AFrench Blue '69 GTV Restoration

[PSk]

Great work as usual.

Pete

[1750GT]

This past fall and summer I was really making a lot of headway on the body repairs and it looked like I was going to actually meet my target of getting the car to a paint shop before Christmas......unfortunately things peetered out (as is often the case in life) when I tackled the doors and the trunk lid. Oh those trunk lids! Let this be a caution to all!....never buy a trunk lid without actually seeing it in person. Some might recall the disappointment I had with the purchase of 67 trunk lid that was touted as being rust free and in good condition when in reality it was patched up (poorly), filled with about 10 lbs of bondo and had extensive inner frame damage....OK got me for $200...no sweat, lesson learned. So now the last trunk lid looked pretty good 6 months or so ago when I first got it. But after stripping away about 4 layers of paint that tiny rust spot isn't so small after all.





I had to dig further into this problem. I carefully unfolded the turned over edge and cut out the aft portion of the inside stiffening frame. So after doing this the section of the stiffener that was heavily rusted just fell apart....dang it.



The lid itself also has heavy rust on the inside along the back edge.....nice. The only way to make the lid usable is to try and weld in a new section....which is not so easy to do on a piece like this because of the relative flatness of the panel. Last year I repaired the trunk lid on a Nissan Maxima and found that no matter how much care I took to keep the weld heat off the panel....it still pillowed and oil canned when the weld metal cooled down and shrank. I had to put quite a bit of filler on it to save it.



So after sinking about $400 in those 2 trunk lids....at the end of the day I might still need to get another one....this time though it's going to be the new repro ones from the UK suppliers...which at $500 is starting to look like a very good deal.

[ShadeTree]

Rossano,
You must have a heater in your garage 'cause it's gotta be COLD there. I thought you guys that far north let your cars hibernate for the winter. It's been in the 40's here and I can't stand going out to mine.

Seriously, thanks for the info. I need to repair or replace the trunk lid on mine because the PO drilled holes through both layers of metal. I think it was a mount for a wing. And, of course, the lip needs repairs as well.

Keep up the good work!

[1750GT]

Brad...yes my garage is insulated and heated. I use an industrial 1500W heater and it does a decent job...even during the -10 Celsius days we normally see during Jan/Feb. Filling in those holes shouldn't be a problem because they're quite small and won't pull the metal that much (if at all) during cooling. The problems I experienced welding up my Nissan trunk lid was due to the fact that I had to patch in larger sections (about 3" x 4"). The weld shrinkage caused the distortion on the panel (I had no heat soak into the panel because I kept most of it cool with a wet rag). If you see rust on the outer surface of the inside structure.....I'll bet there'll be a lot more on the inside of these pieces. That cavity has no drain holes whatsoever and any moisture will be easily trapped in there....this is one area where cavity wax needs to be liberally applied after painting is complete.

[PSk]

The boot lid is also a highly stressed item that really is not strong enough for the average car user. Flexing metal causes rust ...

Pete

[1750GT]

Pete, if cavity wax or even oil had been applied into those nooks and crannies when the car was new, it would have prevented moisture from doing the damage it did. These lids had absolutely no rust preventive compounds applied into these moisture trap areas at all. I guess I keep forgetting that some of these components are 40 years old and have seen daily use in most cases early on in their existence. Heck I just scrapped a 1996 Nissan Maxima with over 330K on it because of chassis rot...not for mechanical reasons.

[PSk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1750GT Pete, if cavity wax or even oil had been applied into those nooks and crannies when the car was new, it would have prevented moisture from doing the damage it did. These lids had absolutely no rust preventive compounds applied into these moisture trap areas at all.

[alfavirusnz]

I wouldn`t have said the 116 coupe bootlids are weak Pete.
I think there was very little attention given to rust protection both in design and materials protection-which was typical of the era and certainly not unique to Alfa Romeo- it applies to the most expensive as well as the cheapest cars then. Hate to admit it but it is one area where modern cars are hugely superior.

[Super1600]

Yes, know what you mean there Richard and like Rossano and Pete's experience, I too have had to go down the bootlid replacement route as mine on my 1750 GTV has exactly the same rust damage as Rossano's. Thankfully the replacement bootlid appears to be rust free (I hope ! )

Having also had a '76 Alfetta GT and sedan I too recall the rust in these cars and both of mine were very tidy items, but needless to say had the usual rust problems.

The huge improvement in rust control is most definitely one of the significant improvements car manufacturers have achieved over the past 20-40 years.

I recall when I bought my '69 Fiat AC 124 sport the shear amount of rust it had, and needed properly fixing, and yet back when I bought it, the car was only 11 years old. In comparison my wife's '97 BMW (which is effectively 12-13 years old) has absolutely no rust. Ditto my '03 156 sportwagon and I would be extremely confident, that even when it is 20 or even 30 years old it still won't. Mind you by that stage I suspect all the electrical/computer driven systems may have given up the ghost !!

[alfavirusnz]

Yes Dave I don`t think they`ll last the distance-bodies will be fine, mechanicals fine but electronics and wiring kaput.

[Trav]

Ok so my boot lid seems to be in quite nice shape not showing any of the mentioned issues. What should I do to preserve it? Cavity wax in between all the support/skin voids? Do I dirill holes for access? What other optins are there? Thx TD

[alfavirusnz]

You will have to drill holes and use the proper spray nozzles that come with some of the products to ensure the cavity wax does get to everywhere. You can ,if you want, use rubber plugs to tidy up the holes you would drill.

[1750GT]

After taking time off from the project for the holiday events (taking time off was made easier by my disappointment in the poor state of the second replacement trunk lid). I decided that before taking the easy way out (i.e. buying a new trunk lid outright) I would give it a go at trying to repair the lid I have....after all out of three I should be able to put one together right? I decided to tackle the easy part first, the inner frame. A quick assessment showed that the inner frame from the original trunk lid was in better condition.



I only need to patch in pretty much most of the rear flange...

[1750GT]

Sorry but I only took before and after shots of the repair on this piece. I welded in new material with welds on both sides of the piece.



The centre piece was the trickiest to do since it is the largest piece and has double curvature. I used the white piece (first photo top piece in previous post) as a former and clamped a flat piece of sheet metal to it, then heated it up red hot and hammered it gently down to contour (the white piece became essentially a former).

[1750GT]

....ground down the welds on both sides...







Phosphated the bare metal and applied the usual self etching primer. Next I'll repair the skin and then weld this piece back in place.