[pancho]

1966 Sprint GT Veloce Rebuild

Hi Guys,

I've been a bit of a lurker here since 2005 and I thought I'd pop a new thread up for my current resto project here in Australia.

After searching for a little while since losing my last GTV6 project, I was lucky to find myself a bit of a barn find a few months back - car had been parked for a long time at a storage facility by a nice gentleman who was sent OS for work for what was supposed to be a short period and turned out to be 8 years. I saw the ad on Thursday morning and promptly snapped the car up that afternoon with only a handful of pictures to go by. I got somewhat lucky I think.

My plan is quite simple - restore the car to something that I myself like to own and drive. Not concorse or full race or even original, but something fast and street legal using the period correct technology as well as a sprinkle of todays safety and materials. I have gained much insight and info into this model by purely reading what is online here and the fabulous restorations performed by the US based guys and also our own Aussies. In return I'd like to share with you my project and hopefully continue what this forum is all about, ideas, interests and assitance. I like to perform as much work myself as I can but commitments like work, family and the fact I dont have the car with me means weekend free time only -so cheques will have to be written to assist progress if you know what I mean - I also beleive that getting a professional result means getting it done by professionals. A very good friend of mine has allowed me to restored the car in his workshop/garage along with his 1975 2000 GT and I am eternally grateful to him for this.

Now onto the project.

Here is a pic of the car as it was found and then onto the flat bed for the journey. Thanks to Marco Fazio from Alfa Romeo for the historical information on this car.

"According to our documentation files, the chassis number AR 298226 originally corresponds to an Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT Veloce RHD (105.37), engine series AR 00536, manufactured on the 8th June 1966 and sold on the 10th June 1966 to Alfa Romeo Australia. The body colour is hawthorn white (AR 013), with leather skai interiors."

Stored Exterior

Stored Interior

On the truck

Got the car to the workshop and gave it a good pressure wash - found it came up pretty good under that inch of dust and grime. Stainless bumpers intact - need some work but most of the rubber seals had perished - I didn't bother trying to start it with a fresh battery - after so long not being turned over the oil and fuel would have perished and the brittle fuel lines may have leaked. Clean and start the dismantle. Interior in original condition but very tired. Seats are good, dash is still in accptable condition for its age and the fact it's pressed cardboard, guages and what not are ok but need a good restoration, visible signs of rust in front lower wheel arches and some bog in the rear wheel arch area but overall pretty good. 1750 motor with the car - not many spares.

After a shower PS

DS

Engine bay

I have until July 1st to get to to the bodyshop - a newborn on the way means there is a schedule to meet.

Started the strip down from the front first and found that the car doesnt appear to have been in any major collisions as the panels all appear to be unrepaired and original. The car will be stripped and then media blasted so I'll know the real extend of the body work then. The front clip is in good condition and somewhat rust free, support panels and headlight areas are quite good too.

Strip down front end

Engine Bay

After today's work removing the sound deadener, I found the floors are in suprisingly good condition with only the drivers side pedal area requiring metal replacement along with a very small area of the passenger side area towards the firewall. The rears are also in very good condition. The fuel tank came out today and I've found the surrond will need to be replaced as there is a little rust around the area. Not too bad though.

Floor and boot area condition

Wiper Scuttle removal revealed no rust whatspever on scuttle or bodywork.

Panels
The bootlid was in repaired condition but still with its original sound deadener attached.
From this

to this city of bog

I'm tossing up whether to go with an aluminium panel or have this one repaired - either way won't be cheap.

Next up is the removal of the dash -I'll do some searching before performing this - I'm sure there are a few gotchas involved - tomorow I'll post up the NOS items I've found along with some other bits and pieces that have arrived in the past two months since I've kicked this off.

I hope there are not too many images for those connected on slower links.

Thanks for looking,
Pancho

 

[franjo mokina]

Hello Pancho
This will be nice project!
Regards from Slovenia

 

[pancho]

Thanks Franjo, I have seen your metalwork restorations and will be sending some stuff over in the coming week.

Progress today saw the stripping of the bonnet face and it's a good clean unit with only two small low spots and no rust.

Can anyone confirm if this sound deadening material is factory?

Panels are off to the workshop this weekend to have the underside media blasted and prepped.

