SPRINT RESURRECTION

[Alfaoldgit]

No rear wiper then!!
I had a stroke of luck today after a visit to the bodyshop. There was discussion over another reinforcing plate that attaches to the inner rail that carries the cage nuts for the outer wing bolts. On my car it's so lashed up its impossible to work out what it should look like. After a long search, I found it listed in the wrong section of a vendor website. Its p/n 60517437. Does anyone have one? If not then I'll be keeping it as a template for others to use, same as the wing rail.
I'd happily share the job lot of parts with others, but I have nowhere to store it unless I rent a unit. It's also at least a nine hour round trip to collect. Perhaps John @ Justsuds will grab it, not too far from him!

No pics as work suspended since last visit - fabricator on holiday.

AOG

[justsuds]

I'm happy to help, - I've sent you a message !
Cheers, John.

[Alfaoldgit]

Anyone want a laugh at my expense? Here's the work list for May for my Sprint The June one is even longer.

Remove remaining flanges of R/H rear quarter panel.
Remove the roof skin to expose flanges for inner rear quarter panel.
Remove inner framework for tailgate mounting.
Remove R/H outer A’post to expose R/H outer sill flanges.
Remove R/H outer sill.
Remove R/H centre sill.
Cut out / fabricate and spot weld in place two new sections of R/H floor well.
Cut out / fabricate and spot weld in place two new sections of R/H front floor well.
Cut out and let in complete new lower flange to R/H inner sill where it meets the floor wells and
repair other flanges as necessary then weld back onto car.
Fabricate new centre sill and hole punch to resemble the original and spot weld in place.
Fabricate and weld in place new sill end cap for R/H inner to R/H centre sill.
Cut out / remove R/H inner wheel house (technically the outer wheel house) and R/H window
pocket.
Fabricate new sections of R/H inner wheel house and shock tower and weld in place.
Clamp in place R/H outer wheel house with cleco’s.
Offer up R/H rear quarter panel to assess fit.
Spot weld R/H inner A’post to R/H outer A’post / Sill panel and clamp in place with cleco’s.
Clean up flanges of R/H B’post and clamp in place with cleco’s.
Sand blast all door hinges / bonnet hinges and tailgate hinges.
Offer up the R/h door and R/H front wing to assess panel fit.
Weld in place the R/H outer A’post and outer sill.
Weld in place the B’post.
Weld in place the R/H outer wheel house and C pillar panel.

[alfadave]

Just had to change my underpants!

[Alfaoldgit]

In that case i definitely wont share the June progress report. July was less, I like it when the fabricator guy goes on holiday!

Pics next week, the nearside sill, B post and rear quarter panel are now installed. Small problem, neither I or the team had spotted that the new quarter panel has a different size recess for the petrol fill pipe & hence a different flap. Also, the hole for the pipe is square, not round like the original. I have sourced the correct flap but the filler pipe is another bundle of fum & tbh I would rather use the old round one because \i have a brand new original cap with keys for it which I suspect doesn't fit the later fill pipe (different threads methinks).

Oh yes, the wife saw the car today...........

[StescoG66]

If you are selling the filler cap let me know (assuming it is locking type)
I dropped mine and shattered it. Still works but I know Sod’s law will kick in at some stage.......

[LooLooSud33Spider]

Steven is your filler Neck the fine pitch thread I’ve got several locking caps. some are brand new
I’ll Post a picture tomorrow

[Alfaoldgit]

Hello all,

At last an update my Sprint marathon and some questions for my learned readers! As before, the pics open the right way up when clicked...............

Here we see the nearside door and quarter panel installed. The rear window pockets both sides have been rebuilt using some salvaged parts and some new fabrications, but I couldn't get a decent picture as the apprentice was busy inside the car doing apprentice type work (clearing out excess E coat).

New nearside sill

Here is a better picture of the newly fabricated A post. The easily damaged Allen recess door hinge screws have been swapped for something more substantial

The fuel pipe recess. The original fuel pipe with coarse thread cap will in fact fit perfectly, but there's an issue with the flap

Here are a couple of pictures of the second hand roof undergoing repair

Attention will now be given to areas of tin worm ahead of the A posts. The left hand side has some small holes adjacent to the steering rack cut out as you can see. Out of shot, the seam between the inner wing and the back of the inner arch has started to rot out. Also out of shot, the turret has been patched at some time. Rather than mess about patching holes & redoing the turret & no doubt finding more tin worm, the whole inner wing & turret will be replaced with a NOS item.

[Alfaoldgit]

Question time.

1. The vendor of the rear quarter panel sold it as p/n 60750230 & it seems to have included the pan for the fuel pipe 60536315. The original flap doesn't fit, so flap 60536311 was obtained which is the associated flap for the wing and pan numbers. But it doesn't fit properly & is the same as the original one. The size is correct but the hinge line is wrong causing the back of the flap to hit the back of the recess. If you look at the picture, you can see stand offs in the pan pressing where the flap bolts on. If these stand offs weren't there all would be fine. Moving the hinge on the flap backwards to bring the flap forward won't help as doing so will make the part of the flap ahead of the hinge too long to hinge inward. Any ideas?

