1600 GTA Homologation Sheets - HERE!

[italcarguy]

I received these today from AlfaBB member "gtaj". He asked me to share this with you all. All GTA owners on this site should print this up and keep it on file.

Here is the link to all 21 pages: 1600 GTA Homologation Papers

[david rivkin]

An original official copy of the homologation papers is available for only a few bucks direct from ACCUS-FIA, each page having the necessary rubber stamp of authenticity. ACCUS = Automobile Competition Club of the U.S. THey are located in the mid-west.

David Rivkin
66 GTA 1600
81 GTV6 2.5

[italcarguy]

How does one get in contact with the FIA out in the mid west?

[david rivkin]

Here are the contacts for the USA and Canada:

USA: ACCUS-FIA
1500 Skokie Blvd, Suite 101
Northbrook, IL 60062
Tel: 708 272-0090

CDN: ASN Canada FIA
Basin des Pretres, 1745 St. Patrick
Bureau 202
Montreal, Quebec H3K 3C6
Tel: 514 933-0994

You can get a set of official homologation papers for every car you own, complete with those rubber stamps beloved by most europeans, especially les Francais.

David

[gtaj]

hey david why dont you post some pics of your car and tell us about it?

[david rivkin]

I just bought a Kodak Easyshare camera and am learning how to use it. As soon as I figure out how to download, etc, I will be glad to post pics. As the song goes, I'm an analog guy in a digital world. How do you get pics onto the AlfaBB ???

Also, slight error in translating ACCUS. It is Automobile Competition Committee of the U.S. Everyone should also own the FIA Year Book of Automobile Sport, since it lists everything from rules to rollbars. ( Annuaire du Sport Automobile )

In direct answer to GTAJ's request, GTA 613900 was found in a barn not far from Belmont Park ( home of the Belmont Stakes of the Triple Crown ) on Long Island, NY.
during the summer of 1974. After purchase, it was disassembled, with the bodyshell on a pair of saw horses. All components were repaired and the car reassembled to running order by about 1980. Not too happy with the way it ran, I took it to the shop run by Dominic Colasacco, who I had worked with at Alfa Romeo, Inc. Dominic told me that this was probably going to be the last GTA he would ever work on, and it was.

Now the car was running well and I started to bring it to vintage race events in about 1984. Travel to Dominics shop in New Jersey was a haul, so I discovered Giuseppe LoRe and his Alfa Import Center which was only about 10 minutes from my home. Giuseppe has maintained the car for the last 8 years.

613900 is very original, I am only the 2nd owner as far as can tell, it even has the original green plastic fuel tubing between the 45mm Webers !

The car is entered in the Zippo Vintage GP at Watkins Glen, Sept 8 -11. I will be car no. 30 in Race Group 3. If you are in the area, stop by and say hello.

David

[gtaj]

what did you do at alfa? did you replace the wooden steering wheel? how about the interior - intact or gutted for racing?

thanks

[gtaj]

by the miracle of modern science

[david rivkin]

Wow, that looks like my car during a photo shoot for Automobile Quarterly, taken at Floyd Bennet Field, Brooklyn, NY. Where did that come from ?

The interior is original, even the glue stained roof lining. The seats were redone in an exact matching vinyl. The original Nardi steering wheel is hanging on the wall of my den, since the left arm developed a crack from the innermost lightening hole to the bottom of the arm.. I found a Momo wooden replacement wheel, which isnt as pretty but serves the purpose.

The interior is there, except for the rear seat cushion and the floor mats, as is the requirement for FIA, Gp 2 of the sixties.

David

[david rivkin]

GTAJ

I was the Eastern USA Service Mgr for ARI, later Advertising and PR Mgr. I worked with Alfa stalwarts like Don Black, Jim Weber and Bob Little. In the shop was Dominic Colasacco and Tony Civitico (Autodelta experience). In the Field was Craig Morningstar.

David

[gtaj]

Quote:

that looks like my car during a photo shoot for Automobile Quarterly, taken at Floyd Bennet Field, Brooklyn, NY. Where did that come from ?

