Frustrated beyond belief - now for sale - *SOLD*

[OzMidnight]

Grrr...I finally got enthused enough to get back into the repair and very slow major tidy-up of my Alfetta sports sedan...

However, an injured Achilles in July that has taken months to recover, a sick child for a few weeks, another with constant issues...and now me ill with a virus for three weeks has thrown a large metric spanner in the works.  The poor old car has sat for a year and a half since the head gasket let go at Lakeside - I've refitted the head and along the way lost a little bag with a few parts.  The kind Julian Lord has held a little tensioner part for me for some time and I've not even been able to get that! 

All this frustration is leading me to 50-50 want to sell the thing as I just can't seem to find the time, or when I do the motivation is gone from all the other crap and I just want to drive something.  But....I have no idea what value to put on the thing or even if it is a bright idea.  I know it'll sell better if it is running again but if I get the above time/motivation I'll keep it.  Isn't life a fun little six of one and half dozen of the other.  I'm sure you all have your own hassles in life....so I'll end the rant with a big sorry and bid you all a good day!

[MD]

When you get well and looking to end your boredom and tackle the job to finish it, you will wonder whatever got into your head to want to sell a gem like a transaxle. You may even hope that nobody ever read your post and so I promise not to tell..

[hammer]

Hey Lee,

Which car is this one? Is it a sedan or GTV? Can't picture it in the old memory banks...

Hope you get it going mate - we'd love to see you back out on the track. Just remember, everything about owning a race car is a pain in the arse, except the unbridled joy of driving the bastard!!

Cheers,

Brent

[OzMidnight]

Yellow GTV.  Nothing super and as it's only been partially used once here in Qld since I bought it, you likely would not know the car.  I bought it to get back into hillclimbs....but MGCCQ just charge too much per km of racing these days.  So, thought I would try my hand at some basic sprints...but...well...you read the first post!

[OzMidnight]

Hey...anyone want a bit of money for getting my engine finished?  Whooping cough-like virus then morphed into a flu virus...9 weeks later and I'm finally showing tiny bits of improvement.  I need a running engine for motivation!  Timing gear to finish, plus likely a tune-up.  I know if I hear the thing running again, I'll be inspired to work on the other parts.

[dehne]

would love to help get your alfa going again, but a little far away, im sure there will be someone close buy that would take a couple of hrs out of their time to give you a hand,
just remember thats the Alfa way, if i see an alfa broken down on the side of the right as an alfa driver you are obligated to help.

[WhiteAlfaGTV6]

How's that alfa going. Still frustrated?

[OzMidnight]

Somewhat...recovery is slow...it turned into pneumonia over Christmas and New Years!  Got a toolmaker friend set to make me some new exhaust manifold studs, once I pull one of the remaining ones out of the head.  Picked up a part from the kind Mr. Lord and was sorely tempted by a car there....mostly as it was running..........  I now also have 10 months worth of home and yard maintenance to catch up on and the rain isn't helping!  I just have to find the motivation - my joi de vie has been slightly dented of late.

[OzMidnight]

Progress/motivation....kinda sorta.  Ordered some parts for the forlorn yellow thing sitting under a tarp.  Nothing super, just some exhaust studs and a new master chain link.  See how we go when they arrive.

[OzMidnight]

Progress...engine is bolted back together as best I can and filled with vital fluids (its' own not mine).  New plugs and leads and such and a first attempt today to kick it back into life after some minor battery issues.  Fail so far - perhaps I need to check my lead firing order again - but the starter at least turned the engine and it even gave a pretty massive backfire once.  Ran out of day....see what happens the rest of the week.

[LaStregaNera]

Got it sorted yet?

[MD]

Yeah common Lee, I have seen that car and it will be bags of fun to run with. Heaps of interesting stuff on it.

[OzMidnight]

Not sure if you remember the garden next to the car, MD, the one with 100mm deep of bark....well....that's where the timing chain master link circlip ended up......oily hands, fading light, rushed, insert other lame excuses here.    So thanks to the awesome folks at Spruell Motorsport, I now have another.  $10 and a week and a half wait, rather than the $170 complete with timing chain that local folks wanted to charge, along with a wait (because they were genuine from Italy....oooooooo)!!!  Some silly bugger had put the exhaust cam in one tooth out, so I'm hoping that was the cause of the startup issue, as nothing else has changed (ok, so it was me).  Everything else seems right, new leads and plugs, rotor button and cap are good, etc, etc...see how we go!

[hammer]

Good to hear Lee. Hope to see you on track next year mate. Hope all is going well on the work/home/family front - all that important life stuff that keeps a bloke away from the race track.

Cheers,

Brent

[MD]

Onya mate ! Never say die ! Almost drove past your place today on my way to a meet at Lakeside Park . Gave the Cab another Mammoth flogging of around 80 laps. Starting to get the hang of this track. All good, no hassles simply great fun. Just got home from being up at 5AM then coming home and putting all the stuff away but its a good kind of tired. The type that makes you want to go out tomorrow and do it all over again.

I know you can do this, you know you can do this-even the Milkman knows you can do this so dig deep and get spannering..