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Thousand Dollar Supercar's 1988 Alfa Romeo 33 1.7QV


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Hey, page three!

I got my race rims back with serious-looking Potenza RE55S semi-slicks fitted. :D

The semis are wider than my road tires so there's generally not much clearance. But I fitted some to one side of the car and can report:

  • [*:3tfwdg43]They're noisy in normal driving
    [*:3tfwdg43]No rubbing so far
    [*:3tfwdg43]Damn this grip is going to be fun
    [*:3tfwdg43]Car looks badass with black mags. As in, get wig, film parodies of Knight Rider.

Why are there no photos? Because of the sixteen wheel bolts I bought, one turned out to have the wrong thread pitch. Dammit.

I will take a leading link from the rear suspension with me when I go to get the wheel bolt exchanged, and get the link measured for some new bushes. The extra grip is gonna test the car and give it even more epic body roll than this period road test shot!

sw_on_two_wheels.jpg

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  • 3 months later...
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8)

blackmags1.jpg

So I found Supercheap could source me off-the-shelf Alfa Sud / 33 bush kits from a supplier who has them in stock. This was good cos my old bushes were perished and soft:

bushperished1.jpg

http://www.axys.co.n...shperished2.jpg

The following is a trick I read on this forum.

Bush goes in fire:

bushcatchesfire.jpg

Bush burns.

bushburns.jpg

Bush plops out and is goooone.

bushgone.jpg

When I read the trick, though, it involved a barbecue rather than (in my case) a fireplace. This implies the process is done outdoors.

Burning bushes smell of burning rubber. :rolleyes:

But anyway, painted trailing arms and new bushes!

newbush.jpg

Red ones handle faster. :spiderman: They made the arms difficult to refit, but right away the car rocks less with the handbrake on. =)

I've been doing that Fiat Club series (for which I've had to buy me some race overalls and a new extinguisher). On the first closed road round, in the wet, on road tires and old bushes, I came 20th out of 30. In the gymkhana / autocross rounds before that, I did no better. So how did I go on Hampton Downs, with my race rubber and half my new bushes fitted? 46th out of 70. :rolleyes: Every man and his dog showed up to race. :rolleyes: One guy even tracked his new BMW X1 2.3 diesel SUV (and came 58th).

Through the corners, the rear tires were rubbing on the front and rear trailing arms and even on the body where my finger's pointing:

racetiresrub1.jpg

The photo (taken after the practice session) is showing the outside rear tire and rear trailing arm, looking forward from the rear of the car.

Not much I can do but change the rest of the bushes and run higher tire pressures. Once some tire was ground away, the rubbing pretty much stopped anyway. :wink:

One round remaining. Onwards and upwards!

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  • 5 months later...

Final Fiat Club series result last year was 12th overall (out of the 19 who actually finished most of the events):

fiatclubresults2012.gif

Who's that at the top of the table in the 205 GTI? Oldschool member drtdvl. =)

At the last Fiat Club round, I got a stone chip in my windscreen. The chip turned into a crack while the car was sitting in my driveway. Windscreen had to be replaced. No insurance. Windscreen was removed, rust lived there. Cue New Years closedown period. Next year, paid panelbeaters to fix rust. Moral of story: fix stone chips ASAP. =(

So I got kinda grouchy at the Alfa and all its problems. Yoeddynz gave me some counselling to get me to come to Nats, and I wondered if I should perhaps drop my standards for this car in line with the amount of work I'm prepared to put in.

So I took a jigsaw to my dashboard. >8]

Goodies arrived in the post this morning - yay air fuel ratio gauge kit!

I have started on this new blanking plate (which occupies the sawn-out ashtray hole) to hold all my gauges:

afr_gauge_mockup2.jpg

It's made out of

. That or perhaps a piece of 1950s oven tray.

afr_gauge_mockup3.jpg

From left to right we will have the factory cigarette lighter, my trusty voltage gauge (to be converted to round LEDs once I scavenge some), my kitset TACHOmeter, and the new AFR gauge. This will ensure I have plenty to watch on the drive to Nats, and it should temporarily satisfy my digital dash fetish... Can't wait to see it lit up. =D

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  • 3 weeks later...

