'63 Giulia Spider Normale Restoration (Euro)

[pathung]

Made some progress last and this weekend - mainly working with the wiring under the dash. It's actually quite a bit of fun.

Having finally sourced a nice fuse block, I had all the wires that lead to it connected, as well as all others identified by masking tape. Both the ignition switch and foot-operated high/low beam switch have been hooked up and installed in place.

I'm currently working on the instrument gauges. Thanks to Lionel's accurate color-coding of the wires and an excellent diagram from Papajam, I knew what wires went to what gauge. I tackled the tri-gauge first, which is first in line (deepest to the left) and most complicated. I based my connections on both the diagram and an old photo that I took during disassembly; all seemed fine until I'm left with a pink wire that came with a bullet connector, but no female receptacle on the gauge to plug it into! On close inspection of the old photo, I noticed that the pink wires didn't have a bullet connector, and is inserted wire-only into one of the six terminals on the back of the gauge. I'm checking with Lionel on this, but if anybody cares to comment, please be my guest.

Also, please let me know if you can identify errors in my wiring connections for the tri-gauge. The photos don't show the terminal markings/letterings too well, but basically, the black and yellow/white wires are connected to the two existing COM terminals, while the red goes to INTER. I'm pretty sure that I have the warning lamps hooked up correctly. The only wire not connected/seen on the photo is the troublesome pink. Attached are a photo of the old gauge prior to disassembly, followed by two showing the new gauge connections.

As you can see I've installed a few other items onto the car: a tail-light assembly, the trunk lock, and the 1600 badge. I'll be working on getting more of the bright work installed tomorrow, since the in-laws are coming next weekend, and I need to get all the car parts out of their room ASAP, on the wife's orders!

[Lionel Velez]

Patrick,

I just sent you an email from my gmail account. I see know were is your confussion. Some of the later 1600 had bullet connectors on the pink wires. What you need to do is to cut the bullet of the pink wires and insert them as indicated in my earlier email. Concact me should you need additional assistance. Your progress looks great!

Regards,

Lionel

[GTD]

Patrick
Just a few observations:
Part of your difficulties are due to the Giulietta gauges being used in a Giulia chassis. Apparently Lionel supplied the wiring harness with the bullet connector on the PINK wire as that would be correct for a 63 Giulia with Giulia gauges. In order to use your Giulietta gauge, snip the bullet connector, strip the wire and connect it to the terminal marked INTER in common with the WHITE wires.
I notice you have the RED wire (from the fuel sending unit) connected in common with the WHITE wires (12V + to each gauge). While this copies your original wiring as shown in your first pic - it is not correct for a Giulia. The WHITE wires on a Giulia all connect at an insulated terminal with the PINK wire in order to provide 12V + from FUSE #2.

All of the above may be incorrect and your wiring needs to be different in order to use the Giulietta Tri-Gauge, which was originally positive ground, on your Giulia negative ground system.

Attached is a rather poor pic of original Giulia Tri-Gauge wiring.

[pathung]

GTD, thanks for your photo; it's actually quite clear. Lionel e-mailed me with further instructions on how mine are hooked up, and it indeed is different from what you suggest, most likely due to gauge vintage. I'll go with Lionel's suggestions for now, and come back to yours if my gauges explode when electricity flows.

I've been installing lights, chrome, and the like, and ran into a few glitches. I bought a reproduction hood chrome strip, but as the angle of the threaded studs was off and the shape of the piece did not conform to the shape of the hood, I tightened the nuts too tight and a stud broke off - will come back to it later.

The NOS Carello headlights from the UK don't clear the aluminum backing bracket, while the sealed beams that the PO had installed had a much shallower shape than the Carellos; see pics. Where have folks gotten fitting headlights before, and what do you prefer, sealed beams or the traditional lens and bulb type?

[Gordon Raymond]

Patrick, I've a set of vintage (non sealed Beam) bulbs in my spider. I'll look at the tomorrow and let you know what they are. The bulbes that you have are like the ones in my Ferrari 275 GTB. The bulb itself it ment to be changed foem under the fender well, there is a hole in the bulb bucket and a rubber thingie keeps water out from the wheel well. Gordon Raymond

[pathung]

Thanks, Gordon. These are DEFINITELY wrong bulbs for my car.

Tony Stevens sells "Quadoptic" headlamps - does anybody know what that means? Thanks.

