SPRINT RESURRECTION

[Alfaoldgit]

Hi Alfadave,

A lot of what you see in the picture is a build up of corrosion shedding from the scuttle panel and what fell off due to the Envirostrip process. But obviously it isn't good long term as it'll encourage corrosion and blocks drain holes. Doesn't help that its very difficult to apply seam sealer between the skins where they adjoin other panels. Clearly the factory didn't even try. But it confirms how important the integrity of the scuttle panel is; I suspect separating the bulkhead skins is beyond most-do -it-yourselfers and many body shops too.

Here are a couple of pictures after clean up.

[alfadave]

Looks a lot better after a clean up!
There is an open pocket under the floor where the rear trailing arm bolt fits, to allow the bolt to be removed.

Some years ago, the meatheads at my local MoT place welded plates over, having told me there was corrosion there!

[Alfaoldgit]

Here's the latest report.

I think i might have caused unintended offence previously so I'll be brief. Somewhat out of sequence, here are before and after pictures of the scuttle panel.

The upper front bulkhead has been repaired & installed.

The front inner wings and turrets have been installed, the front valance is shown clamped in place. Note the jig.

[Alfaoldgit]

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 new ball joints.

I've been having fun & games with the front struts. Someone mixed up components from left & right & it's been a head scratch sorting them out. The NS spring pan may need to be welded onto the bearing plate as it keeps on tipping when I try to reassemble the strut. I've already had a near miss with the spring trying to escape during assembly. I'll post some pics in the next post & you'll see what the issue is.

[alfadave]

I think a battery tray and drain pipe would be a good idea to avoid acid spillage/corrosion.
Pity they didn't fit one originally.
I think the X1/9 had one as original.

[Alfaoldgit]

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 hasn't been sat on top of the needle bearing but on two points of contact on top of the leg casing/the centering bush. Fortunately the strut case is undamaged.

It appears the plate has been chafing on the spring pan

I used my 20 ton press to try and get the plate to lock in the pan, but it's not having it. So i think tack welding the plate to the pan is the only option. I had forgotten how complicated the early struts on these cars are, for what was supposed to be Alfa's car for the masses.

[Gary Orchard]

That doesn't sound right - are you sure the lower spring pan is the right type or is it damaged ?
The strut bearing should just easily fit through the hole in the lower spring pan and go through it far enough for the upper "lip" of the bearing housing to be visible so the rubber dust boot can fit onto it.

Loving the body repair updates - glad you managed to get the fuel flap issue sorted out - are you going to leave the "finger" indent in the new panel or get it filled in like i was originally ?

[Alfaoldgit]

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 spring to aid assembly...........the spring compressors decided to have a love in on the same side of the spring so I rapidly abandoned that approach. I have checked the pan etc with an unmolested nearside strut with upside down shocks and it's correct. So, Mr Pursall has neatly tack welded the bearing plate onto the pan & after checking a third time, I'll attempt to rebuild the strut tomorrow. It isn't a task I enjoy, there's far to much potential energy in compressed road springs for my liking, particularly modern ones which seem to like breaking (N/A to Sud springs!!).

Fuel flap.......the design of the "new" flap is such that the finger dimple is needed to open it. The later flap has the hinge further back so it can be opened by pressing on the front of it, hence finger dimple not needed!

[Alfaoldgit]

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

[Alfaoldgit]

Hello, here's the latest progress report from the intensive care unit.

Front valance installed

Work is in progress to create the front wing inner reinforcements from the NOS nearside template. This is the offside one.

Not obvious in the picture, but the reinforcement has been extended at the back end to provide a stronger attachment to the top of the A post.

In my next bulletin I'll share with you my 3 hour battle to reassemble the nearside front strut today......................

[Alfaoldgit]

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 aggressively to stand a chance of getting the top of the shock absorber rod through the top mount.- good bye powder coat. The rod was way off-centre from the spring, but eventually after much foul language I got it all back together & now the probable source of the problem is revealed as the pan isn't lop sided on the strut case:-

Known good (old)strut

Refurbished strut

Look at the gap between the bottom end of the spring and the first coil. Doesn't look much but it makes a big difference at the top - installing the spring other way up just transferred the problem to the top. The shock rod was only an inch and a half away from one side of the spring at the top, way off centre. No damage apparent with the spring unloaded. It's known the nearside of the shell was distorted from pothole impact, it looks as though the spring got damaged too. Curiously, when compressing the spring I found one side compressed more easily than the other........

[alfadave]

New springs perhaps?
Not sure if they are available?
If not, could a specialist make them for you?

[Alfaoldgit]

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!

[alfadave]

Interesting to see the jig in use on top of the turrets and front valance.

Do the bodyshop have manufacturers dimensions, or do they just check for square/level etc?

