AR180015 - new owner - Page 2

Zagato_Olaf · #16 (**permalink**) 06-02-2008, 01:18 PM

Hello Brian,

Here are some pictures of the front wheel suspension, when my car was being restored. It seems that your suspension is stock.

Uhm.. 195 R14 on your mags? If they are 5 J, I wouldn't put 165 R14 on them. The original rims are 4.5 J if I remember correctly and in the picture they contain the original 165 R14 Michelin XZX that came with the car.

Ciao, Olaf

**braino** · #17 (**permalink**) 06-03-2008, 06:38 AM

This makes sense - I'm going with 185 70 r14. The 195s fit with zero interference, and you're right in saying that 165s would be too skinny for my Chromodoras.

Your photograph makes me wish I still had the stock wheels - I generally prefer the flexibility of steel wheels to the stiffness of mags, and the stock wheels were more attractive in my opinion than mags. Unfortunately, the wheels from my car were stolen when the previous owner was having the car painted. Apparently, the thief scaled a tall chain-link fence to get them. Not sure why someone would steal steel wheels with skinny looking tires on them - especially wheels with integrated alfa centercaps...

Another nice thing - your car didn't have an inch thick layer of undercoating in the wheel wells - something I'm going to have to start chipping away at at some point soon...

I've finally gotten my new garage organized so I can start working soon. I'll post photos to this thread as I go. Rebuilding the front/rear suspension will be the first task.

cheers,
Brian

**Nicola** · #18 (**permalink**) 07-06-2008, 09:51 PM

Bumping this thread, not so much to show the picture of JPF's and my car at the Seattle Historics today, but rather to announce news - I met the man who owned Brian's car before Pat bought it. Also solved the mystery of the rumored white Jr. Z on Seattle's Mercer Island. Turns out they are one and the same car.
Brian, I need to make some calls, but I should have some contact information about your car that I think could be invaluable to you, especially as you proceed with the restoration.

Zagato_Olaf · #19 (**permalink**) 07-15-2008, 02:00 AM

Hi Gordy,

Nice work! Thanks for the picture!

Ciao, Olaf

**braino** · #20 (**permalink**) 07-21-2008, 09:45 PM

Put a set of Vredstein 175 14 Sprint +'s. It always amazes me what a difference a good set of tires can make. Traction is impossibly good and the ride is a bit quieter.

My wife and I are going to drive the Jr Z on a brief vacation up to Portland and then to the Idaho pan-handle. Staying at this great little place in Portland called the Ace Hotel.

I'll be sure to take a bunch of photos and post periodically.

cheers,
Brian

**Del** · #21 (**permalink**) 07-23-2008, 03:19 PM

I had a suspicion that the Z on Mercer Island was the same, as that was the car I had brought in for Bill Loud in 1975. A friend of mine and I drove that 1970 JUnior Z from Glasgow to Antwerp the long way around to be shipped to Vancouver, Wa.

See the "History, etc" posting for more information. Also talk to Gordy Hyde, as I sent him more information as well. I'm looking in my old photos for some I might have taken while on the trip with the Z.

cheers,

**braino** · #22 (**permalink**) 07-24-2008, 09:12 AM

After a rather long email exchange with Afra, it turns out that they do not have the exterior stainless window wipe trim anymore (see earlier in this thread for a description of this piece).

I don't suppose anyone has either an extra set or info on other sources?

cheers,
Brian

**braino** · #23 (**permalink**) 08-05-2008, 06:16 PM

Woke up early on Saturday hoping to get an early start heading up to Portland. Fortunately, common sense took over and we decided to go back to bed and sleep in.

We left Berkeley at 11am or thereabouts with few spares and a very small amount of luggage (which pretty much filled all the space behind the seats). The drive up the coast was fantastic. It was nice to get the Junior Z up to the Mountains finally. The car handles fantastically well and we were able to whup the pants off of all the mini-vans that tried to race us. Unfortunately, we didn't encounter a single alfa at any point on the drive.

We stopped in Crescent City for the night on Saturday and did actually get an early start on the second day. We arrived in Portland by 3pm.

So far we've had nothing but fun. We're staying in this excellent hotel called the Ace on Stark Street (ACE HOTEL | PORTLAND). There's a great kosher deli downstairs next to the lobby and a coffee house with some of the most potent black stuff I've outside of my own home. They do not, however, have a parking lot so the car is staying in the driveway of a good friend's.

We're leaving tomorrow for Idaho. I'll try to post some photos when we get there. I have a set of Hella H4's meeting us there - the sealed beams we have barely light up three feet in front of us.

