[TKO]

Greetings everyone,

I am a long time lurker on the board here and long time Alfa fan. I finally bought this Veloce last month. I have lusted over these cars for some 20 years now. Surprisingly this car came up for sale in Minnesota. Has 62k original miles from what I can tell. Only been driven a little over 2000 miles since 1969 (not that that's a good thing). All original, no rust, and only missing a couple of parts. Body and structure appear in great shape. The engine compartment, passenger area, and trunk need some love. Mechanically the car needs to be gone through. I have decided to have a complete 'make over' done on the car and it is now almost disassembled. No real surprises yet which is good news.
I would like to follow in the footsteps of others here on the board and post my progress and documentation. I am sure I will have many questions and I hope you enjoy the photos to come.

 

[TKO]

A few more

another set,

 

[pathung]

Will you be repainting the car? It seems okay - maybe a polish.

 

[TKO]

Patrick,

Yes I will be repainting the car. The photos are pretty flattering. It seems the car was painted before but some things really bother me. There is a 'texture' under the paint on the rockers and under the front and rear bumbers. They didn't remove the windshield and you could see were they masked on the rubber. Also there were holes for a tonneau cover on the deck and a few extra ones? Since I wanted the engine bay, passenger compartment and trunk repainted I figured to just do it all.

I am following in your footsteps with a documented thread, I have really enjoyed it!

All the best,

 

[Lionel Velez]

Nice Car

Tom,

Congratulations. Veloce's are indeed very nice cars and very enjoyable to drive. "BTW" This is a good time to replace the old harness with a new and improved one!!!

Regards,

Lionel

 

[divotandtralee]

Since you have gutted it, you are now embarking on a full restoration whether you know it or not. These are great cars and there is no mistaken why these cars have more value than 1600 Giulia Veloces or even the 101 Veloces not because they were first but because they are so much fun to thrash and rev like sewing machines without any modifications. You definitely should install a 5 Speed since you already have a split case and no mods are required. Just keep the tail section and bell housing and swap out the business section.

 

[Mikes4C1300]

You definitely should install a 5 Speed since you already have a split case and no mods are required. Just keep the tail section and bell housing and swap out the business section.

I'll definitely second this opinion. It is, hands down, the best (and invisible) modification you can make to a four-speed car. 5000 rpm cruising gets real old after an hour or so. I worried about torque from my single carb 1300. Don't, it's got plenty of guts (if that's what you'd call it )

Too bad you've torn it down already. I'd recommend a season or two of play with it first. Of course, I said that twenty years ago about mine and now I doubt I'll ever restore it!

Best of luck,

Mike Hollinger
Atlanta

 

[Subtle]

Five-speed for sure.

 

[TKO]

Thanks for the suggestion guys, although I must admit I am a bit surprised about the 5 speed. Does anyone think that this modification will detract from the originality and/or future value? It seems I remember Sports Car Market ripping an owner for doing this. Mike, I can see want you mean about highway criusing though, that doesn't sound fun. Looks is if many of you share the same opinion on the subject.
Yes, I do realize what I have embarked on. I may have considered driving it for awhile as is but mechanically (engine, transmission, suspension, and brakes) it wasn't even safe. It just makes more sense to do it all at once.

I appreciate all your comments,

 

[AR58SprintV]

Dear TomKO,
I run the original tunnel-case 4-speed in my Sprint Veloce WITH the Veloce 4.10 rear ratio, and suffer the disadvantage of terrible uphill stop-and-go traffic-jam qualities for excellent shifting with low gear enertia, and a happy combination of great revs for powering through Giulietta-type roads. On the twisties or track, with the revs up, the car is joy itself. I am willing to trade this, along with 4000 @ 70mph on the freeway for hop-up mods, however Stuart AlfaZagato differs in his choice and I respect that. See his comments in the thread on 750/101 photos about mods!
Cheers either way,
Laurence of Berkeley

 

[AlfistiSA]

To 5th or not to 5th, that is the question !

Hi Tom

You already have the split case box fitted to your car, the difference between the original 4 speed & adding a 5th gear, is just that, either the turret contains the 5th gear, (& you enjoy relaxed cruising), or it does not & you buzz along.

