Today was a good day...

[festy]

Back in the late 90s I bought my second Alfa, a 1979 Alfetta GTV. I really couldn't afford it at the time, but deals were done and it was mine.


A year or two later it came off the road for a transaxle rebuild after something breaking and me having to drive home in reverse, and a (slightly) more reliable (ha!) car was purchased, as I'd just changed jobs and had a significant commute now.
I eventually got the money together for the rebuild, but couldn't justify (or afford) registering it now that I had a modern car that was chewing up all my spare cash with engine and transmission rebuilds of its own so the GTV sat around unused.

Then in 2000, I was starting it up for its once-every-few-month drive around the front yard when disaster struck.
Here is an artist's impression of what happened:

The fire was hot enough to melt the carburettors. That was not a good day.

It sat under a tree in my front yard for a few years after that, I couldn't bare to look at it.
When I moved house, I winched it onto a trailer and hid it behind the garage at my new place. When I moved again 7 years later, I dug it out from the weeds and stuck it in the corner of my new shed.
Every few years I'd get a bit of motivation, and spend a couple hours on making a new wiring loom, or building up a set of carbs, getting the engine to rotate etc.

The next time I moved house, I had to downsize from a 24x16m shed to just a double garage, so I had to get rid of a lot of things - including a couple of cars - but after a lot of (ir)rationalisation I thought if I'm going to keep this pile of junk, I'd better get it running again. By this time, I hadn't had a road-going Alfa for 15 years 

It was filthy enough to qualify as a 'barn find'


but after a few fits and bursts of motivation spread over some months, it started to scrub up ok


It was about this point that my teenage daughters first really noticed the GTV. They weren't alive the last time it moved under its own power, or even had all its panels fitted.
They took quite a liking to it, and provided extra encouragement and motivation (and occasional labour too).

Even so, it still took me another 5 years.
But today it breezed through a roadworthy, and two hours of queuing at the RMS later it's wearing new club plates.


Its finally back on the road after 20 long years. Today was a good day
There's still a *lot* more work to do, but I'll keep chipping away at it...

[MD]

Thing is festy, today is a good day for another important reason. It's now worth a sheit load more than it was 20 years ago..(more ways than one).

[bonno]

She looks great festy and admire your perseverance and willingness to get her back on the road, particularly after the setback of engine fire. Here is too many years of motoring pleasure, as I am sure you will have a smile every time you drive

[Paul Gulliver]

Reward for keeping the faith . Great to see another running / registered GTV hit the road. Do you think you will waive your  75 TS Motronic magic wand over the car. Still a lot of continued  interest in your epic work over on Alfa BB.
Gully

[Anth73]

Great read festy and another GTV back on the road!

[aggie57]

Congratulations!  That's a great story, especially the part about your daughters support and involvement.  Now you can enjoy it all over again .

[GTV6FLETCH]

congrats, bet you are stoked to have it back again.

[Alfetta77]

Great stuff Festy, good on you for persevering!

[alfagtv85]

Great read, well done

[poohbah]

Fantastic Festy, looks magnificent.

[festy]

Thanks everyone, I can't tell you how relieved I am to have this back on the road. I honestly never thought it'd run again.
Today the sun was shining and the weather was perfect for an italian tuneup, so we started getting reacquainted.
I'm amazed that I haven't tried to indicate with my wipers even once, I guess it's like riding a bike

There's a growing list of to-do jobs - the cobbled-together exhaust needs replacing, there's at least one noisy rear wheel bearing.  Gear shifting is really stiff, and I don't think the valve stem seals are doing anything - but damn, I'd forgotten how much fun corners are in a 116

I promised my daughters ages ago that I'd pick them up from school in it as soon as it was back on the road, and their reaction when they saw it waiting for them today was priceless.

Thing is festy, today is a good day for another important reason. It's now worth a sheit load more than it was 20 years ago..(more ways than one).

When I insured it a few months ago I was certainly surprised by Shannon's agreed value - nothing crazy like 105 money, but probably twice what I was expecting. Makes me feel better about being so stubborn and not sending it to the crusher years ago!
And over the past year or two it's given me plenty of quality time with my daughters - they're all getting good at panel prep, and my eldest learned how to do oil changes, replace spark plugs, set the timing and check valve clearances once she started taking an interest in cars.
There's been arguments over who'll eventually inherit the GTV, but I told them I'm taking it with me when i kick the bucket

Reward for keeping the faith . Great to see another running / registered GTV hit the road. Do you think you will waive your  75 TS Motronic magic wand over the car.

Not a hope - this one is all about the shiny nord cam cover, the soothing bort-song of the Dell'Ortos, the subtle yet persistent smell of petrol, and all the sacrifices and compromises that come with a 40 year old Alfa. I wasn't even really sure if I wanted to upgrade to late 116 electronic ignition, or keep the points and condenser so I could truly appreciate the pain of years gone by....

I have another GTV that's fuel injected (among other tweaks) that scratches the EFI itch and a bike that made me realize there's no such thing as a quick car, so this one will stay mostly original. And I really don't need another project just yet!

Plans might change in the future, but for now it makes me happy the way it is 

[bteoh]

Fantastic Festy - I really enjoyed reading this post. Well done 

[kartone]

My 1980 GTV, ground up restoration!

[kartone]

2/3

[kartone]

3/3