Project Alfa Romeo 33 1.3vl

[FlyingDutchman]

Hello everyone,

I'm 19 years old and two years ago, after a very long search, I bought my Alfa 33. It has been imported to The Netherlands in may 2016 from Milan, Italy.
When it came to the Netherlands it only had 2 previous owners in Italy, wich makes me the 4th as I'm not the one who imported it. The car came to Holland with just over 38000km's on the clock, and when I bought it, it was only just at 45000km's.
The 1.3VL is very uncommon where I'm from.
It may be a Veloce Lusso, but it's still a really blank canvas, because besides the standard "luxuries", they didn't really bother adding any options at all.

I have a lot of plans for this car, and I will be updating this thread as I go along. Love reading and looking at some of the projects here, they are really inspiring.
Spec list:
- 1.3L
- 8 valve
- Twin double Dellorto DRLA40's
- 90HP
- 1991 (type 907A, but with 4 lug strut tops)
- ~50000 KM

Thanks for the tip to join the forum Shrew

- FlyingDutchman

[LooLooSud33Spider]

Hi FD.
Welcome to the forum and great choice of car If you have any questions This forum has some of the most knowledgeable people from around the world on all classic Alfa’s.
Which means someone should be able to help.

Lou.

[Kegsti66]

Hi FD,
Welcome to the club.
As Lou says, there is a helpful group here who share the love of these cars.
Look forward to seeing your plans and great to know there are a younger generation of fans out there.
Keith.

[alfadave]

I think there was a 33 Veloce
But maybe the Lusso name came in later models?

What year is your car, and is it carb or injection?

[FlyingDutchman]

I think there was a 33 Veloce
But maybe the Lusso name came in later models?

What year is your car, and is it carb or injection?

It is a 1.3 liter 8valve, with twin double Dellorto carbs (drla40's). It's a 1991. I will add this information to the post
This is a Lusso AND a Veloce, they have been made seperate as well, but this one packs the peppy engine of a Veloce and standard powersteering, central locking, electric windows in the front and a 2-part folding rearseat (not standard on normal 1.3's). They didn't bother with adding a radio (who needs that with such a great sounding engine), rightside mirror, foglights, wheels, or any painted trim. It's as barebones as you can get this version, but that's fine. It's not a daily and I like the quirkiness of those missing features.

- FD

[FlyingDutchman]

Hi FD.
Welcome to the forum and great choice of car If you have any questions This forum has some of the most knowledgeable people from around the world on all classic Alfa’s.
Which means someone should be able to help.

Lou.

Thanks! I was really suprised that I didn't find this forum earlier on, I'm really digging it so far

- FD

[FlyingDutchman]

Hi FD,
Welcome to the club.
As Lou says, there is a helpful group here who share the love of these cars.
Look forward to seeing your plans and great to know there are a younger generation of fans out there.
Keith.

Thank you! Yes, they are out there but I find that a lot of people around my age have different priorities than cars. I do have a lot of friends that are into cars, but they are not especially into Alfa's. I have been a fan since I opened my eyes for the first time.
My first car was an Alfa 75 1.6IE when I was 16 y.o. It had been in a shed for 15 years and it had never been started or moved in all that time. I got it to run together with my uncle, but it needed a rebuild, and I didn't have the knowledge/tools to do it my self, and neither had the money to get someone to do it for me. So I sold that car and started saving up more money for a better car.

5 cars later (not Alfa's but including 2 Fiat seicento sporting abarth's ) I bought this Alfa 33. It was a big search and I had a look at almost every 33 available in The Netherlands before I bought this one (I think it was about 16 cars in a one year search ). This one won't be going anytime soon, I daily a "new" Fiat 500 1.4 16v sport.

[Kegsti66]

Clearly bitten by the Italian bug, nice one!!

[KevJTD]

Really interesting to see the different models that were sold in differing countries, and also the similarities in how people become Alfa fans.
My mate Paul had the first Alfa amongst our little group, that car was driven everywhere, not always where cars were supposed to go either, but recovery trucks can pull cars out of ditches
I later on got a Delta 1.5 and the rest is history, can count on one hand the non Italian cars I've had.

