AFrench Blue '69 GTV Restoration

[Peter]

You're doing a fantastic job. Keep the pictures coming!!

[velocedoc]

$100? That was a bargain for how clean the part came out. If you have gone this far, you might want to look into the rocker panels to see if there is rust inside. That $2000 for the whole car might start to look pretty inexpensive.

I am also enjoying the thread watching one of my cars twins being put back on the road. Watching all of these cars being restored has me wanting to make a rotisserie now and doing my GTV up right and not half baked when it comes to the body prep.

Are you going with a glue in or rubber gasket windsheild?

[Alfonse22]

Rossano --

Great looking job, thanks for sharing the story.

But I have a question, especially for all the '69 GTV aficiandos here: is this not a '71? That engine block number may indicate a '69, but the large tail-lights and maybe the flushnose (weren't '69s step-nose?) indicate a '71, at least to me. I look to be corrected, perhaps.

Otherwise, Rossano, lead on!!

[Peter]

The tail lights are not large, it's got the small tail lights, definitely looks like a '69....and no, 69's did not have the stepnose anymore

[1750GT]

Thanks for the encouraging words guys.

Quote:

Originally Posted by velocedoc $100? That was a bargain for how clean the part came out. If you have gone this far, you might want to look into the rocker panels to see if there is rust inside. That $2000 for the whole car might start to look pretty inexpensive. I am also enjoying the thread watching one of my cars twins being put back on the road. Watching all of these cars being restored has me wanting to make a rotisserie now and doing my GTV up right and not half baked when it comes to the body prep. Are you going with a glue in or rubber gasket windsheild?

[tiger0529]

Well, here's my 2 cents:

I am sorry but I fail to see larger taillights anywhere in this thread... The taillights on Rossano (1750GT) 's car are DEFINITELY the earlier, smaller ones. If you are not familiar with them, the easiest way is to see whether the backup lights are integrated into the taillight assemblies. If they do, they're the larger, later lights for sure (the earlier cars have single rectangular backup light under the bumper).

Regarding the step-nose and the smooth-nose, all 1750s are smooth-nosed, regardless of the model year (the 1750 series debuted in Brussels show back in 1968). The GT1300Juniors, on the other hand, retained the step nose until late 1970, when the 1750 series 2 was introduced.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alfonse22 Rossano -- Great looking job, thanks for sharing the story. But I have a question, especially for all the '69 GTV aficiandos here: is this not a '71? That engine block number may indicate a '69, but the large tail-lights and maybe the flushnose (weren't '69s step-nose?) indicate a '71, at least to me. I look to be corrected, perhaps. Otherwise, Rossano, lead on!!

[smestas]

I'm lovin this thread. Can't wait to see whats next.

[Alfonse22]

You are correct, Taiga. I pulled some of my Alfa books after I posted and they are the smaller tailights; smooth-nose, too. I remembered my '67 GTV's being smaller than the ones in the photos, but...not.

[1750GT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smestas I'm lovin this thread. Can't wait to see whats next.

[1750GT]

Guys, I just returned from the Northwest and spent some time at AKITAMAN's new shop...thanks again Daron for taking the time out of your schedule to play host...it was an informative and inspiring visit! It also reminded me that I have a project that I must get back onto again......so here are a few more updates of the work progress done so far.

As I mentioned previously, the radiator panel or diaphragm was rather poorly repaired at some point and dire need of correction. Although not visible when the engine and other systems were installed...it was definitely visible after the teardown....driver side inner skirt needed attention...no proper battery shelf...



..and the paasenger side bumper bracket is not quite straight....



..check out the angle of this bolt compared to the opposite side bolt....

[1750GT]

Now the perfect scenario would have been to find an original replacement diaphragm panel, as shown in the parts manual and is an assembly made up of at least a dozen pieces.

...but alas I could not find any supplier in Europe who had one of these kicking around. I did manage to come across a complete brand new original GTV front end form Italia-Classic out of France (some of you may recall my post from that e-bay auction I came across last year...which by the way did not sell )..probably for fear of the exhorbitant shipping costs. But I digress.....so my only other option was to look for a used front clip section. Ken Lee gave me a lead on a GTV being parted-out locally so I brought along my trusty 4.5 inch angle grinder and a dozen or cut-off wheels. Unfortunately for me, the complete assembly I was hoping to come away with was not in great condition and so I ended up cutting out only the side sections. On the left is "new' piece and on the right my original. As you can see, these have corrosion on the lower edges (further repair of these would be required).



...the opposite side was not much better..but at least it was useable and in better shape than my original.

Attachment 63213

..to be continued.....

[1750GT]

...enough thinking...time to go at it....I decided that the best repair method that I could achieve on the inner skirts (given the complexity of the contours and the time and tools available to me) was to remove and replace with new sections. I cut-out the offending sections from the LH and Rh inner skirt...and sprayed in some anti-rust primer and anti-rust paint in the cavities..



...I was amazed to find more of that straw even inside this cavity!...



...Luckily, a NOS LH inner skirt from Italia-Classic.com came up on e-bay and to my surprise nobody bid on it. I managed to get the RH inner skirt from them as well, which was a real nice surprise....this of course led to the approach of removing the damaged sections and replacing with new a no brainer...

[1750GT]

...sectioned off the piece needed and trimmed the inner skirt along the aft edge. I butt welded the aft seam between the skirt and the new piece....



..I drilled 3/8 inch holes through at each original spot weld and plug welded from the inner fender side. I like this size hole for plug welds because I can start the weld in the centre of the hole and move outwards in a circular motion until the entire hole is plugged. I tried doing this with 1/4 holes but found that they filled too quickly with molten wire and before I had a chance to go all the way around the hole...also the penetration was not as good. Finished off by grounding the welds down with a flap wheel and wire wheeled the entire area before priming.

[1750GT]

...for the left side skirt....a similar repair was done. Sectioned off the front portion of the new piece and carefully trimmed the skirt just above the bottom close-out panel which was in perfect condition with very little rust (most GTVs have this area completely rusted out in this area)....



..and trimmed carefully along the upper aft edge... Again, plug welded from inside the fender....

[1750GT]

...again butt welded the back joint and ground the welds down flush. So as not to have any areas with thin welds, I first welded on the inside a 1/2 inch wide splice at the butt joints. This provided a backing for the MIG wire as I was butt welding the joints..it also prevented blow through holes from being created as I was butt welding.



..the nice thing about getting the NOS inner skirt was that I had the battery shelf support already welded in place as well as some of those wire harness tabs. The swiss cheese holes in the skirt are where I drilled off the horn support brackets and brake booster brackets so that I could de-rust the entire area with te wire wheel. I'll plug weld them back in later.