Classic Alfa Forums

So as you can see I have bought Kev’s 33 and I am new to this forum, however I have been following the forum from day 1 as I have always been a very keen alfesti but only over the last few years got back into Alfa ownership.
So why have I bought this car? Well I used to own a 1985 S1 33 1.5 back in the day when it was a modern car at the same time as Kev owned a Lancia Delta, some say history repeats itself! Now I have known Kev for a long time and seen several of his Alfa projects and was a little jealous when he told me he had a 33 as I have always had a soft spot for them. I have never really been in a position to do a project car because of family, work and basically life in general, but as the kids get older…… and Kev taunting me, even letting me drive his 33 to MITCAR this year so when Kev said he was looking to sell it the other week, well the temptation was just too much, so here I am some 25 years later from my first step into Alfa ownership in the late 80’s owning the S1 Alfa 33 (that was an interesting time let me tell you, that I will no doubt at some time add details to another thread) now owning the 33 I always wanted a 1.7 QV. Not that I have not had Alfa’s in between as I currently also have a modern Giulietta too.
So the plan for H973.
To put it back to the original car that it strives to be, being a low mileage 1.7 16v QV with a solid base to work from. With great work done by Kev in the engine department it means that it “just” needs the body work bringing up to scratch and a few bits sorting out, but me being me I would like to get it looking the best it possibly can so I will take it to pieces bit by bit in my spare time respray and then put it all back together again good enough to show? / use on special occasions? / or just take out and drive and put smile on my face. Let’s see how it goes, as mentioned that’s the plan. This will take a while but I am sure it will be worth it.
Paul.

glad it looks as good with the covers off as it did with them on mate

Hi Paul
Welcome to the mad house your have loads of fun with a 16v

Hi Paul

Welcome to Re-Ownership and the forum, Kev's quite relentless i imagine with an enormous amount of weight to his convincing, so i think you've staved it off pretty well to be honest, but you caved in the end, and thats great!


Its also great to hear of your plans for the car. I'm a big big fan of the 33 16v qv, and was actually the guy that unearthed this one prior to Kev and brought it back into the daylight after many years, and agree that it is a great starting point for really nice car. I'm sure it will turn out to be a fantastic addition to a tiny little list of qv's in the uk presently, we need every one we can get, very very rare currently,

But no pressure!


Welcome again, and the very best of luck.

Shrew

So a quick couple of hours going through the car finding and listing all the little faults that will need sorting and things I would like to do.
One such thing was the wipers reluctant to park properly (they did but very slowly). Kev had supplied some spares with the car and in these were a couple of wiper motors and linkages, so after cleaning the scuttle out from years of rubbish I got the best set of linkage and sorted the best motor and replaced the unit. Scuttle cover will remain off for now, as the car slowly gets taken apart, ready to be cleaned stored.

Can i have my pine needles back please Paul?

IMO , Unless you have water ingress or need to change it I would leave the screen for now. The surround looks mint so it isn't as if you need to remove it to attend to any corrosion issues.
Is the S3 bonded in ? if so, maybe you could cut the bottom bead of sealer off flush with the glass, mask and reseal to try and keep any more moisture out.
Sods law you will get a chip one day, then it can come out.
Only other thought is will removal help with the re-spray?
Just a thought.
Good luck she looks sound.

Ha ha, yes you can have the pine needles back with pleasure Shrew, found more earlier as I stripped the dash out to get to the heater cables, which explains why when I drove it to MITCAR this last year I was covered in them. Where on earth was it parked?
And yes Kegsti66 I believe the screen is bonded so I think I will take your advise and clean away the bottom bead and reseal it. Guess it would help at the re-spray stage but I will see how good it can be masked first as I fear expense.

It was just a thought.
If it was a rubber I wouldn't suggest cutting it, but if you say the scuttle trim covers the bottom, a line of masking tape on the bottom of the screen, say 5mm, then a clean bead may help.

think a fair portion of the pine needles also came from that tree in our garden too mate

scuttle looks in great shape

KevJTD wrote:think a fair portion of the pine needles also came from that tree in our garden too mate

scuttle looks in great shape

They are simply the worst of Gods creations aren't they, the bain of my life bloody pine trees are!

Sadly ours are already like giant redwoods, far beyond a little diy pruning, so are just an all year round pain in the arris!

A couple of hours spare so a quick look at the heater controls as they were not working and good old Kev had supplied some spares in this department too. The control unit has a broken dial so donor one will go in but as some of the cables are stiff they will be replaced as well but this may need the whole heater to be taken out to sort the cables, hoping not as trying to free of the existing cables first, so quick question if the heater unit has to come out to reconnect replacement cables, with the water pipes removed, will this cause an air lock when putting it all back together and need bleeding or will the water just naturally circulate? Clearly hoping the cables can be freed.
Fan checked and working fine.

the water system will self bleed if you need to remove the whole heater box mate, it sits about the highest point so you shouldn't lose much coolant, worth clamping the hoses with a small quick clamp or g clamp if you've one handy, like the little clamps you get to hold stuff to a workmate type thing.
the heater boxes are only held in by 4 10mm spanner sized nuts, you've got the whole replacement one to see where they are so rathee than struggle i'd be inclined to pull lot out as you've got this far, make a nice job of it now and you'll not have it to do again

nice progress mate, bet you're enjoying it

What a day. Was hoping to do plenty to the 33 but ended up putting a new driveshaft on my lads Clio and whilst fetching the driveshaft from the factors some old biddy pulls out of a car park exit and scrapes the rear of my Giulietta, then as I pull over she drives off. I don't even think she realised she hit me. Joy.
Anyway after finishing the Clio and polishing the bumper and wheel of the Giulietta (luckily all but invisible) there was a bit of time to get the heater box removed so I could change some of the cables and make sure all the flaps worked as they should. Bit of a struggle to get it out, like the pipe clamp Kev. And finally out.
Back to work for the next 5 days so little will get done.

