'63 Giulia Spider Normale Restoration (Euro)

[Gordon Raymond]

Jay,
Thats no hijack! Patrick and others reading this restoration thread will all benefit by Patrick's and other contributors knowledge or experiences. The Fedhill source is great!
Thanks, Gordon Raymond

[pathung]

Thanks, Jay, for the solder idea. I'm not sure that brake tube-bending is much of a popular topic, so it's great that we're delving into this, and all manners of great suggestions are surfacing; Gordon's completely right!

My only remaining section to do is the long one, which unfortunately has lots of irregular kinks in it; looks like somebody really messed with it post-factory. I'll probably wait on making this section until the brake MC is in place, so as to get the length exactly right. In fact, I don't have a good photo of this... does the long section plug directly into the MC, or the multi-outlet copper fitting that's attached to the body just above the MC? Does someone have a good photo of that general area, showing which brake tube goes to which outlet of the fitting?

On a separate front, I took my gas tank in today to a local radiator place, and was pleased to see a few large gas tanks being worked on, one from a 1930s Ford. My tank was inspected, and considered to be in pretty good shape. It'll be boiled, but no sealing was considered necessary (let's hope that the guy's right!); it'll also be painted semi-gloss black, all for $180. Seems fair to me; I'll post pictures when I get it back in a week or so.

[pathung]

All four short brake tube sections done. Now I just need to get the MC back from my mechanic's so as to trial fit everything. The rear ones I should be able to trial fit this weekend though; I'll also be making the long section then.

How come everyone's out of stock on windshields? I need one!

[Gordon Raymond]

The speciality windshield problem is one I've delt with for years Partick. Glass for older Ferrari's is made up in batches on demand. That means someone has to order a bunch for con$iderable money, then they get spread out to various venders. The manufacturers will not inventory. You will need to wait until whoever manufactures the reproduction has enough orders. You might ask Centerline who they order from. My friend John H. had to have 5 windshields made up for a customers Ferrari he restored, though only two cars exist! There should be plenty glass for those two for years to come! They were made in Canada. You might try some of the venders in europe, though $hipping would be a con$ideration! Gordon Raymond

[1166]

When I make brakelines, I find it easier to use different round objects (large sockets, cans, pipe, etc) to bend around. Most of the bending tools make the line look too different from the original bends, so I like to do it all by hand. The Kunifer tubing is much easier to bend by hand than the steel lines. As for length, I use 'mechanics wire' a moderately thick easily bendable wire to follow the original lines, I straighen that, measure, cut the Kunifer line, put fittings on, flare them and bend to original dimensions. To bend, I like to put a female fitting in a vise, tighten one end fitting it and start to bend from there. I 'eyeball' the original line and hold it right next to the line I am bending so I get it right. I occasionally take the line out of the fitting or loosen the fitting to move the line I'm bending to a better position. Sometimes I take it out for the large radius turns and put it back in for the tight turns (generally made holding the line agains a small deep socket). In some places the hard lines have plastic tubing on them to help with abrasion protection - clear vinyl tubing from the hardware store fit prefectly for this.

[pathung]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTD Patrick Here's a reference for the attaching hardware.

[Gordon Raymond]

Patrick,
Want a picture? Can probably manage that! Give me a minute.
Gordon Raymond

[pathung]

You've gone MAD with pictures!

[Alfajay]

Pathung:

I don't know the answer, but I'll take a guess.

All of the force on this joint (that is, the cable-to-body connection) is in a downward direction. The cable exerts no force upward - that would be literally "pushing a string". But, when the front suspension reaches full droop, the cable reaches its extension limit, and yanks on the body.

Based on this, I think we can assume that at least one, and perhaps both rubber washers go above the sheetmetal loop on the body where the cable attaches - that would allow the rubber to provide some cushioning as it compresses a bit when the cable gets yanked.

I must admit that when I assembled my Giulia, I just put one rubber washer above, and one below, kind of like mounting a shock absorber. But now that I think about it, the one below serves no function, since the force isn't bidirectional, as it is with a shock absorber.

I restored my Giulia in the pre-Internet days, and had no idea that the limit cables could be bought new. I just had a boat supply shop fabricate two cable assemblies, attaching a threaded rod at one end, and a solid ring at the other. I re-used my old hardware. I don't recall having as many washers as your picture & workshop diagram shows.

[gowanusvin]

Somebody recently performed this installation and discussed it on a threat. It may have been Subtle. Check back.

[GTD]

Patrick
The small black rubber washer, identified as #3 in the diagram, is the first component installed below the bodywork or sheetmetal.
Jay is on target with his description of the assembly. The force on the cable is downward; the large rubber waffle washers are sandwiched with the large metal washers, under compression, to create a cushion between the cable and the body of the car.

[user459]

Pat,
I concur with the previous post. That's the way I found them when I disassembled mine. Both waffle rubber washers on top, ridges facing wach other, sandwiched between two large washers. I tried taking pictures, but they don't show the detail when all assembled.

Terry

[pathung]

Thanks everyone; Gordon Raymond likewise e-mailed and advised to install as you all suggested.

I'm however confused about Terry's post. Are the rubber ridges indeed facing each other, and both sandwiched between the two large washers? The workshop manual diagram shows both rubber pieces with ridges facing the upward direction, and a large washer in between the two.

[concept 101]

How come everyone's out of stock on windshields? I need one![/quote]

Patrick,
If you don´t mind ordering your windshiel from Europe, there´s a reliable and helpful guy here in Sweden, that stocks the Giulia/Giulietta windshilds, both shaded and clear/standard and that I bought my two windshields from, cost appr. $290 US (might be even cheaper if he will be willing to deduct the swedish sales tax as it would be sold outside the EU). His address is Veterania, go to "vindrutor" and then to "europeiska bilar" and you´ll find the 101 Spider windshields under Alfa Romeo. Have no clue though what the shipping would be to the US or if he´s willing to ship at all, problem is, they are pretty fragile and sensitive to transportation and I think he burned himself a couple of time in the past. You will have to contact him and talk/write to him.

Dennis
´62 Giulia 1600 Spider
´62 Giulia 1600 Sprint