Project car - 1989 75 3.0 V6 [Updated 12 November 2021]

[Duk]

Shiny should be repairing the old smashed up Evo kit, take molds from the parts and make a new 1 for himself and 1 to sell to me. 

[shiny_car]

I'm a huge fan of the Evoluzione body kit! 
Nothing says '80s RACE CAR like no other (even if they were from the late '80s and early '90s ).
BUT, I do believe that the real visual success of an Evoluzione kitted car, like the 75 in general, comes down to wheel choice, primarily offset but also design. And ride height, to make sure there is minimal gap between the top wheel arch and the top of the tyre. The reality of practicality and legality are often at odds with ride height, though.

I hear ya Duk!  The Evo kit has grown on my over the past couple years, for sure. Agreed, the car will look most aggressive with a nice stance when low, and appropriate wheels. I love the look of the black car, so I'm wanting to emulate that, whilst being mindful of probably not having 100mm clearance. I don't know what will end up being the lowest part of the car; possibly the exhaust, maybe the bodykit; or definitely the sump guard if I have that in place. All these things will be checked and accounted for.

Pretty obvious, but 1 thing I found with having the Pace Engineering 'long shank top ball joints' in my car, the camber curve characteristics (the wheels gain a fair bit of negative camber with bump travel) allow me to have rim width and offsets that you couldn't get away with in cars with standard suspension geometry.

How much does it raise the end of the upper control arm, compared with normal? If anything, I think I'd fit drop spindles. I think both result in more neg camber, but by different approaches: 'pushing' the bottom of the spindle out (from the chassis) cf 'pulling' the top in (towards the chassis), if you get what I mean.

Haha! That's my old EVO kit!! I sold it on ebay for $450 maybe 2 years ago... I can tell by the damage everywhere!

Indeed mate! I recall PM'ing you about it, but you told me not to bother because of the damage. Hell, I paid more than $450 for just these parts, without the bumpers! 

Eh, doesn't matter. I can repair the damage, and will reinforce every piece to reduce flex (and cracking paint). It will take a fair bit of time to make everything fit the way I want, but should be worth the effort!

Shiny should be repairing the old smashed up Evo kit, take molds from the parts and make a new 1 for himself and 1 to sell to me. 

If I have the facilities to make moulds, I...err, still wouldn't. 

[Duk]

How much does it raise the end of the upper control arm, compared with normal?

Top ball joint is raised by about 35mm at a guess. I don't have any standard ball joints to compare to.

If anything, I think I'd fit drop spindles. I think both result in more neg camber, but by different approaches: 'pushing' the bottom of the spindle out (from the chassis) cf 'pulling' the top in (towards the chassis), if you get what I mean.

6 is 1, half a dozen the other. The same thing happens, the top control arm starts to arc inwards more than the LCA does.
The key is the distance in height between the centre lines of the top and bottom ball joints VS the distance in height between the top and bottom control arm pivot points.
Drop spindles are definitely the nicest way to go about it, but it's more expensive and there is also the issue of welded suspension components and road going legalities. I'm not saying that LSTBJ are necessarily legal, though. 

If I have the facilities to make moulds, I...err, still wouldn't. 

Awwwwwwwwwww SH!T!!!! 

[shiny_car]

It's a busy time of year for me, so progress will slow down for a few months, but I intend on plugging away whenever possible. We are moving house again very soon, so the 75 will be transported to a new double garage shared with my GT. Everything needs to be packed, loaded, and relocated, and I need to refit the front left steering knuckle then front wheels, to be able to roll the car on/off a trailer.

But last month...

A little work was done on the front right EVO style wheel arch, creating a better fitment. After cutting away some of the damaged lower corner, MDF wood was hot glued in position to help create a frame to lay up new fibreglass. Needs a little fettling. Also cut away a section of the sideskirt which wasn't mating properly with the wheel arch and the car's panels.





A view through the cut out in the sideskirt shows what a huge void will exist. I want to modify this to prevent accumulation of 10kg of water and dirt over the next 20 years! So I will drill some drain holes and block the opening along the inside edge with expander foam.



Next, is the beginnings of rebuilding the fibreglass wheel arch. Last month, I showed how I cut part of the inner edge away because of poor fitment. To recreate this section, I used the original 'plastic' 75 wheel arch as a mould, preparing it with masking tape for protection against resin. The chopped-strand fibreglass matting is relatively heavy thickness, 600g/m^2, so I won't need a lot of layers for good strength.





Beginning with 2 layers, I first cut them to shape with scissors. Some trial and error, test fitting and trimming. Then prepared the polyester resin, and 'dabbed' it onto the matting generously, to soak through.









It cured overnight, but was the following fortnight before I worked on it again. With a Dremel cutting disc, I trimmed the excess by carefully following along the inner edge of the mould.





I 'split' it from the mould then removed residual masking tape, and trimmed the opposite edge.



Test fitment against the fibreglass wheel arch on the car. I marked where additional trimming was required.





This is the final result, ready to be grafted onto the existing piece, and of course any gaps will be filled to create a seamless join.



