Hello
I am considering fixing up a 85 GTV6. I just got the car for free if you consider $100 US dollars for fuel and $100 to rent a tow dolly free. (as my wife tells me....there are no free cars )
I grew in South Africa and learned to drive in a Alfasud. I also owned a (really bad) Spica Alfetta in college. So I am not a total stranger to Alfas. 20 years later mostly playing with Porsches I am craving a Alfa again. I rode in a really nice GTV6 in the late 80's and was really impressed.
So when i saw the free ad on craigslist I bit. The folks had many, many calls but i was the only one who committed to a pickup in their time frame.
4 years ago they bought the car and parked in their vacation home's dirt back yard. They then blocked it with a container so they could not get it back out. (not intentionaly) So the car sat outdoors for 4 years.
When i got there the car had 4 flat tires with bad cracking. I got 2 to hold air so the dolly would work. The back yard was sloped and bumpy so we had a hell of a time dragging it up with my truck. My 4wd was not operational at the time so it was a wheel spinning/clutch burning good time.
Visual assessment
- Good straight body with no apparant rust
Paint is history
Recaro leather seats pretty bad, some foam damage
Front end lowered to much, way too much negative camber
tires are history
unmodified car
missing low beam light
Beige leather Recaros in bad shape
15" Campy wheels
Dash cracked
Front air dam trashed
Car has tropic air
nice door panels
bad install of roof mounted antennae
It started right up and idled nicely.
Initial mechanical assessment
- Clutch hydraulics shot, no fluid in system, fillup did not fix, do not see any leaks
Water pump shot, sounds like a cement mixer, coolant runs out freely
Check engine light on
Exhaust muffler looks aftermarket, bunch of rust shoots out
Some oil leaks, does not look too bad
Power Windows work (slowly)
Lights/gauges work
Good Hard brake pedal
Steering rack shot (major play, clicks)
I know these are not exactly "valuable" cars but special in their own way!
I guess the million dollar question is....Is this worth it?
Another factor is I am in California and we have very strict emissions testing. Do these car pass smog well when running correctly?
Below are a few pix of the prize and one of my current Porsche!
thanks Daron