Back from Sydney, just bought a 1985 GTV6! Photos!

[joninmelbourne]

Hi guys!
Yes my garage has a shiny GTV6 sitting out there, just drove back last night, it went really well! Amazed at the range of the fuel tank, I was on 650km after filling up earlier in the day and I dared not go any further without refueling! Here are some photos too. It looks like it has been resprayed Rosso red at some point, and there is a spray painter label in the glove box. It drives very well, but think it will need the syncro work fairly soon, I had a 1986 2 litre GTV before and the box was almost like a normal car (ie much better!). Another thing - the friction point on the clutch is very high, almost all the way up - which makes it hard not to wheel spin from 1st gear starts! I am guessing that the friction point should be only after a couple of inches of letting the pedal up? Would this indicate just a cable adjustment you think? But most of the time I can manage it, its tricky in bumper to bumper traffic... great fun though. Already driving back through Melbourne had several people trying to race me at the traffic lights! Do you get that often too?! I just ignored them though!
Also the drivers electric window does not work, although the motor is whirring away inside the trim? Have to get that one fixed soon. Anybody up for a GTV6 Melbourne meet? Cheers

[greengtv8]

Looks nice and clean...well done. With your clutch...it's hydrolic, so saddly it's not as simple as adjusting the clutch...sometimes the peddle can feel wierd if it has an original twin plate clutch. Most people replace this with a heavy duty single plate clutch, which gives you a nice feel back in the peddle. Be worth looking at if you pull the g/box out at some stage to do the syncro's. What year is it? Look's early, what with the smooth cam covers! Also if you want that little peace of trim on the front left side of your front bumper bar...i have one if your interested...
    Enjoy, it looks great!!!
         

[greengtv8]

It an 85....sorry it's sunday and brain in nutral.
     Gear box isn't to bad in cost and work, yes fiddly on the ground but doable in a wkd, but you do need a special socket to split the main shaft and get the gears off. Shouldn't be more than $1000 or so if you pay someone. Another thought is could put a twin spark box in it! You get a taller 1st gear and a clutch type LSD. But they're usually around the $2000 mark, but do make it nice. The nicest Gtv6 i've worked on had 3Ltr engine, twin spark g/box and the power steering out of a 75. That was i nice car to drive...just can't remember the guy's name who owned it...

[joninmelbourne]

Thanks for the replies greenGtv.

I am very interested in the trim piece - only noticed that was missing this morning! Well spotted! Amazing I missed that looking at it yesterday. Most have been blinkered with my excitement. I will private message you (if I can work out how) about it!

I'm not sure the wheels are original GTV - they look like the wheels I had on a Alfa 33 P4...!

Just gave it a spin around town this morning, wow its the hardest car to drive smoothly for me at the moment, just need to learn do smooth changes! Twin Spark box sounds interesting - does that still sit on the back of the car or does it fit at the front? If its in the front does that affect handling? Cheers

[Mat Francis]

A twin spark gear box will still sit at the rear of the car. As for handling, I can only imagine it would improve due to the LSD.

As Sheldon mentioned somewhere on another thread, even new syncros will wear out pretty quickly if you don't double declutch, and once you have learnt this it more or less eliminates the need for syncros anyway. (my car had good syncros when i was learning to drive it, however it is non-existant now).

Windows could be a really easy fix, or it might take a while. try here for a start.

http://www.alfaclubvic.org.au/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,68/topic,1347.0/

Really nice looking car by the way, if i had more money i wouldn't hesitate for a second in buying one!

[greengtv8]

Twin spark G/box should go straight in, there's a few simple things you can do to get the ride nice and also a few little tricks to making your g/box last and feel nice aswell.

[116gtv]

Ahh, thats the one a dealer had advertised. Looks very straight.. well done!

[pep105]

Nice - good job and great experience to drive it home fom sydney, and hey if she made it must be a good car. I did the same thing in a 147 and had a ball, even though my wife thought I was a spastic for buying a car interstate.
Seen your car advertised on ebay thru a dealer, the mags are Mille Miglia alloys I believe and were a popular fitment on Alfa 75 Twinsparks as a dealer fit if im not mistaken. Look nice, Are they 15 inch ? the high take up point seems to be a twin plate clutch thing and this combined with the peaky engine and gearbox shift  is a bit of work in heavy city traffic but good fun. Twinspark box is a good sensible upgrade and yes by the way you drive you can get a lot of milage out of the gearbox, got many years out of my GTV 2.0 and 75T and on the latter the syncros werent the best  - Enjoy !

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Snap!  I bought a GTV6 this weekend as well!

Not as nice as your one joinmelbourne, but I'm just stoked to have one after lusting after them for so long.  Mine needs a bit of work, and a bit of a tidy, but she's pretty solid and mostly all there.

Only had to drive it 100km to get it home, but I fell in love with her after about 500m.

Congrats joinmelbourne, I look forward to comparing cars one day (may take some time and $$ to get mine on the road!)

[pep105]

Sheldon,
Was this the one recently advertised on the forum last week in Mornington?  If so looks like you got a bargain
I enquired about this car but was already sold - well done,  what was the original colour?

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Yes the one in Mornington, I had to get in quick with a price like that, and had to buy it sight unseen.  Luckily the PO was a good guy and very honest in his description.

Original colour - don't know for sure, the PO suspects white, but he said a panelbeater mate had a look over it and said that whatever colour it was before they did a good job covering it.  So it's true this colour wasn't offered here?

[pep105]

Nice one - GTV6s in oz were only available in three colours red, silver and white overseas there was the charcoal as well (if you remember the GTV6 in octopussy)
looks bloody nice in blue though

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Yeah I reckon it looks good in blue.  Will be even nicer when it's all the same shade of blue!

Bloody girlfriend keeps saying it's purple, not that there's anything wrong with that.  Had been going to offer her the choice of the GTV6 and the 90 for her work car next year, but she's getting the 90 now!

Sorry to hijack your post joinmelbourne, I'll start another.  Keep us informed what's happening with your car.  When i first started driving the V6s I noticed the high take up on the clutch too, but have completely forgotten it now as I'm so used to it.  Having read (very excitedly) a few contemporary tests of the GTV6 over the weekend while I waited to go and pick her up, they all mentioned it, so it was there from new.

[Victor Lee]

Well done Sheldon!

I reckons it's only a matter of time before we see your GTV6 on the track and Ironsides retired?  As you know, lotsa interchangeable bits!   

[Sir Lancelot]

Back on topic, love the red GTV6! Looks in very good condition - having not persued anything other than a mostly stock GTV6 it's interesting to see what can be changed with the gearbox/clutch, although you do get used to the high clutch pedal, but it becomes tricky when you push your seat all the way up to accomodate a passenger behind you! (I have to put the sun visor down so there's more head room - ridiculous? probably).

I haven't been that active in the club lately, but if there's a cruise organised, I'd be up for that!