1986 Sprint 1.5QV project.

[dff53]

Hi all, been an Alfa fan for a long time especially the older cars. Finally took the plunge and bought one of my favs early this year, a 1986 Sprint. Bought the car sight unseen and as expected there was the dreaded tin worm, though not the worst i've seen. So have been spending the last four months stripping the car down and fixing the rust. My initial plan for the car was to turn it into my track car, but recently my focus has changed to making it my weekend Sprinter since most if not all the other Sprints in NZ are track only cars.









Hopefully it will look a little like this when i am done with it.

[Hans-Peter]

Go for it, photo shopped Ronals look good just be careful with size, I had 15x7 on a black Sprint and they rubbed at the front, also while they looked good they didn't make it drive any better. I've now got a red one which I put 33 vented brakes on which was an easy cheap worthwhile upgrade.

[Alfasixnut]

Good work on your Sprint - Please keep the pictures coming.

[Ennio]

Looks like a great project, I was wondering how did you manage to install series II rear tail lights to a series 3. I have a friend that just bought an 86 Sprint 1.5 and he will need to change his tail lights and he is not sure to put in 2nd or 3rd series.

[dff53]

Thanks for the comments all, i am indeed saving for the Ronals at the moment. Will get 195/50/15 tyres and hopefully shouldnt rub, or I might do something to the fenders so it doesnt. In all honesty i am not planning on lowering the car too much anyway, just the rear so that car sits level with the front.

Ennio- The earlier lights just mount on to the existing holes, though you will have to customize the connectors to get is too work.

Also the only real problem i see is the centre panel from the earlier car which has the reverse lights (as you see i haven't fitted it on mine). You will have to make two holes for the reverse lights where the panel meets the body so it can be mounted.
At the moment i have gone for the series 3 centre panel which is not legal as there is no lighting for the car's license plate. This is because with the early cars the license plate light is together with the centre panel and with the Series 3 cars it's together with the taillights.

[Greek]

Ι have the same size and lowered by 30mm and they dont rub on the fender. Are you sure you had the right size ( offset etc....)?

[Hans-Peter]

I had 205/50-15 , car wasn't lowered they rubbed on inside and outside, as you probably the wrong offset. Both car and wheels long gone.

[dff53]

Those Momo wheels on your car looks good too and i wouldnt mind them on mine except they look a lot like volvo's 16'' gemini wheels that i have on my Volvo 244 lol.

[Hans-Peter]

Hehe they do look very similar , the Momo's did look very good on the Sprint and when I sold them they went on 116 GT which they really suit as well. The Ronal style looks excellent though, I think I may know of some or something similar on a rusty Lancia -- must follow up for my red Sprint.

[dff53]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hans-Peter Hehe they do look very similar , the Momo's did look very good on the Sprint and when I sold them they went on 116 GT which they really suit as well. The Ronal style looks excellent though, I think I may know of some or something similar on a rusty Lancia -- must follow up for my red Sprint.

[Hans-Peter]

Thats it --

[dff53]

More pics of the car, especially the rust spots are here.

http://s640.photobucket.com/profile/DFF53/uploads
Hopefully will be able to take pics of all those sections when they are fixed as we go along. Though at the moment i want to fix the areas under the windscreen first so that i can reinstall the windscreen and take it for a blat. Its been five months since ive driven her.

[Streamz]

wow your really doing a thorough job! And all inside a storage unit. Im impressed!

Its going to look great when its finished. I do like the Ronals more than the wheels I sold you. I would like some of those for my sud too.

[dff53]

Yeah, i am keeping the Alfetta wheels for trackdays and such since its very light Magnesium alloy. The Ronals are supposed to be quite heavy and wide, even for road use apparently. I had no choice with the storage unit, don't have a garage, so needs must. The only downer is that the unit has no power supply which is why i had to get a powerful enough generator so it can power up a MIG welder too.

[dff53]

Hi, Bit of an update on the Alfa, I moved to a bigger unit last month, as I previously depended heavily on the weather for light and my generator to power tools and welder. So when the genset crapped out I bit the bullet and moved into this bigger unit. And while there, I am fixing the rust on my 1982 volvo 240 also.
Rust on the fender mounting rails, there is the option below.
http://www.alfasud-parts.co.uk/catal...ail-p-866.html
but It’s just too expensive to ship to NZ. So I am just rebuilding mine section by section, unfortunately every time I grind one part down it just reveals more rust. The driver’s side on mine only needed the top and inner side reconstructed.


Unfortunately not so lucky with the passenger side. So it is being done in two parts due to the slight arch on the top.




Also if you see in the first pic. I did the windscreen bottom channel so it overlaps on the fender lip for the water to flow, rather than when they did it at the factory where the channel -end got sandwiched under the fender allowing water to get into the seam and eventually rust. Of course that would have been a stronger design as the two sections are welded together. I will do the same when I weld on the bonnet catch rod mounting angle.

The rust at the bottom of the windscreen was bad on both sides, they have been repaired with good steel but not too sure about the finish. This ****ty welder I have keeps burning holes, forcing me to fill the holes . I might consider cutting them out and redoing them again depending on how much I have to grind down to avoid slapping on too much filler to smooth it out.


I have so far spent all my time doing the front of the car so I can get the windscreen fitted.
Still have to have both the rear wings removed to tidy the inside, and also the edges of the wing.




I also have the hatch to repair and the bottom and top edges of the boot.




Pics of my Volvo, my first car, the Alfa being my 12th. This one is getting the windscreen bottoms , sills and boot edges/channels repaired too.