It begins...

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Alfamet
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It begins...

Post by Alfamet »

My Sprint Speciale before the strip-down.
My Sprint Speciale before the strip-down.
Well, after enjoying 3,500 trouble-free and smile-inducing miles since I bought her and with the tax due to run out at the end of the month, it's time to get my little beauty on SORN and to give her the TLC she deserves over the winter months.

Watch this space. During October, we'll be dropping the engine and inspecting all mechanical components with a view to renewing or replacing as necessary as we go along.

Let the fun begin. Stay tuned for more with occasional updates with pictures here...

Kegsti66
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Re: It begins...

Post by Kegsti66 »

Good luck, hope it doesn't get too costly.
Are you looking at just mechanical or bodywork?
Look forward to the updates. :D

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Alfamet
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Re: It begins...

Post by Alfamet »

Thanks Kegsti. Looking at the mechanicals firstly.

The miles I've done in her have allowed me to give her a thorough shake down and I now have a good idea of what's likely to be needed to bring her back to A1 condition.

This is after the car had been rescued from an open garage after being on display at a motor museum in Wales for a good many years. The car changed hands a couple of times without being touched before having a lot of recommissioning work done by an Alfa Romeo-trained technician by the name of Lez Youles of Kingham's in Croydon. (Gary Orchard may be able to fill in a few blanks here).

Lez got the car back on the road and used it until last year when I bought 'Alfie' (as Lez called her) last March.

A respray is on the cards too as long as my wallet can stand it! Look out for updates starting soon.
Last edited by Alfamet on Sun Sep 20, 2015 10:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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KevJTD
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Re: It begins...

Post by KevJTD »

looking forward to following the progress over the coming winter mate, hope it doesn't reveal any serious issues

running it for a few miles as a shakedown was a good idea, gets you an idea of how things are
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Gary Orchard
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Re: It begins...

Post by Gary Orchard »

Hi Colin

Sorry that it took a while for me to reply - had quite a few things to sort out over the last 2 months

Les did not work for Kingham's - it was Spur Garage in Wimbledon where he worked with me and also Harry White & Gary Walker who now have their own Alfa specialist garage - Bianco Auto Developments and Ian Brookfield also worked there - it was called T & B Garage when we all started there and changed name to Spur in the mid 80's.

Your sprint is a very solid car - I think the time it spent in the museum saved it - also that it had the respray - the interior is one of the best around

From what I recall of the bit Les did it was brakes all round,new calipers at the front and rebuilt rears,new pads and flexi hoses - new fuel pipes - new driveshaft boots - new exhaust - new tyres - all new belts on the engine and a full engine service/carb tune. The original marelli distributor was changed to a bosch system as the advance mechanism was seized solid - after all of that it drove very well when I had a quick drive of it.

Les also did a few bits of bodywork on the car - the bonnet was painted properly and a few bits around the car were blown in aerosol with cans to tidy it up - I think the passenger front wing had a few holes in it that got filled and painted over

I remember Les saying about the respray job that it was good and bad - good that it had saved the car but bad the it was not a great job,lots of micro blisters and quite a few annoying bit like some of the glass had sanding marks from it not being removed and there were a few bits of trim not fitted back properly or lost

What are your plans with some of the unique bits like the side stripes and rear spoiler ?

Overall this has the makings of one of the best chrome bumpered sprints around with a quality paint job and careful reassembly - looking forward to seeing the progress

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Alfamet
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Re: It begins...

Post by Alfamet »

Hi Gary.

Thanks for filling in a few details for me.

Spur Garage: Respect!

All the car's invoices whilst Lez worked on it were included with the sale. Many were for parts delivered to Lez C/O Kinghams of Croydon hence my assumption that Lez worked there.

The work that Lez did on the brakes etc is top quality and allowed the car to go through the MOT without advisories. The tax has run out now so the car is on SORN ready for its bout of TLC.

Lez was right. The respray was one that I would call a good five metre job in that it looks great from that distance away but get closer and you begin to see the orange peel effect and the micro-blisters due to the primer not having had chance to dry out properly before the top coat was applied but nevertheless this probably saved the car during its stay in the museum. Luckily, the underside is corrosion-free.

Side stripes? I managed to pick up a set on my travels (I'm an Alfasud spare parts hoarder by nature) and have found a firm that have said that they can make a fair job of overhauling the rear rubber spoiler, which is just as well as I have been unable to source a NOS item.

The car plus an extensive number of spare parts collected by me over the last decade is due to be transported up to an Alfa Specialist in Scotland at the end of this month to undergo a mechanical overhaul and to have a proper respray.

Wish me luck and watch this space for regular updates.

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Alfamet
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Re: It begins...

Post by Alfamet »

Update! After a few false starts due to illness and holidays, my baby at last went away today for refurbishment to commence.
Watch this space for updates! ;)

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KevJTD
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Re: It begins...

Post by KevJTD »

...and updates in the AROC mag please col, I've missed your column :D
Giulietta JTD 170
Lancia Delta integrale
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Lancia Dedra turbo
Renault Clio 197 RS

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Alfamet
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Re: It begins...

Post by Alfamet »

OK Kev. You got it.

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Alfamet
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Re: It begins...

Post by Alfamet »

Off she goes for some good old TLC
Off she goes for some good old TLC

dave.armstrong
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Re: It begins...

Post by dave.armstrong »

Looking forward to seeing the progress Colin.

Do you have a Sprint Speciale brochure?

If not I will scan mine and email it to you.

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Alfamet
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Re: It begins...