Glad you found us and looking forward to hearing, and seeing more about the car and your plans

[FlyingDutchman]

Clearly bitten by the Italian bug, nice one!!

You can definitely say that again

[FlyingDutchman]

Really interesting to see the different models that were sold in differing countries, and also the similarities in how people become Alfa fans.
My mate Paul had the first Alfa amongst our little group, that car was driven everywhere, not always where cars were supposed to go either, but recovery trucks can pull cars out of ditches
I later on got a Delta 1.5 and the rest is history, can count on one hand the non Italian cars I've had.

Glad you found us and looking forward to hearing, and seeing more about the car and your plans

I sure don't hope I will get to know the towtruck driver too well
I've always loved Alfa's, my uncle always had them and he carried it over to me I guess. I still have vivid memories of driving along in his gtv6 when I was about 2 years old, the sound, the smell and feeling of the by the sun overheated seats... I think that's the exact moment I fell in love with Alfa Romeo.
I really loved my seicento abarth's as well, quirky little things with a lot of Italian temperemant (and issues... )

[NUALFAMAN]

Hi FD great to see another 33 907 on the forum.
As Kev has kindly pointed out I owned a 905 33 when I was not much older than yourself (somany years to ago) as a daily driver and it literally went everywhere, and yes including upside down in a ditch, but it lived to tell the tale.
Anyways having stripped and rebuilt my current 33 907, there is a thread on here, I will be watching your thread with interest and as the others point out the help on here is great so don't worry about asking questions as trivial as you may think they are. Helped me a treat.
Oh and enjoy driving the 33, they're a great little Alfa.

[FlyingDutchman]

Hi FD great to see another 33 907 on the forum.
As Kev has kindly pointed out I owned a 905 33 when I was not much older than yourself (somany years to ago) as a daily driver and it literally went everywhere, and yes including upside down in a ditch, but it lived to tell the tale.
Anyways having stripped and rebuilt my current 33 907, there is a thread on here, I will be watching your thread with interest and as the others point out the help on here is great so don't worry about asking questions as trivial as you may think they are. Helped me a treat.
Oh and enjoy driving the 33, they're a great little Alfa.

Hi Paul,
I really don't hope mine will ever end up in that situation . I have so many plans for this car. Including wheel adapters so I can fit original gtv6 alloys wich I have kicking around. This winter I will be changing the timing belt, clutch and do some standard maintenance. I would really love to have a set of coilovers but looking at the prices of the ones available, I might be better of building it myself.
Also I will be building my own exhaust for the car, the current setup is a stock exhaust with a straight pipe in the middle, so it's just the damper at the rear (because this one doesn't have a cat yet ) but it's a bit too raspy for my liking and doesn't look that great.
I will have a look at your thread! I love watching all the projects on here, it's really inspiring.

[Johnboy]

Hi FD
Welcome to the madhouse
Looks like you've got a solid 33 looking forward to seeing your build plans .good to read your hands on and can weld . Keep an eye on the sills and jacking points and boot floor.
Good luck

[FlyingDutchman]

Update 7-02-2020

Yesterday I removed the gearbox because of a knocking noise thinking it was the clutch bearing. "Sadly" this one was still in one piece and there seems to be a lot of play on my gearbox input shaft. So I will be rebuilding the gearbox.
While I'm in there, is it possible to fit stronger synchro's? (145 ones perhaps?)
I also found someone who changed the original rubber bushing to a rose bearing to gain some feel in the gearlever. That's going on the 'to do list'.

Also I will be changing the timing belt and water pump as I don't know how old they are. They look fine but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

I got my wheel adapters for the gtv6 wheels fitting nicely now too, and got my self some extended bolts (60mm). The wheels are getting sandblasted and painted as we speak.

