Alfa 911

[GTVeloce]

Hi all

I thought it was about time I started recording my rebuild as I am on the homeward stretch and getting excited again! I have always referred to it as project GTV but I titled this post Alfa 911 for a good reason. It symbolises my rationale behind most of my decisions before and during the rebuild. Basically, I have owned an 83 Alfetta GTV for 10 years or more which has gone through so many re-incarnations and improvements that it didn't really resemble the original car anymore but I very much enjoyed driving it. It finally died (accident) in January and i decided to build another one using some of the good parts from the old car as well as rebuilding everything else. So, why Alfa 911? My brother owns a 1982 Porsche 911 SC which is in immaculate condition and came from the factory with the Bilstein suspension package. Needless to say it is an awesome car to drive. What I most like is the philosophy behind the car (and all 911's) - the car can be driven to work everyday; then driven to the race track on the weekend and flogged around; then driven home again. In other words, an everyday drivable car with creature comforts and yet track ready and capable. I didn't want to but a 911 as my brother already has one (and they are not cheap) so I decided to use the same philiosophy into my GTV. I will follow up with pictures soon but the basic details so far are;

- I have stripped two GTV's; my one and a donor one I bought in April
- The body is currently being 'refreshed' and should be back sometime around xmas. It will be good ol Alfa red!
- I rebuilt the engine (a 2lt TS) about two years ago and am in the process of tidying it up now. Meaning stripping all the ancillories off; new rubbers, hoses etc; painting the cam cover black etc.
- the transaxle is also TS and in great condition with a really good isostatic
- the rear suspension has bigger rear springs,  a GTV6 a/r bar so that I can fit an adjustable bar down the track and Bilstein shocks as well as new bushes everywhere
- the front suspension has new ball joints Bilstein shocks and new bushes all over. I am waiting on Vin to finish some 28mm bars and longer upper ball joints to finish it off.
- Most new bushes have been replaced with poly, but a few have been replaced with rubber. The reasoning comes back to my design brief for the car. It needs to handle well enough for the track but still be comfortable enough for everyday road use and even country touring.
- The brakes have been replaced with 75 TS Brembo's that have been rebuilt. Braided steel lines have been added along with racing fluid. There is a new m/c and booster as well.
- The clutch is original although it has just had a new thrust bearing put in.
- I have put a lot of (with plenty more to go) sound deadener (dynapad) throughout the car to reduce noise getting into the cabin as well as reduce heat coming through from underneath, through the doors and through the firewall.
- I have installed a boot light using an old interior light and a pressure switch linked to the tailgate.
- The rear seats have been removed and replaced with a sound system that is designed to be made to look like it was original and is finished off with black carpet to match the rest of the car. I have taken inspiration from the Ferrari GT cars.
- I have installed electric windows, electric mirrors on both sides and a central locking kit. I have rebuilt the heater unit and installed a resistor in the fan control to lower the fan speed on setting 1 (I have always found the first setting to fast and too noisy).
- The speedo has the electronic converter installed so it will be accurate with the TS box (yet to be tested).
- The petrol tank has been modyfied to make use of the 75 TS sender unit as well the intank fuel pump.
- I have installed a starter button (no reason other than I wanted too!)
- I have replaced the stalk with a new unit as the old one was naffed.
- I am going to install relays on the lights, windows and wipers to improve their ability as well as longevity of my stalk!
- New rubber guibos (doughnut) on driveshaft.
- I have improved the a/c system by replacing some of the hoses and insulating them; using the TS compressor and using one of the latest hydro carbon refrigerants available.
- I have installed a 75 TS fan to replace the two noisy thermo fans.
- I have put the five stud hubs on. Currently I have just some standard 75 wheels but down the track will be looking at somethinmg bigger and better looking but not sure what yet as I don't want to ruin my ride quality.

Hopefully by the time this is all finished I will have what I wanted - an Alfa that drives like a 911! I realise this won't be to everone's taste but I don't actually want the car to look too radical i.e. a non alfisti might not realise the modifications as I have generally tried to make them look as standard as possible. Therefore the body looks original and the interior also looks mostly original except for the rear seats of course! The bulk of these mods are hidden under something or inside something. I thought about installing a six but I prefer the balance be kept and the TS is such a good engine.

Pics to follow in the next few days.
Julian

[GTVeloce]

Ok, some pics. The first is of the car on its way to the panel beaters.

[GTVeloce]

The second and third are of the TS engine before a tidy up and the transaxle during a tidy up.

