My Alfa 33 Restoration Thread - UPDATE - For Sale

[Brooke]

Well, I bought a 1985 Alfa 33 1.5 Ti Green Clover Edition a couple of weeks ago off eBay for a pretty good price.

I have decided to run a thread and update it with photos and text as to what I have fixed, modified, or ripped out!

Any requests for photos of particular sections of the car are welcome, eg: rust ect.

To start off with, this is how the car looked when bought:



Was bought with an engine misfire and no fuel in the tank.

Fixed the misfire simply by linking up one weber to the acceleration arm, therefor when I put my foot down, both sets of valves would open instead of half. Still, impressed that it made it 70km back home on 2 cylinders.

Have so far run an oil and oil filter change, rebuilt the webers, removed the de-gassed air conditioner, replaced all spark plugs and leads, this is the engine as it looks now:



Have cut and polished the car's exterior twice, bringing it from a pale pink to a nice solid red!







Original Alfa rims are nice, little bit of rust to bog up on the left hand back wheel arch.





The interior is in rather good condition for a car of this age, seats and dash perfect, all buttons work, only thing is an odo and trip meter that don't work, any tips o these?

So far whats next on the list is:
Clutch Bleed
Engine bay clean (steam clean or degreaser and hose, havn't decided yet???)
Replace all deteriorating pipes in engine bay
Replace Battery
Replace Cam and Fan Belt
Replace suspension (Koni Yellows it what im thinking at the moment)

Any other advice on what to fix/improve would be appreciated,
Cheers

One happy alfa owner
Brooke

[Brooke]

Well, I have been a little slack with updating this thread, though as an excuse, most changes have not been that visually exciting, aside from the new stereo and seat covers. I have replaced the speedo cluster, plugged in the cigarette lighter, replaced a couple more hoses under the bonnet, and crashed it!

Yes, driving into town last night, wet roads, tires that are on the way out, it was a recipe waiting to happen. Car in front slammed on the anchors to stop for a Koala, I hit the brakes, but locked up and went corner to corner with the car in front. Damn they make Corolla's tough these days, she got a couple of scratches on her bumper, my front right panel is dented in, horn mounting ripped off, light smashed, and a nice big scratch all down the right hand side.

Legally I failed to gain control of the vehicle, and with no comprehensive insurance, that has jumped up on the repair list.


Got to love seat covers, fit nicely, gives it that sporty feeling!


Cash converters head unit and speakers, simple to wire up, attached the power earth to a bolt behind the glove box.


To get the speakers to fit the door, I had to expand the already cut hole in the door material. Then angle grind an expansion in the door.

Saddened Alfa 33 Owner
Brooke

Damage photos:


One damaged panel and indicator cover, structure is intact, have a spare panel thankfully, will simply respray


Unfortunately white corolla bumper scratch mark all the way down the side, good repaint needed

[alanm]

That's really bad luck mate, I hope it works out okay.

I had a 33 a few years back. Not widely regarded as one on the better Alfas but, I have to say, I loved mine. Fun to drive, wonderful willing motor that made fantastic noises, especially on the over run!!

Alan

[Brooke]

Your saying they get better than the 33!!

I love it to bits, great as a first car, and the bargain of the century at $550 with spare parts of EVERYTHING!

Even with shot suspension (doesn't sit level when parked!), blocked up air filter, not well tuned, it flies around the corners, and I can hang onto an old corolla GTi with out a problem

Overrun, is that when you take your foot off at high rev's and it kinds clicks back down, love that noise!

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Great thread, keep the info coming.

Took my girlfriend's 33 series 1 camping last weekend, with it's big sister.  Great car, coped easily with the 500km trip and the offroading to get to the camp site.  Car cruised easily at 130km/h (indicated, but I seemed to be going faster than anyone else so maybe not too inaccurate?) the whole way, at 8.85 l/100km.  

It was very comfortable too.  I've put in seats from a series 2 33 which are far nicer than the originals.  They don't look as good, but we spend longer sitting in the seat than looking at it.  I also installed a decent stereo and speakers, as I suspected the 33 would have a fair amount of wind noise, and because I like to listen to my Polka Medley cassette very loud.  It's a fine car and 3.5 hours travel was no problem at all.  Even it's looks are starting to grow on me....

[Evan Bottcher]

Sheldon, you should get an Autodelta chip - that'll sort out that excessive fuel consumption. Nice camping too - perhaps a quattro wagon would be more appropriate!

[Ben33]

Sounds like you're having a lot of fun with the 33, I've had mine for a week and a bit now, i love it too  Pitty about the damage on yours though  Good luck on getting it fixed, it looks like a great car otherwise!

[Anthony Miller]

Hey Brooke, you're right, those tyres do look a little average. Methinks rubber would be high on the todo list, shame about your "carolla-ing" but I bet it's still the best $550 you've ever spent.

Hey Sheldon, that Autodelta chip should boost your cruising speed to 200kmh too....

[philpot]

Hey Sheldon, you're right about (your) the series one sports seats. They look quite good sitting in my lounge room, and SPAM, and bedroom....!  They're cleaning up a treat!  Was great to be one of only two 33's at the Philip Island photo shoot. Was number 33 of the 160 Alfas there! Coincidence? I think not...! Bought a 16V recently, feels totally different to an 86 ti. Really like the direct, heavier mechanical feel of the simpler car. The 16V does get up and go, but..

[Brooke]

From what I have been told, the 1.7 8V twin carb has a lot more lower torque than the 16V, how do you find yours compared to your old 86' Ti?

Have fixed the panel tonight, as well as removing the remnants of the air conditioning system (fan and radiators in front of each wheel under the bumper).

[Brooke]

Have repaired the car and it is for sale, simple reason:

It will not work as intended, as a rally car, simply requires too much money to set it up as a race ready car, so I am selling it for something cheaper.

Here are the photos of the car, all repaired and ready to go on the market:


All existent rust on the car, not joking!





Dont see many with a sunroof, of those, not many that work, this one, works perfectly!




Can still make it look a classic in photoshop!

For all interested, it is on eBay and bidding is starting at $500, though there is a reserve of
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Alfa-Romeo-33-1985-Ti-/200470031155?cmd=ViewItem&pt=AU_Cars&hash=item2eacf1eb33