164 'Restoration'

[V AR 164]

Hi everyone, inspired by shiny_car's 75 restoration, I decided to create a topic on the work I have done to my 164 over the past few months.

Quick info: Just letting you all know I am only 15 (yes you read correctly) and I am just starting to get into the mechanical side of things around cars, so nothing crazy will be done (engine work, cams, valves etc) just simple things, mostly aesthetic work.
This is also going to be my first car as I turn 16 in August. And don't worry, this car is being loved and cared for properly.



The car used to belong to my parents who acquired it in 1995. It was used mainly as a weekend car but sometimes was used on a daily basis. It was driven for around 5 years and up until 2000 then the car sat for 15 years until now. (Due to this, the car only has 146,000 kms on the clock). It was garaged until 2009 then was moved up the side of the house, neglected. As I started to get into the car scene, I grew a love for Alfa's. So for my first car, my parents offered me the 164. I couldn't say no!



Last year, the work began. The car hadn't been started for at least 10 years. So of course when we put petrol in it and tried to start it, it wouldn't start 😟. We have a friend who is a mechanic so he offered to get it running for us. We booked a tow truck and off it went. Turned out there was 10 year old fuel in the tank that had turned to sludge, so out came the fuel tank and it got cleaned. Unfortunately the fuel pump was also gone, so a brand new original pump and fuel filter was installed. Filled with fuel, turned the key and it started first go!


This year is when most of the work began. In Feburary we bought a donor car of the exact same year and colour. The only difference being this one has a sunroof and a material interior instead of the leather in mine. The car was located in Sydney. As I live in Melbourne, it was time for a road trip! 😃
My parents and I drove up, bought the car, and drove back the next day.
Surprisingly during the trip, there were no problems! Apart from the heater being stuck on hot with no air conditioning and the day being 36 degrees... Arghhhhhhhhh. Anyway, 4 slurpees later and we arrived home.

Here are the pics of the cars together when we first got home:

[V AR 164]

The next day, the interior got cleaned using a wet/dry vacuum.

[V AR 164]

Then the first job, changing the interiors. The leather interior in my car was hard, cracked and faded. So out with the old, in with the new. Wait that doesn't make sense, out with the old, in with the old new! That day was also a 35 degree heat day......

[V AR 164]

Then came the job of switching the bonnets and bootlids. (I don't have any pictures of this). The reason being the original bonnet had been resprayed and faded with no shine (backyard job, didn't mask up at all so over sprayed the WRONG colour red over the top of the fenders too. Mmmmmm, nice 😠) also the bootlid had missing emblems (superglued by previous owner). And that too had been resprayed.

A while after, I then switched the front doors from the donor car onto mine. As I said earlier, the previous owner did not care about repair jobs. The passenger side front door has been half resprayed with the wrong colour door so half was the original paint and half was resprayed (not even primer or sanded back the paint underneath!) and the drivers door window winder was not working, so I switched the whole door.

[V AR 164]

Then after that was the little jobs.
Things such as reprinting the side mirrors. The black paint was peeling off so I sanded them down, primed and then resprayed with satin black spray paint.



The same thing was happening with the small black pillar on the back windows. So I sanded it back and tested it on the donor car first, work perfectly and got a great result so did it on my car.

[V AR 164]

Then it was time for its first oil change in 20+ years.
(Yes that's me! Not to happy because I spent 2+ hours trying to remove the oil filter, finally gave in and bought an oil filter removal tool, worked great!)





The old coolant was then flushed out and new coolant was added.

[V AR 164]

A thorough degrease was undertaken, amazing what years of grime looks like!



(Only hydraulic jack supporting the car, I know, I didn't get under the car, though, just sprayed the degreaser from a distance)

Finally, new taillights were purchased with the updated 'red lines'.
Before:


After:

[V AR 164]

Also, just this weekend I resprayed part of the rear and front bumper, pictures coming soon.


I hope you guys found that somewhat interesting. Probably forgot a few things, but this is so far my progress with my car. I am going to keep posting updates.

Speaking of what's to come,
New tyres,
New Cam belt/Timing belt? Not sure, the one that if it snaps it destroys the engine, that one. (Hasn't been replaced in 20+ years),
Swapping exhaust from donor car to mine. (Aftermarket, sounds mean!)

Hope you enjoyed!

Thanks, Andrew.

P.S: Sorry for making so many comments, I couldn't get this to fit in one reply 😬

[Joe Garra]

Congratulations, what a fantastic job! Welcome to the world of 164s!

[V AR 164]

Thanks Joe!

I love it, would never own anything else!

Andrew.

[Cool Jesus]

Good stuff, very swanky first car too young fella. I'm about to tip a whole bunch of internal trim from my 164 track car that your welcome to have, as long as someone can pick it up in Sydney it's yours?
Don't know if you've addressed it elsewhere, have been seeing a few of your posts popping up, but have you had the all the belts changed? Timing, accessory, etc? Coolant hoses would also be wise, 10 years of idleness on rubber can be harsh (even tyres). Without use they loose their elasticity and will fail quickly.
My 164, also sat around for a decade and I'm slowly replacing all rubber components of importance before I hit the track. Not just hoses and belts, but seals aswell such as the brake calipers etc. just a thought? Don't want you to come a gutsa on a spirit drive of the busso.

Keep the pics coming 

[Craig_m67]

That shot with the car on the jack and no stands gives me the hebies.. You're too young to be maimed by a falling car

[V AR 164]

Cool Jesus, I don't have anyone I know live in Sydney but may be driving up in the near future for a short holiday, may pop around if that's ok? Thanks a lot for that offer too 😀
Craig, I know, I didn't physically get under the car so it was 'ok' in that way but I realised I should have used stands, I will all the time from now on!

Thanks guys!

Andrew.

[Cool Jesus]

No worries, PM me if you are certain as I was going to ditch it all within the next few weeks.

[lombardi]

Impressive thorough work, 20 + years on a oil change interval,wow,what oil did u put in it to renew her.