1961 Giulietta SS project (parts wanted!)

[alfa soon]

Another fun job, mentioned in the previous post is the scraping of undercoating etc off the underside of the cart in preparation for blasting. I am still not sure if I am going to buy a pressurized blaster and do it myself or try and take it somewhere. There are arguments for each but I think doing it myself will win, especially since I just bought a $900 80 gallon twin cylinder 220 compressor AND I have the space to do it.

Just how solid the underbody is can be seen in these pictures. Yes there is rust to repair, but this car is much more solid than a lot I've seen pictures of. The first picture is the underbody behind the drivers seat, the second is inside the passenger rear wheel well looking forward.

Finally, if I have less than an hour to work, I spend my time cleaning and polishing parts. The gauges actually came out super nice, only some light yellowing. All the tail light housings are as nice as this one.

12 hours in, 988 (or so) to go

[tubut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alfa soon I spent several hours on this rear corner dent. I rigged up a 4 foot level so it was perpendicular to the centerline of the car then measured to the mounting face for the tail lights, the dented side was pushed 1.5 inches in. I had to cut the little body support in the trunk corner out so I could get a good tap on the weld seam around the perimeter of the tail light and it quickly moved back into place. Next I tap tap tapped the dent in the corner until it was similar to the otherside by eyeballing it. Finally I made a cardboard template of the good sides inside and outside body curves and massaged it all to about 90% of correct. I blew the metal out in a few places, but that is what the welder is for, and my bodywork experience is all voyeuristic so this is my first time putting hammer and dolly to metal with any conviction.

[alfa soon]

Ruedi,

I should have the bumper spears I bought in hand tomorrow and what you say is my plan. The drivers side corner is pretty straight but the passenger side is all dented up. I plan on working the body to meet the bumper spears, though I don't plan on putting them on the car, opting for the stripped down trim free look for the time being.

Laurence,

If I can get this thing functional by August of this year will be amazed to say the least. I am thinking Snowball rally 2009. The Snowball Rally

[Peter]

Matt,

looks like an awesome project, and as you said, it's not that bad. The underside actually looks pretty good! Nice hammer and dolly work!!

[AR58SprintV]

Looks easier than the SSpecial Nick Savage photoed in the new Giuliettaletta!

[velocedoc]

I would guess that alot of the cars were fit to the parts. It has been said that the doors are unique to the car as they are in the sprint coupes. If you interchange, the alignments can be another project to themselves. You do have your work cut out for you with the metal work that has to be done under neath.

Just for your information, there is a guy up here in my neighborhood that does soda blasting. He can do a car in about 2 days or so depending upon prep.

[Peconga]

Matt,

Congratulations and Good Luck with your SS project!

I've looked at that car online many times over the last couple years, but never had the courage to step up and do anything about it. And I fully agree that your idea of building a non-quite-original rally car is the right approach, as it will allow you to bring a beautiful and historically significant vehicle back to life without compromising anyone's ability to do a "proper" restoration in the future.

I personally find it so disappointing (and tiresome) when I hear people assert that cars like this one are "beyond hope" or "only good for parts". This is especially true with some other Italian marques (those ending with "i"), where so many owners act like the only cars worth saving are complete, rust-free originals with matching numbers and a documented provenance notarized by the Pope. To which I say, where's your sense of adventure and commitment to the journey? Not every dog is destined to be a finalist at Westminster, nor is every restoration bound for Pebble Beach. But that doesn't make them any less lovable or less worthy.

Cheers!
Doug in Boise, Idaho USA
"Scuderia Non-Originale"

[alfa soon]

As always thanks for kind/encouraging words.

Yesterday was a big day for me on the project. I received the used windshield, along with window winder mechanism parts (door guts), front and rear windscreen trim, and rear bumper spears- too bad they are both for the drivers side. This is all stuff that I bought before I sealed the deal.

Thanks to Gordon Raymond pointing me in the right direction, I bought a 1300 Veloce oil pan complete with everything needed to put it on either the correct engine (00120) if one turns up, or the 1750 which I will probably end up using for a while. I still need to get a Euro 1750 timing cover and an intake manifold to do the conversion.

Scariest thing I've ever done to a car... I cut off the drivers side headlight fender corner and it is now on its way to Washington for Akitaman to fabricate some missing metal and reshape the headlight opening.

[alfa soon]

A couple more pictures. I don't know what the black stuff on this car is but it is harder than paint. I used a DA to smooth down some of the rear and remove some paint. This car had a coat of paint that is somewhere between red and florescent bright orange -scary!

Can anyone point me in the direction of a thread describing how to adapt a 410 LSD to a Giulietta that keeps the drum brakes?

Thanks.

[Subtle]

Matt

Richard Jemison (Alfar7) is now setting up a 4.1 LSD for my Spider, which has the big drum brakes--front and back.

It includes lightening the ring gear by 2.5 lbs. The less whirling mass--the better.

He has some comments and pics in the thread --Install of a 2 L in a Giulietta Spider--and will soon post some more detail when completed. This is in the Giulietta/Giulia Section.

[BlpltGTV]

That looks like a cool project. If you ever need a hand let me know. I'd love to come down and lend a hand.

Will

[alfa soon]

I started to remove the rear end yesterday, got everything unbolted, half expecting it to jump out from under the car but it is stubbornly stuck. I beat on a ball joint splitter trying to break the assembly loose from the locating triangle but it doesn't want to separate. Any recommendations?

Subtle: I'll check out your thread and see what I can do.

Will: I'm there working most weekends, you are welcome to come by and watch or roll up your sleaves, as you can see there is lots to do!

20 hours down, 980 to go...

[Stathy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alfa soon As always thanks for kind/encouraging words. Thanks to Gordon Raymond pointing me in the right direction, I bought a 1300 Veloce oil pan complete with everything needed to put it on either the correct engine (00120) if one turns up, or the 1750 which I will probably end up using for a while. I still need to get a Euro 1750 timing cover and an intake manifold to do the conversion.

[alfa soon]

I spoke with a friend of the seller. It is a complete 00120 motor, needing only a little freshening up and it is very expensive, as much as I plan on spending this year total to get this car near to completion.

I am starting to think rotisserie... laying under the car on my back an hour a day for the last two weeks has me aching in all all sorts of unusual areas, and I'm still just scraping and cleaning...

[smestas]

Matt,

Congratulations on the new project! She looks like a real diamond in the ruff.

Thanks for sharing the progress and photos with us.