[evanbottcher]

Hi folks,

I put off creating a thread on here for a long time, and have been documenting my project on my own website instead. But now things are getting further along I can't help myself. So there's a bit of catching up to do.

We bought this car back in 1999, but after driving it around for a bit we took it off the road for a bit of a tidy up. We then disappeared off overseas for a few years, and the car sat in a dry shed on my brother's farm for that time. We pulled it out of storage (a barn find!) in 2006 and started to strip it for a proper restoration.

Here's the details from the archives:

Dear Mister Bottcher,

with reference to your request we are informing you as follows.

According to our documentation files, the chassis number AR 1451729,
originally corresponds to an Alfa Romeo 1750 GT Veloce RHD (105.45),
engine series AR 00548, manufactured on the 17th December 1968 and sold
on the 21st December 1968 to J. Wright & Sons from Melbourne, Australia.
The body colour is hawthorn white (AR 013), with black skai interiors.

Yours, Sincerely,

Marco Fazio

Automobilismo Storico Alfa Romeo
Centro Documentazione​

 

[evanbottcher]

Here's some photos from about four years of slowly stripping the car. During this time I always had multiple projects going (mostly working on the Alfasud race car) so this didn't get much attention. Finally at the start of this year I got excited and pushed the car out and onto a flatbed and it went to the panel shop.

 

[evanbottcher]

Here's the car being towed to the panel shop (Sam's). First time the car had moved in over four years!

 

[evanbottcher]

Here's a selection of the repro panels and repair sections purchased to fix the car.

 

[evanbottcher]

Some more of the panels purchased...

 

[evanbottcher]

Here's a few shots of the rust uncovered.

 

[evanbottcher]

Some more rust.

 

[evanbottcher]

Some progress shots of repairing the pillars and inner sills.

 

[evanbottcher]

Continued.

 

[evanbottcher]

Repairs to the radiator cross member.

 

[evanbottcher]

Engine bay and wheel arches complete. Had to replace one shock absorber mount which was cracked.

Fitting up sills and guard repair sections.

 

[evanbottcher]

Floors showed some previous repair sections, which appear to be sound and free from rust.

 

[evanbottcher]

I sourced a pair of near-perfect doors from a friend, which needed almost no repairs.

 

[evanbottcher]

Repro front panel and RH guard (fender) fitted. Lots of work to get panel gaps right around the bonnet.

 

[evanbottcher]

Front of the car is basically complete, now turning attention to the back end.

 

[evanbottcher]

New boot floor panel being fitted, along with the rear panel. Lots of fiddly work here as the boot floor requires a lot of trimming and folding to fit.

 

[evanbottcher]

And now we're up to date! The body is in the final stages of block sanding, ready for the interior and underside to be painted.

To be clear - I'm not doing this bodywork like some of you do. This is being done by a professional, my friend Sam in Melbourne. We've favoured fresh metal where possible, possibly going a little further than necessary in some areas but great for peace of mind.

I'm really excited - Sam expects to have the car in paint within the next couple of weeks and I can't wait to see the result. I'll definitely post updates here as I start the reassembly.

I've posted more detailed updates on my blog throughout this process (Category Archives: 1750 GTV). It has a lot more details, including my parts scavenging so if you're obsessed you can look there.

Wish me luck from here!

 

[Chris1750]

Excellent - I've been following the restoration on the Oz forum as well as your website.

Looks like there was a Fiat Bambino in the panel shop at the same time

Chris

 

[evanbottcher]

Looks like there was a Fiat Bambino in the panel shop at the same time

If you know Sam, you'll know that there's always a couple of Fiats about. Sam works on his own generally on only one long-term project at a time. However in his shop in the last few months has been at various times a couple of 105s, an Alfetta, Lamborghini, Fiat 1500, a couple of Fiat 500s, major surgery on a Fiat 124, a campervan, and a Tarago! It's always interesting to see what turns up each week.

 

[pancho]

Another great write up/build from a fellow Aussie.

Progress should come quick now Evan, looking forward to seeing that colour go on.