1977 Scorpion pit falls

[Jay]

For better or worse I will soon be the proud recipient of a Scorpion from my father-in-law. For the past 12 years I’ve been enamored with Lambretta Scooters and enjoyed the mind boggling over-engineering of simple engine parts and Wall-Marting the ones that shouldn’t have been, Italian engineering at its best. I’ve also dabbled with Laverda, Moto Guzzie, and Ducati’s. The wife isn’t so keen on the bikes anymore and I figured I would become a four wheel cager. The Scorpion is FOC and I am welcoming the project.

The big question I have for the experienced crew here is, What do I have to look forward to? Basically, what would you look for if you were getting the car? Are there issues with pistons and fillings like you would find in a MINI? Clutch nightmares? Messed up gearing? Consistent timing problems? I would give you more information but I haven’t even seen the car. It’s been in his garage for the past 8 years. He tells me it’s a 76 and there were only 400 of them in the US. This tells me it’s a 77 instead of the ’76 but I’m not arguing, it’s free.

TIA for any information.
:D

[Warren Horby]

The pit falls with a Scorp are directly proportional to the P.O maitanance.
If He/She looked after the car you won't have meany problems, but if the car was neglected boy are you going to have fun. The cars are easy to work on and if the car has been sitting a while, you won't have any more problems than any other car that has been sitting. Have fun with it and enjoy it for what the car is. ( a toy )


Cheers,
Warren

[Will]

As the owner of a 76, I believe the problems you are likely to find will include some electrical issues and varios engine leaks. Probably also some overheating from poor bleeding of the convoluted coolant system. We're here for you.
-Will

[markalen]

Ten bucks says you're brake booster is going to lock your front breaks solid when you get it running. The most attractive (and cheap) option is to bypass the booster. Removing the booster also greatly increases accesibility under the car to intake, oil filter, and other things. Look at your rear crossmember while you're down there. Some crack, some don't.

My 76 sat for an equal amount of time (actually a couple more years). And sitting seems to be the worst thing for them. But, you have a myriad of general Fiat, Beta, and X 1/9 parts to make this not so bad for cost. I'm a college student (ie, not much money), and I am always presently suprised how many parts are crossover and are cheap.

If you haven't already, you ought to check out the Scorpion tech tips. They're archived on lanciamontecarlo.net under the Scorpion section.

[hahnmgh63]

The brake booster only boosted the front brakes and they tended to lock in wet conditions easily. The lines go from the mastercylinder in the front to the booster in the rear then back up to the front brakes. You can bypass the booster in the front compartment and then remove the lines from the front to the booster and back to the front including the booster. This makes bleeding the front brakes much easier also. The engine crossmembers have a tendency to crack. Most people weld the crack then have a thin piece of 1/16"-3/32" metal strips welded on either side of the crossmember lengthwise for reinforcement and this seems to solve the problem. Rust around the three vents in the front hood. Leaks around the rear window and two side rear windows, just reseal with modern quality sealant. Top straps side straps on top break easily and are not cheap replacements. Most engine parts are relatively cheap and interchangeable with Fiats as the engine is the same just recast with Lancia on the block instead of Fiat. Let us know what kind of info your looking for. MGH

[DJ]

Ten bucks says you're brake booster is going to lock your front breaks solid when you get it running. The most attractive (and cheap) option is to bypass the booster.

I might take that bet! Most Scorpions I've seen haven't had that problem. In fact I've only heard of two or three that have.

On the subject of removing the booster, some of us out here have a different perspective. IMHO, you should at least try the car BEFORE removing the booster. I'm not saying that you shouldn't do it or that you won't want to eventually. I'm just saying that you should have a decent point of reference before you make such a significant mod that you may not be happy with.

I've driven a Scorp with this done to it and I didn't like it at all. I've also driven Scorps for years with the stock braking system in all types of conditions and in all parts of the country and never had any of the braking issues that people talk about when driving on the road. Of course, others will have different experiences to share that are just as valid.

I think that it may really boil down to driving style, loading in the front trunk, tires, etc. I can say that when I autocrossed my first Scorp when it was new, I did experience some of these braking issues when driving EXTREMELY agressively on tight courses. It NEVER occurred on straight line braking, even on wet courses. In fact I won most of my races on wet course. The Pirelli P6s it came with kicked butt in the wet when everyone else was sliding aroundon lesser tires. Most of the trouble I had was when trying to brake hard and then corner hard. But I think a lot of that was just bad technique.

All I'm suggesting is that you should just check it our with the stock system BEFORE changing it. Eventually I expect to upgrade to one of the systems from the Monte Hospital. But I'm quite happy for the time being with my stock setup.