My 33's broken

[colcol]

Got the KONI's back, new oil and both revalved and adjusted for local council speed bumps, $204, pretty happy with that as you can no longer buy them new, its great to have something that can be repaired, and not more rubbish to be put out on the nature strip, Colin.

[colcol]

When i was fixing the 33 at the side of the road, i had to cut off the shock absorber bellows, so i could grab the shocker to push it back up, and i was thinking, i may never be able to get another one of these, i will have to go to Repco for a generic non genuine bellows, need not have worried, the bellows are quite easily available from all over the world, ended up buying a set from the spare place in Adelaide, sent it overnight, they also interchange with Alfa 164's in noticed on the receipt, cost was $38.50, including delivery, once again thanks Vito, Colin.

[Ray Pignataro]

Colin you have convinved me I am selling all my cars and replacing them with and only alfa 33s, thankyou

[stuka]

Ive never driven a 33 but if the pedals are anything like the sprint how do you manage to heal toe???

[Evan Bottcher]

Ive never driven a 33 but if the pedals are anything like the sprint how do you manage to heal toe???

My first car was an Alfasud and I've owned one ever since.  The Sud is the best car I've ever owned for heel-toeing - and I have size 13 feet!  I guess I'm just used to it.

[colcol]

Evan!, and i thought i had big feet,[size 12], to echo Evan, Suds and 33's are the car for healing and toeing, you have to heal and toe otherwise you crunch the gears, after a while it becomes second nature, so much better than 147's and 156's, but the newer cars have stronger synchros, so matching the gears \ revs is not as critical, or as much fun, Colin.

[dehne]

Ive never driven a 33 but if the pedals are anything like the sprint how do you manage to heal toe???

The first time I drove a 33 I used my big toe to drive and had to be bare feet but once you get used to it it was great fun

[colcol]

The first time i drove a Sud i thought that the pedal layout was just appalling, most likely the worst car ever, then i did an Alfa Romeo driving course at Winton, my instructor was some tall guy called Allister, what ever happened to him?, and he explained healing and toeing and how to change down without crunching the synchro's, then the funny pedal layout made perfect sense, these Alfa Romeo designers must know a thing or two, Colin.

[aggie57]

The first time i drove a Sud i thought that the pedal layout was just appalling, most likely the worst car ever, then i did an Alfa Romeo driving course at Winton, my instructor was some tall guy called Allister, what ever happened to him?, and he explained healing and toeing and how to change down without crunching the synchro's, then the funny pedal layout made perfect sense, these Alfa Romeo designers must know a thing or two, Colin.

So youa wanna driva Alfa fasta??  Thena you musta learna how to makea da engine singa lika Pavarotti!!  He no go to sleep betweena da notes!

[colcol]

Meanwell, back on the subject, when my M10 nut departed the scene on the Great Ocean Road, because of a disagreement with Mr. Koni, thought i will just go and buy another nut, like "how hard can it be?", well the normal everyday nuts are 1.75 pitch [1 thread], fine ones are 1.25 pitch, the Koni's are 1.0 pitch which are unobtainable from every fastener store i contacted, i eventually found a place that sells them, KEABLES in A'Becket St. Melbourne, $1 each, minimum order $25, now have 24 spare nuts, actually pleased to get them, might put 2 on shockers to act as lock nuts, Colin.

[colcol]

When you stuff up and make a blue, you always try to justify it, so here goes, weeks before the great ocean road drive and incident, the struts were groaning when i turned the wheel at parking speeds, strut swivel bearings i thought, next job to do..... when i was at the side of the road 'mongrelling' my strut back together, i tipped the strut upside down and water ran out of the bearing, not the recommended lubricant, when i pulled the swivel bearing out, it was rusty and dirty, but not beyond another 25 years use, which is the last time i looked at them, so in the long search for new bearings, i found a pair at Peter Stapelton Automotive in Ballarat, they were Genuine Alfa Romeo, delivered to my door about $70 for the 2, thank you Gail Stapelton, for tracking them down, Colin.

[AGM155]

Hi Colin, funny I should come across this thread as I don't check these forums often.

Just thought I'd say that I was in the 156 that you were following when your car broke - and that 33 was really moving.

I was about to pull over and let you past when I realised the 33 had disappeared from my mirror - I didn't find out you had stopped until our next stop at Apollo Bay.

Anyway its good to know that you still managed to make a memorable day of it despite the fact it didn't turn out quite as expected.

Hope to see the 33 embarassing some more modern machinery again some time.

- Andrew.

[colcol]

Its easy to look good in a 33, they are very forgiving, except when you drop it in a pothole, i actually also have a Silver 156 JTS, just like the one i was following, usually take it on Club Runs, but the 33 had been off the road for 6 months, and i wanted to take it for a run, hope to see you on the 147-156 forum, its all good fun, Colin.

[colcol]

The seals for the strut swivel bearing have been impossible to get anywhere, i have tried all over the world at various Alfa places, seal and bearing places, NOTHING, the old ones are not too bad, but they are 28 years old, new ones would be good, found some New old stock, from Peter Stapleton Alfa in Ballarat, about $40 delivered for 2, thank you to Gail Stapleton, nearly ready to get it all assembled now, miss the 33, can't wait to drive it again, Colin.

[colcol]

Decided to get some new top rubber mounts for the 33 strut, where the shock absorber fits in the rubber mount, the fit was like a cucumber in a bowler hat and the right side that got damaged, the steel plate on the mount was distorted, not a good idea to repair bent suspension components, so i tried for some new ones, in Australia, the price was 2 for $190 delivered, after a bit of hunting around on ebay got 2 for about $75 delivered to Australia, in Italy they are called 'TASSELLO AMMORTIZZATORE ANT', or front suspension supports, the postage and packaging was 9 euro, about $12 Aussie, the company was sc_maroc and some of it is written in Italian, so my Italian is improving!, but they have good pictures, so you have a fair idea of what you are buying, they took 10 days to arrive, some of the postage costs were a bit steep from the UK, the same mounts, one company wanted 65 euro, about $85, when questioned about the high price of postage, they said they could do it for 40 euro, but it would take longer, so i went with Italy, Colin.