Post by Alfamet »

I'd appreciate that Dave. Thank you.

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Alfamet
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Re: It begins...

Post by Alfamet »

FB_IMG_1448304040103.jpg
Making a start on removing the engine and gearbox. It's a long, long road...

Kegsti66
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Re: It begins...

Post by Kegsti66 »

Looking forward to the journey. :D
Thanks for sharing it.

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KevJTD
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Re: It begins...

Post by KevJTD »

glad to see you're starting with a car with 4 useable jacking points :D
Giulietta JTD 170
Lancia Delta integrale
Lancia Flavia coupe 1.8 1963
Lancia Dedra turbo
Renault Clio 197 RS

I'm bad with people things
But I should have tried more

Alfasixnut
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Re: It begins...

Post by Alfasixnut »

Looking forward to seeing how this progresses.

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Alfamet
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Re: It begins...

Post by Alfamet »

Progress.
Strip-down and cleaning, degreasing and repainting of parts commences:
Attachments
Ready for engine and transmission removal.
Ready for engine and transmission removal.
Engine and gearbox dropped.
Engine and gearbox dropped.
Ancillaries removed, labelled and boxed.
Ancillaries removed, labelled and boxed.
On the bench.
On the bench.
Engine as removed.
Engine as removed.

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Alfamet
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Re: It begins...

Post by Alfamet »

More progress photos:
Attachments
Block is stripped down
Block is stripped down
Carbs labelled and boxed.
Carbs labelled and boxed.
More parts stripped labelled and boxed.
More parts stripped labelled and boxed.
Engineless compartment as existing.
Engineless compartment as existing.
Some of the new parts to be fitted during the rebuild.
Some of the new parts to be fitted during the rebuild.

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Alfamet
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Re: It begins...

Post by Alfamet »

And the last for now:
Attachments
More new parts for the ongoing rebuild.
More new parts for the ongoing rebuild.
Many parts cleaned, degreased and repainted.
Many parts cleaned, degreased and repainted.
Engine block cleaned, degreased and repainted.
Engine block cleaned, degreased and repainted.

Alfasixnut
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Re: It begins...

Post by Alfasixnut »

Excellent progress! :)

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Alfamet
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Re: It begins...

Post by Alfamet »

Here are a few more photographs as the work of refitting the new and refurbished parts to the engine continues.

2015-10-25 15.01.38.jpg
Stripped block and sump before...

2015-10-25 15.01.47.jpg
...and after refurbishment with new water pump and repainted sump pan refitted with new gasket.

2015-10-25 17.31.31.jpg
Coming along nicely.

2015-10-25 17.31.40.jpg
Cleaned, degreased and repainted gearbox and diff' unit on the bench.

2015-10-31 14.20.15.jpg
All core plugs replaced with new.
Last edited by Alfamet on Fri Dec 04, 2015 7:31 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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Alfamet
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Re: It begins...

Post by Alfamet »

More...

2015-10-31 14.20.25.jpg
New complete three-part clutch goes in.

2015-10-31 16.39.22.jpg
Looking good as work progresses. The cambelts and tensioners have been replaced with new.

2015-10-31 16.39.28.jpg
Excellent attention to detail.

2015-11-03 11.46.48.jpg
Heads refitted with custom black crackle finish rocker covers.



Further updates soon as work progresses.

alfachris
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Re: It begins...

Post by alfachris »

Looking good

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KevJTD
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Re: It begins...

Post by KevJTD »

loving the swift progress mate, guess that comes with getting the pros' on the job 8-)

crackle finish looks ace 8-)
Giulietta JTD 170
Lancia Delta integrale
Lancia Flavia coupe 1.8 1963
Lancia Dedra turbo
Renault Clio 197 RS

I'm bad with people things
But I should have tried more

sud_1.5ti
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Re: It begins...

Post by sud_1.5ti »

Great work!

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Alfamet
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Re: It begins...

Post by Alfamet »

The rocker covers took a few attempts and a lot of patience to get right but I'm pleased with the end result.

The work's moving along nicely and Euan and the lads at CP Garage are doing a great job.

It's early days yet of course but so far so good. ;)

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Alfamet
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Re: It begins...

Post by Alfamet »

I like the way the car is being rebuilt by Euan and the lads at CP Garage.

I didn't want to go down the 'over-restored' route and wanted to retain a bit of honest patina and this is exactly how the rebuild is being tackled.

Here's more progress photos:

Image
Carbs being stripped down.

Image
Rebuilt with Weber overhaul kits

Image
Rebuilt carbs remounted to engine

Image
Nearly there

Image
New calipers mounted to gearbox unit on the bench

Image
Not 'over-restored' but still with a patina

Very, very pleased with the way things are going. I just hope that there’ll be no nasty surprises further down the line...

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Johnboy
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Re: It begins...

Post by Johnboy »

Looking good chap ! Nasty surprises ? It's an alfa . Of course there won't be any :shock: :lol:
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biber1999
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Re: It begins...

Post by biber1999 »

Looks very good, but one thing that came into my mind:
Aren't the calipers mounted the wrong way? I think the hoses should point forward. Mechanically it shouldn't make any difference.

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KevJTD
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Re: It begins...

Post by KevJTD »

looking great mate.
nice to see they've put coppergrease in with the new clutch slave, they are a bugger for seizing in the housing.

looks a perfect blend of restoration 8-)
Giulietta JTD 170
Lancia Delta integrale
Lancia Flavia coupe 1.8 1963
Lancia Dedra turbo
Renault Clio 197 RS

I'm bad with people things
But I should have tried more

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