Classic Alfa Forums

cheers for the comments guys

the nisida grey is an option colour which hardly any had as it was an expensive option (i'll dig out the period brochure and look it up) but mine was one of the very rare cars that had the box ticked. it is mush more silver than grey, you're right there

i will be using the 1.2 ti gearbox together with the original 1186cc engine, THE original engine at that too



so, on to the build.

i was in 2 minds as to whether to paint the underside or not. it's a real pita to do laid on your back.....guess i could have done it last year when it was upside down on the spit
but i do like to see a painted floor and mine had had a couple of repairs and sections of fresh stoneguard.

so i bought a litre of brushable paint this mornign and got the sud up on axle stands again.

pleased i made the effort now, all fresh paint now ready for some of the bigger bits to go back on.

the rear quarter vents are metal on the S1 cars instead of the plastic of the S3 ones, didn't know that until we took them out at the paintshop the other day. anyway that of course means they need sanding and painting weren't in too bad order but couldn't put them back on without a fresh coat.
another pita job to take the paint off in the vents, must get myself a little dremmel type tool

should do a couple more jobs tomorrow but it feels like i've jumped a stage or two, this is the fun part putting shiny bits back on, seems like i've not hard the hard part!

mostly thanks to john and bobs previous hard work

and yes, i often do feel like i'm in no way a youngster

She looks fantastic!!!
Good luck and lots of fun with her.

does anyone know the difference, if any?, between the S1 and S3 rear side window seals?

my windows have the metal frame around them, the S3 cars just use the glass against the seal so they should be different?

just can't put my hands on the correct seal at the moment...

Nice work Kev - putting bits on is so much more rewarding!

Alfasixnut wrote:Nice work Kev - putting bits on is so much more rewarding!

certainly is the nicer stage isn't it mate


mind you, i have to say i cocked up by not taking the roof lining out before going to paint. can't think why i didn't really, just bad planning on my part

still, it'll all be ok in the end.

tried to see if a new lining could be fitted without taking the outer rails off but soon realised it would be too risky with potential leaks and the lining not being held in place so all the rivet fixings in the webasto rails were drilled out and the old lining taken out.
wasn't actually that bad a job and now i know that it will go back on and be as leak free as possible.

collected some new material from woolies this afternoon, will start to cut and fit it tomorrow.
the mrs sewing skills will be called upon to stitch in the loops for the metal rails to keep it taut, fingers crossed....

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/default.aspx

Now THAT's what I call a sunroof

Driving around with that open is going to be so much fun!

Lauren

Spacenut wrote:Now THAT's what I call a sunroof

Driving around with that open is going to be so much fun!

Lauren

i know what you mean lauren, should be fun.

making it as watertight as possible is also a priority though

I do like a full webasto I've fitted a cloth head lining before and it not to bad a job worsted part can be fitting the windscreen and not pulling out the freshly glued roof lining

took me best part of a couple hours to clean all the stainless trims, masking tape that's been on there for 6 years or more is quite stubborn!

talking the mrs into sewing a seam in the new lining also delayed things...

got the new lining sort of fitted now, all glued and secured around the sunroof opening with all the stainless bits revitted and sealed back up.

will try and find the grab handles tomorrow and pin the sides up permanently, done a few bits and looks like it won't be too bad a fit.

luckily enough the replacement lining is a near perfect match for the sunroof material, the original was a slightly different design, so it will match better than OE!

still need to source a wind break though if anyone has one, mine is passenger side only at the minute!

the single worst job to do on the car, i hate trimming, is all but done. well i'm telling myself that anyway

just need to make the rear quarter panels which won't be too bad, then shape and glue the 2 together.

made the B post panels which i'm chuffed with, look an easy thing to do i know.....any they were really just i'm pleased that they don't stick out like a sore thumb

doorways and rear side windows are all glued in place, rear opening too. just need to sort out the sun visors clips before fastening the front end up.
the visors i have fit the outer edge fine with the 2 screw holes but my car has no way of securing them at the inner end, near the mirror. any suggestions?
know i could easily make them fit but curious to know if i have the correct visors, or if they somehow attach to the mirror base?

the sunroof and keeping the water out has been on my mind, the sealing proporties are near non-existatnt between the frame and the sunroof itself.
so i have concentrated on making sure that water couldn't simply trickle in without any hindrance.
the sides and front were easy enough. sealant was put under the trims before fitting but a thin seam won't hurt and isn't visible when the roof is closed.
the back edge though is a different matter.
i know for sure that if you parked facing downhill then the water would simply run in under the back edge.
maybe originally there was a seal?
could have made one, but a simpler solution was needed.
first off to see where the fixed rear part would stay in place, this allowed me free rein in the hidden part.
so a bead of sealant was laid across the whole roof linking up both runners so any water would have to climb over the bead before being able to get in, most likely it will just run off to the side.
this should hopefully keep the interior as dry as possible!
i'll give it a day or so to dry so it remains likea rubber seal and doesn't squeeze out, should help to seal it.

Did you wear gloves when fitting the roof lining and other tricky bits because I'm well impressed by the lack of any fingerprints?

Sud 145 wrote:Did you wear gloves when fitting the roof lining and other tricky bits because I'm well impressed by the lack of any fingerprints?

well spotted tony, no gloves but had to keep washing my hands before handling it for long.
difficult to keep it clean especially with door seals etc wanting to make marks on it

my main problem though was the glue. bought the stuff from woolies that they reccomended, high temperature glue at that! they said that normal glue can suffer in summer months with the heat rising in closed cars and let things sag.
worked a treat though, really strong bond and only needed a couple of minutes to go tacky before being able to work.
snag is though it being in an aerosol, which menat me having to clean overspray off the paintwork all the time, guess i should have used a piece of card to catch the wayward bits.....