[david rivkin]

I havent corresponded with Anders for many many years. One of the BB correspondents, Nicke, who is building up a 1750 GTV at Joe LoRe's Alfa Import Center, is also from Sweden. I'll have to ask him if he knows Anders from Uppsala.

Is he OK, etc?

Good question about racing. Dominic Colasacco once asked me what rpm,s I was using. I said, 7000. He said, where are you going to get parts? I then put a thin red line of tape at the 6500 mark as a red line. That was because I blew the engine and shrapneled the #2 cylinder combustion chamber and Dominic was able to find another GTA Twin Plug Head. I still have the original Head, waiting to be rewelded, just in case.

I was hit twice, once in the Rt rear QP, last year and once in the Lt rear QP, many years ago. I try to be careful and enjoy myself, after all vintage racing is not NASCAR.
Also, just in case, I have a new old stock OEM alloy Lt rear QP in my basement store room, that I have had for about 30 years.

I like what was written in the CAS manual that said, all the experimentation was done for you, if its not here, dont do it. I try to follow that maxim with a few modern twists. I upgraded to J&E pistons for lighter weight and added an ATL fuel cell that fits into the spare tire well. Also the battery has been moved to the trunk, similar to the location shown in the homologation papers.

As to the AlfaBB, well some of the stuff is accurate but a lot, I think , is wishful thinking. There are lots of sources for info that people dont seem to look at. Photo interpretation is an easy source for research. There are so many published photos from official Alfa sources, that almost anything you need can probably be found. I have the Allegerita book as well as lots of others and use them when contemplating some repair or change.

In some ways I'm lucky here in NYC, being ten minutes from Alfa Import Center and 45-min. from Joe Nastasi''s shop. I know Jim Weber well and through Jim can get info from Don Black. I met Roman Tucker at Lime Rock during the late 80's and he built my fish tail side exhaust.

There are lots of very nice GTV's, the Blue and Silver GTAm replica is a visual knock-out, from Anthony Italcarguy. As for the GTA's, I really havent seen any photos to make a good judgement.

David

[gtaj]

i agree with your point on the cas - there is really alot of info there, particularly on specific mods that i see people asking about. wasnt don black selling this for a while? i wonder if its in the public domain yet. if so i would scan parts and put it on the bb for people to look at. alot of time and money was spent to put that thing together - in terms of lessons learned on the track.

roman tucker rebuilt my car - engine, trans, brakes, and repainted my car. he went down to the metal but i decided to leave the engine bay and interior as they were because i didnt want to much of a "show car" that i wouldnt use it. alas i havent turned it over for a couple of years due to some mechanical gremlins that i cant get sorted here in houston. that and 3 teenagers have but a crimp on the budget for a while but one day in the not so distant future...

[david rivkin]

Sorry to hear of your gremlins. Mechanical problems, of a general nature, should be easy to solve through the local AROC or an Alfa technician if you have one in Houston.
I have a friend of mine, Ted Atkins (an Alfa afficianado) who is a direct decendant of Sam H. In NYC we have a Houston St not too far from Ground Zero, but for some reason, we say "House-ton" ???

If you have the twin-plug head, and the ignition is causing problems, shouldnt Roman be able to offer some guidance? Do you have the owners manual for the Jr ? The 1600 GTA manual has a section on the twin-plug ignition that is pretty detailed. If you need a copy, let me have your snailmail address and I will make some xerox copies for you.

Some where in the BB, there was a note about Don Black and the CAS. For $75 you can have a personalized autographed copy. <italmotion1@comcast.com> or <dblack@earthlink.net>

Currently I am having the shop media-blast the outer face of the Campy mags for painting. The wheels are 6Jx14. Joe Nastasi told me that in Europe they wouldnt let him run anything wider than the 6" rim on the 1600 GTA. So I kept to that size. I ordered tires from Tire Rack, Yokohama A032 hard compound, 195/60x14. They are the last DOT Racing tire available in 60 cross section. With the extra deep sump, ground clearance is a problem with the 55-series.

David

[david rivkin]

Don Black's address didnt come out, <italmotion1@comcast.com> or <dblack3@earthlink.net>

David