be interested is a copy :o

Guy

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I have just received a file on the car which contains some interesting historical details. The car was indeed owned by Peter Ashdown - so you are correct Guy - thanks. I have not found any registration details from the UK so no luck with that - not even a photo with the plates visible. All the Australian registration details are there which is useful. It would be good to contact Peter at some stage if anyone knows his whereabouts.

There are some excellent period photos of the car in the file. At one time in its life it was a fantastic looking machine. Inspiration to get the car back to something close to its former glory.

I have had a look for some other serial numbers or chassis numbers but am unable to find anything other than the one give above (stamped into the RHR Chassis Plate). This is the number that appears on all the documentation.

Got the car running much better after a carbs overhaul.

Hi Mine's a Transformer too from the same period. I'm also restoring mine to it's former glory. Looking at the photos of your car it looks like the servo mounting plate has been removed so no chassis number there. See the pictures below. One shows the servo plate and you can make out the stamping, the other shows where my other stamp is. I had to look twice here before I found mine there so look carefully. Good luck...Steve


Attachment 4189Attachment 4188

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Originally Posted by ][\/][ajor

Hi Mine's a Transformer too from the same period. I'm also restoring mine to it's former glory. Looking at the photos of your car it looks like the servo mounting plate has been removed so no chassis number there. See the pictures below. One shows the servo plate and you can make out the stamping, the other shows where my other stamp is. I had to look twice here before I found mine there so look carefully. Good luck...Steve

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Thanks Steve, very clear now that you have showed me where to look. As you say no servo on the car now - not sure if there ever was one - so no numbers there. I will have a very good look at the rear chassis for the numbers in the location you have outlined. Very helpful - thanks again. Had a good day working on the car today. Full overhaul of the carbs and then set and balanced them. The throttle linkage is worn so can't get them perfectly synced but they are night and day better than they were. The car is starting to drive pretty well. Needs a wheel alignment - took a few measurements and the rear looks to be a bit off. The short wheel base will exacerbate any alignment issues. Next job is to track down a few engine oils leaks. Sean

Hi Sean welcome aboard.
A tip on the alignment -if you can get a 4 wheel alignment done you will get far better result then trying to do the ends individually. If the aligner needs a reference car try using fiat X1/9 settings these will give you a good enough starting point.

My Transformer/Hawk didnt have the chassis number on the Servo mounting but is on the back of the top corner rear chasis rail shown in the picture. If you find the back issues of the earlier club magazines there is an article in one of them on the chassis numbers and what they mean chassis wise - Spyder / Saftey devices / SD/Hawk and the year and month of manufacture etc.
Rob

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Originally Posted by Sando

Hi Sean welcome aboard.
A tip on the alignment -if you can get a 4 wheel alignment done you will get far better result then trying to do the ends individually. If the aligner needs a reference car try using fiat X1/9 settings these will give you a good enough starting point.


Rob

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Do you have a reccommended local 4 wheel alignment place Rob? Need to get mine done.... if i ever get it back that is!

I used Nottinghan Alignment Service Basford - Unit off Church St. just of the Nottingham ring road. No link as web site is not working at the mo though? alignment-services.co.uk
Think they also have place at the old cattle market near the County ground.
Depends who you get on the day, I had a better experience the first time I went than the second BUT thats just the people, the kit is the same, the important thing is it really gets the car working properly. The X1/9 settings as a baseline in the system are actually not too far off with small amount of rear toe. If you can live with it fine, or you can adjust from their setup knowing you are all square.
The first time - evening up the castor probably made the best improvement along with getting the rear set back and everything squared up.
Set the ride height you want before you go and be prepared to have to correct camber too, can probably do on the day with a Corse. had to go away to sort the Hawk front Camber as you have to crack the top rose joint off to make any adjustment to it.

Cheers Rob, I think that is one of the places I have been looking at, there were a couple in Nottingham, so i was planning to have a drive round and see them face to face and get a feel for which to use...
Should be able to do everything on the corse on the day, as its all on rose joints - the pain is the front camber as getting the rose joint and spacers back together inside the chassis box section is fiddly to say the least..
Also the rear is hard to do at home, as there are 3 rose joints to adjust and all afffect each other - much easier with a propper 4 wheel system that cam measure as you adjust....