Hello to all from the Mediterranean

[116_Veloce]

Hello to all alfisti on here from far away in the Holy-land.

The condition caught on to me 20 years ago and it will just not let go. First car was a terribly rusty Giula Super 1300, then came a few more. Among other things I'm also making alfa romeo restoration parts. I've been writing for years on the American AlfaBB, a bit shamed to say this place did not cross my mind. So now I'm finally here. I know there are some very nice alfa in the land down-under.

Best Wishes,
Uri

[Davidm1600]

Hi Uri and welcome to this Aussie forum.  I am pretty sure like quite a number of us, I would have seen your posts over on the BB.  I too visit that place and have scribbled plenty of nonsense over there, as well as possibly a few salient points. I am known as Super1600 over on the BB.  Like yourself, and most of us here, I am a confirmed Alfaholic !

While my current daily driver is a "modern" Alfa (156 sportwagon), I have a very long winded Giulia Super restoration project going (currently on hold for lack of funds etc), and a 1750 GTV tucked up in a garage under covers waiting its rebirth.  It was my daily driver until the 156 came along. 

Would love to hear more about your restoration parts that you are working on, let alone any pictures of Alfas you might have.  Just noticed your other post for the lens for GT/V's.  Might need to take you up on a set for my 1750 as I think the ones I have are broken,  Will check and can send an email to you if so.  Do you know if these also fit Giulia Supers or are they different?  Also I wonder how much it might cost to post?  I wouldn't have thought too much given the size/weight of such items.   Cheers David

[116_Veloce]

Hi, yeah it's a big-small world the alfa world.

I drove things like Alfettas and a 1975 GT Junior that I fixed up for someone. I like the new ones as well. Alfas were imported here regularly from the 60's, first by a local car maker called 'Autocars', and then by an official dealership that changed hands 3 or 4 times. In the developing Israel of the post 1967 wars, the Giuila range was quite popular. In the late 70's and early 80's the Alfasud caught on well but then disappeared as it came. 33's were a popular sight up until the mid 90's. Alfas were never popular around here and they got a reputation of being 'complex' and hard to maintain cars, parts being expensive and no qualified personnel to fix them.

Consequently they were not taken good care of so the vast majority of classic alfas are total rust buckets and owners not inclined to spend big $$$ on restos. Still they do many 'driver' restorations and keep them going which is a sort of comfort. In the 90's alfa entered a steep decline here with the 145/6 selling only a few hundred examples. The 164 was much appreciated but very expensive and sold in small numbers. Since Israel is a country without an automotive industry there are very high import taxes on cars. The dealership eventually unified into Fiat / Alfa / Lancia and alfas regained some ground, the 156 being a car that helped popularity, and the 147 followed after an aggressive price reduction. The 159 made a very big impact here and many of them adorn our streets. It's looks and build quality helped, finally, regain much respect for the marque.

My expertise is product-design so I have access to industrial tooling, and I use that to re-make parts for our cars. Over the years I've made many projects: shift knobs, small metal / rubber items, plastic parts etc. - I also specialize in factory decals. If you google my psuedo you'll find my online listings. As for shipping it's no biggie, these are usually small, lighter items so in the range of a few $'s. 5-12 for most items I sell (recorded air-mail).

The lenses (which are my latest project) fit all Giulia series cars '64 to '77 (except for the Spider ofcourse) as the lens housing is the same on all (aluminum base with the grab handle). Both types (with / without transparent insert) are the same size so interchangeable. I even sourced out the correct stainless metric mounting screws for them. This thing all started when I used to import parts for me cars, then noticed that some repros were of questionable quality and had fitment issues. Being over-pedantic by nature I decided to try by myself. It turned into a part hobby/work kind of thing.

[116_Veloce]

Here's an example or two of tooling I had made, and respective parts.
These are industrial plastic injection molds, very heavy / expensive, but result in a product that you can't get any other way.

Picture 1 is AR 006071201, bonnet prop guide for Alfetta GTV/6 1980-1986 models. You can see an original part next to mine at the bottom.

Picture 2 you see shift knobs I made in the past for 105. Unfortunately I don't have them anymore.

I also had one go at making light lenses, but  tooling costs were horrendeous. I ended-up leaving the project for a colleague in Italy that made the molds.