Looking very nice, Kev, a fresh interior really lifts the spirits.

I'll have a look at my S2 rebuild pictures as that had a Webasto roof, I had to have it recovered and the key was good tension around the sides, I don't recall problems with leaks though, I think I had a full width Perspex deflector, do you have all the hinges, perhaps you could make a new bit of Perspex?

Have you tried contacting Webasto to see if they have any archive info on that roof, or old stock spares? They have factories in Doncaster and Sutton Coldfield.

Cheers

Ian

Kev,

came across this:

http://www.tudorwebastosunroofs.com/index.html

looks like they do all manner of classic webasto sunroof spares - wind deflector quoted at £45

Does yours have a fixed piece at the front that bolts to the roof (my S2 below had this style - you can see that the tension had gone round the sides in this before shot), or is it all one piece, which seems to be an earlier design similar to that used on MGBs?

cheers

Ian

top work mate, well done on the not getting everywhere thing! ha ha!


so, hows the new inner lining coming?

looking good Kev

keep up the good work

rsfruitbat

cheers guys.

thanks for the nudge bluesuit, hadn't thought about webasto stuff still being available..

£45 for a new deflector is reasonable, £60 per hinge is taking the pee a bit though

will keep my eyes peeled for anything turning up, no rush.








does anyone with an S1 sud ti know this though? the sun-visors, the standard alfa ones not the webasto ones, surely they clip to the roof in the centre near the rear view mirror?

my cra doesn't appear to have the square hole in the roof for the clips, maybe there should be a bigger mirror base fitting that has the location tags in too?

Kev, my 1977 Series 1 Ti has plastic clips as part of a plastic plate that seems to fit and be kept in place by/behind the mirror.

dralf1965 wrote:Kev, my 1977 Series 1 Ti has plastic clips as part of a plastic plate that seems to fit and be kept in place by/behind the mirror.

ah, just as i suspected mate, thanks for that.

don't suppose you have a picture of the visor and clips at all please so i know what to look for?
thinking now i may have the wrong visors to hand...

Kevin, it's all coming back in a rush. I'm pretty sure that you've got the wrong visors there. I'm trying to remember if we saw any last time we were at Ludford. That thing about the clips being attached to the mirror fitting rings a big bell. Roof lining is looking great. I don't think the sunroof was too bad for water ingress, not by Sud standards at any rate!

Kev,

have a look at:

http://alfasud-giardinetta.net/Giardine ... 4_904A.htm

third picture down on the left, any help?

cheers

Ian

cheers ian, that pic of the giardinetta shows the same design of visors that i have, a big help thanks

just got to find the clips now for the mirror end, hopefully it will turn up soon.

then another stage of the roof lining can be finsihed

BINGO!!

had a look in the shed tonight, couldn't find anything in the boxes resembling the fittings i needed.

then had a look in some other tubs that i've gathered up over the years, came across what appear to be the right pieces. i did break a couple of suds a few years back, well saved a couple of cars worth of bits before they went on the banger track....these parts may well have come from an S2 car?

looks like the mirror fixing will screw on as normal, trapping the black plastic bit of trim. the retainers are then screwed through and into the roof with self tappers, not the square fixings of the S3 cars. should do the trick just nice

tucked inside the drivers sun visor was some old esso tokens, anyone remember collecting these?

the local garage near me was an esso station at the time, my mate on the pumps didn't bother giving me 1 token each visit, usually gave me a handful then stopped bothering with the tokens and just gave me the gifts that the collected tokens got you

my mam never had so many glasses in the house


check out the fuel reciept from 1987.
shame we can't still buy a tankful of 4 star for well under £20

i can remember the garage i worked at at that time and the prices per litre going up steadily and folks saying it would never ever get above £1 a litre, signs didn't even have the digits on them to cater for £1+

how wrong we were

38p a litre!!!

Those were the days!

3 gallons to the £1 when I was 16 (old money) still got a tiger's tail and an Esso man somewhere.

Kevin, i have some photos i wish to attach of my sunvisor arrangement, i can't work out how to attach a photo, can you give me a clue?






Ah, looks like i sussed it after all

I hope that's useful.

Nick

extremely useful nick, thanks for taking the time and trouble.

the ones i have are nearly the same.........which gets me thinking that I have S2 ones. where they clip to the mirror part is different on mine, the location pegs are seperate and will need screws to hold them to the roof.
think i'm going to go with what i have though, near enough to be ok.
the plastic fitting that's trapped by the mirror is the same shape that i have, tiny variation in the location for the visors at the mirror but i will use what i have.

really appreciate you taking the trouble to look though mate, thanks for that


should be able to get an hour or two on the car tomorrow, hope to finish the roof lining off

had the afternoon free to try and finish the roof lining off.

started off with fitting the rear quarter vent while i could, didn't want to fit the inner rear 1/4 lining then realise i couldn't bolt the vent in place!

so the extra panels that i made (ok, the Mrs stitched a seam into) were fitted with the metal tensioning rods and glued to the window opening and down to the shelf. the top end was then cut high enough so the main roof part could be folded and glued to overlap it.
has some baggyness in the corners which i can't get out without making extra folds (may do that if it annoys me enough) but overall i pleased with the results and look of it.
just need to make the holes for the window hinge and seat belt mount but have made a template to find them.

then turned my attention to the front end.
the sun visor/mirror mount was screwed into place then the lining cut and glued to the screen opening.
visors then screwed into place and the pillars finished off. was gonna glue the A pillar trims into place but they needed a good clean and then the foam behind them was too wet to fit, will let them dry first, seems daft to put them on wet....