Classic Alfa Forums

I’m sure we’ve all got projects we’re trying to get on with during the lockdown . Just thought I’d share some of mine .
Managed to Started the 33 today as it hadn’t been run For several months. I can report that all seemed well and I still love that car.
MG. As I think your aware we (Charlotte)got drunk And bought an MG Midget of Ebay. We did some mechanical work to make it safe and had some fun with it last year. So last November I pulled the engine & box In order to replace the box. this Job has now escalated slightly Pic 1 = is how it looked during engine removal Pic 2 = 2 days later and Pic 3 as it is now

The Project has evolved as they do it’s having complete new floors, inner and outer sills, both foot boxes rebuilt And inner wings. And a pair of New doors
This work isn’t being done because the car was rotten but mainly because the car had been so badly Repaired in the past with seriously bodged repairs welded over rust. I just couldn’t live with that so it’s become a much bigger job but should be really nice when finished . It may even end up being a classic rally car
Lou

Another project I’m on with is an engine rebuild for a Porsche 912. For those that don’t know a 912 is an early 911 with the 4cyl Beetle derived 356 Engine this car was imported from the states by my friend sight unseen and I have to say it was probably the rustiest Porsche I’ve ever seen. It was far too much for me to tackle at the time so Bob has had the bodywork done by a shop that Specialises in Porsche coachwork. And I’m just doing the engine. I’m hoping to have that finished as soon as this lockdown is over as I need To get all the tinware powder coated. I’ll post pictures later .

Not to forget my Sud sadly the sud has yet again gone on to the back burner but I’m hoping to do bits and pieces along side the midget . I’ve finished most of the front end sheet metal and there’s just a few small repairs to do on the floors and OS A-pillar.
Again I’ll post pics as work progresses
I’m also in the middle of building a fresh engine for the Spider racer.
Lou.

I for one will be looking forward to following progress on the MG Lou, hardly done anything on one myself so will be nice to see how they're constructed. Led to believe there's a good supply of panels for them?

Sud will be nice to see progress on too but you don't need me to point out you've got your plate full at the moment!

Not to mention the coupider build..

Lou,
have you tried seeing a shrink?

Funny you should mention that Dave. Yes !!! And You don’t want to know what he said I had to do.

First area to Be Prepared And ready to have the side panel welded in. This isn’t going to be welded in Just yet as I’d like to have the floors in first I’ll probably be cutting the drivers side Floor out this coming week As long as i don’t come down with a bad case of death. . You wouldn’t believe how cocked up this area was. I need complete new A-Posts aswell

I Think I’ve said it before . I know this isn’t a Alfa but it’s a seriously fun Little car blasting round country lanes with the roof down never quite knowing if your Going to break down. In the next 100yds they’re as simple as they come and You can get everything for them. I didn’t want to go New shell route that’s Way too easy and Besides you don’t get to enjoy the fun of cutting your fingers off On sharp edges Of rusty metal and burning yourself with hot sparks from the welder. Sometime I think I should’ve taken up fishing or stamp collecting. I’d also like to learn to ride a unicycle

I like fishing

I caught a perch once . And I’m serious about the unicycle if anyone’s got one lying around !

A30.
This is our little A30. It’s been a long haul this but it’s finally getting there. I recently fitted some new rear springs as the old ones had gone very soft.
We got a pair from an A30/35 specialist but they’re crap ! The car now sits much to high and is way to hard for such a light car they’ve got 11 leaves 3 more than the old ones ?? Spoke to them about it and they just don’t want to know. So I’ve decided I’m going to pull a couple of leaves out to get the ride height down a bit. After that I’ve got to rebuild the dynamo as it’s got a noisy bearing in the front cover
We’re hoping to use This a bit more this year.

Oh yeah I’m also building a Supercharged 1.5 engine for the Sud .
This is the block This is the blower fitted to a dummy lump to check it’s all there (it is)

Morning
There's an A30 parks near my house .cool little car .
Liking the supercharged engine build
Your definitely going to be busy

My god Lou, where do you and Kev get all your drive from?
I just admire both of you for the amount of "get on with it" drive you have.
Loving your projects and will enjoy following the progress on them all, and thanks for finding the time to share with us.

That A30 is so cute, I've said to you before Lou, I'd love a van version with a Fiat/Lancia twin-cam up front..

KevJTD wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 06, 2020 8:07 pm

That A30 is so cute, I've said to you before Lou, I'd love a van version with a Fiat/Lancia twin-cam up front..

That would be a cool sleeper . When i venture out to the corner shop. I'll try and remember to take a photo of the one in my road .

there's loads of projects i'd like to do JB, like everyone else, but the sleeper look van with a bit of performance has always appealed to me.
a useable van at that, not just a show queen.

pic of an inspirational one will be nice

No going back now ! Done some work on the Midget . Drivers side floor removed along with the inner and outer sills . The hardest parts so far has been the amount of work it’s taken to remove all the badly done patchwork of previous repairs that Some of which appear to have been Braized on eeek!. You can see in the top photo the outer sill wasn’t even attached in the middle Properly. Also the sills had Been fitted about an inch too low and the Panel gaps made up with Bog !!! For those wondering yes I have braced the shell Across the door apertures prior to sill removal.
This jobs just getting bigger Which is good as I may jump on the sud as it needs a lot less work To get it to the paint stage

You're a star Lou, there is definitely no going back now.
There is a lot of jobs getting done during this lock down.

That's some serious work you've got yourself there Lou

Porsche engine nearly done . Just waiting for all the tins to come back from powder coat

Another Small Lockdown Project.
Homemade Tin Can alley for Air pistol Target practice, Chippendale I ain’t but not bad as it’s All made from spare scraps of wood and an old Pallet

Hey Lou, will you post the results ?
It will be interesting to see how the focus fairs as you add more Stella cans

Porsche lump looks nice

Air rifle, now why don't I get myself one of those for a bit of fun
Like the shooting range Lou, don't put it on the car roof to shoot though

With the Porsche engine finished I’ve managed to start getting on with refurbish a few bits of the sud.
One problem I had was the RH 1/4 light channel was knackered but i had two mint LH ones so My solution was to take a LH one Remove the bracketry the turn upside down re profile And reattach the brackets and hey presto now I have a mint RH one by the time they are powder coated you. Won’t tell

Call me old fashioned possums,
but i thought the Cayman was a modern car with fuel injection?

It certainly is Dave. This is a Porsche 912 engine I’ve been rebuilding for a guy in Essex. It’s basically a 356 engine which was Loosely based on the VW beetle unit slotted In an early 911 shell
He bought The car in from the states last year. The engine was in a right state as I stripped it down I was finding all sorts of dead American insects and Foliage debris
It had basically been thrown together to resemble an engine so it looked complete but it was a real mess. And certainly wouldn’t have run if he’d tried to start it .

Just finished rebuilding a Fresh engine for the Coupider aswell .

You have been busy Lou.
Looking good in blue.
Bet you can't wait to get that fitted.