[Lo Fo SI]

Pat, Quadoptic are a brand name of Wipac lights - they take halogen bulbs. I have fitted them in my spider. They are good lights but the front lens is less curved than the original (Lucas in my case) so do not look exactly original.

Simon

[pathung]

Simon, and "Wipac" is a type of headlamp?

Will these lamps fit my car, as they need to be shallow as my sealed beams ( the one on the left in the photos posted earlier). Thanks.

[Gordon Raymond]

Patrick, I sourced an old NOS set of Carello H-4's. These are correct, fit perfectly with no modifications. They are not sealed beam units, but rather those with replaceable bulbs. The lamp must be removed from the bucket to replace the bulbs, totally unlike those you have, or those on my Ferrari. These have not been available for some time. I suggest you try E-Bay headlights, and / or some specialized sites both here (US) and Europe. These were used on a lot of cars and you should be able to locate a NOS pair.
If you need more help send me a PM. Best, Gordon Raymond

[pathung]

Thanks, Gordon, off I go on a headlamp search. If anybody else has comments or sources, please kindly holler.

Got a few things done today: installed the tri-gauge; ran both tach and speedo cables through the firewall; installed the wiper motor (and realized that I should've hooked up the wires to it first!); installed one defroster vent; installed some stainless steel trim; tried installing bumpers but ran out of time. Will post pictures tomorrow.

I'm also contemplating switching from DOT3 to DOT5 (synthetic) brake fluid. A friend told me to rid the brake lines of leftover DOT3 fluid with acetone by plugging one end of the line and shaking the hell out of it, possibly a few times, and finally blowing it out with compressed air. This may work for the shorter sections, but for the extra long one that goes from the brake MC to near the rear axle, I'd have to do this standing in a tree. Any ideas on how best to clean up these brake lines? Also, were these lines originally brass/bronze/plated? I've blasted a few short sections, and am wondering if they should be plated. Thanks in advance.

[AlfaDuc]

Patrick,
I'll try some replies to your questions, and I would guess that Gordon will provide more detail too.
-Headlights: You can get 7" Cibie halogens from Daniel Stern Lighting with
good quality H4 bulbs for about $70 apiece. They fit easily within the
buckets, and require removal of the lamp from the bucket to replace the
bulb.
-DOT 5 brake fluid: I would definitely not recommend the use of silicone
brake fluid in the Giulia systems due to incompatibility with the original
rubber seals. Unless you are POSITIVE that a more recent rubber
compound has been used in ALL your seals, you should use DOT 4 (like
Castrol GT LMA) and NOT silicone DOT 5. A previous owner had used
silicone fluid in a 2600 Sprint I owned, and I had to cut the flexible
bladder out of the brake fluid reservoir because it had swelled so much.
Needless to say, several seals in the calipers and brake master cylinder
were also badly swollen.
-Brake lines: It's not too difficult to just fabricate new steel brake lines,
using the originals as patterns. You can buy the tubing from most
supply houses (NAPA, etc.), and tubing benders and flaring tools (for
adding the new fittings to the tubing) are available as well (Eastwood,
etc.). No worries about cruddy tubing, rounded off old fittings, etc. Oh,
the original brake lines were just unfinished stainless steel with no
plating. You're allowed to polish the new S/S lines to your heart's
content
Jim

[GTD]

Patrick
The original brake lines were NOT S/S. They are the period standard; zinc or cadmium plated steel brake line.
I'd suggest using Cunifer (copper-nickel alloy) brake line.
The disadvantages of DOT 5 fluid are usually only worth the effort if you are racing.
Yes; DOT 3 will ruin paint - use care and don't overfill the reservoir.
Yes; DOT 3 will absorb moisture - flush the brake fluid annually.
Yes; DOT 3 is readily available and cheaper - pocket the savings!

[pathung]

Everyone, thanks for your input. I've also received a separate e-mail outlining the evils of DOT 5; looks like I'm staying with DOT 3.

I'll check out new tubing as Jim suggests - sounds like fun to bend one's own tubing and have a brand new system on the car to go with the three new steel-braided brake hoses I bought.

[pathung]

Looking at the mess of brake tubing in my garage, I decided to give myself a break and just get them re-zinc'ed (in place of bending new ones on my own). I found a shop near work in Fremont, CA - will try it out.

Anyone in the Bay Area can recommend a shop that restores gas tanks? I found a place locally that estimated $300 just to clean and seal the interior - kinda on the high side, IMO.