Chrome dial rings arrived from the UK. =)

chrome_dials_4.jpg

http://www.axys.co.n...ome_dials_2.JPG

http://www.axys.co.n...ome_dials_1.JPG

http://www.axys.co.n...ome_dials_3.JPG

If that doesn't add instant oldschool credibility to my 1980s dashboard, how about this?

200kph.JPG

Only an Alfa Romeo can go 200kph standing still due to having a flat battery. And yes this makes the odometer count imaginary kms. ;)

Edit: This was my 1000th post since 2006. I'm now "committed". B)

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  • 1 month later...
Guest Thousand Dollar Supercar

The gauges are in and functional.

I had to put in a dimmer for the voltage gauge, which makes use of an ugly light-dependent resistor. It works like non-ideal magic.

Also note my new ricey Repco gearshift knob. It's actual metal, heavier and slightly lower than the hard plastic factory original (which I scratched trying to clean).

And of course I would have been lynched if I hadn't switched to stainless cap button head bolt thingies as seen here.

gaugepanel_n1.jpggaugepanel_n5.jpg

I will try to get some better shots with the motor running and in the light, where you'll see I ruined the look of the panel metal by spraying on too much of the clear sealer. It looks yellow where it's too thick. =\

Also interesting is what the AFR gauge tells me about the car's hesitation problem - it's leaning out as the accelerator is being depressed. Maybe I can get a video or do some Fast & Furious laptop data logging.

This engine cover had surface rust on it:

enginecover_rusty.jpg

That wouldn't do, so I took it back to bare metal:

http://www.axys.co.n...cover_bare1.jpg

But I'm not running a rat rod here. So I did this:

enginecover_red3.jpg

I like to think of it as Ferrari meets Comic Sans. B)

That was my first go with wrinkle finish paint, and it's a bit average. Perhaps I put it in the oven too early, because the paint ran off the slopey bits and pooled at their base, making giant wrinkles. Time was of the essence though - Nats is nigh.

To that end, I:

  • removed the rear suspension and added some large bump stops to the shock shafts, as a Rangi means of limiting roll (?)
  • changed the oil, topped up the brake fluid
  • started looking for the cause of the engine hesitation.

So far, I've found the hesitation's not caused by too-large spark plug gaps or by a cracked bit of vacuum line to the distributor. A mechanic thinks I may have a vacuum leak though. I will try to look for one in the three evenings remaining, because other possible causes (faulty distributor or accelerator pump?) aren't going to get fixed in time.

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Guest Thousand Dollar Supercar

I identified that neither of the accelerator pump jets on one of the carbs were going.

So I settled in for a long night disassembling and reassembling Dellorto carburatori, witha the screws anda the springs anda the smelloda petrol.

luigimansionwallpaper-150x150.jpg

carb_topless.jpg

For hours (hadn't done this before!) it was just me and the crickets and the ultrasonic pulsing of the rust chaneller, this relative silence punctuated now and then by the suksuksuksukVLROMMM!suksuksuk of the open twin carbies being tested.

Then I found it - a little bloody piece of debris shown here next to the eye of a needle for size comparison. =\

pump_valve_debris.jpg

It was stuck in the ball valve thingy above, meaning the valve wouldn't seal against backpressure from the accelerator pump diaphragm. This valve lives in the bottom of the fuel/float bowl and it was the last place I looked.

Took the car for a decent test drive - much improved. AFR gauge no longer spikes into the lean region when I get on the gas. Party on, Garth! =D

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  • 1 year later...

Another year (I've now clocked up over 11 years of ownership), another Nats, time for another little bit of attention for the Alfa. =|

 

In the last year, it has had a new clutch and slave cylinder and more work to the front brakes - the Ferodo / Brembo combo fried the pads and warped the discs at Nats '13. =\

 

Just the other day the WOF expired, then I noticed this:

lens_unglued.jpg

The headlight lenses had separated from the casings - I guess the glue got too old. One was just prevented from falling out on the road thanks to sitting against the indicator and some trim. That'll be why there was always condensation on the inside of the lenses...

I removed the headlight assemblies, dug out all the old glue, cleaned out the mould, made everything shiny etc.

