Lancia Scorpion #1733 -- new owner, project start

RJ80 said:
Black cars seemed to fall into my lap for a time, but on cars where it wasn't my favorite color. The Scorpion is one, my old Alfa Milano Verde was another. Preferred red for both when I was searching, but black is what fell into my hands. Black does help make the exterior of the Scorpion a little more uniform with all the stock black trim, which is nice. Black with some red accents looks more interesting.

An orangy red like Ferrari's Rosso Dino shade or the Pininfarina Red used on the 037 Stradale are probably my favorite colors, but red seems a little overdone. The two-tone Boxer style paint is also interesting, with black on the lower panels. I also like some of the '70s pastel shades of blue and green. The orange metallic shades get a little too close to modern Lamborghinis and BMW M cars for me.

Given the amount of damp weather we have in the PNW, I'd like to protect where the paint has deteriorated the most significantly, mainly around the windshield frame and the front trunklid. Paying a grand to sand, prep and respray those trouble areas in black may be the right call for now. That will allow me to wash the car with water and take a chance on getting caught out in the rain.
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Here’s an old picture of my ‘76 Scorpion. It was Porsche Guards Red with black Boxer lower panels. I had Faza fiberglass bumpers too. Ignore the crappy car on the right!
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Drove a Miura several years ago, a P400S. Looked amazing, sounded amazing, and felt plenty quick. But the driving position, visibility and horrid gearchange made the experience less enjoyable than it could have been. Probably things you get used to over time when you own one.
 
RJ80 said:
Drove a Miura several years ago, a P400S. Looked amazing, sounded amazing, and felt plenty quick. But the driving position, visibility and horrid gearchange made the experience less enjoyable than it could have been. Probably things you get used to over time when you own one.
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Nah, a Mira is purely a work of art.
 
RJ80 said:
Drove a Miura several years ago, a P400S. Looked amazing, sounded amazing, and felt plenty quick. But the driving position, visibility and horrid gearchange made the experience less enjoyable than it could have been. Probably things you get used to over time when you own one.
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You should read what the Miura owners are saying about Scorpions over on the Miura forum.
 
Been a while since I've said much about my car, but it's now been repainted and I've got about 1,100 miles on it since it's been back on the road.

About half of those miles were from last week, when I drove the car down to Skamania, WA for a 1000-mile classic car tour. Ended up driving the car the first day without issues, but since my job is with the company that put the event on, I found myself too busy with work to drive the following days. The car was in great company with a (real) Ferrari 250 GT California Spider, a 400 Superamerica, several Daytonas and an early 365 Boxer. That, plus several Alfas, a Lancia Flaminia Zagato, 2000 HF coupe, and about 40 other classics. Italian cars were the theme this year, so they were the most plentiful.

The engine is just fantastic. Good power, intoxicating sound and both oil pressure and water temp remained stable. The car is also quite comfortable for long distances (though a bit noisy with open air filters) but it still corners nice and flat with X1/9 KYB dampers and Vick sport springs. I struggled to even get the tires to make any noise, despite pretty high cornering speeds on some great twisty backroads. I was also impressed with how nice the car is to drive with both windows down and the roof off. Even at 70 mph, the cabin is very calm with very little wind buffeting.

Brakes are still a bit soft, but the car is now being cared for by a new mechanic who will sort that issue, along with the difficult cold-start issue, will probably end up installing a choke (cold start enrichment circuit, in Weber speak) cable for the DCNFs. Once we find out what the primary issue is with the brakes, we'll also take advantage of the Wilwood brake kit I've been sitting on and get that installed. Might as well, since the car is already running 15-inch wheels.

Once the car is finished, I'll drive it back up from Eugene, OR where it is currently to WA, taking a coastal route. At that point, I think the car should be ready to start using regularly.

A few photos below, including of the period Alquati airbox I bought for it. Still deliberating on whether to try that or fiddle with the TMH box design to make it fit.

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A few more photos... car got an oil change before heading down for the tour. I was using a 10W40 by Motul, decided to change to Valvoline VR1 20W50 instead. Both high zinc blends, but the Valvoline is dino oil vs semi synthetic Motul.
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Very good news, I have found my Montecarlo is a good long distance car as well. Mine is a coupe (double bubble hard top). With Fuel injection, and there is quite a bit of engine noise. But that is part of the experience.
 
My Scorpion (FI 2lt) is also a great long distance car. When I bought it a couple of years ago I attempted to drive it from just west of Sacramento Ca. to just east of Peoria IL. I didn't make it. The alternator tried to fall off about half way through Nebraska. :( But it was fun driving it through the mountains.
Once the alternator was properly mounted I drove it from just east of Peoria IL. to the Freakout in Knoxville Tn., to the Tail of the Dragon (several times), and back. It performed flawlessly! :) Now, if I just get the AC functioning it'll be REALLY great.
 
Ron Avery said:
Very good news, I have found my Montecarlo is a good long distance car as well. Mine is a coupe (double bubble hard top). With Fuel injection, and there is quite a bit of engine noise. But that is part of the experience.
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My car has DCNFs, so there's lots of throaty induction noise just behind my head. My co-driver thought it was the best-sounding 4-cylinder engine he's ever heard.

Is your roof permanently attached? I was thinking about doing that with one of my double-bubble roofs (I have a Grantham roof and a TMH version), but I've found I like the open air experience so much that I'm going to leave it removable. It also seems to be less "boomy" in the cabin with the windows and roof open -- sort of like the Alfa 4C coupe vs Spider.

MikeHynes said:
Now, if I just get the AC functioning it'll be REALLY great.
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I'm thinking about getting mine functional down the road as well. Supposedly the previous owner refurbished quite a bit of the system at one point, and it's all still there. I considered removing it during the renovation, but decided it may be wanted down the road. A project for another day/month/year.
 
RJ80 said:
My car has DCNFs, so there's lots of throaty induction noise just behind my head. My co-driver thought it was the best-sounding 4-cylinder engine he's ever heard.

Is your roof permanently attached? I was thinking about doing that with one of my double-bubble roofs (I have a Grantham roof and a TMH version), but I've found I like the open air experience so much that I'm going to leave it removable.
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DCOEs on the Scorpion are straight-shot engine symphony.

Grantham's roof should be as quick removing and installing as the soft top. Uses same latches for rear and just two machine screws in front.
 
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