Tasmanian Alfasud Sprint

[stuka]

Hello all.

Well I bit the bullit and bought an Alfa. After many years of motoring and many cars, I couldnt put it off any longer and finally succumbed to the attraction of owning an Alfa!! I picked this jem up a week ago for real cheap. It had been sitting round with very little use for the last 5 years. The motor and gearbox are good and I think with a few hours work in the evenings I'll have her looking and running well.

It will be a bit of a project for me as I love tinkering on cars. I spent the last couple of years modifying a Toyota MR2 which Im happy with now. So far the Alfa has been a breeze to work on compared to the mid engined MR2. Im about ready to change the timing belt and water pump.

So here is a few photos after I picked up the car and brought it home. Needs a good wash.

[Fetta GTV]

Hi Stuka

Is that Hobart in the background?
Nice looking Sprint, keep us updated on your progress.
Looks the same as mine, is it an 86
I'm sorting mine for some club supersprinting and driver training days.

Cheers
Fetta GTV

[colcol]

Great looking car, one of Guigaro's finest , just like a miniture GTV except better!, the timing belts and followers should be changed every 4 years or 60,000 kls, if last time changed unknown, change them now!, also do the waterpump as well at this time, but after that every 2nd belt change as everything is out of the way, when you do it, have an assistant remove the bonnet as it makes it much easier to get to everything, the waterpumps in these cars can be notoriously hard to change as they are aluminium in a cast iron block that leads to electrololiss, that is 2 dissimilar metals corrode into each other and you will have to 'mongrel' the water pump out, i have never had much trouble removing them, i suppose i have been lucky, but i am doing mine in the next few months when it arrives from England, one of the most dissapointing cars i ever drove was an MR2, i drove one around Phillip Island and it did nothing for me, on the same day i also drove a Fiat X19, Oh my god what an awesome car, so much better than an MR2, but it wouldn't be as reliable as a Toyota, but what a car, just like your Sprint, some will put it down because its front wheel drive, but as far as driving enjoyment goes, they are hard to beat, Colin.

[Davidm1600]

Col I know what you mean re the x1/9 being so much fun, but as far as reliability goes they actually are pretty robust being based on the 128, and the only real archilles heal for these cars is keeping on top of any rust issues.   128s are mechanically pretty straightforward cars.

I know this Sud sprint having seen it in action only recently at a club motorkhana.  I can't say it was particularly fast but it went perfectly fine.  It could do with some minor improvements to its cosmetics but such matters are perhaps secondary anyway. 

All the best with the Sud, Stuka, and in case you are interested you would be most welcome at our club events (Club Motori Italia). Just check out our website, www.cmitas.org

[colcol]

Don't mean to be a smarty pants, but if it is a 86 Sprint, then its based on a 33 floorpan and its not called an Alfasud Sprint, just a Sprint, it has drum brakes on the back outboard front discs, check to see if your handbrake works, if yes its a Sprint, Colin.

[aggie57]

Come on Colin - we all know a 33 is based on a Sud!

[Miss Alfa Sprint]

Nice Sprint!! 

[stuka]

Thanks for all the comments!

Hi Stuka
Is that Hobart in the background?

Yes thats the Derwent River looking from the east. We are lucky to have such a nice view and laid back lifestyle in Hobart

All the best with the Sud, Stuka, and in case you are interested you would be most welcome at our club events (Club Motori Italia). Just check out our website, www.cmitas.org

Thanks Im looking to join up with the club soon once I get the sud to a standard Im happy with. Im just glad its another one that can be kept on the road in the local area and will be looked after rather than being parted out and crushed.

one of the most dissapointing cars i ever drove was an MR2

Colin you must have driven a dog, what generation did MR2 did you drive? Believe it or not the MR2 was designed and built to be a drivers car. The problem is most people ruin the suspension set up by lowering and and putting in the wrong roll bars and other suspension components which really upsets the balance of the car. They really are a great driving experience if set up correctly and have a superb motor with Yamaha designed 16 valve head.