Then a ricer infiltrated my garage and pimped out my headlights.

led_strip_fitted.jpg

By the time I noticed what he'd done, it was too late cos the LED strips were already glued in. I had to roll with it.

with_leds_1.jpg

http://www.axys.co.nz/ben/alfa33/foglight/with_leds_2.jpg

Kind of a weird look with the old yellow main beams, but at least I'll stand out from every other Alfa 33 on the road...

So then I took it for a WOF.

And it failed.

Go on, guess!

Rust, and rear brake imbalance. AGAIN.

And they didn't like my LED park lights either - too blue :smurf: , even though they're supposed to be clear LEDs :pale: . I had anticipated that and put in toggle switches - upstairs for thinking. ;)

Here's that rust, hanging out near the front strut mounting:

wiper_bottle_1.jpg

It had been hiding behind the paint and wiper bottle and I hadn't noticed it. Bugger.

Panelbeaters were all closed, so I took the car to Onehunga Brake And Mechanical (where they can't spell 'hazardous') to get the brakes looked at. They told me to take my Alfa and shove it, because it's 'specialised'. They recommended Tony Morgan from Performance Automotive, and what do you know, he was actually there firing up his V8 Alfa Romeo Montreal. The first day he had available was the day between Westfest and Nats track day.

But everyone loves a good last minute repair. ;)

 

I thought I'd look at why one of the rear windows wouldn't wind down any more.

window_holder_1.jpg

http://www.axys.co.nz/ben/alfa33/rust/window_holder_2.jpg

Yeah, rust lived there too.

But I had a spare window holding bracket thingy.

But I couldn't detach that from the spare window glass, which is bronze tint instead of green.

So now I have a stained glass window car. With no WOF. :angry:

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  • 2 weeks later...

NIGHTDRV.JPG

"Don't worry honey, fifty miles isn't that far to walk..."

"If only I'd bought that reliable Corolla instead of this stupid heap.."

 

Forgot to add some more stuff I've done with the car since my 2013 update. 

Went hooning in the hills with an Alfa Sprint:

me_and_sprint_2s.jpg

Official flower transporter for my sister's wedding (that was fragrant):

flowers1.jpg

Actual groom transporter for another friend's wedding.. Apparently black car + no air conditioning + tuxedo + summer + stress = bad idea..

 

Signs that your car is oldschool after all:

  • The WOF inspector starts the engine in order to turn the steering wheel (there's no power steering)
  • You could stand there indefinitely watching the panelbeater trying to start it from cold, or you could tell him he needs to pump the accelerator and use the manual choke

Anyway, the panelbeaters fixed the rust.

Also, new steering wheel today:

suedewheel5.jpg

suedewheel1.jpg

http://www.axys.co.nz/ben/alfa33/suedewheel3.jpg

I fitted my previous one in 2005 and it was always a bit small (320mm), but in recent years its urethane / vinyl surface had begun to wear at 9 and 3 o'clock. Perfect excuse to upgrade to 350mm - now I can see all of the instruments again and park easily in the supermarket with fat semi-slicks fitted. :-D

 

Only the brakes to be done before I can get my WOF for Nats.

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I fixed my speedo!  :-D  :-D  :-D

 

This was the problem (or at least the last remaining problem of multiple problems):

the_problem.jpg

A connector on the back of the instrument cluster, only partially unplugged for the photo. Just cos something's plugged in on this car doesn't mean it works. :doubt:

Finally, more than eight years after the speedo first started playing up, I'll once again know my fuel economy and how fast I was going, officer.

I had this figured out maybe a month ago, but I just got around to soldering wires directly to that little board to bypass the dodgy plug. Eventually it would be good to do a proper job and build my own PCB, eliminating all of the layers of that stupid flexible plastic with the copper tracks on.

 

In celebration of sorting this out, I'm thinking I'll do all of Nats in the Alfa rather than trying to trailer my SD1.

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  • 2 years later...
  • 3 years later...
On 07/06/2017 at 21:37, Thousand Dollar Supercar said:

Having understeered this poor car into the kerb like a complete doofus, I will probably unceremoniously offload its remains....

I've had enough time to grieve the loss of my Alfa now, and to grow sick of jump-starting it to move it out of the way. Yowser made me feel guilty for hanging onto it for ever and ever and ever, so it's finally listed for sale.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/alfa-romeo/listing/2865335316

:(

TREES.JPG.7a4f55e782f8caababbe332675d7b18c.JPG

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