Classic Alfa Forums

Are knee pads included?

no & if the lift wasn't height restricted by my car port I could do most jobs standing. The answer is a set of interlocking rubber mats, I grabbed a set of six from the Aldi centre aisle for peanuts. Yes, the lift is an expensive piece of kit but after a life time of hobby car maintenance under cars on axle stands, I decided to treat myself.

and why not? Good man, it looks a handy bit of kit and you have your hands full.
Looking forward to your Sprint update.

Something to report !

Reassembly has started; one of the bodyshop staff is between jobs so has been assigned to get the car back on its wheels. I'll let the pictures do the talking. The door fit isn't final, they are just hung to get them out of the way. We do have Envirostrip casualties though & it isn't the ally spacers that several mentioned. It appears the nut plates that the steering rack bolts screw into are pop riveted to the front bulkhead..........but not anymore. One has survived as a loose part, the other is at the bottom of Envirostrip's tank. An extra minor fabrication task. Also, the battery clamp bolt seems to have disappeared, can't find it anywhere
Fourth picture inverted for some strange reason.

New headlining has been installed,

Quite incredible what skilled restorers can do in a fully equipped workshop. Its better than when it left the showroom.
Love the colour as well. A friend of my father bought a new 5M in that colour, his second Sud after one of the first four speed cars, and I have a photo of it somewhere, when it was brand new. He let me drive his first car shortly after the Sud was launched in the UK when I was about 19, and I was hooked, and have been ever since.

First class work !!
Great to see the update photos. Shell looks superb. A terrific paint job.
Really pleased for you knowing she is coming back together.

News flash. FedEx have delivered the new windscreen from Pilkington without losing it or damaging it

Result !!

Hi Folks,

Progress on the bodyshell continues at a snail's pace - the car is on its wheels but is all wrapped up to protect from dust so I can't take a photo. So, instead, time to turn attention to the lovely engine. Only the middle pic is right way up
As you can see, a thing of beauty.......... I've taken the heads off, there's a noticeable lip at the top of the rear two bores.
So far, so good. Everything came apart fairly easily, but the oil filter was a different proposition. Oil filter wrench wouldn't shift it, nor a chain wrench. Tried the usual large screw driver though the top, other than making a mess as the oil poured out no joy & by this time the filter case was beginning to tear part. Pics rotated
Eventually a 2'6" Snap On crowbar shifted it.
The more observant will have noticed that the work environment is untidy and several removed parts are in a heap on the bench. I won't be rebuilding the engine here, but at home where I can control cleanliness. For now, it's easier to strip the engine and take it home when I have space on my bench. Presently the Brera gearbox is on the top of it.

Before i forget, the water pump was as defiant as the oil filter. I won, it didn't.

Have you found someone who can do the re bore?
my local engine shop said they could only do an in line four, due to their equipment.

I eventually found a retired guy who did it in his shed!

In answer to your question, AMS motor engineering at Ditchling Industrial Estate can rebore the block to take my set of used oversize pistons (subject to dimension/condition check), or sleeve it so that the original pistons can be reused. They can also sort out the crank if required. It was interesting that the guy I spoke to, who was too young to know what an Alfasud looks like, said "Alfasud then" as soon as I mentioned my flat 4 was a single crankcase configuration, not split crank a la Porsche/VW this before I said it was an Alfa engine. Also advised OS pistons/rings/bearings are not easy to find but he seemed confident that new parts could be manufactured at reasonable cost if replacements couldn't be sourced.
His name was also Chris, like me Result!

Hi AoG, I think I posted this before in your thread, but I traded some new +4 1500 dished pistons with Dave Ashford at Brunswick Racing, he may still have them and might sell them (he took them to put on the shelf if ever needed for a road engine build, his race engines have his own spec pistons)

I also have a new set of std 1500 pistons and rings already fitted to a good set of rods if you resleeve and want to fit new pistons and rings, sorry for the sales pitch !

I assume you are building the engine yourself ? If not I’d recommend Dave.

Hi V675,

Yes, you did post before The engine is now at AMS, so i'm awaiting their assessment. The +.6 pistons I sourced from Greece are usable, but the second compression rings have lost their profile. So it all depends on how far the rebore has to go and what size pistons are needed........I'll PM you once i know where I stand.

AOG

Body shop has hit a problem........the secondary door seals (the ones that go immediately below/behind the roof gutter trim strips) are folding inward on door closure instead of flipping over the inner edge of the door window frames and then pressing up against the outer edge. In fact they are stopping the doors from closing altogether! Quite why is unknown, as the right hand side of the car had a whole new side frame so it's not as if the distance from sill to roof can be wrong. The door crease lines align perfectly so the doors are at the correct height. The issue is identical on both sides Maybe the doors fit too well Watch this space!

