Roxanne - budget milano/75 track car

[DaveH]

Jes! That all happened so fast. I can't believe you already have the S. You don't let the grass grow.

What a shame about the RHS damage. Looks like such a nice car.

[dbgrubbs]

Man, I thought it would take a week for the car to make it to your place. Hope you're happy with it and hope that I didn't miss anything with my description.

Don

[AR4me]

Yeah, things went pretty fast - except for the RHS it does seem nice. But as Don pointed out after his inspection, it took a pretty hard hit to the right side and may never be quite straight - even the glove box is very hard to open due to the hit. The left side is perfect, so is the hood, trunk-lid, headlights are good, taillights are good, air-bag never deployed (it seems), etc.

Don, you're description was right on the money No surprises. Almost felt as if I had already seen the car. Thanks again!
Jes

[DonBeeson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AR4me Yeah, well, there IS damage - but first a pic of the cockpit, and then Roxanne's new powerplant T-belt even looks good. Odometer shows 26k miles and the seller (2nd owner after insurance write-off) claims engine was rebuild 1000 miles before accident - still waiting for paper work (if I will ever see it - a call to Paul Spruell regarding rebuild may shed some light). Neither may be totally correct, but what can you do... I just couldn't help it... Perfect for what I was looking for - or so I hope Amazingly, Judy is pretty calm and appears at peace with another Alfa in the driveway... Jes

[AR4me]

This evening I pulled the driveshaft, undid the rear engine mount, and got the engine ready for being pulled. Colin stopped by and we hooked up the hoist and out came the engine. A few pics:

1. Colin hooking up the hoist.
2. Starting to lift it, yours truly checking that everything clears.
3. Lifting it some more..
4. Spacious engine bay.
5. Another angle.

The engine bay is pretty empty due to the gutting of all unnecessary wiring, components, etc - besides the missing engine, naturally With the engine out I will take the opportunity to clean up the bay, prime and paint it. Obviously, the old sound and heat insulation will be removed - for weight saving I will also seam-weld part of the engine bay.

Jes

[gday]

Good job Jes. Things are coming along nicely. Now, how about a little seam-welding in that engine bay before you start painting things? Come on, you don't need to sleep do you?

[AR4me]

Some more pics:

1. Rolling the engine out for some degreasing.
2. Somewhat dirty from the oil leakage and mixing with dirt.
3. The rear of the 2.5 engine.

I have decided a slight change in the convertion Instead of running the Milano oil pump and distributor, I will run 164S oil pump and distributor!!! I was looking at the engine bay, and Colin and I came up with the idea of simply modifying the firewal to allow the 164S alternator at the rear of the driver's side head to clear the firewall Due to the removal of the entire ventilation system there is plenty of space behind the firewall at that location. In pic 4 I point to the general area where the 164S distributor will face the firewall.

Jes.

[junglejustice]

...now comes the dreadful "while we're in here" disease.... Stitch-weld this time Jes - not seem-weld... I'll post some pics. Also, we made an interesting discovery around the sub-frame rails - on both of our cars - right where the lower-control arms bolt on - on the outside - grab some brake-clean and have a look!

[75evo]

JJ,

I think you are right about the stitch weld things. I should really look into pulling out my engine and have a good look at the chassis.

BTW, this is not really a serious issue, but is worth looking into if you take your car to the track.

JJ please post pics

[AR4me]

Spent a little bit of time cleaning up the engine bay tonight...
Jes

[junglejustice]

...did you check your sub-frames - behind the rear LCA bolts - on each side...?

[AR4me]

I checked inside the engine bay and didn't see anything. I didn't check on the "suspension" side, where the head of the bolts are. Though, when I re-did the lower A-arm bushings I didn't noticed anything, but I obviously didn't inspect specifically for the cracks you are seeing. Are they visible with the lower A-arms in place?
Jes

[AR4me]

I'm about to get a fuel cell (probably ATL 15 gallon) for Roxanne and am thinking of either drop it into a cut-out in the trunk floor, or mount it in the trunk. Though, in the latter case I would cut the rear firewall and move it 6" into the rear seat area. Two questions:
1. Safety concern with drop-in mount due to the cell being more exposed in a rear-end collision.
2. Safety concern with cell 6" into rear seat area as it is somewhat spooky with the fuel cell right there. Though, the stock Milano rear firewall is full of holes anyway...

Thoughts? Sanctioning body issues?

Regardless, it will be a big improvement, safety-wise, over the stock fuel tank.

Jes

[italcarguy]

Jes,

I wouldnt go with more than 10 gallons. You are either gonna fill it up and have a lot of weight or run it light cuz you don't want the weight so just go with 10 gallons. I posted my thoughts on fuel cell location on JJ's Milano thread.

Get a cell with a metal shell. Also, make sure you block off any openings in the rear fire wall. We use Fuel Safe in all the cars we build. ATL ones are nice too.

[AR4me]

Quote:

We use Fuel Safe in all the cars we build.