you don't have much luck with car parks in town mate do you! glad for you that the damage seems to be minimal, bet she didn't know she'd hit you at all.
there's a little old lady who comes in to work once a month to have her tyres checked, she cam in last year with the front end pushed in and the bonnet kinked up.
asked if I could shut her bonnet for her as it looks like it's come up!
when I said it looked like she's run into someone she said she did bump into the back of a lorry trailer!!
needless to say the insurance wrote it off for her but she went out and bought a new car, which now has a scratch on all 4 corners.

know it's a tricky subject with independence and all but sometimes you do wonder how safe some elderly drivers are...



anyway, more pine needles but more confirmation on how solid a car it is. looks great under there, no sign of any rust at all.

you'll be pleased of the struggle once the units all back in and it works great for years to come


great use of spanners to clamp the hoses too

Seems to be the day of muppet drivers. Looking out of my bedroom window this morning. Watching a van looking for a space . Pulls in front of my car , swings round and clips my rear corner. Could see it was going to happen . Legged it down and went mental at him lol he didn't even know I'd hit it. Let's just say he quickly changed his attitude with me . Plus his boss will be having a chat with him!!
Anyway glad your cracking on with your 33

Had a couple of days tinkering but not really seen much progress other than stripping a few more parts off like mirrors, door cards etc. Oh and sorted the central locking problem.
Not sure how long this is going to take to get it to where I would like to be with it but I just keep adding to my list.......
Also can't decide whether to strip all the interior including carpet etc as most of the dash is out anyway and the doors will eventually be off for the re-spray, or leave in place at the mo.
Anyway next weeks plan is to get it up on ramps to get at the underside.

Has the heater box on the 33 got 4 long captive bolts that go through the bulkhead like on the Sud. If so before I replaced mine i wound the nuts on and shortened the bolts with a hacksaw,made replacing much easier as you don't need a deep socket.

Hi Sud 145, Yes it has and it was a pain to get out because of the length of the bolts, so might be worth cutting them shorter to replace it, however the center consul is held in place by the same bolts so will need to measure the length required. But good call there.
Did you use silicon sealer or rely on the standard foam gasket to make a seal between the bulkhead and the heater box?

Hi. I was lucky and just reglued the seal to the bulkhead. I had the idea of shortening the bolts because of the terrible rasping noise the threads made as they pulled through the bulkhead. Refitting then took no time at all and you wont move the seal. Kev and others have probably done this lods of times. Let us know how it goes when the refit happens..

Thanks again. Printed your tip and put it in the cardboard box with the heater box and controls to remind me when I refit it. I think its my OCD that kicks in as I have labelled every wire, and nut and bolt as I have removed them and put in labelled boxes so the rebuild should go smoothly, when ever that may be.
Just as a note, so I can still start the engine I have connected the two heater pipes together so the water circulates, as I will need to move the car from time to time.

Ha Ha I did that once on an Avenger,drove it all summer then realised I hadn't fixed come autumn.

So A few bits and pieces done this last couple of days.
Mirrors off and stripped, found seized and broken cables so will look to my cycle mechanics skills to re-cable these before prepping for painting. Next was to remove the front lights bumper so I could get the car on steep ramps that I have. The captive nuts and bolts looked like they had never been off, joy! So an hour or so later!
Anyway got it up on the ramps and ready for the underside to be checked, sorted, cleaned and protected. Roll on the weekend so I can get underneath it weather permitting as I have this weekend off work.
Plan is still to check, fix and clean any removed parts so when the car is ready for the rebuild, after the full re-spray, it should go smoothly but this of course takes time.

you're making great progress mate, really getting stuck in.
sure I had that front bumper off a few years ago do swap the engine over but then again I can't remember if I did or not now

has lou forgiven you yet? doubt she'll ever forgive me

Kev gonna need a chat soon to talk through my plans with it.
Lou has given up I think as it keeps me from under her feet, however she says she would never travel in it, but she loves the G?

no worries mate, when you're ready.

at least you've weaned her off the Renaults....

Yea just need to swap the Megane in for a Mito and we've cracked it!

Not much done of late, been busy with other things.

Quick question though will a 75 fog light like on ebay fit the 33 to replace the cracked one?
( http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Alfa-Romeo-75 ... SwvUlWqNav ) Also what is the best protection for inner wings? They look in pretty good condition but need them to stay that way.

So whilst I was on here asking advice on struts I thought I should put some more pics on of where I've got to so far with the 33. Suspension removed meant I could clean up and undercoat the inner wings. Then I need a dry day when I can top coat them to keep them in as good condition as they currently are.
Next then will be remove the bottom transvers arms ready to clean and paint.
Brake callipers, discs and disc plates now removed. New hoses will be put on too.
So plenty to keep me busy for now.

i'm sure Paul won't mind me adding the odd little post to his thread, all relevant to his 33 of course...

this afternoon he dropped the 2 doors and a wing that need repairs.
the hatch needs a repair behind the glass too but that'll be for another day..

wing in pretty decent condition
just needs a small repair down the bottom where it fitted under the side trim
underside in remarkably great condition
the drivers rear door has some corrosion at the front edge of the outer skin, this will get cut out and new metal let in
the passenger front door we knew would need a hole repairing along the front edge of the bottom outer skin
it also has a hole under where the side moulding goes which will get welded up