I don't suppose anyone could post specs for adjusting the headlight geometry?

As nice as it is to just chill out is a swank hotel, I'm looking forward to driving some more and really looking forward to some more mountain roads. We'll be seeing a lot of them in South Eastern Washington. Hopefully we won't see any State Troopers.

cheers,
Brian

Zagato_Olaf · #24 (**permalink**) 08-06-2008, 02:00 AM

Hello Brian,

Will this help? It's a drawing from the parts catalogue.

Ciao, Olaf

**braino** · #25 (**permalink**) 08-06-2008, 07:27 AM

Actually, I'm looking for the vertical/horizontal adjustment specs for the headlights. Is that in the owner's manual? I don't have a copy, myself...

cheers,
Brian

mbaum · #26 (**permalink**) 08-06-2008, 09:17 AM

Hi Brian,

I had dinner at the restaurant in the Ace Hotel three weeks ago - Actually pretty good foot and a decent wine list and beautiful people ...

On the light adjustmnet, maybe somebody can scan the page (Page 38 from the 1600 manual):
1. Park the car with the front end 10 meters away from a wall

Regular light:

Vertical adjustment: There will be a rectangular (with two 90 degree triangels, forming peaks in the middle) on the wall: Hight from the bottom of the wall to top rectanular line (Not the peak): 10 centimeters
Horizontal adjustment: Distance between the beginning of the slope of the two triangles that form the peak equals distance of the head lamps (Measured from the center)

High beam:

Vertical adjustment: Distance from the bottom of the wall to center of the circles (High beam should cause two overlapping circles on the wall): Also 10 centimeters
Horizontal adjustment: Distance between the center of the circles on the wall equals distance between the high beam lamps (Also measured from the center)

Zagato_Olaf · #27 (**permalink**) 08-07-2008, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbaum

Hi Brian,

I had dinner at the restaurant in the Ace Hotel three weeks ago - Actually pretty good foot and a decent wine list and beautiful people ...

On the light adjustmnet, maybe somebody can scan the page (Page 38 from the 1600 manual):
1. Park the car with the front end 10 meters away from a wall

Regular light:

Vertical adjustment: There will be a rectangular (with two 90 degree triangels, forming peaks in the middle) on the wall: Hight from the bottom of the wall to top rectanular line (Not the peak): 10 centimeters
Horizontal adjustment: Distance between the beginning of the slope of the two triangles that form the peak equals distance of the head lamps (Measured from the center)

High beam:

Vertical adjustment: Distance from the bottom of the wall to center of the circles (High beam should cause two overlapping circles on the wall): Also 10 centimeters
Horizontal adjustment: Distance between the center of the circles on the wall equals distance between the high beam lamps (Also measured from the center)

mbaum · #28 (**permalink**) 08-07-2008, 04:21 PM

Olaf is right - Stupid me - All my 10 cm should be 35 cm

Mike

**braino** · #29 (**permalink**) 08-16-2008, 09:37 AM

Great. Thanks for the specs - very helpful.

New lamps are installed, and the alignment was already pretty good.

H4's are a big help. Of course, this gave me a chance to see how hacked up the wiring harness is in places. I'll need to pull all of the wiring for the headlights and re-do it eventually...

cheers,
Brian

**braino** · #30 (**permalink**) 09-01-2008, 09:46 AM

My wife and I drove #15 back from Portland OR in on day yesterday. Managed to maintain a steady 90-100Mph most of the way until we were pulled over by a black&white just as we crossed over the border into California.

It was just as well, as it was a beautiful day, there was quite a bit of traffic, and slowing down is a great way to save gas.

Unfortunately, it would seem that the rebuilt starter I brought with me to get us home is already spoiled. The solenoid failed and I had to tap the starter to get us back on the road after a brief rest-stop. It's very frustrating how difficult it is to get a starter rebuilt correctly. I had the same problem with the two-ear starter in my Giulietta - it took three tries with the rebuilder before they got it right. It was quite a bit easier to replace the Giulietta starter, too, as you could reach it through the wheel well (not so the case with the Junior Z).

It's not really that big of a deal as at this point I'm going to start tearing the car down to get it ready for sand blasting, sheet-metal work and paint.

I promise to photo-document the disassembly process. As this car is possibly a "prototype" I'm interested to get some feedback on what is original, and possibly unique.

The interior in my car is very unusual and the previous owner mentioned that he thought it might actually be original. As much as I doubt this, I'd be curious to know if it's true.

cheers,
Brian