'63 Giulia Spider Normale Restoration (Euro)

[cucinando]

Is that coffee cup originale?

Thanks for sharing your restoration journey with us Patrick. I long for the day I can get my hands on a Giulietta, so I'm chuffed to see someone taking such good care of one.

[pathung]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cucinando Is that coffee cup originale? Thanks for sharing your restoration journey with us Patrick. I long for the day I can get my hands on a Giulietta, so I'm chuffed to see someone taking such good care of one.

[pathung]

I'm very happy to report that the biggest development in the past week has been my getting the gauges back from Palo Alto Speedometer. I'm very pleased with the results, though there were a few matters to tend to: the "dust caps" on the back of the speedo/tach went AWOL, as did the rubber gaskets that cushion the outer chromed rings against the dash. I took them back to PAS, who found the caps, which for some reason became too small to fit after having been plated. They promised to find me a good, working set. I was also given some rubber rings to cushion against the dash; the old ones were apparently glued to the housing when new, and disintegrated after time and having been dislodged. I'm very happy with PAS, and would recommend their service to anyone looking to refurbish/restore their gauges. By the way, it doesn't hurt to haggle a bit for a lower price. They do good work and they know that, so you get to pay for it. I've posted pictures elsewhere, but here they are again for your convenience and completeness of this thread.

Shifting gears away from gauges, SeekGTV and I visited a powdercoating facility out in San Carlos as it was recommended by Craig Morningstar (a 750/101 Yahoo Group regular). Craid had gone over the powder palette with the owner, and had apparently found a close powder substitute to the BMW Polaris Silver paint - all that was needed was an actual test. We dropped off SeekGTV's spare wheel to test the recommended powder. The quoted price was reasonable: $65/wheel, including a clear top-coat. We'll know in about two weeks.

I also had a local painter come look at the car, and provide an estimate for some panel repair (two rearward floorboards and battery support), a few layers of Bianco paint, and clear-coat. This guy did a great job on a local Alfisti's '61/'62 Giulietta Spider (see attached picture of silver Spider under restoration), which I've become familiar with. The job will include sealing the car immediately after bare-metal stripping with PPG's DP90, which I hear works quite well. In any case, he wasn't able to give me quote right away, but soon, I hope. Poll: would you ask your painter to quote by project or per-hour? I'm inclined to go with per-hour to ensure high work-quality, but I'd like to know your thoughts - thanks!

Next up: strip the doors of all trim/window mechanisms, then attemp uninstalling the windshield if there is enough time before the car's trailered to have its engine/tranny pulled out on the Monday after Thanksgiving.

[GoldCloverLeaf]

Patrick - the guages turned out great. I look forward to your updates

[cucinando]

Said it before and I'll say it again... drooooollll...

Even the gauges are works of art (have I got the bug or what?? )

Great work Patrick, loving watching this work in progress.

[Touringspider]

Patrick:

The gauges look great. In response to your poll question, I would personally want to get a lump sum quote from the painter. It is much easier to budget your funds that way. I can guarantee that you will experience scope creep if you have work done on a per hour basis. I have done it both ways, most recently lump sum. A lump sum quote may be a little conservative on the painters part to allow for unknowns, but if he is reputable he should stick to the price. Now, if something totally unexpected comes up during the work then good faith should rule from both parties in negotiating a change order.

If you do go with a per hour basis, make sure you agree to a "not to exceed" amount or else you could find yourself paying a lot more than you anticipated.

Arno Leskinen
AROC-USA National Concours Chair
102
115
116

[pathung]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cucinando Said it before and I'll say it again... drooooollll... Even the gauges are works of art (have I got the bug or what?? ) Great work Patrick, loving watching this work in progress.

[pathung]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Touringspider Patrick: The gauges look great. In response to your poll question, I would personally want to get a lump sum quote from the painter. It is much easier to budget your funds that way. I can guarantee that you will experience scope creep if you have work done on a per hour basis. I have done it both ways, most recently lump sum. A lump sum quote may be a little conservative on the painters part to allow for unknowns, but if he is reputable he should stick to the price. Now, if something totally unexpected comes up during the work then good faith should rule from both parties in negotiating a change order. If you do go with a per hour basis, make sure you agree to a "not to exceed" amount or else you could find yourself paying a lot more than you anticipated. Arno Leskinen AROC-USA National Concours Chair 102 115 116

[1750s]

Patrick
NIce to see what you've been referring to in my post on rear drum brakes. Looks excellent! I'll be an expert in rear drums once I complete my repair. I'll post details on my results in the Rear Drum Brake post in the Supension catagory.
Tony at AlfaStop was very helpful and has a good supply of hard to find brake components.
Those gauges are something else! I'm sure PA Speedometer's business will increase with the great ad you've provided.