2. The car came with the wrong GC plastic B post covers. These incorporate a vertical seal on their front and rear edges, the front seal being a continuation of the seal that sits in a channel at the front edge of the quarter panel/B post. Should the plain metal covers have any seals? And/or should the seal that sits in the channel at the front edge of the quarter panel/B post continue as a one piece item all the way up to the gutter when plain metal covers are used?

[Gary Orchard]

That rear wing is for a very early car as it has the recess to get your finger in to open the flap
From my memory only the first series 1 cars with the 1286cc engine had this
I guess the flap may be different ?
No idea about the rubber seal but if there are any sprints at National Alfa Day the Sunday I will try and get some pictures of that area

[StescoG66]

Steven is your filler Neck the fine pitch thread I’ve got several locking caps. some are brand new
I’ll Post a picture tomorrow

Don’t know how I missed this....... I think it’s the coarse thread. I will take a pic too when I get back.

[Alfaoldgit]

Hi Gary,

Thank you. Now I'm even more confused! The wing came with an Alfa label on it showing all but the first digit of the p/n I quoted. The 1987 body parts list (the only one I have) shows all the numbers I quoted!

I can't get to NAD so if there's a Sprint there with plain metal B post covers pics of that area will be much appreciated......not that I stand much chance of finding a one piece top to bottom seal if that's the set up!

[justsuds]

The rear quarter is an early one, the petrol filler pipe on these was metal and had a flange at the top to fasten it to the inside of the recess, which is what the 4 holes are for. You may be able to use your original pipe, and fill the holes, - I've sold quite a few later plastic filler pipes for both Suds and Sprints as replacements for the metal pipes as they were prone to rusting away ( how suprising ! ) and allowing water from the wheel arch into the tank. If you want a steel pipe I have one in good condition. Also, I saved the rubber trims and seals when I took the B post covers off that I sent you, so should have what you need, - hopefully !
The shell is looking great, beautiful work !
Cheers, John.

[justsuds]

Also,- I,ve just been looking and have a petrol flap that I have labelled ' Sprint - early' probably came off the same car as the filler pipe, it's different to the later type filler flap, - I will email you pictures later Chris.
John.

[Alfaoldgit]

Hi John,

This car is starting to throw a few surprises after what has been a relatively straightforward run so far. Looking at my iffy 1989 Sprint Veloce parts list which shows metal B post covers, the front seal is shown as a single piece from the sill to the roof, there's a short seal between the back of the cover and the rear window frame. If you have the correct seals and they are in reasonable condition, I think you'll be relieving me of some more cash! Same for the flap, although Chris Pursall is pretty confident that the either of the two I now have can be altered to fit !

The original plastic filler pipe fits just fine with the original gaskets compressing in the same location as before so at least I have a win on that

[Gary Orchard]

Did manage to get a few pictures for you

It looks like the upper seal under the gutter is all one bit and then there is another seal that goes all down the back edge of where the door B pillar is

[Alfaoldgit]

Hi Gary,

Thanks very much for taking those pictures for me. They confirm what my iffy parts list shows. I'm going to try and find some new seals - wish me luck, I'll need it. In the probable event that I cannot find them, I shall be hoping John @justsuds can help me - AGAIN!!

In other news, I collected the newly plated parts from Chrome Restoration yesterday. They have managed to lose one of the shouldered bolts that fasten the front suspension leg to the hub; all attempts to recover it from the plating tank have failed. Any one got a spare one? They did do a good job on the dip beam lamps though!

[justsuds]

Post a picture of the bolt please, - I can't think of where shouldered bolts are used on the suspension, but I never throw nuts and bolts away, so will probably have one, - if ever anyone needs bolts or nuts I 've loads and don't mind sending sending even a single item out if it gets someone out of a hole !
Cheers, John.

[Alfaoldgit]

John, thank you. Have replied via WhatsApp.

Chris

[Alfaoldgit]

Another update from the Wonderful World of Rust. One positive to report, but also three significant set backs (aka more expense )
The positive.....the fuel flap issue has been resolved with the supply of an early style flap from John @Justsuds

Now the bad news. The used roof panel purchased as an alternative to blanking the sunroof hole in my original has proved to be a mixed blessing. It was known that the used roof was holed above the B post, it was assumed by everyone involved this was local rot possibly caused by the gutter strip joiners at this point. The roof was cut from the old car to include the stubs of the pillars, so it also included the reinforcement both sides and across the back. Unfortunately, removal of the reinforcement to enable repair of the roof skin has revealed that the skin is corroded from front to back internally on both sides. This will require a 4ft continuous weld to install a repair section on both sides.