I also cleaned up the wiper assembly arms to find that the bushes need to be replaced - but how and what with - does anyone have any ideas as to how to replace these plastic bushes?

The motor is a 3 wire which doesn't appear to have any rust so I will send it off for a rebuild this week - I hope they can locate motor brushes ect for it.

 

[franjo mokina]

Hi
The sandblasting is dangerous on larger metal surface.It was bad experince from my 1968 stepfront shell.I bought new trunk lid becouse stupid sandblaster was used to thick metal parts such as heavy and large iron profiles.It just need to hold a distance,not to close to the metal.I reccomend fine grit blasting media.Acid bath is perfect but expensive i suppose.
Regards

 

[Federico]

Can anyone confirm if this sound deadening material is factory?

Yes it is. Here's a early one out of my collection. Heavy stuff but could be removed when heating it a little.

Nice project!

 

[Alex]

Dry ice blasting is supposed to be the new way to go, but it will not remove heavy corrosion, and you may have difficulty finding someone to do it. If there is a company in your area, you need them to blast with 'shaved' ice at first, leaving the 'pellets' until later.

As for the wiper linkages, yours do not look too bad. These are NLA and have been the subject of many searches for decades. One BB member is currently looking into the possibility of using self-lubricating plasticised ceramic joints from a specialist company in the UK, but AFAIK nothing has come of that (yet). In the meantime, I would just lubricate the linkages with the heaviest graphite grease you can find, and leave them.

It's a nice looking project, keep the photos coming!

 

[PSk]

Subscribed.

Pete

 

[pancho]

Thank for the info guys. Yes, I've heard some horror stories about warped panels and the blame game that follows.

I have in the past had shells and panels blasted by George at Austec - they use Walnut shell and are very good operators. You can also use plastic, the plastic should only be used to remove paint and light bog with rust being treated by traditional methods. I have found three places to check out in Melbourne but no-one knows of walnut which is surprising , I am keen on plastic media for the paint and lighter media for rust even though there is some conjecture about the surface smoothness post blasting. I am removing as much paint etc as I can by hand first hence the paint stripper ( keeping away from the seams) first on the bonnet and trunk lid - hopefully it should ease the hip pocket and more importantly the possibility or warped panels.

If I can't find a suitable solution to the wiper arm bushes I may chat to some hot rod shops to see what they may come up with- either them or good custom fab engineering places. I'll post my findings.

 

[alfa2go]

I want to subscribe to this thread too. Nice to see a fellow Aussie stepfront GT Veloce getting some love!
The roof on my couple is warped due to an over zealous blaster in its past. I have a spare roof skin I will have to drill all the spotwelds out of and put on my car. What a pain. I had my doors, boot and bonnet for my Super soda blasted as another option for you. Environmentally friendly if that is a plus for you.

I'll also agree that is the factory deadening on the bonnet.

I'll email you a copy of the Sprint GT Veloce factory tech specs too for all those meaurements you'll need when you put her back together.

Are you keeping the interior original?

 

[PSk]

I don't think my 1750's bonnet has any sound deadening. Should it?

Pete

 

[pancho]

Hey Derek,

I did some reading on Soda blasting and I must say I am a little wary of due to the soda itself - as a dust it goes everywhere and there is no way you can possibly get it all out of every nook and cranny on the body - even if you pressure blow it out there will still be residue somewhere and at the first sign or rain/water on it I bet it will cause carnage - a risk I just can't take. It also leaves the surface very smooth meaning it needs roughing up for the paint to stick. I am no expert but this is what the bodywork pro's tell me. Sand/glass for rust removal doesnt react with water in such a fashion so it might be safer for me personally but thanks for the options.

I have the cardisc CD with all the manuals for this car - it's a fantastic resource I can't speak highly enough of - is this the same you have Derek ?

Original interior - well I have a picture of a black interior I really like with a GTA style steering wheel and black buckets, but I don't like the taxi style matte vinyl flooring that the GTA has though.

Here is that picture I spoke about

The door cards and seats will be leather with the flooring carpet. No rear seat and no stereo as such - maybe an ipod directly connected to a small amp and some hidden speakers - no radio. I have some NOS instruments that I will be popping in there. Speaking of which some more NOS packages arrived today I'll post some pics soon.

