1982 GTV renovation

[Anth73]

Hi All,

With some more time available thanks to the COVID19 pandemic I thought I would share the story of my 1982 GTV that I purchased in April last year, what I know of it's history, the work I've had done so far and my future plans for it. I'm also hoping others on the forum can fill some gaps in it's history.

You'll note I termed this a "renovation" as it is most definitely not a "restoration". The car has had an interesting history and more will be revealed in future posts and photos.

So my GTV has chassis number ZAR 11637003015219 and according to Centro Documentazione Museo Alfa Romeo this corresponds to:

Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV 2.0 RHD
Production date: 1981, June 22nd
Delivery date: 1981, June 25th
Market destination: Australia
Exterior color: Grigio nube metallizzato
Interior: Velluto beige rigato

This aligns with the compliance date of January 1982 as per the compliance plate. Now grigio nubea is a nice shade of metallic grey and I guess would have looked something similar to the image below. Not sure about matching it to a biege velour interior though, but it was the early 1980's!

[Anth73]

When I came across my GTV I was licking my wounds following a near disastrous experience purchasing a 1974 GTV 2000 in need of restoration from an elderly owner in Adelaide. He'd owned the car since 1990 and had a folder full of receipts. The only problem was that upon stripping the seats and carpet I uncovered I'd actually bought the front half of a GTV 2000 mated to the back half of a 1750! Caveat emptor as they say but I managed to negotiate an agreeable settlement and moved the car on with full disclosure provided.

So I promised myself the next Alfa I bought would have to be in pretty good shape body-wise as well as some verifiable history, and that's when I spied my GTV for sale stating it had received a full bare metal restoration and respray by the best in the business and mechanically sound with a twin spark conversion also by one of the best.

Turns out my GTV was actually acquired from a private collection in early 2018, having sat idle for a number of years after a full body restoration by Rankins Panels that also involved fitting a full roll cage for racing duties. This was followed by a twin spark conversion and racing suspension fitout by Monza Motors. Mick Aarons tells me he remembers the car being in the workshop circa 2005/06 and probably has photos on a flash drive somewhere. Hugh Harrison also vouched for the cars history and after seeing it in the flesh it was mine.

[Anth73]

The GTV certainly ticked all my boxes with a near perfect body and paint, plus the added bonus of Zender front bumper, rear bumper and side skirts. Clearly this car had not seen much track time! The twin spark conversion, complete with the 4.1 LSD transaxle, was apparently one of the earlier one's completed by Monza Motors.

What I do know and am prepared to share about the owner who commissioned this work is that his name is Damian and he worked in healthcare. Unfortunately he wasn't able to get the GTV to the track very often. If he's reading this I wish him well and hope he enjoys seeing the GTV again.

To clear the front distributor on the twin spark a modified Alfa 33 radiator is positioned below a full length customised top panel. I'm guessing that panel may also help stiffen the car's front end as what seems like a decent size square tube runs the width of the car and provides top mounts for the radiator.

The interior also got the full race car treatment with roll cage, racing seat and harness for the driver, no back seat and only the top half of the dash. All other interior appointments had been stripped in it's transformation for road/track duties. Some weight saving changes were also made via a fibreglass rear hatch and 15x7 three piece Australian made Simmons B45 rims fitted with Bridgestone Potenza RE530S 225/50 semi-slick tyres with plenty of tread.

An interesting fact about the tyres that came with the GTV is that the DOT code ends with the digits "167". This denotes the manufacture date of the tyres was the 16th week of 2007 and provides another proof point of the authenticity of the conversion being undertaken in the mid 2000's by Monza Motors as per Hugh's and Mick's recollection.

Other changes made by Monza Motors with track duties in mind include the popular Volvo 4-pot front brake conversion, a racing spec clutch, Koni yellow shock absorbers all round, 28mm torsion bars and matching lowered rear springs. The GTV has a purposeful stance on the road however, there's only about 8cm ground clearance under the centre muffler and the front engine pipe has also been ground down in one spot. Sure looks good though with the fat 225 tyres!

With no intention to go racing I had a difficult choice to make. Do I keep the GTV's track orientation or bring it back to more road-like duties with niceties like a full interior with sound deadening?

[bazzbazz]

Surely there must be a way to "Pretty up" the engine on these cars like people do on the more modern V6 Alfa engines in the 147/156/GT range.

I find it always a bit of a let down to see such stunning examples with brilliant interior and exterior, and then you open up the bonnet . . . . . . 

[105gta]

Bazzbazz there sure are ways to pretty then up but it takes time and money as always. I believe this car was built with a focus of track time so considering pretty doesn't win, Money was spent elsewhere.