To add insult to injury, the reinforcement across the back edge of the used roof, while very sound and much better than the original is a completely different profile to the original one and won't marry up to the rest of the car structure. So that's scuttled one of the main reasons for buying it It could probably be bodged with some random pieces of tin.....but really? So we are back to having to repair the original reinforcement, which won't be easy.

Finally, while cutting out rotten metal between the base of the windscreen and the bulkhead between the front turrets, it was found that much of the top flange of the front skin of the double skinned bulkhead the steering rack attaches to was gone. Also the flanges at the top of the inner arches/inner wings were gone (repaired in these pics) so the inner wings are off too. All rather drastic as the pictures show.............

[Alfaoldgit]

At this rate I'll be changing the V5 to show date of manufacture 08/2022 or registering on a Q plate

[Alfaoldgit]

CORRECTION CORRECTION

Ignore most of what i said about the roof panel reinforcing structure. I got my wires seriously crossed, Mr Pursall has advised this morning that the rear roof reinforcement has been rebuilt using sections from the original and the used one so my comments about the new one not marrying up are drivel. What doesn't fit it any way is a new front screen frame that was sold as a saloon frame "adaptable" to fit a Sprint. I guess it depends on your definition of adaptable and whether you are keen to sell the part on - this vital point got lost in conversation somewhere - must have been the heat or I'm even more stupid than you think I am already.

If anyone is needing a new OEM saloon screen frame, I'll be selling one at some point in the future.

[Kegsti66]

Oh boy !!
You are really riding the rollercoaster on this build. Sorry to hear she still keeps throwing up surprises.
Rather naughty selling a screen surround for a saloon claiming it could be adapted to fit a Sprint. Hope your guys can sort things out for you.

[Alfaoldgit]

Thanks. Well it's not meant to be easy I guess. No problems sorting the screen frame out, Chris & his guys can make just about any body part from flat sheet. They have an Aston DB3 on which every panel aft of the A post has been fabricated by them. Of course it comes at a cost because it takes hours to achieve.....but it's hard to moan about it when the standard is so good.
But I can fume about the individual who knowingly sold me the frame (I should have known better) ....and the Panhard rod that never showed up!

AOG

[Alfaoldgit]

For those with the stamina to follow this thread, you deserve a break from pictures of rust & bare metal. Sorry it's a Peugeot 305

[Alfaoldgit]

Ok, that's your lot, back to the Sprint marathon.
More rust has been discovered, this time at the bottom of the double skinned bulkhead. In a previous post, i showed that the bulkhead between the turrets had been removed and most of the panel that is under the battery, heater and brake master cylinder. A cursory inspection of the gap between the skins prompted use of a borescope which showed a horror story at the bottom with significant rot that didn't look so bad from outside. The only way to properly fix this was to separate the bulkhead skins so that each could be repaired. Pictures soon..........

[Alfaoldgit]

Brace yourselves, but before you do here is a picture of the rear roof reinforcement that I confused myself with. Thanks to John @justsuds for supplying the second hand roof & reinforcement, it saved a lot of man hours compared to creating new parts. The roof skin has been slid forward for the pic, it isn't attached yet. The tailgate is the original but we are using a different one. Click the picture & it'll rotate to where it should be

I posted this earlier, inside you can see the two repair sections for the roof skin. the roof John supplied is the one that is being used because despite the need to correct the hidden corrosion, it's still better than mine and there isn't a big hole to fill.

And here is a pic of one of the new window pockets made up from some of the ones John sent, a bit of the originals and some new metal

[Alfaoldgit]

Following on from the borescope inspection of the gap between the skins of the front bulkhead, it was no messing about and off came the front skin!

Which revealed this hitherto hidden rot (looked ok on the outside). The right hand side was similarly rotted adjacent to the suspension arm bracket but not in the box section.

And this which doesn't stand up to UK potholes too well.

At least the alloy spacers are confirmed to have survived Envirostrip although they do look a bit pitted. In this picture the repaired front skin has been reinstalled.

Next up is to recreate the rotted area of the front scuttle. I took this picture while Bobby was wielding his Planishing hammer to flatten the old part so it can be repaired or used as a template to make new (not sure what the decision is on that).

[Alfaoldgit]

Meanwhile instead of trying to clean red paint off various bits & pieces, I spent the afternoon installing new bushes in all the front suspension arms (I've gone for new original ones not poly), what fun! I also discovered that one of the hub ball joint bolt holes has stripped threads & a non standard longer bolt has been installed to allow a nut to be used. So i have that to sort out as well as get a replacement hub to strut bolt to replace the post one.

PS, I'm sure most know....but if you intend powder coating your suspension arms, leave the old bushes in. They'll stop the powder entering the holes & the cooking process will ensure you can knock them out with a tap from a hammer

[alfadave]

The rear of the semi trailing arm connection to the bulkhead must be the worst yet!
Worrying for those of us that might have this hidden behind the double skin!