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Lancia Delta Integrale specialists and enthusiasts
Structural problems
An Integrale is no stranger to bodywork problems, a lovely looking Evo2 can have
the same issues as an early 8v. So let's have a look at a few issues here...
L78UMA is a late model Evo2, as you can see it's yellow in colour. It had been repainted by the previous owner, it's a good windows out job, the painter has kept an original factory style finish,
and reached into every corner.
This Evo2 has been well looked after, and always dry stored, but the usual rust areas needed some modest attention.
First for attention was the passenger side sill, hidden by the plastic cover, corrosion here is often missed. Any of the multiple rubber bungs can fall out, or not be put back after work. This of course allows water in.
I used my metal folder to replace a long section of the floor, which butted up to the outer sill spot welded channel. It wasn't too bad, and we got away with a simple repair.
Plenty of rust converter to finish off. I flap-disced the surface rust around the cover mounting holes, Dinitrolled it, rubbed it down then primed and painted the sill in the correct yellow.
Next day I masked this off and undersealed underneath to a neat factory spec line.
New plastic cover clips and some replacement rubber bungs finished the job to completion.
Next was the lower front corner with the big rubber bung,
where the hole gives access to the suspension mounting captive bolts.
The rust didn't look bad, but of course it was worse than it looked.
I cleaned it all well, and removed the front engine mounting bolt,
I just slackened off the other bolt, so not to lose the inner mounting plate location, it can be a twat to find the holes again.
I slackened the suspension plate off so I could get a masking cover
over it, for when I painted the repair.
Using card patterns I made two metal repair pieces, using .6 wire and a low power setting I welded these in place. Plenty of hammering was used to dress the pieces into shape as I welded. Then etch primer
and seam sealer.
With the non metallic colours, you can use a single pack cellulose paint, brushing this on generously in these private places to give
plenty of future protection.
Job completed, with plenty of paint applied, and a new big
bung in place.
The smaller bung is of a different design which makes it easy to fall into the hole, which of course this one did. I couldn't find it in the crossmember, but I have a new one to replace it.
The final repair was this common stress crack. This is often caused by hard aftermarket suspension and enthusiastic driving.
This car had neither of those issues however, behind that crack area the inner A pillar and the inner roof frame meet. These two frames are spot welded together, and spot welded to the outer A pillar.
This is a bit hit and miss, and on this side of this car it was a miss. So the forces at this corner were absorbed by the single outer skin which eventually gave up and cracked. The other side is fine.
The operatore di carrozzeria's habit of filing down any bulges or brazing lumps also causes local thinning and weakening of the metal.
I had optimistically expected to clean out the crack and run a weld up it,
however you can see here that mild flap discing has worn right through the metal.
It was very thin due to shaving flat in the factory.
So I had to make a patch to cover the section. The crack can go un noticed on
the passenger side, you would see it as the driver climbing in and out on the driver's side, this leaves time for the crack to get rusty, the rust had to be machined away using my mini belt sander.
I made a single piece patch, bending to follow the curves. I blew through the thin metal even on the lowest welder setting, but I made it secure in the end
I removed the gutter and covered the inside of the car carefully,
I removed the seat and rolled the carpet back. I removed the plastic pillar liner and lowered the roof lining, placing a sheet of aluminium behind the repair
That's the job completed, I again used a one pack celly yellow, and after etch prime, seam sealer, primer etc, with a flat down in between each,
using a small soft Tesco art brush I applied several coats of yellow.
Only a small area is visible with the gutter and door seal in place, but it saved me much time in masking up, and meant a good thick coat
of paint could be applied.
That's the bodywork done on this car, I'm next going to ask our Hilux
to donate its old engine oil so I can give the Evo a good
internal rustproofing.