Alfasud QV owned 25 years (nearly)

[Howard_Graham]

Dear Alfasud -33 forum,

When I purchased my late Alfasud QV (registered 1st Oct 1984) on the 15th March 1989 I certainly didn't expect it to be with me for quite so long. I've always loved driving this car and it still puts a smile on my face. It always had an annoying rattle in the gear stick (on acceleration 3rd gear) that wasn't even solved by a gearbox rebuild and it turned out to be the SACHS clutch. Only replaced in the last 6 months and I haven't heard the rattle since.

The car did have a five year holiday in my Dad's farm on Anglesey when I migrated to Australia (Perth 1990). It was a wonderful moment seeing my old car arrive at Mosman Park about May 1995. It started first time with a loud bang fired a load of what looked like soil from the exhaust. Now on its third number plate its driving most days around the Sunshine Coast.

http://www.eastmarinedrive.com/contents/non-static/alfasudeleven-content.htm

I hardly see any other Alfasuds on the Sunshine Coast. Anybody local?

I am also looking for a top engine mount. Can anybody help

Howard
http://www.eastmarinedrive.com

[aggie57]

Must be one of the very last British delivered Suds still on the road!  Nice car and nice story. Welcome.

[Garibaldi]

I love it. The Alfasud is one of my all time favourites. It's great to see one that's been so well looked after. I hope it continues to give you many more years of motoring enjoyment. 

[hammer]

Howard, that's a ripper little Sud. Gorgeous!

Whereabouts on the Sunshine Coast are you? There are not many Suds on the coast that I know of. Cathy Fever has a lovely bright orange, early model but I'm not sure which part of the coast she lives.

I live up in the hills in Maleny and have a Sud Sprint race car and a 33 16v - and a couple of Giuliettas.

We have a club drive coming up your way this Sunday. Full details are on the AROCA Qld website. We kick off at 9am sharp at the BP on the highway at Caboolture, driving up through the back roads to Buderim for morning tea and back down to Bribie Island for lunch. Check out the details on the website and if you can't make the whole drive, drop by and say hi at the cafe at Buderim. I think there are about 20 Alfas listed to take part so far.

Cheers,

Brent Hampstead (AROCA Qld President)

[colcol]

Top gearbox/engine mount for Sud and 33, $30 at ASV in Sydney, in their bargain bin, if you are a T.A. like me you can press the old one out and turn it upside down in the mount housing like i did when i couldn't get one, the weight of the engine sags the mount to the bottom.
Gear lever rattles are also caused by the engine/gearbox being too high or low, the rear gearbox mount should be level with the body, when the top mount is all clamped up, you jack the engine and gearbox up by jacking up on the back of the gearbox, have the top mount loose, and then jack it up until the rear mount is level with the body, then jack it up about 10mm more, clamp the centre mount, let the jack down, and with any luck the mount should be level with the body, may take a few goes to get it right and then put in your 2 - 8 mm bolts, and it should be set, Colin.

[Howard_Graham]

Thanks for your response. I think I read that 192 alfasuds were still registered for road use. This was about 3 years ago. I am not sure how many are on the road in Australia (30 ish at a guess?)

I was a club member when I lived in Perth. The focus there was firmly 105 series. At the time there was one other alfasud QV (Riccardo Rossi). It always feels good parking almost identical cars together!
There is also supposed to be a nice series one kicking around Nambour (Mustard colour). What time will you guys be at Nambour your program does not quote times.
Brent I live at Pacific Paradise. I bet your 33 16V is good fun. Has anybody worked the 1.7 engine into a sud?.

Thanks for the info Colin. I will check this out because I also have an option of buying one new in the UK (36 quid)

I have owned two other suds (series 1+2 Tis) plus a 1971 GTV 1750

[colcol]

My Brother had a twin carb Sud, from the Sud series, from 1984 - 2011, i used to work on it and drove it for about 3 years, also brought a smile to my face, i loved the way it used to rock back and forth on its suspension when you pulled up at the lights, it was one of those sud things.
Didn't like the combination stalks, [ blinker - light - heater fan - horn - wiper ], always something not working or housing cracked, such a problem, you can still buy them new, Colin.

[hammer]

Howard,

I think the aim is to be at the Buderim Cafe at about 10.30am. I don't think the run goes through Nambour.

There are other Suds in our Qld club. Ken Percival has a fantastic, low km Sud that he bought brand new in (I think) 1983. Ken also has an Aussie rarity called a Giacattolo, which is an Alfasud Sprint running a mid-mounted 5 litre V8. It's a rocket!

I'm about to replace the 1.5 twin carb in my Sprint racer with a 16v 1.7. It'll be interesting to see how it goes this year. Another member Peter Parianos has a turbo 1.7 16v in a Sprint, putting out about 200hp at the wheels. And Bob Whitehouse won our club track competition three years running in a very quick 1.8 litre Sprint. Two other members race 16v 33s.

Hope to catch up with you at some point,

Brent

[VeeSix]

Nice photos, nice Sud, I can still remember when they were so common on the roads in the younger years