Alfa Pages

[The Wombat]

Moving over from the 'Introduce yourself thread'...

Apologies, no pics yet as was working on the 33s home (as well as 2 155s). Will get some pics up on Wed, but I wondered if anyone has known the car in the past. It is J8 LFA, Rosso red P4.

Initial things that need sorting, as car has not been legally on the road since 2005:
- No clutch - feels like no hydraulic pressure, but might be the plate sticking on the splines
- Both front doors are stuck closed. Locking mechanism must be seized, and the challenge is to get the door cards off while the doors are closed!!
- Engine runs but not firing on 2 cylinders - could be the old 'one cambelt broke' which took it off the road in the first place. Its all coming out anyway so will get a better idea of what is going on at that point.
- The car will need a respray - lacquer has come off the roof, bonnet, and 3 doors
- Not got underneath yet, but Lancs, who got the car initially, has been under it and rear inner sills on both sides will need chopping out and repairing. There are a few other small bits from looking round it, but overall there seems to be minimal rot

There are a few bits missing/broken which some help sourcing would be appreciated:
- NS Headlamp is corroded inside
- Both front indicators
- Possible front bumper (there is a chunk missing off the OS corner)
- NS rear skirt section

Lots good going for the car:
- Cosmetically, other than a tidy up and paint, minimal work to do. Very few dings and dents and no rust on archs, tailgate, doors (one small patch on one door). Boot floor and shelf between bulkheads both look unmarked
- Wheels are good
- Interior needs a clean but is complete with very little wear
- Electrics seem to work
- Although the engine will need to come to bits, it holds oil pressure

Pics soon.
_________________
Drivers:
- Green Fiat 20VT Coupe
- Champagne 155 V6
- Winter Freelander
- Mrs Wombats Freelander

Projects:
- Various 33s
- Some 155s

Hibernating for 2015
- 75 3.0 Cloverleaf
- 155 Q4 Winny
- Red 33 16v

[john 33_16v]

Cool. Please get pics up when you can.

Paul H might know any history on the car, and Alex can probably help with some/all parts.

Used headlights -no probs, indicators a bit scarcer, skirts- hard, bumpers- ?

Good luck!


John
_________________
If it aint broke, fiddle with it until it is!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
93 33 16v Mirtle Met
08 Fiat Grande Punto Exotica Red
90 Yamaha FZR600 Genesis- Silky white/red/blue

[paulhide]

Sorry to say I know very little about the car except that it has been off the road since about May 2005.
Looks like there's a bit of work there, but would be great to get another 33 back on the road.
Good luck.
_________________
Owner's Club 33 Registrar. Now from P4 & S2 1.7 QV
http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=5188

[The Wombat]

Yep, a bit of work

Has anyone here got experience of the following website?

http://www.alfa-service.com/index.php/cat/c2627_LIGHTNING--907-.html

I used them at the beginning of the year to obtain a set of brand new 155 front indicators. They have a similar range of plastics etc for the 33.

Prices seemed reasonable, shipping was a bit but OK.
_________________
Drivers:
- Green Fiat 20VT Coupe
- Champagne 155 V6
- Winter Freelander
- Mrs Wombats Freelander

Projects:
- Various 33s
- Some 155s

Hibernating for 2015
- 75 3.0 Cloverleaf
- 155 Q4 Winny
- Red 33 16v

[Oggie]

I ordered a set of original alfa front wings from them 4 yrs ago, expensive with shipping.
_________________
PHAT 33

[The Wombat]

Here are some photos of the car, and some commentary on what I have found having had a chance to play with it a bit today.















First job of the day was to get the front doors open as they were stuck shut. Quite difficult to remove the door cards when the doors are closed, but not impossible. The reason for the issue was that the door lock is a nylon quadrant on the trailing edge of the door that pivots through a plate and is turned by the locking mechanism inside the door. This pivot was seized solid. To release the door, there is a metal peg on a disk fitted to the inside of this pivot (it is the spring stop), and some gentle tapping was enough to spin the mechanism and open the door. Once done, plenty of WD40, some white spray grease, and a lot of working of the mechanism got things as they should be. The springs that move this mechanism are both corroded and I fear they may break, so will need replacing.

