'63 Giulia Spider Normale Restoration (Euro)

[AR58SprintV]

Dear Patrick,
Everybody has an opinion, but I would never use a gel-cell (such as Optima) in a regular use motorcar again.
Your Fan,
Laurence

[Gordon Raymond]

These batteries have a following, based on a number of factors. They are spill and leak proof unless damaged mechanically. They are somewhat smaller in size, for a given capacity, than the equivalent lead acid battery. They won't corrode terminals or anything else nearby.
On the downside, they do not handle temperature extremes as well as lead acid. In the trunk, this is of no concern unless you live in a very cold climate. They are expensive relative to a lead acid, of comparable service life.
One or two more thoughts. Years ago, I used to use a TINY 4"x4" Gel-Cell brand battery to run my VW beetle when it's lead acid died. This was supposed to be a temporary fix, but due to circumstances at the time, it lived under the back seat in Illinois weather, including a winter outdoors, for the greater part of a year. I DO respect these batteries capabilities. That said, on both my vintage Alfa and Ferrari, I use top of the line 5 year warranty lead acid. In the Ferrari, the battery lives under the hood with a lot of heat, and in the Alfa, the heavier lead acid, in the diagonal rear corner, acts to balance the weight of my cars fat owner. Just my opinion.
Patrick, you car still looks great in it's current state of restoration. Bet you got some lookers with it on the trailer!

[pathung]

Thanks for the comments on the battery, guys; I'll probably stick with a lead acid battery, considering how inaccurate a yellow-top will look in the trunk. To delve into this further, what cold cranking power/other specs should I be looking for in the lead acid battery? Those numbers I see on batteries are mysteries to me.

Gordon, I had a girl yell at me from her SUV: "Nice MG!", and looking smug for being able to call out what the car was (not). Guys looked but pretended to not notice, probably thinking... "black Karman Ghia, purty nice..."

[Gordon Raymond]

The easiest way to do this is to go to NAPA, or your source of choice, armed with the physical dimensions of the top hold down rectangle, and the terminals located where you want them. It will be a "type 57" or some such number. If it is a quality battery, it will have about 70% more "cold cranking power" (what ever that really is!) than the OEM battery of 40 + years ago. FYI, my 1600 cc, 4 cyl. Alfa and 3300 cc, 12 cylinder Ferrari use the SAME size battery. It spins them both equally well.

[pathung]

Today was the BIG DAY. The car has finally gone back to Glenn's shop for braking system and power-train installation - basically, the last leg of restoration; it will leave the shop on its own power. I'm also trying to get Glenn to help me adjust the fit on various trim pieces, but he's balking, claiming that such menial work is not in his job description. He seems to like California Rolls, so we'll see how many pounds of it will make him budge.

The car arrived at the shop safely, and we immediately began installing the rear brakes... and that's all we got done, as people kept coming and going, which is the norm in this shop. We did notice that the NOS Veloce headers needed a fresh coat of paint, so I'm going to apply some paint remover and get them painted - Eastwood Exhaust Black, or whatever's in their catalog nowadays. I'm also refurbishing the heater unit - I've already taken it apart, and will be bead-blasting part of it and giving it a fresh coat of glossy black paint. Other than that, not much else to do till I go back up to Berkeley in two weeks. Well, there's always the Sprint to keep me busy.

Below are photos of the Spider and Sprint together on my driveway (2 x black = Doubly Fast!), as well as some of Glenn's shop after we unloaded my car. That's Robert's white Giulietta Spider racer alongside mine - Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, it occurred to me. There's also Glenn's supposed-"100-point" Olds on the driveway; the other cars in the garage are merely a bunch of boring Step-nose GT racers.

[pathung]

More photos of garage and heater:

[conedriver]

Nice photos. On the other hand, the thread highjack, topic change and flames from this comment will provide entertaining reading...

Quote:

Originally Posted by pathung ..... the other cars in the garage are merely a bunch of boring Step-nose GT racers.

[Subtle]

Black heater-cores are better than any other colour.

[pathung]

Yeah Bob, they heat up faster for some reason, just like a black Giulietta is faster than a white Giulietta (white Giuliettas are also more prone to crashing, as evidenced by one photo above) - something to do with the lightness/heaviness of the color pigments. Black being more robust, it tends to settle the car more, thus creating further stability during high-speed jaunts.

As GTs are a slower breed overall, the differential in performance due to body color is less apparent, approaching non-existent.

I need coffee.

[alfabits]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pathung I need coffee.

[pathung]

I also have some Eastwood stuff left, and will use those for whatever part needs black - for example, my black Sprint's engine bay. A few weeks down the road, I'll use those to paint the Sprint's suspension components.

I stripped off the paint on the headers this morning, and the bare-metal pipes look so nice that I'm considering leaving them unpainted. Did you paint yours, George, and what color?

[alfabits]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pathung I stripped off the paint on the headers this morning, and the bare-metal pipes look so nice that I'm considering leaving them unpainted. Did you paint yours, George, and what color?

[Gordon Raymond]

George's treatment, is both currently the best, and authentic as far as color. When these cars were NEW, the headers were painted with silver lacquer, the same color George has his coated. The lacquer burned off in about 20 minutes but made a neat smell. (don't ask why I remember this!) The internal / external high temp Jet Hot treatment will not only preserve headers, but is claimed to offer better exhaust flow.
I worked for two years on having these headers made in stainless steel, and have now handed the project over to Joe Cabb at Centerline. A matt finished stainless would have close to the proper look, burned on oil stains easily removed with 400 wet & dri sandpaper. The goal is to produce the stainless unit at a close price to the new steel currently available with the added Jet Hot treatment.
Ferrari headers (old days) were heated with a torch and smeared with used engine oil until they "seasoned" and turned brown, like an old cast iron frying pan. Ferrari headers browned in this manner do not rust, and can be re-treated on a running engine. Course steel wool soaked in oil is used to burn on more browning as required. A smoky and stinky treatment, but quite useful.

[101/105guy]

That's what I use on must of the Alfas.
Bought it at a Corvette parts place and it works remarkably well.
On the Duetto, I sand blasted the headers and applied the Calyx paste. It looks like graphite in a thick, chunky paste. Wore gloves and worked it into all of the surfaces. Then mounted the headers.
After 2 years of regular use, the finish still looks fresh. Doesn't flake like paint.
Also applied it to the 1600 S exhaust still in the car. No prep to the rusty headers. Same nice finish. Just hard to get into all of the nooks.
On my 'Vette, I had to reapply after about 5 years.

[pathung]

Well I ended up using some Eastwood high-temp paint, in a flat black - sorry for being non-original - t'was the only available paint in the shop! Turned out nice, though.

We also finished installing both the front/rear brakes, as well as the parking brake system. Next meeting will consist of engine/transmission (already coupled together) installation, just after we sneak the headers in there first. This is getting to be a lot of fun.