Anth73. I guess to answer your question..
what do you want?
If you're happy with it then leave it. Maybe even take it further within reason of your needs.
I'm guessing that you were happy to buy it in it's current form (and a nice form in my books) but if you want to take it back to Concorse original you have a ling battle ahead. If you want to drive it and enjoy it then keep it as it is. Enjoy it. And don't worry about the others that disagree

[poohbah]

What a beauty Anth, yours is the 197th chassis after mine, and arrived in Australia about a month later.

Mine was originally  'metallic cloud grey, with "beige rigato" velvet interiors' according to Marco Fazio at CentroDocumentazione.

Wish mine was in as good condition as yours - one day...

[bonno]

Hi Anth
A very nice looking Alfetta GTV you have there and your decision not to race the car, suggests that you intend to remove the roll bar and strip and fit new interior, back to 1981 specification or later recaro interior. This approach will have the added benefit of carrying rear seat passengers (numerous posts on this forum covering interior upgrades/restorations). With regards to improving the look of engine bay, I suppose it is a matter of individual tastes and how much you a prepared to spend. A simple wrinkle black finish on cam covers could be all that is required to give it some bling. For ideas, search the internet (twin spark engine bays images) will provide numerous examples. 

[poohbah]

Anth, if you feel you want to o down that road (as per bonno's suggestion) - some inspiration:

www.facebook.com/alfettagtantonio/videos/276480540039854/?t=1

[Anth73]

With no intention to go racing I had a difficult choice to make. Do I keep the GTV's track orientation or bring it back to more road-like duties with niceties like a full interior with sound deadening?

Great to see my GTV has sparked some interest! You may have missed that I said that I "had" a difficult choice to make regarding the future of my GTV. This was in May/June last year. After consultation with Hugh Harrison at Monza Motors I decided a renovation was in order to bring it back to a more streetable guise and make a few other improvements along the way. I wasn't interested in bringing it back to concourse standard as she won't be a garage queen.

So a plan was hatched to remove the roll cage and fit a Recaro interior from the latter series GTV6 as the first phase of my GTV renovation. The team at Monza Motors cutout the roll cage with meticulous care. It was a shame to see it go in one way, but it created a beautiful blank interior canvass to work with.

Here's a few photos of the roll cage prior to it's removal.

[Anth73]

And a few more roll cage p0rn shots...

[Anth73]

Stripping out the roll cage took a few weeks from memory in between other jobs. It also revealed that I would need a new dash as the front corners below the windscreen had been cut out to accommodate the bars running along the A-pillar and down to the floor. There was also some missing trim fittings along the back windows that needed to be addressed.

[Victor Lee]

Ah, memories!

We did our own "Singer" inspired renovation back in 2015/2016 for our yellow 3.2lt GTV6 after retiring it from 20 years of track duties.

Full standard interior back in with an alcantara-type head lining. Sound deadening is a must!   Also modernised it with a nine inch Alpine screen and different gauges.  Kept most of the hot bits and had it engineered to comply with the historic M plates.

Hugh and the team did most of the work.  The car's at Hugh's now, so have a look!

For your seats, how about 4C seats?  A guy from Sydney is selling his seats.

[LukeC]

One of the under bonnet iterations of a previous GTV... Was an '85 so no issues with clearance on the front dizzy. Bonnet requires some work in two places I remember.

[Anth73]

Ah, memories!

We did our own "Singer" inspired renovation back in 2015/2016 for our yellow 3.2lt GTV6 after retiring it from 20 years of track duties.

Full standard interior back in with an alcantara-type head lining. Sound deadening is a must!   Also modernised it with a nine inch Alpine screen and different gauges.  Kept most of the hot bits and had it engineered to comply with the historic M plates.

Hugh and the team did most of the work.  The car's at Hugh's now, so have a look!

For your seats, how about 4C seats?  A guy from Sydney is selling his seats.

I've seen your yellow GTV6 and it's very impressive. A number of ideas for me to consider also like LED lighting to replace the woeful standard instrument lights. Your instrument gauges are also first class!

I did look into different seat options but lots of discussion about sizing issues that led me to grab a pair of Recaro's that Hugh had. In time I may get them reupholstered in a tan/black leather combo like was fitted to some 147/156 GTA's. Apparently even seats from a 147 and 156 are too wide. Those 4C seats look great, unsure if they would fit.

[Anth73]

Thanks Sportiva, if I'd know that I may have gone for 147 GTA front seats and had the rear trimmed to match. Though the Recaro GTV6 seats are iconic the cushioning is very much past it's used by date and the fabric has the typical green fade.