[colcol]

The MR2 i drove was 'fully sick' modified, and i remember when they first came out, at last here is an interesting Toyota, but being a passenger and driver it did nothing for me, i recall it being quite good to look at, comfortable and after driving many Alfa Romeo's how strong the synchro's were! the owner and i we were discussing healing and toeing and it wasn't necessary in a MR2, you could downchange at any gear at any speed, maybe if i hadn't been in the X19 on the same day, i would have had a better opinion of the Toyota, and up to that point i did not think much of a X19, but after that day, well praise the lord, what a great car with a 1.5 litre, you don't have to have oodles of power to have fun, like a 1.2 Alfasud, not much power and torque, but geez, what a great driving experience, if only they had used better quality steel, Colin.

[stuka]

Yes I figured it might have been the fully sick version, there are a few around! The mid engine certainly is a different driving experience. My friend back home in Ireland has an X19, a great car. Apparently the turbo conversion from the Uno is a good addition.

Back on topic...

[Miss Alfa Sprint]

My brother lives in north hobart, so if you see a red 33 around it might be him driving it, but i hear there are quite a few around there 

[colcol]

Hey Aggie, we all know you secretly admire Alfasuds, as the engineer who designed the Sud was Austrian DR. Rudolph Hruska, and he came from Porsche, and knew the absolute benifits of a boxer motor, ie compact size, low centre of gravity, smoothness and unlike Porsche he installed it in the right end to drive the correct end, and yes, the 33 is really a Sud, but without those inboard front disc brakes and non operating hand brake, and they stopped using that dreadfull Russian steel, Colin.

[stuka]

Ive been pretty busy fixing up the car. I decided to change the timing belts and water pump. After hearing all the horror stories, I was delighted to be able to remove the water pump in less than 15 minutes. It came out relatively easy and in one piece. There was no play in the pump but it was fairly corroded. Unfortunately the new pump wouldnt fit easily so I had to file down parts of it to make it fit. New tensioners are on and I'll fit the belts tomorrow after work. Having never done this type of thing before Im a bit nervous but I think things will go fine.

From exloring the rest of the engine area, I have decided to replace all the cooling system hoses. They are old and the hoses to and from the heater have a tee on them which were both corroded pretty bad. One basically disintegrated when I disturbed it.



Some of you would have seen the coolant in another thread, the whole system has been neglected.



Also, simple things like the coolant top up tank oveflow not allowing the water to escape has allowed this kind of corrosion to occur.



Thankfully there isnt any other major rust except some bubbling on both front guards. Here is the tray area for the battery, nice and clean and free from rust!

[colcol]

When you said you had to file bits to get the water pump to fit, i hope you didn't file the water pump, but you filed and or cleaned up the bore in the engine block, as this is always badly corroded, which causes all the problems getting them to come out, this will be a good incentive to keep the cooling system in good condition, [unlike the previous owner!], by this time you have read up on timing belt replacement, here is a tip, push tensioners away from belts, so they are not touching, tighten nut on tensioner, then fit belts, line everything up, then loosen nut on both tensioners, so they are touching and tensioning the belts, and SLOWLY turn motor over by hand with spanner on crankshaft pulley, and after the belts centre themselves, turn the crankshaft so that on the right bank, turn it to a position so that all the valves are closed and there is no tension on the belt, THEN you do up the nut on the right hand tensioner to the proper tension, [35lbs if i recall?], then do the same on the left bank, this will ensure correct tension on the belts, putting loctite on the nuts is far too difficult, as by the time you put the nuts on and tension them, it could be half an hour, more than enough time for the loctite to go off and cause all sorts of tensioning dramas, turn the motor over by hand slowly making sure no valve to piston collisions, to help build your confidence, Colin.

[stuka]

Thanks for the tips.

The recess in the head was cleaned, the old pump would slide in and out easy but the new one wouldnt. I could have hammered it but was reluctant to. I decided to file the pump just enough so that i could position it to get a start on the nuts in the thread. I didnt file anywhere near where the faces met. After that I tightened it on to place, nice and snug.