In the mean time, the screens & front windows have been reinstalled. Here are some pictures to salivate over The tank can be seen suspended for painting. If you scroll back through this thread you will see the repairs that were carried out to the roof skin - now see if you can spot them. I'm more than a little pleased

It looks beautiful even part built, the colour is perfect

Your wife (?) looks suitably unimpressed!

Has she seen the invoices?

Really coming together now.
Looking great.

Alfadave, my wife had just spent 15 minutes outside in her car while I gassed with Mark who was having the battle with the door seals. Has she seen invoices? Gawd, no I try to keep away from Bangers & Cash Restoring Classics and Car SOS on TV, but sometimes she says I should watch. She isn't stupid but as long as I keep doing the consultancy work to pay for (some of it ) she doesn't complain.

Kegsti, yes it's beginning to look like a car & not a collection of parts. I'm taking the new rear light clusters over next week so the back end can be finished off, less the bumpers which are still away.

It looks fantastic Chris, - particularly the roof - invisible repairs on such a large flat-ish panel shows great skill ! I have a set of +6 piston rings if you need a set.
Cheers, John.

Some more pictures showing the underfloor fuel & brake lines. I couldn't find the original 3 position pipe clips anywhere, but obtained 4 position clips with the correct sizing from an ebay seller in Lithuania. At the front, the pipes have been rerouted to the most favourable position. The old pipes were so far gone and the clips had fallen out of the floor so there was no reliable indication of where they originally ran. The tank is back in too. Next milestone is installation of Dynamat Superlight (didn't want to use Extreme with only 95 bhp to play with). Meanwhile I have the brake master cylinder rebuild to look forward to ( an looking object plastered in rust, black underseal & crud ditto the clutch master) and the windscreen wiper mechanism which is seized solid on the nearside.

As you can see the B posts & front window uprights are green, not black. Opinions invited !

New master cylinders are still easily available on Ebay.
Search under Alfa 33 for more sensible prices.

It is the brakes after all!

Looks fantastic.
For me B post and door window frame satin black. A post body colour.
Rsfruitbat

Quick update.........Dynamat selectively applied, doors now close with a clunk not a clank. Door & rear quarter cards now secured by M4 stainless machine screws into rivnuts. The screw heads are the correct profile. 7.5 litres of cavity wax applied. In the meantime I have rebuilt the wiper assembly, painted/rebuilt the pedal box after having it blasted & rebuilt the brake master. The clutch master was toast so it's been replaced with a new one. In other news, the engine is being rebored to +.6 as I managed to get hold of a set of new rings from John@justsuds to go with my Grecian +.6 pistons. Where would I be without him?

The car MAY appear on a trade stand at Goodwood Revival in September if space is available. Jags & Astons get priority over the lowly Sprint

Fantastic progress. Let us know which stand if it goes ahead, I’ll be there so would love to see it

Quick update.

Due to the full application of sod's law a rather large bill appeared at the same time as I had to find money to engage a defence lawyer in connection with my son's divorce which has turned very ugly. I could get 9 man hours at the body shop for what 1 hour with a lawyer is costing
All work on the body has been suspended at my request (I'm not being charged for storage). Work should restart in a couple of weeks; at least it gives time for some parts to come back from the plating shop. No decision yet on whether there will be an appearance at Goodwood Revival.
Engine work progressing slowly. Heads have been skimmed & the rebore is done but....... the crank needs a regrind, one of the big end journals is scored so I'm in to oversize shells. AMS know someone who may have oversize shells, so I have left it to them to sort out for now as I have more than enough on my plate. The engine probably won't be back for another month which is good as I don't need any more bills right now. It will return as a built up block and two loose built up heads, I shall be reassembling the rest of it.

Sore one on your son.... Hope he's OK.

On the engine front, I have a 1.7 sitting here which you are more than welcome to have to cannibalise for parts if required.

Thank you, very kind. I'll see if AMS get anywhere.

I forgot to mention that the plating shop are having trouble with the bumpers. I was certain they're stainless but as a magnet stuck to them I was told no they are not ......after much research I've established they are made of 400 series Ferritic S/S which is magnetic. My schoolboy knowledge suggests to me that chrome plating S/S is challenging. They've been rejected twice at the plating company, so it may be that they will have to polish them instead. Hopefully the bill won't be landing anytim soon

quite a few bumpers on Ebay, mostly from Italy.
Might be cheaper/better than plating the old ones?