Russ

[pathung]

One detail that I forgot to mention was that I'd thought the folks at PA Speedo changed the background color of my speedo and tach from silver to gold in order to match the gold-hued center divider in the tri-gauge - this was not the case. They informed me that all three were originally painted in the gold hue, but the speedo and tach tended to fade to silver over time; they based this observation on an NOS set they looked at a few years ago. That explained it for me, as two silvers and one gold on the three gauges just didn't look quite right; I couldn't understand why Alfa would do that, except to again use whatever parts they had in the parts-bins.

[pathung]

After struggling with the brakes for nearly three weeks, I finally got them to loosen up so the wheels would roll freely again. Backing out the adjustment screws wasn't enough, as the shoes were seized up against drums. Each drum took some cajoling before coming off, but the last wheel was especially bothersome as the two slotted drum retaining screws were badly stripped - had to drill and extract these. In any case, got the wheels free enough so the car could be pushed onto the trailer for the trip to Berkeley.

Glenn Oliveria made quick work of extracting the engine and gearbox, as well as the driveshaft, and even took a few snap-shots of the process (see below).

Next up: pull the gas tank, steam-clean the undercarriage, undo the suspension/rear axle, and ready the car for media-blasting and painting; Bianco Spino, of course. Then comes the toughest part - putting everything back together, provided I can find all the parts!

[pathung]

It's been nearly six months since my last post; how time flies! Unfortunately, I haven't accomplished very much.

Since extracting the engine, I've taken my time stripping the car of remaining items, trim, and accessories. One of the larger items was the gas tank, which came out quite easily; the two bolts on the strap were rusted through and separated from the straps, but I was able to find new replacements from Alfastop. The tank looks good, but will need the Eastwood sealer kit to do its magic; I'm also going to paint it with Eastwood's Tank Tone paint; black is boring, so much for originality.

Whatever I did took so much solvent cleaning time that I decided to steam-clean the entire car before proceeding further. Because the car apparently leaked fluids profusely in its past life, its entire underbody was "wet" with lubricant and gunk, which made it impossible to examine for rust. I found a local detailer that could power-wash my car; the results were amazing! Best of all, the force of the pressurized water tore off all the loose undercoating, giving me a very good idea of the rust situation underneath: all surface rust.

In the ensuing weeks, I took out the once-greasy brake lines, and proceeded to poke some more at the undercoating. Unfortunately, I found spots of rust underneath; the fluids had obviously seeped beneath the coating, though I can see lots of shiny metal. I decided to go all out and scrape off all the undercoating. With a heat-gun, the process has been less of a pain than I had thought. I've spent three full days scraping, and will possibly need another three, including time for all four wheel wells. There has been discussion about when body color is applied underneath. My car seems never to have been molested, and I see white paint on top of a base layer of undercoating in the wheel wells, though sparsely; the paint probably got chipped off by rocks and debris over the years.

Once the undercoating's gone, the car will need all its supension/steering pieces pulled; this is going to be a major undertaking for me, as I'd never done anything like this before. According to the instructions in the shop manual, the process seems straight-forward, but I'm worried about undoing the ball-joints, at the rear triangular torque-arm and the tie-rod ends. I've been told to back them up (on one side) with something hard/heavy, and hammer them on the other side with a similar object; this supposedly momentarily changes the sahpe of the piece, and the taper pops out?! If anyone has a better idea, I'm game!

Anyhow, once the suspension's off, it's off to media-blasting in Fremont, and immediately after to paint. I've decided to go with black. Although I had wanted to stay as true as possible to the car's original specs, three white Alfas is just too much!

I forgot to bring my camera when the car was being power-washed, but I did have it handy this afternoon at home, scraping away gunk. Attached is a photo of my two Spiders. The '71 runs well, but also needs some bodywork and a new coat of paint, as well as new bumpers, new top, new seat cushions/covers, floormats... I can't make money fast enough for these cars!

[conedriver]

Patrick,

The process you mentioned is correct. When unable to remove a ball joint many years ago, I removed the entire suspension component and took it to an alignment shop thinking they would have a hydraulic press. An old mechanic grabbed a big hammer and whacked the side of the joint - and the tapered shaft popped out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pathung It's been nearly six months since my last post; how time flies! Unfortunately, I haven't accomplished very much.......but I'm worried about undoing the ball-joints, at the rear triangular torque-arm and the tie-rod ends. I've been told to back them up (on one side) with something hard/heavy, and hammer them on the other side with a similar object; this supposedly momentarily changes the sahpe of the piece, and the taper pops out?! If anyone has a better idea, I'm game!...

[pathung]

Thanks, George, I'm on my way to get a big hammer! Just curious; how would you get the new ball joint IN?

[GoldCloverLeaf]

A BFG (big f***ing hammer) will usualy do the trick. I would also buy a pickle fork. One of the balljoints was stuborn on my Berlina and only the picklefork worked after much bashing about.

You should also get a smaller pickle fork for the tie rod ends. It will be near impossible getting them off with a hammer.