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1979 Alfetta GTV w/books

8K views 23 replies 11 participants last post by  SamSteinig 
#1 · (Edited)
I’ve been driving and tinkering with this car for about two years, it’s been fun, but I should be playing with other cars. My 164s are mad at me.

Some history:

The original owner had the car in Hawaii and Canada as a street car for the first 15-ish years. It was sold to a Delta mechanic in Huston, Texas, in the early 1990s. He was the one who painted it red with a black hood and started to modify it for auto crossing by raiding the RML/AR Ricambi/Shankle catalogs. In 1997 it was sold to Pat C. who drove it to St. Paul, Minnesota. He did a few auto crosses and then it sat for over a decade. I purchased it from who I think was his mechanics, Jim and Bruce, selling it on his behalf in 2017 as a ‘good running, stopping, non-rust bucket’; which was a stretch on alllll accounts.

Mechanical:

Engine AR01615*A51837 has a later Jetronic/Motronic head, 10.4 pistons, 9.5mm intake and exhaust cams. Ignition system is the RML PI-40 coil, RML ARPI 401C dizzy with the RML PI-3000 box firing NGK plugs. The PI-3000 is actually a repackaged Crane xr3000. The ARPI 401C distributor is a Bosch JF4 rebuild unit that has an optical sensor and trigger wheel installed. I actually really like this set up at lot. Carbs are rebuilt 40 DCOE 76 with a 55F8 idle, 145 main jet, 155 air corrector on a f9 emulsion tube. Wide open throttle its great, but I have had a hard time setting a nice idle on it. Intake manifold, intake filter housing, carb support shift, and throttle linkages are euro bits. Exhaust is tube equal length, down to two mufflers, exiting through 1 to 2 Abarth chrome tipped exhaust. Throttle linkage on the firewall are stock US spec. Koni Sports on all for corners, front torsion bar is 28mm Shankle with Shankle red rear springs. Front sway bars are 27mm, rear is 25mm, not sure where they came from. Previous owner called the front sway bar heroic; I’d agree. All four brakes got rebuilt, new seals, new pads, and three new flex hoses. Booster is unplugged, feels better manually. Front and center driveshaft rubber donuts were replaced, couldn't find the rear new and one in the car looked fine. No drive line vibrations. New water pump installed, bottom two studs replaced with bolts for easier future removal, new coolant hoses all around, no leaks and doesn’t overheat. Transmission got new fluid and a slave cylinder, shifts pretty good for a transaxle. 2nd gear synchro will grind if you try hard enough, but normal driving its much better than most 116 cars I’ve owned. No spare, all four campagnolo magnesium wheels are straight. In the last 500 miles it’s got new brake fluid, clutch fluid, clutch container, new coolant, new transmission fluid, oil change, plugs, brake seals, brake pads, rear brake speed bleeders, water pump, coolant lines, front and center rubber donuts, 4 new tires. No leaks.

Body:

Vin: 116150006401. 95k miles seems to be original. I was assured it was not a rust bucket. Upon delivery the two things I noticed was the gas tank was bone dry and this bucket indeed had rust. It got some body work in the 1990s that saved it, I believe the rear right quarter panel was replaced at that time. Right reflector light is recessed, left is flush mounted, so Im guessing that someone tapped a barrier while auto crossing and found an earlier quarter panel to install. Doors have rust in the bottom, bubbles randomly here and there from poor prior paint prep around the car. Underside is strangely rust free. Surface rust around the window frames. Any Alfetta that lasted 40 years outside of Arizona is gonna have about this much rust I suppose. Front bumper is gone, blinkers are mounted in bumper brackets. All the white are stickers, most of from the 1990s and are peeling, the Royal Nasho is my fault. Not sorry. The Alfa Romeo dealership plate comes with the car. It had a sunroof installed in Hawaii, but a tree falling on the roof of the car said no to that. It was replaced with a sheet of lexan and the dents banged back, but definitely still there. See photos. Body bumper strips were removed and replaced with painted plastic plugs to seal the holes. Hood is flat black and I don’t hate it.

Interior:

Visually horrible. Driver seat has tears, dash has cracks, horn buttons are busted, shifter and hand brake boots are loose, some bits of trim are missing. That being said I was going to replace the seats, but they are really comfy and the vertical as well as horizontal manual adjustments are nice. I was going to put a set of spare bucket seats in it, but the suspension is so tight the seats actually make it find to drive to and from work once a week without knocking my fillings out. Carpet is original and in great shape. No offensive smells. Windows work, vent windows are great. Fan pumps out heat once it warms up, air conditioning is behind the dash still. Sun roof doesn’t open. NOS radio block off plate added. All the gauges work well, speedo bounces below 10 miles an hour.