-FD

[FlyingDutchman]

Well, here are some pictures of my 33 with it's new wheels, distribution, waterpump, doorhandles (type 905), clutch throw out bearing, radiator and custom gear lever. I also made a new airfilterbox, for a bit more sound

- wheels after sandblasting

- wheels during painting

- centre caps cleaned and sprayed in clearcoat

- Mounted Toyo Proxis TR1 195/55/15

- Gearbox cleaned, flushed and new Castrol Syntrans Transaxle (TAFX) 75W90

- Cleaning some parts, just getting the dust of because they still looked great

- New belts and I also replaced the most stubbern waterpump I've ever come across

- New Radiator, the original one decided it didn't want to hold coolant anymore when I was laying right under it

- New gearlever using a rose joint and m10x1.5 all thread

- New lever mounted and tested

- First time rolling out of the shed since last year

- First night with all 4 wheels on the ground since 2 months

- New airbox with closed bottom and reworked internals so the filter is on top.

- New box mounted (and sound tested )

- First drive picture 1 out of many

- First drive picture 2 out of many

Well that's it for today

-FD

[Kegsti66]

Looking very smart.
Are you using adaptors to take five stud wheels?

[alfadave]

How do you go on with insurance in Holland as a 19 year old?

Most people of that age in the UK would find the insurance on your car would be sky high!

[Johnboy]

Cars looking great .nice work . I like the gear selector mod too

[FlyingDutchman]

Looking very smart.
Are you using adaptors to take five stud wheels?

I am! I bought a set of 4x98 to 5x98 made for a fiat 500. The centres of the wheels have been resized on a cnc lathe. The centres of the adapters have been on the lathe too to fit the "weird" Alfa centre diameter.

-FD

[FlyingDutchman]

How do you go on with insurance in Holland as a 19 year old?

Most people of that age in the UK would find the insurance on your car would be sky high!

Insurance is sky high, but since this is a youngtimer and not my daily driver, I got a better price.

[FlyingDutchman]

Cars looking great .nice work . I like the gear selector mod too

Thanks! I might add something in the future to help centre the lever. The springs in the box are not quite as strong as I would've hoped.

-FD

[junior]

Looks very well. Impressed , well done.

[LooLooSud33Spider]

Hi FD
Looks nice on the Gtv6 alloys Shame you couldn’t get set of the 2.0 ones as they are 4x98 . As for the gear-lever be careful you don’t get too rough with the Lever as the internal springs in the box have been known to break. Whilst i like the rosejoint idea if really does need a Secondary method of centering the lever. the rubber bush did that very well and has never given a problem during race use. . The only thing I do to race levers is reinforce the bottom of the lever where the bush sits as they can snap.
Car looks in lovely condition it’s A credit to you .
Lou

[FlyingDutchman]

Looks very well. Impressed , well done.

Thank you

[FlyingDutchman]

Hi FD
Looks nice on the Gtv6 alloys Shame you couldn’t get set of the 2.0 ones as they are 4x98 . As for the gear-lever be careful you don’t get too rough with the Lever as the internal springs in the box have been known to break. Whilst i like the rosejoint idea if really does need a Secondary method of centering the lever. the rubber bush did that very well and has never given a problem during race use. . The only thing I do to race levers is reinforce the bottom of the lever where the bush sits as they can snap.
Car looks in lovely condition it’s A credit to you .
Lou

I know about the gtv 2.0 rims, but my uncle had 7 of these gtv6 wheels laying on the shelf since the early 90's. I always liked these wheels and wanted to give them a second life. After measuring I found that I wanted to use spacers anyway, so why not go with something special .
As for the gearbox, since this car has very few kilometers the rubber bushing was getting really hard (or still was from factory). But when it was a bit colder it would get so bad that the box would move in its bushings before the lever would move, so it was really hard to figure out wich gear you where selecting as on down shift it would regularly go from 2 to 3 instead of 1. I don't have that problem any more now and with the new oil in the gearbox it's shifts better than ever before. I Will be looking at reinforcing the centering by adding some softer bushings on the side of the rose joint. I measured but i don't have enough space for a spring mechanism. I will be building a new gearbox for this car in the future, possibly I can get some tougher springs in place.

-FD