I think Lou on here has AR body dims if needed?

[LooLooSud33Spider]

I do indeed Dave. I think I posted them somewhere

[alfadave]

Yes on P12 of this section under "Sud Jig Data".

[alfadave]

I wonder if these dims apply to a Sprint also?

[LooLooSud33Spider]

As far as I’m aware Dave the sprint geometry was identical to the saloon. Lou

[Alfaoldgit]

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 jig showed up anyway)

[Alfasam]

To my knowledge, the extent of the repairs being carried out to your 82 Sprint is almost unprecedented for an Alfasud. The only other project I have seen that was as comprehensive and complicated as yours was this 1977 series 1 Ti that my friend Darek at MCG Classic Cars in Hanslope, Bucks undertook for a customer who owns a used car dealership in Bristol about 4 years ago. The album of over 300 pictures he posted on Facebook afterwards is certainly worth a look. Some amazing corrosion related fabrication and reconstructive work on display.
Here is the link, scroll down through the projects and you will find the post. Some time ago now so quite a few projects have happened since then.

https://www.facebook.com/MCGClassicCars/

[Kegsti66]

I remember seeing that car sell and what a transformation.
Thanks for posting the link David, that fabrication work is first class.
Is the car now finished or is it still being completed?

[Alfaoldgit]

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 the metal bay! That said I have enjoyed interacting with the bodyshop team, I have gained an intimate knowledge of how the car is put together & how it has been repaired. The learning process isn't finished yet though.

The end is in sight for the fabrication work, with the windscreen frame & finishing off the roof now the final challenges. Compared to the saloon screen frame, the contours of the Sprint sides are more complex with a taper towards the top corner. The bottom corners speak for themselves. All very time consuming. I'll put up some pictures soon.

AOG

[Alfaoldgit]

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 to provide a bit of stiffening. The original design seems purpose made to rot out (as we all know ).

Trial fit of the wing rail

Completed installations

And now for the tricky windscreen frame. here we see the pillars at an early stage. In the picture above you can see the bottom of the frame has been sectioned.

[Alfaoldgit]

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 smaller return pipe is scrap (rusted through) & the (copper) brake pipe needs replacing too.

We have agreed that as far as practicable self tapping screws inside will be replaced with rivnuts & SS machine screws with the same head profile as the self tappers. The door & rear quarter cards may get new hardboard as some have curled up due to water ingress. Work will cease from Wednesday PM until the following Tuesday due to commitments elsewhere.......which gives me time to work through Chris' list.

[KevJTD]

Really nice fabrication work, nice to note how they make panels, a lot of joins presuably tig rather than mig welded by the looks of it rather than trying to make numerous almost inpossible folds.
As someone who has dabbled a bit myself I can appreciate the craftsmanship involved, and share my sypathies with you at what must be eye watering costs, the hours and hours just on those few pics above I can only wonder at...

[Alfaoldgit]

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 will be finished by the end of the month & the financial punishment will ease a little.

The only reason this epic is affordable is because my father insisted I start putting money into my pension when I was an 18 year old. I suppose for the money I'm burning on the Sprint I could have bought a cheap Ferrari, but they rot just as badly as any other Italian car & cheap soon becomes "how much?!!" when the cost of everything has a zero added. I speak from experience, having helped a 355 owner who needed a new fuel pump. £800 from a Ferrari specialist (main dealer was ++), same pump used on the Alfa 164 - £65. but for body parts, that trick isn't going to work.

Sorry, droning on.............

[Alfaoldgit]

Steady progress has continued despite the recent interruption.

First (upside down ) 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 patch is needed. In the same shot is the cut out part from the nearside.

The bonnet has been trial fitted. I need to get the seals over to the body shop for a final alignment check. The bonnet lock down bar and associated hardware has been re-plated. You can see that the screen frame repairs are very close to completion with trial fit of the wiper motor and washer nozzles pending. The front spoiler is undergoing repair - it had gained some additional/oversize attaching holes & has needed some other repairs using staples where cracked instead of copious amounts of filler used previously. The last picture is also upside down.................

[Alfaoldgit]

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 find any more. I have ordered some four position clips with the correct size saddles as a contingency. Apart from these, I think that, at long last, I don't need any more body parts (apart from some bits & bobs that John @Justsuds is sending me when he's fit again).

[junior]

You are undoubtedly going for serious costs, but I wish the chap who did mine had done wing rails even half as good as that.

Very impressed with the workmanship and your dedication. I hope you get lot of pleasure from the car.

[Veesix75]

Have you decided on a colour yet AOG ? It looks nice sat on the jig in bare metal !

If it were mine I’d go with a metallic colour, however it’s yours so my opinion doesn’t count.