Books:

Original 1979 Alfa Romeo Sprint Veloce Owner’s Manual
Original 20-page dealership brochure from 1976
Copy of Behr Air Conditioning Alfa replacement parts listing (sedan spider coupe)
Copy of 2.0L Spider overhaul Manual
Copy of Alfetta factory engine manual
Copy of Alfetta factory parts manual
Copy of Alfetta factory short spare parts catalog
Copy of 1976 Alfetta factory inspection specification manual
Copy of Alfetta factory clutch / gearbox / differential manual
Copy of Alfa Romeo Driving Spirit transaxle manual
4-page road and track road test article 1978
Brooklands Alfetta 1974-1987 coverage
Jim K Twin cam tuning book
Braden Weber manual
Haynes Weber manual
Coffee container photographed not included. At any price. That's mine.

Overall, I do miss the power from the GTV6 gives you, the foot goes to the floor and its just not the same song. I'm selling it now so I dont get crazy and build an engine/add a turbo. That being said I can tell this is set up much better than any of my past GTV6s, it’s fantastic in the corners. I’ve heard it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow; that’s something I feel when taking this out. Patina, character, whatever you call it the car certainly isn’t rat rod rough but no one has accused it of being polished. I wouldn’t hesitate to drive it cross country, mechanically confident in it. Lots of cosmetic tinkering still to do. No rush to sell it, just putting it out there in case someone is really looking for a ratty and fun Alfetta to drive and work on. Offers accepted, always interested in trades, non-running projects welcomed can deliver anywhere in the US.











































 

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#3 ·
I have a good cloth interior for that car. It was reupholstered in a gray cloth that's pretty sturdy with black piping.I'm in Kentucky though but if you're interested I can get pictures of it in the next week or so.

Paul

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#4 ·
These are 9 year old pics but the seats haven't moved since then. Been in the rafters of my garage. I will not ship so that might be a problem. It would take a pallet or ship each separate.


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#8 ·
Great question, I guess offers accepted, no hard price. Market value is market value correct? I saw your message last night but got lost in the internet and finding comparable sales that happened in the last few years and came up with these:

1979 GTV $2,600
1978 GTV $3,400
1977 GTV $5,000
1978 GTV $5,750
1978 GTV $6,000
1976 GTV $6,666
1976 GTV $6,700
1976 GTV $6,750
1979 GTV $9,300
1979 GTV Race car $9,000
1979 GTV $12,500

I just did bring a trailer because they are pretty transparent and easy to search, plus they show sales prices not just advertised prices. Obviously my car is absolutely not the 12.4k car, that is a beautiful vehicle in great condition. What are your thoughts?
 
#11 ·
If a tree falls on an Alfetta, does anyone hear it?
I'm not in a position to buy it but I really like it. Drive it, park it, and not have to worry about door dings. I'm sure someone has a black interior set sitting in their garage that would make it a lot nicer for not a lot of money. GLWTS

Chuck
 
#15 ·
As a reference point...

I just bought a 78 GTV, red. Probably 130k miles. Mostly AZ and CA car, so can’t find any rust. Runs and drives great, relatively recent engine with some upgrades. OK paint. Nice interior. Fresh tires. Good maintenance history. Box of new spare parts.

Missing a few interior trim parts, AC doesn’t work. Couple of gauges intermittent.

Delivered from Seattle to Northern Nevada for $6k total, so figure $5k for the car. Whether I should have paid more or less, I’m content it’s a fair deal.
 
#17 ·
Might do. Right now I'm finishing up the current work on the 115 Spider. I'm driving it regularly at this point, but have just a couple of touches before diverting my attention to the 116. I hope to get the radio installed into the 116 today, but am waiting on parts before getting serious about it.
 
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#18 ·
SOLD (finally) to me! Jake was kind enough to hold onto it for a few months while I got the funds together. Got a transport company to bring it down from New Hampshire to Philly, where it's currently parked in front of my house. I have garage space around the corner, but will need a few months to make room for it, so it's a good thing we're in Springtime now. I'll start a new thread in the Alfetta/GTV6 forum to document my progress. Plans are to have it be a frequent driver and do mainly cosmetic work on it. I have a set of Ronal A1s and a line on Euro bumpers from a seller in Sweden, and luckily a local guy a few miles away who has a huuuuge stash of Alfa parts (scored a perfect split front spoiler from him a few weeks ago). VERY excited!! I had a Velocissima 30 years ago, and this is - finally - my 2nd Alfa. Took long enough.

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