Second job of the day was to see why the clutch pedal was not operating the clutch. It looks like a new master cylinder has been added in the not too distant past, but the system was bone dry, no hydraulic fluid at all. Its a bar steward to get to the bleed nipple on the slave, let alone get a bleed pipe on, so I managed to loosen it and bled it over the engine (a heathens approach). Got enough fluid into it to firm up the pedal, and clutch was clearly seized. However, thinking that it would all need replacing anyway, I gave it some welly and... I now have a working clutch.

Next job was to get underneath and get a quick view of what needs welding. First impressions are:
- Both rear jacking points, and associated floor, inner sill and surrounds. Outer sill and box section at those points actually looked and felt OK, so surgery, but relatively minor
- Drivers side outer bulkhead seam - Split wide open and missing in places, so looks like edge of bulkhead on drivers side as well
- Passenger side front bumper hangar right at the front of the engine bay
- Passenger side upper front wing support, just before the scuttle - very small hole and crispiness, but an easy fix
- Passenger side front edge of rear wheel arch is a little crispy
- Very front corner of passenger side front wing a little crispy
- 2 inch circle of surface rust on rear passenger door

Other than that, and subject to fully stripping it, floor and front parts of sills look good.

So that gives me a good idea of where I will get my welding practice!!!

A few other things I found about the car:
- Definitely one cambelt gone. I could just see it lying on the bottom of the cambelt cover below the crank pulley. Having said that, I have had the car running on 2 cylinders which helped manouvering - Not good for the engine I know, but its going to get a full strip down. However, I broke the dizzy cap trying to get to the clutch slave, so have had to man-handle the car anyway
- All the electrics work, all the warning lights go out
- Interior is in very good condition - no carpet wear, seats are good (covers need a little tightening on the bolsters)

External plastics need some work - small list building up:
Replace:
- Drivers side rear indicator unit
- Both front indicators
- Passenger side headlight
- Front bumper
- Rear passenger side skirt (I have found a source for replica 2 piece side skirts which I will investigate further)

Refurb:
- Door handles
- Screen and side window surrounds
- Bump strips

No firm timetable at this point for the car, but first main job will be to drop out the engine and transmission, and re-build the engine

Then strip the engine bay and front end, do any welding in and around the front of the car, and paint the engine bay, including re-sealing and protecting the front end of the car.

Then recondition all the front suspension/brake components and re-install

Then strip the back suspension, and do all the rear end welding, recondition the rear suspension/brakes and re-install, including sealing and protecting the underside of the rear of the car.

Do as much stripping down and prepping of the bodywork as I am able and once done, deliver the welded to a place of painting to get the rosso 130 looking red again.

Then get the rolling shell back and re-install the engine and transmission plus all the body bits

Hey presto, end of next summer (or the summer after) I guess, shiny red P4
_________________
Drivers:
- Green Fiat 20VT Coupe
- Champagne 155 V6
- Winter Freelander
- Mrs Wombats Freelander

Projects:
- Various 33s
- Some 155s

Hibernating for 2015
- 75 3.0 Cloverleaf
- 155 Q4 Winny
- Red 33 16v

[BigAl]

Cool, lots of pics please and good luck.
_________________
x2 33 16v
pictures http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=5203

[The Wombat]

Got the replacement 33 engine home safe and sound yesterday from Alex33bits in Bristol

A couple of pics:

Everything being lined up in the barn for the winter:


A boxer engine on a stand:




Its in the shed ready for some work now, and I will probably dabble with it over the winter. I reckon:
- Belts off, idlers off
- Belt back overs off
- Good degrease and clean up, and see if I can get an alloy finish back again on the alloy parts
- new water pump and thermostat
- New belts and idlers
- New P4 clutch
- new spark plugs

Once thats all done, should be ready to drop in when the engine bay is done
_________________
Drivers:
- Green Fiat 20VT Coupe
- Champagne 155 V6
- Winter Freelander
- Mrs Wombats Freelander

Projects:
- Various 33s
- Some 155s

Hibernating for 2015
- 75 3.0 Cloverleaf
- 155 Q4 Winny
- Red 33 16v

[gritsop]

Hi

Nice work you are doing but since you mentioned one cambelt found on the cover and you run the engine, there is a great possibity the valves have snapped.

