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[KevinR]

Hi bteoh, I have not used my 3.0 or the 3.7 at all this summer as been working on the 2.5 in my spare time. I think another three weeks and I should be done. ..... Hopefully !
Took some pics of other noticeable difference with SA cars is the sump guard and jacking point. You can see the reinforment welded into the chassis legs. I used to race with on my track car for extra bracing and riding the kerbs

[Giuliettaevo2]

Coming to Zandvoort next weekend?

[KevinR]

Sadly I left it to late to apply for VIsa as I'm still on my SA passport ( the green mamba) I was always hoping I would never have apply for Visas when I get dual citizenship but looks like I'm gonna have to apply for Visa again next year on my UK passport if I'm still here :):) .
Please take loads of pics of the weekend and vids of Oliver's 75 down the straight post in race cars
Enjoy Remco

[KevinR]

Again random picks during restoration. The old gearbox bush was impossible to press out without creating damage so went the slow approach and sawed it out. The new type of bush does not have a steel casing and easy to press in. Good thing I changed the bush as it had totally delaminated.

[KevinR]

I had a problem with one of the door handles and had to replace it. Biggest problem is your key set and transfer the locks. Kevin Strapp from AK explained you can move the locks over and bolt the new ones in. To hide the bolt/ screw heads you grind them down then recess the cover plate. The cover plate is then stuck back on but not before cleaning, sanding and paintwork.

[KevinR]

Now for some paintwork and fit up.

[Giuliettaevo2]

Oliver will not be in Zandvoort this year.

I'm no good at taking pictures but i'll try to take a few for you guys.

[PietereQ]

There's something absolutely soothing watching pictures like these. Fantastic job Kevin!

[gtv-racer]

Nice 'little' restauration indeed! Love the way for the details! If you guys go to zandvoort next year maybe i also come a few hours. Would be nice.

[KevinR]

PietereQ, thanks for comment. I'm finding this resto pretty soothing as well. It's a lot easier than modifying and entire GTV with big bore engines and gearboxes in strange places
This car I just have few small mods in mind and then I want to just enjoy the sound of the 2.5 with a really tight new suspension set up! One modification I have always had in back of my head is to put a 2.5 24v in and see how that changes the character of the car. My old 156 2.5 with those gear ratios is still one of my favourite cars to drive around in.

Gtv-racer : Zandvoort is such a great weekend. So much happening at one event from racing , to do doing a few laps in club cars, buying endless bits and bobs from all the Alfa stalls in the pits to seen the Alfa Museo displays ! Just so much !
Keep us posted on your thread with your latest gearbox developments along with your new engine rebuild .

I have quite few pics to download from work this weekend on the car and we also had a bank holiday ( public holiday ) here today! Some of the details might seam arbitrary but if they are not right they just become irritating niggles !

[KevinR]

This is probably the only suspension modification apart from non standard shocks ... an Alfa 75 front anti roll bar I purchased from Wayne Ellett (EMC ) . As its off a UK car it was pretty rusty so it needed wire wheel before shotblasting. I put a few coats of black hammerite on as it would be to costly just to send one item in for Powdercoating at this stage. Hammerite does take ages to dry but it will good to monitor the " wear " on this item vs the powdercoated parts. The diameter of the 75 bar is greater by 4mm which should be noticeable as torsion is d4 .. So not just a percentage or linear improvement. I think it’s roughly up to 50% more in torsional rigidity from figures I had years ago.
The old droplinks proved difficult to remove and the steel bush had to be cut off !

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[KevinR]

South African cars did not come with FOGLAMPS ! But the wiring is still in the harness and the circuit board is printed already . Not sure if the Ozzie cars had them either. As its pretty difficult to find another UK right side taillight I simply got an old taillight and drilled and old fitting off it. Then circuit board already has the holes in so it was no problem to " bolt " the new fitting in position with 2mm bolts ! Unfortunately i did not have brass rivets or non stainless bolts so had to connect the fitting with wires from the back of board to front of board. I guess I could have waited few days and order on line non stainless but i needed to finish this today
Pics will help clarify what I'm trying to. Struggling to edit order of pics.
The other option was to buy an aftermarket foglamp and stick on the bumper ... Maybe for the race car . ( rain light )

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[KevinR]

Often an annoying issue is a taillight that has a lamp that suddenly stops working due to bad contact so made sure all contacts on negative and positives were cleaned up and new lamps( bulbs, globes - whatever they are called around the world ). Also cleaned up the plugs. Some taillights you get corriion or residue build up under the rivets but that's definitely not gonna be serviced or checked now !
I'm fitting new taillight sealing rubber/ sponge as common cause of water ingess and rust issues in back valence panel.

[KevinR]

Good thing its still light until late at the moment as got home early today so I would do cambelt change. Always much easier to work with the bonnet off.
The engine was rebuilt 3000km ago in 2017 but I still prefer to have fresh belt in my ownership. The engine was fitted with new water pump and still looks and feels good. I changed the thermostat as that was not replaced but I'm sure it was still ok however I'm making sure all the weak areas in the cooling system are serviced or checked ie water bottles, rad hoses, t pieces . I have already done the radiator in South Africa and checked fans spin easily. I learnt a horrible lesson with seized fan motor before ... ended up melting most of the harness as fuses are on the other side of circuit.
The first pic shows the engine bay is in really good condition with new and cleaned up bottles. As I'm working outside under trees at moment I don't want to open up the engine ( cam covers ) yet to check timing marks but will do this later. I marked the pulleys and referenced them at this stage as well as the dizzy pulley to make sure I don't change anything. All went well and it's spot but will double check down at the workshop later.

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When fitting new thermostat it's really important to coat these bolts with copper grease as these corrode heavily and can be and absolute b#tch to remove or drill out.

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[Zamani]

Kev,

Looking good. You should replace that old-style compressor. With 40 degree summers you'll never know when the AC needs to be used.

Also for the rear bulbs, I'd recommend you get something like this, DeOxit 5, maybe from Maplins or something. Halfords definitely do not have this. Not just a cleaner, but it provides protection against oxidation especially in balmy England: