Not really new here

**mudhut** · 22-06-2024, 17:05

Hello all,

I haven't really just joined but have not been active here for some years although have been continuously paid-up. Plenty of names I don't recognise and a few that I do.

The impending sale of my house and workshop means I must consider giving my car. My son is now old enough to appreciate it having long-ago got the VX220 with billy boy exhaust out of his system and I'm thinking of giving it to him, especially as getting out of it or under it is increasingly difficult. I have quite a bit of recommisioning to do in order to move it as up until a week ago, the car had its rear suspension out for more than ten years... Not to mention the brakes (a complete basket case, now nearly sorted).

One of the tab washers for the top of the rear strut on my Hawk has lost its tab so I have drawn a CAD image of it for water jet or laser cutting. If there's any interest in me having a batch of these done, please drop a note in this thread and if there's enough interest, I'll start a new thread in the for sale section. There doesn't seem to be any on the Beta forum so if there's little or none here, I'll resort to a drill and file. Perhaps most people have moved on from the old Beta front strut rubber mountings.

No good inquiring "how much?" as I've absolutely no idea. My local electroplaters (Hampshire Electroplating) may have a minimum order size so yellow zinc passivating may be a problem. Could be cut from zintec or similar but that would leave raw edges.

Any comments welcome.

**hollytree** · 22-06-2024, 17:23

I recently did up a bathroom(Dont ask!). My wife had bought 10mm thick twin layer glass tiles with a patterned metal foil film between the 2 layers. None of the local tilers or tile companies would touch them to cut them.
In the end I had to do all the decorating. I measured up what tile cuts I needed and Water Jet at Halifax cut them all for me for about ?30.
The guy just laid them on the machine bed, typed in the sizes I wanted and 65,000 psi water did a fantastic jobs with smooth but perfect edges.
I asked what they could cut and he said 4" steel no trouble.
If you have a CAD file, they just punch it into the computer and away it goes cutting loads of them the same.
Might be worth asking https://www.waterjetuk.com/

**ProtoTipo** · 22-06-2024, 17:29

Hi Peter,

It's great to hear from you!

I think your possible Beta strut top tab washer production is a good idea.
I'm using Beta rubber strut tops on mine, but with GAZ struts. The GAZ struts have the 'D' shaped threaded part, but uses a nyloc and a round washer.
We have Beta owners on here. At least two I can think of.

I had a run of S1 Beta wood gear lever knobs made not so long ago. Mainly for people on here, but some of them went into BetaBoyz stock.

**Guy Mayers** · 22-06-2024, 18:55

Well I'm a Beta owner as Peter knows but the shell is still being restored. I had a small stock of these tab washers replaced locally but they're not perfect. I'll have to look at the new strut inserts I picked up a couple of weeks ago to see if they take the tab washers or rely on Nylocs. I might be interested in a set or two if they don't Peter!

Hope you manage to sort the Beta handbrake calliper out this week.

Cheers
Guy

**mudhut** · 22-06-2024, 20:43

Thank you all three.

Hollytree:
I did a bit of research on you here and now I've forgotten what I saw but I think it was you who used to live Portsmouth way and moved to foreign parts (sorry Chris). I will contact some local companies but as you have recommended them, I'll get in touch with WJUK to see what they can offer and if I can get some economy of scale without buying by the thousand. Chris and Guy will know if my drawing is sufficiently accurate to be used for restoration and the like. It might just as well be right as wrong. An A4 size pice of steel will do about 49 of them but there may be constraints that I'm not aware of like how close the parts can be placed. I'll see. I think laser cutting is likely to be cheaper because there's more competition but I don't have any evidence one way or another.

Guy:
I persuaded the Italian seller of the callipers to post them but he won't do it inside eBay - probably due to eBay commission charges on postage. Expensive purchase but I think of it as insurance. I'll recondition the single one I'm buying from Neil if it welds well and the other two as well, barring catastrophes. I'm documenting everything for my son.

The calliper I'm replacing is an odd thing. It looks for all the world like a beta calliper as indeed it may well be but the iron claw is a very loose fit and it is tha alloy part that's the problem. The piston has a flat circlip and not the wire type that I was expecting. The machined groove in a replacement piston is for the thick wire circlip and that's a part that would prove difficult to get I think. When I took out the calliper, the flat circlip had come out of its groove and when replaced it, there was no play at all in the piston's handbrake adjuster mechanism - I've seen a diagram that shows some "slack" in this part where I had none at all, which would have made the mechnism difficult to turn. I think this lack of play is why the circlip had not seated properly and had come out - it won't now but it was a bit of a fiddle to get it properly seated. So what's it from? Only possibles that I can see aside of a Beta is a Trevi, possibly early Thema 2.0 (maybe V6 too), possibly early Delta 1.6 or Gamma. The Gamma has the same "thick end" on the cable outer and the small ball-type nipple.

Chris:
I've just bought a gear knob from the chap in Italy with the rear Beta callipers that Guy pointed me at. It's from a Beta but I seem to remember that the original may have been from a Fulvia and not identical to the Beta item. It's gloss varnished too - don't know if correct like that. As I'm about to sell my house (auction Tuesday), I've sold my milling machine and my lathe I've dismantled and put it into storage. Now no longer teaching, I can't avail myself of the machinery at school any more or I would turn a gear knob and an insert. I saw something on one of your threads about rear spring rate for a Beta-engined car. Mine have 175 painted on them but I don't know the units of measurement. Nobody would work in lbf/in now would they? Obviously not N/cm so possibly kg/cm? I'd have had a fit if the kids in school had used units like that or written them like that too.

I think Dampertech and Gaz may be related, as it were. My Leda struts were replated, rebuilt and revalved with softer valving by Dampertech about ten years ago as the piston rods were unevenly worn and weeping. The old rods had been sawn off so that the rear cover would close but the new ones are as you describe with the flat but mine also have a hex key recess too. Not too long either, so very pleased. I'll still use the tab washer and I'll post my drawing of it. If you don't think it looks quite right, let me know - I have radiused the entry to the tab by eye (6mm) as my radius gauges are in storage as are my drill bits that I'd use for testing. I've chamfered the ends of the tab. The rest is by measurement of an original. Happy to change this if you think it better to do so for accuracy or aesthetic reasons - please don't be afraid to say so if a change is needed.

Click image for larger version.

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**ProtoTipo** · 23-06-2024, 09:15

I'll see if I have an OE tab washer Peter.
I might have some Beta brake parts, but I'll check.
Dampertech do refurb Leda struts. I had a pair of Vince's old Leda struts done there.

**mudhut** · 23-06-2024, 09:53

I was really pleased with the work by Dampertech and not to expensive either. Don't go hunting for callipers yet Chris - I have two being sent from Italy tomorrow and another being sent from Neil on the Beta Forum some time this week too.

I'd appreciate you checking my measurement against an OE part, Chris. Mine are a bit beaten up but look to be 1.5mm thick. 18 SWG may do if that's all I can get easily but If I'm going to do a copy, I want to get it right. Shiny yellow zinc passivate may be a problem with my local electroplaters - last time I did carb parts it cam back matt but so long ago that I don't remember of shiny was an option. Should be shiny, I think.

**hollytree** · 23-06-2024, 10:20

Peter
Hi
I grew up in Portsmouth and my future wife (we met in 1979 at school and married in 2000) and I moved to London in late 70s to get jobs.
We moved to the dark North (Skipton area) in 2019 'cos the kids went to northern universities and would not come back to London because of housing costs.
The man at WJUK was very good.
Good luck with whatever you do

**ProtoTipo** · 23-06-2024, 13:18

Originally Posted by mudhut

I'd appreciate you checking my measurement against an OE part, Chris. Mine are a bit beaten up but look to be 1.5mm thick. 18 SWG may do if that's all I can get easily but If I'm going to do a copy, I want to get it right. Shiny yellow zinc passivate may be a problem with my local electroplaters - last time I did carb parts it cam back matt but so long ago that I don't remember of shiny was an option. Should be shiny, I think.

Peter,
I've checked an OE Beta tab washer with calipers, and your drawing and thickness (1.5mm) are correct. I wonder if the 36mm measurement might need another 0.5mm? Mine measures 36mm, but the tab is not completely flat. I've got two, so I'll flatten the worst one and check that measurement.

The OE Beta tab washer fits the Hawk GAZ rear strut.