[GTVeloce]

The last is of the sound system getting built. This is built where the rear seats would be normally. This has the benefit of keeping the boot full size and also puts the weight (quite sizable with two subs, two amps and heavy 19mm mdf) centred and low in the car. It also means I have a storage space on top which can take two golf bags that don't fit in the boot!

[hmd]

Alfa 944 is more applicable?

[GTVeloce]

Yes, probably. Certainly from a mechanical layout point of view. Anyway, here is a gratuitous pic of my inspiration - my brother's 911.

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Nice looking SC (apart from the whale tail, but that's just my personal opinion), what colour is that?  The SC is a very nice car, I once drove one on the track, and like you say in your earlier post it was a daily driver with just a change to race tyres for track days, and it was glorious.

Nice idea behind your build, sounds like it will be very nice, shame it's not a 6 though.    I plan on doing something similar to a road 90, utilising the stuff I've learnt on my track car; 3.0 engine, 28 or 30 TBs, konis, stiff rear; to make it a nice touring car which can still boogie in the twisties if required.

If you haven't seen Chris Harris' 911 build I highly recommend it, it's very inspiring.  Here's the summation of it, but search hard enough and there are various videos of the build as it went on.  I have all of them on my phone, and watch them occasionally for inspiration.  It's a stunning car.  http://skiddplayer.com/video/5721/drivers-republic-chris-harris-

Keep us updated, sounds interesting.

[GTVeloce]

Thanks Sheldon. The colour is Kiln Red which is the original colour. My brother has Toyo Proxes (205/45/16 & 225/40/16) for around town and then changes to the Toyo Proxes R Spec for race use. The car is a very similar weight to the Alfetta although obviously a very different balance. I prefer the balance of the Alfetta platform but the performance of the 911 is amazing. 220hp in a 1 ton car, especially given the traction off the line and the direct steering and you don't forget driving one in a hurry!

I will check out Chris Harris' videos for inspiration.

[Beatle]

Nice work Julian,

It's good to have a plan, it gives you something to change    And don't be too concerned about any of the mods you've carried out, most are easily reversed, and all make for a better experience.   By building a streetable car it means that chassis number lives on and isn't just relegated to a rusty hulk under someone's gum tree with grass growing through the floor.

A six is good, but in my opinion the Alfetta GTV-TS is the best car Alfa never built.  I've only owned one 75TS but I reckon it's one of Alfas best engines.  It has enough, but not too much power for the 116 chassis and retains that ultimate forgivability I love about Alfettas handling (yes, the 75 and the 90 are Alfettas in my book).

What have you planned as far as rust prevention goes?  Much easier to do it while the body is stripped out.

[GTVeloce]

It's ready to paint!

What have you planned as far as rust prevention goes?  Much easier to do it while the body is stripped out.

Um, no real plan to be honest. All the rust has been replaced with new metal and will be painted but other than that no plans. Any thoughts of what else I could/should do?

Thanks for the comments Paul and I agree with you that the Alfetta GTV-TS is the best car Alfa never built. It would have been interesting to see how sales would have been if Alfa had built the Alfa 75 with the body of the GTV.

[BradGTV]

nice work, i too love a 911 sc, never used to really like them but after driving one i want one 
i like the ts but i think a gtv with 1.8t and its transaxle would be the best alfa never built 

[Beatle]

Something you may want to investigate, but just keep it between us....., is fitting the headlight buckets from a US market car.  This allows the fitment of any 5-3/4 inch diameter headlamps giving you much more choice for a lot less $$$ than the stock Carellos.  It does give the car a slightly different look, but I had a '76 set up with twin, twin filament headlights (with suitable relays of course) and man, what a revelation in Alfa lighting  .   Stupidly I sold the two spare sets of buckets I had a couple of years back.

[GTVeloce]

Sounds like a good idea. I had thought about cutting the glass out of the Carello's and siliconing them into some aftermarket semi-sealed beams but I haven't worked it through yet. I could fashion some sort of plug if needs be as well but it sounds like the US spec buckets could save me some effort.

[alfagtv58]

There is a good thread here on headlights, full of detail.  I have done this to my car and they come up a treat.  Although, I havent got around to do the wiring yet, unregistered race car, lights not really needed!

http://www.alfaclubvic.org.au/forum/index.php?topic=1464.0

[GTVeloce]

After a nice break over Christmas and New Year it is back to work and back to working on the car! Just before a I left I picked up the car from the painters and am very happy with the work done (the spleen I had to sell to finance it was of little importance...). Now comes the fun part - putting it all together!