Probably of more interest, are the new front brake caliper brackets! These have been custom manufactured by a local engineering workshop from billet aluminium, using computer design and CNC lathes. They've done a very nice job, and we elected not to anodise them (I was assured they would not corrode any time soon but I cannot recall what sort of aluminium it is).

Everything was catered for; I provided only the hardware (caliper, pads, steering knuckle with hub/disc fitted):
* two tapped holes for the caliper M14 x 100mm x 2.0 thread pitch bolts, 130mm apart
* two untapped holes for the M12 bolts securing the brackets to the steering knuckles, 76mm apart
* radial distance to ensure pads line up with disc surface
* offset to centre the caliper over the disc (side-side)

Only because I've had a little trouble sourcing M12 x 40mm x 1.5 thread pitch bolts (now in the mail), I haven't been able to bolt-up the new brackets and calipers to show you. Next month!











Test fitment with the left side caliper.









With that job completed, and hardware back with me, I've started respraying the left caliper. First, blowing out the pistons with compressed air.







Similar surface corrosion on the pistons as the other caliper. Used a Dremel wire brush attachment to buff them clean, and wiped the seals. Parts otherwise in good condition.



Caliper masked for painting with VHT Caliper Paint, Real Red and Clear.





Multiple coats of red, then cured by baking in the oven for an hour at about 90 degrees celcius.



That's it for now. By next month, I should have the caliper completed, after applying a new 'Alfa Romeo' decal, clear coat, then sanding out the 'orange peel' finish, and polishing. And when the M12 bolts arrive, I can test fit them to the car.

[Craig_m67]

Is there any chance your 15" rim would fit over all that braking goodness??

And if (when) not, I wonder what changes would be needed.
Smaller disc... change to the brackets

[ANG156]

It will be rolling on 18s

[shiny_car]

Is there any chance your 15" rim would fit over all that braking goodness??

And if (when) not, I wonder what changes would be needed.
Smaller disc... change to the brackets

Indeed bigger wheels are required. This is essentially the same spec disc and caliper as the 159/Brera/Spider (Ti spec, V6, 2.4JTD) and GT/GTA (3.2; slightly different caliper), all of which run a minimum 17" wheel. Caliper offset might be slightly different, but if anything, there seems to be more clearance behind the wheel spokes on this car, which should cater to more wheels.

I don't think 16" would fit. But I suspect a 305mm setup would fit behind a 16". On overseas forums (eg: alfagtv6.com) there is much discussion about brake options, including suitable upgrades for 15" wheels if that's what you want.

[jazig.k]

Nice brackets!! Pitty about the tool chatter, but that's being fussy haha. Did you get to keep a drawing or program from the job? Or did they say they have kept it on file for anyone wanting to do the same?

[shiny_car]

Nice brackets!! Pitty about the tool chatter, but that's being fussy haha. Did you get to keep a drawing or program from the job? Or did they say they have kept it on file for anyone wanting to do the same?

Ah,  'tool chatter', is that what it's called?! It adds character. 

Yes, they burnt a copy of the images/design for me. I don't have the software to utilise it of course (though I may be able to view it in other software?), but apparently it's in the most common file format for such work.

[jazig.k]

Probably CAD files. Easy enough to get yourself a shifty copy of the program. Still a pretty penny to go that route for an upgrade [particularly the cost in the hats and rotors...].

[ANG156]

Shiny, why did u not go for the 156 side indicator? It is sleeker, modern and readily available in clear. IMO the one you have chosen looks a little odd. Its very square and bulky, that it is, it sticks out of the guard a lot even more so than the standard 75 one. The 156 one is recessed into the 156 guard but I am sure uou could have adapted it.

[Bretton Woods]

Yes, they burnt a copy of the images/design for me. I don't have the software to utilise it of course (though I may be able to view it in other software?), but apparently it's in the most common file format for such work.

This restoration is absolutely brilliant. The work you've done to the calipers is awesome.

Perhaps I can help you out with these CAD files. Can you determine what the extension is?

[shiny_car]

Probably CAD files. Easy enough to get yourself a shifty copy of the program.

Perhaps I can help you out with these CAD files. Can you determine what the extension is?

It's meant to be a SAT file, yeah? I just tried to check with the disc in the desktop; hmm, seems a blank disc!  Oh well, I will email him and ask for another copy.

Shiny, why did u not go for the 156 side indicator? It is sleeker, modern and readily available in clear. IMO the one you have chosen looks a little odd. Its very square and bulky, that it is, it sticks out of the guard a lot even more so than the standard 75 one. The 156 one is recessed into the 156 guard but I am sure uou could have adapted it.

Cheers for the suggestion.

I don't think the shape of the 156 indicator suits the 75. I want a rectangular one. The Merc one does stick out a bit, but next to the flared wheel arch, I don't consider it out of place. Honestly, haven't give it much time; they are back in the packaging. I think it needs to be taken into context of the whole, completed car, so that's going to be some time away. 

[Bretton Woods]

I should be able to print some hard copies for you if they're .SAT. It's a Solidworks file and I should be able to get it open in NX.

Looking forward to seeing this car on the road. I'd really like one, but I don't have the time nor expertise to conduct a restoration like this.

[Al Campbell]

You're in Geelong Shiny? It'd be nice to see this car at a concours one day. Work (craft?) like this deserves to be shown.