Pete, Not sure on the 1750 sound deadening material, I would have thought that it would as a heat barrier.

oh btw, I may have located a NOS wiper motor, just have to find a NOS linkage assembly now - which I also think I may have found. Fingers crossed and details to follow.

 

[alfa2go]

Yeah, with each method there are cautions that should be noted. You are right that if care isnt taken to neutralise the bicarb then it could bite you in the proverbial later on.

I dont have Cardisc. I have factory originals of the body manual, parts manual, user manuals, technical characteristics and principle inspection specifications, and alfa factory workshop manuals.

 

[Typhoon90]

Soda blasting is the only safe way to blast paint from car panels. Find someone who specialises in it. I've seen far too many panels completely ruined because someone cheaped out and went to a place that does industrial blasting.
Find someone who specialises in cars and use them.

 

[pancho]

Yes, I couldnt agree more - industrial shops that don't specialise in cars will do an 'industrial' job. It's not going there beleive me.

As I mentioned in my earlier post I have used Austec in Sydney in the past and they strip paint off fibreglass Corvettes using various methods but Walnut and plastic bead is preffered. I will be hand stripping as much off the flat panels as possible first then off to the blast shop for plastic media blasting of the hard to reach corners and other no paint stripper/sanding areas. Rust has to come off with harder media though - soda/plastic wont do it.

 

[pancho]

where did all my money go?

After seeing some of the great restorations on here I got a little carried away online and subsequently a few boxes of items have shown up on my doorstep over the last few weeks - weeks of searching and lots of luck. Thanks to the guys at Classic Alfa and Alfaholics to name only two stores that have assisted in sourcing some of these items.

How have people found the 4 wire wiper motor? Are there any gotchas with respect to the speed or mechanism ? Does anyone know if the Magnetti Marelli mechanism needs different mount points to the Bosch type units or is it a straight fitment? This weekend sees the start of the body stripping!

Thus far covered at the moment: wheels - 15" GTA Reps, tyres - Yoko Neova AD08, full suspension components Alfaholics full "Kit C" with all new rods, joints and bushes (front and rear), car seals and rubber kit some NOS some repro, NOS Carello head lights and some chrome work and panels. I've also sourced a 2L 105 based Nord motor. Left to organise now are brakes, interior, electrics and more replacement panels as well as misc items such as wiper motor/mech and the drivetrain.

Anyone have any NOS items they'd like to part with pls pm me.

Here are some of the items that have landed thus far with more in transit:

More to come as it happens.

 

[ogt105]

Re: your wiper assembly arm bush problem

I have had success using a plastic item available from plumbing shops called an "olive". It's shaped like a wide bodied washer.

A low tech initial solution maybe but it has lasted about 5 years now.

 

[pancho]

Thanks for the info OGT - would you have a picture of your setup from when you repaired it ?

I haven't had a chance to go down to the hot rod shop this week but I have still been online trying to source a solution to this wiper issue, a few feelers out there to find a very good used one or NOS one - what do they mean by the angled wiper motor and non angled one?

I have today pulled apart the light housings, cleaned the grime off and found that I need a few items which the usual suspects don't seem to have yet. I'll be taking the items to the blasters to get cleaned and then re-plated/re power coated.

I need a new rubber gromet for the where the wiring passes into the bucket in the first picture. As well as a rubber gasket for where the bucket attaches to the body of the car. Any idea where I can source these items from ?

Speaking of headlights, has anyone experimented with a few different H4 headlight bulbs? I'd like a bit more of a cooler/white light - not the original candle yellow or that horrible blue xenon look which is worse that the originals. Phillips are making some high end bulbs - Crystal Vision 4200 kelvin- but I think they look a little blue for my liking.

I have a few interesting items arriving this week which is quite exciting. More pics as they arrive.

 

[alfa2go]

Scott in Melbourne (aikendrum105 on the BB) has recently done it on his 66 Super and is very happy with the result.
http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/sedan-1963-1974/171691-66-super-resto-melb-oz-5.html

 

[papajam]

Just a couple of things from a couple of days ago;

1750s did not have sound deadening material on the bonnet.

I can't vouch for the fitment of the Marelli wiper motor but switching from a 3 wire to a 4 wire motor requires one additional wire and a different wiper switch. This will also result in two speed wipers verses the original one speed. I'll email you the instructions when the time comes.

 

[rusty racer]

Reoriginals has both the headlight rubbers you seek

J