Are you opening up the engine as well?
_________________
Thanassis Gritsopoulos
1991 Alfa 33 1.4 IE
2001 Alfa 147 1.6 Distinctive

http://www.alfa-restoration.co.uk
Parts Shop: www.alfa-restoration.co.uk/shop

[The Wombat]

The engine in the pics is a replacement engine with 68k miles on it that is in working order, so no plans to open this one up. Per above, will do the belts and waterpump, service, maybe new temp sender and oil pressure switch, and clean up ready to install.

The engine currently in the car has a belt broken. It will come out of the car and either be fully rebuilt at my leisure, or stored and kept for spares depending on the level of damage I find. Would actually like to rebuild it but that will be very long term.
_________________
Drivers:
- Green Fiat 20VT Coupe
- Champagne 155 V6
- Winter Freelander
- Mrs Wombats Freelander

Projects:
- Various 33s
- Some 155s

Hibernating for 2015
- 75 3.0 Cloverleaf
- 155 Q4 Winny
- Red 33 16v

[gritsop]

Thats a very good start. Please keep up updated on the progress.

P4 33s are rare so another one saved!
_________________
Thanassis Gritsopoulos
1991 Alfa 33 1.4 IE
2001 Alfa 147 1.6 Distinctive

http://www.alfa-restoration.co.uk
Parts Shop: www.alfa-restoration.co.uk/shop

[The Wombat]

Very quiet week. No work done on the P4 although some sourcing of bits.

I now have:
- Replacement radiator fan (old one had 2 blades missing)
- Front indicators
- Front window switches
- NS headlamp
- NS rear arch repair panel (leading edge on the car is a bit crispy)
- The engine per above

I think I have sourced a brand new front bumper but need to check it out tomorrow. Also have some 0.9mm zintec steel on the way, and my brother-in-laws MIG welder.

Also found a large tin of truck bed liner plastic paint which I bought back from the US with me 2 years ago. It was the de-facto underbody covering for restorations out there and is a good tough covering when you have removed all the rust. Handy to have found that.

Not likely to get started before the end of the year, but slowly gathering what I need.
_________________
Drivers:
- Green Fiat 20VT Coupe
- Champagne 155 V6
- Winter Freelander
- Mrs Wombats Freelander

Projects:
- Various 33s
- Some 155s

Hibernating for 2015
- 75 3.0 Cloverleaf
- 155 Q4 Winny
- Red 33 16v

[The Wombat]

Checked out the front bumper and ordered - brand new unpainted for 80 quid.

I think that is pretty much all I need to get until I start work on the engine, and start welding.
_________________
Drivers:
- Green Fiat 20VT Coupe
- Champagne 155 V6
- Winter Freelander
- Mrs Wombats Freelander

Projects:
- Various 33s
- Some 155s

Hibernating for 2015
- 75 3.0 Cloverleaf
- 155 Q4 Winny
- Red 33 16v

[The Wombat]

Located and picked up some more spare parts today.

Rear hatch, 4 complete doors, front wings and bonnet, all with virtually no rust, dings or dents.

Recaro seat set, which turn out to be in very good condition. WOndering if I can make up a set of frames to fit them in a 155.

Still no time to work on anything other than drive the white P4.

Ho hum, on with lesson planning for this week
_________________
Drivers:
- Green Fiat 20VT Coupe
- Champagne 155 V6
- Winter Freelander
- Mrs Wombats Freelander

Projects:
- Various 33s
- Some 155s

Hibernating for 2015
- 75 3.0 Cloverleaf
- 155 Q4 Winny
- Red 33 16v