I hope you all like green....... This picture shows the car inverted for seam sealing. The green paint is epoxy primer, the grey is high build primer/filler. As before the pics are rotated but open correctly when clicked. I'll leave you to work out what you are looking at. 093 Initial paint (5).jpg ...

First pass through the paint booth.

Hi everyone, So much discussion over Verde Matese! Thanks for the colour info Lou. Meanwhile, despite being slowed down by Covid I have managed to rebuild the back axle and calipers hopefully to a standard comparable to the body shop. i got lucky with the calipers - the pistons were well and truly s...

Yes, that's Matese but it looks a little "bright". Every picture i look at it looks slightly different. I had a rattle can made up to the nearest available generic colour match (the proper original colour is only available in 2k or similar professional use paint), but it looks like Pea green. The bo...

Hi Steve, Can't comment on lights but I can on the gearbox. If you are still on the original gloopy 80/90 gearbox oil, get rid of it and refill with Mobilube SHC 75/90 synthetic. You will need to order off the Internet, your local Mobil/Esso garage is unlikely to stock it. You should gain some immed...

I think Verde Matese was only offered in the UK on the first run of 1.3 Sprints with the chrome insert in the screen seals. My fathers '77 car was this colour.......I was driving a Fiat 127 at the time, the Sprint was a revelation in handling and an engine that wanted to rev for ever. Unfortunately ...

If anyone is wondering why I've not posted for a fortnight..............I've been out of action with Covid. I'm fine now apart from a damaged blood vessel to an eye but it should clear up. All welding & fabrication is now complete so I can thankfully put my book of blank cheques away. Costs for prep...

Hi Kegsti,

Yes the quality is amazing & no i don't think you are being sad. Another well known correspondent on this forum says its a piece of art, a sculpture, and that I should stop now and have it in my living room. My wife disagrees

More pictures to salivate or yawn over! It was impossible to stop the ceiling lights flaring in the camera lens. First & thirds pics needs rotating 90deg CW 085 Rotisserie (1).jpg 086 Rotisserie (2).jpg 087 Rotisserie (3).jpg This pic attempts to show the large repair to the offside roof. You can ju...

Hi Kegsti, Thanks for commenting. I thought they were stainless too, in fact that's what I said to Chris when I dropped them off for fit check. He said, "ReallY? I don't think so..." he held up a magnet to them & it got all friendly. However, I'm aware that stainless steels in the 400 series can be ...

Here's this week's progress report. The front & rear bumpers have been trial fitted. The dent to the front one has been straightened out & both bumpers have been re-profiled to accurately follow the bodywork contour. They will be re-plated in due course. Rear bumper 078 Rear bumper NS.jpg 079 Rear b...

Does anyone want a pattern offside outer sill repair section? I paid £55 plus shipping for it, I'll let it go for £20 if collected. It came from here
https://www.myalfagroup.com/en/parts/al ... /body.html

Obviously I'll be putting it up on the parts for sale board in due course.

Some significant progress made, it now has a roof. Grille trial fit together with rear lights & badges. All glass & trim in process of being trial fitted. Interior trim to trial fit so that all self tapping screws can be replaced with machine screws into Rivnuts. Independent inspection is being carr...

Hi Veesix, I'm sick of red Alfas, so it won't be that. The original colour was Ivory (so white then). The carpet is dark brown with Camel inserts in the door cards. The seats are Sprint GC, I doubt I can get hold of decent originals; I have the green dot material to recover them. So what goes with b...

The next step is to drill all holes prior to priming (well, after the roof is refitted!). I am missing the 3 position clips for the fuel supply, return & brake line pipes that run along the nearside floor. They all defied my best efforts to remove them intact; I've located two new ones, but can't fi...

Steady progress has continued despite the recent interruption. First (upside down :roll: ) picture shows the repair patch being let into the nearside rear of the roof panel. The second picture shows the cut line of the repair patch to the offside. If you enlarge the picture it is obvious why the pat...

Hi Kev, You are correct, TIG welded sections where it is impossible to form them. You are also right in regard to the man hours making these parts. I haven't asked Chris, but I'll guess it wasn't far short of 5 man days to produce the wing rails and reinforcements. Fingers crossed, the metal bashing...

In a reversal of roles, I have been given a "to do" list by Chris, as trial fit is required of some items and all holes have to be drilled before priming starts. That includes those through the floor pan for the fuel & brake pipe clips. The original large fuel supply pipe I think is recoverable, the...

Hi, In my previous update I showed the wing reinforcement rail being fabricated to pattern. Since then the supplementary reinforcing sections have been fabricated and both items installed either side. I can't recall if the horizontal dimple toward the back was original or whether Chris has added it ...

Hi Alfasam, Thanks for posting the link, on balance I think my car was in a better state than that Sud saloon. If it had been that bad, I think I wouldn't have attempted to get it repaired. MGC's fabrication work is very good. The man hours on mine are racking up, I won't be sad to see it move from ...

Thanks for pointing to your dimensions post. I have forwarded to the bodyshop although it's a bit late now. They are confident the shell is square as there was no evidence of accident damage & the jig isn't showing any dimensional mismatches (other than pothole damage to the front nearside which the...

New springs all round, I'm not messing around anymore. Fortunately I've not had the rear springs blasted, so that's a few farthings saved. Sud shop to the rescue!

The mystery of the tipping spring pan on the nearside front strut is resolved, I think. With the benefit of the bottom bearing plate being tacked onto the pan, I was better able to assemble the strut correctly. Still a struggle though, I ended up having to compress the spring onto the pan aggressive...

Hello, here's the latest progress report from the intensive care unit. Front valance installed 062 Front valance.jpg Work is in progress to create the front wing inner reinforcements from the NOS nearside template. This is the offside one. 063 New wing reinforcement (1).jpg 063 New wing reinforcemen...

Trivial pursuit........if you look carefully at the pictures of the inner wing, you can see in mirror image, date stamps. 01 75. The Sprint didn't launch until September 1976. Answers on the back of a postage stamp please

Hi Gary, The offside pan was & is a tight fit on the bearing plate & the whole strut went back together relatively easily. The nearside wasn't a particularly tight fit before it was derusted & powder coated. Now it's loose and tips over when I try to reassemble. I tried to assymetrically load the sp...

Hi Chris, By pure luck I have acquired a pair of front struts with the original upside down shox. They don't appear to have been ever taken apart & when the offside one was trial fitted to my Sprint part body shell (see Sprint Resurrection & you'll see what I mean!) everything lined up correctly. I ...

Hi Chris, I recently purchased a complete set of bushes for my inboard brakes 82 Sprint. They came in Akron packaging with Akron P/N 6967 although I believe an earlier number is 287. Alfa Restoration state 60501394 is the same as 115099. Alfa-onlineshop.de state they are the same as these 131554, 11...

Hi Dave, Yes i agree, the position of the cage nuts for the battery bracket isn't very smart either allowing water to drop into the double skin bulkhead. I mentioned that the front struts appeared to have their components mixed up. Here are two pictures of the bearing plate, as you can see the plate...

I have actually been doing some work too. Front suspension arm, with new original bushes. Old ball joints were fine so have been reinstalled - I know flange bolts aren't contemporary to the car but I had some YZP grade 10.9 nuts & bolts. I'm amazed at the rubbish fasteners that are often sold with n...