I second Laurence with regard to the tunnel case box, my 750's run them and while the Veloce enjoys the 10:41 diff ratio, the Normale suffers along with the 9:41, making spirited driving a buzzy business.

I think "Sports Car Market" was referring to modifying an original flat floor tunnel case car to fit the later 5 speed split case box. Either way, to each be his own and it is your car.

if you choose to fit the 5th gear, the only tell-tale will be that the lever selects an additional cog & seeing as the 5 speed was around in late '57 & for a fee Alfa would do anything upon customer request, it is possible that cars fitted with the split case box, (late '58 onwards), could have recieved a 5 speed upon request.

All our 101 cars have been upgraded, it makes a noticible improvement to cruising, while my 750 cars all retain the tunnel case 4 speed box.

This is my '61 Sprint Normale in 5th - check the revs, she will cruise all day at 100mph, doing 5000rpm - note the oil pressure !!

Ciao
Greig
Some 750'S
Some 101's
Some 105's
Some others - with 3 speed boxes.....

 

[TKO]

2 Steps Back

Thank you all for the suggestions regarding the transmission, the 5th gear seems like the way to go. Here are some recent photos taken at the body shop. No big surprises to the body which was good news. Surface preparation and 'straightening' almost done before we get some color on. A couple of steps back before going forward...

 

[Gordon Raymond]

5 speed conversion

Tom, Don't worry about the 5 speed conversion. Alfa even offered a kit to convert for this very purpose, back in the day. If you replace the split case section, you will also likely use the moly syncro's. They are a real step up from the older grooved style your 4 speed came with. The advantage of the newer split case center section is that you will have the OEM 4 speed if you ever decide to sell to a purist. Now is the time to get a newer 5 speed rebuilt, as some parts are becoming hard to source. It's great to see a nice 750F being put back on the road. The Alfa Giulietta / Giulia spider Veloces were by far, the best sports cars of their time, and still wonderful today. Ask anyone here who owns one! Gordon Raymond

 

[alfabits]

Tom, congratulations on your purchase and project. Looks like your heading in the right direction with your restoration. I am sure you will but just in case you are on the fence I would suggest you go through the suspension and braking system. You have no idea what lurks in there from the hands of the previous owners. Safety, safety! Then, fun, fun, fun.

Good luck.

Cheers,

 

[pathung]

A beauty in primer! Love that sharp crease on the nose where the center grille goes - make sure that doesn't get sanded away by too eager a sand-block!

 

[TKO]

Progress Update

The car is back from the bodyshop. Color matched original paint that was under the interior gauges. We first rubbed out that area with 3M imperial hand glaze and it looked as new and gave us the basis for the match. Car is a bit dusty in the photos.

 

[pathung]

It looks great, Tom!

You mentioned in an earlier post that some components on the car weren't safe enough for driving... were these the brakes?

 

[Subtle]

Dear TomKO,
I run the original tunnel-case 4-speed in my Sprint Veloce WITH the Veloce 4.10 rear ratio, and suffer the disadvantage of terrible uphill stop-and-go traffic-jam qualities for excellent shifting with low gear enertia, and a happy combination of great revs for powering through Giulietta-type roads. On the twisties or track, with the revs up, the car is joy itself. I am willing to trade this, along with 4000 @ 70mph on the freeway for hop-up mods, however Stuart AlfaZagato differs in his choice and I respect that. See his comments in the thread on 750/101 photos about mods!
Cheers either way,
Laurence of Berkeley

Calculated: With 175/ 65/15 tires.

4.56 diff/ .79 fifth 3500 rpm = 65 mph
4000 rpm = 74 mph
4500 rpm = 83 mph
5000 rpm = 93 mph

4.10 diff/ .79 fifth 3500 rpm = 72 mph
4000 rpm = 82 mph
4500 rpm = 92 mph
5000 rpm = 104 mph

Worthwhile difference.

 

[alfazagato]

Tom,
The car looks fabulous and you may be very pleased, after all your incredibly hard work, to read the current asking prices for Spyders in Germany. ClassicInside - The Classic Driver Newsletter has two restored cars one at over £30k and one over £50k. That's over $60k and $100k! Both cars are in Germany.

 

[alfazagato]

Sorry, forgot to mention, neither car is a Veloce!!!!