SA GTV6 2.5 restoration and few minor mods !

[bteoh]

Wow Kevin, that underside is so super clean Wish mine was like that.

[gtv-racer]

Cheers! The car look superb! What a master pice. Wants to make me own one.

[KevinR]

Thanks guys. Really doubt it's gonna stay clean with the current weather rolling in. At least I know it's good for another twenty years.
I had a small issue with the new reverse light switch staying on and after removing it and comparing it to the original switch you need to add 1mm washer extra. Believe it or not if you add another washer it won't work at all so these new switches work on a " fine " margin.

[KevinR]

I have been racking up some enjoyable mileage on the back roads around Goodwood. The gap in these cars from when they are "worn " to like new is incredible as they are such drivers cars where you keep pushing them and feeling the feedback.
When they are worn you miss that feedback and positiveness in the car. It's definitely been well worth throwing all that money into the suspension and brakes now. It was the last thing the freshly built motor needed.
I had few hours to spare few evenings back and finally replaced last bit of fuel line on the motor. Now I can say every hose and clamp has been replaced in line with new fuel ethanol content. ( hose ) . I think I have spent over R600 on hose clamps at Wurth so far. When I'm back in SA in January I will replenish my stock. Wurth express shops make life easy to shop for wide range of items without having to buy loads of boxes.
Clocks going back this week is always irritating ... Dark so early !

[75evo]

You have 3 cars there now?

[Alfaaa1]

Hi Kev your GTV looks great.

I have given mine a coat of paint 130 Alfa red same as my 916 spider, Still not 100% , but no rust and starting to look great.

[Alfaaa1]

second photo

[Alfaaa1]

3rd photo

[KevinR]

Paintwork looks awesome . 130 is my favourite red hence my track car and Junior is that colour. Everyone has their opinions but it's just darker red than the original we got on our GTV6 in SA . The code for the GTV6 is 530 but that even comes in three shades. Just can't go wrong with 130
Looks like you're on the home run now ! Are you fitting full trim ? Or going bumper less ?

After racking up a few miles I was not totally happy with the starter motor as when the car got hot it made the usual clicking sound when turning the key so thought it's right time to do full stater motor overhaul. I gave the starter to my mate and it was the solenoid. Same time he replaced the gear as well so now it's another item fully refurbed.

[Alfaaa1]

Hi Kev, Going to fit colour coded bumpers and the inserts will be black.

I should have the GTV finished in February next year.

I would like to thank you guys for the great advice ( JK , Rowan Jackson and yourself).

This website is amazing and we got to keep it going.

[KevinR]

There is so much info on this forum but you just have to take time and look for it. A lot of people are used to instant answers and don’t have patience to search for it . It used to be a lot busier with a lot of new builds but sites like this needs builds like yours as it always fascinating whatever the modification or non modification is . It’s like buying classic car magazines you know what you gonna see as you have seen it so many times before but there always seems to be a new take, idea or parts supplier to keep these “older “ cars way ahead of their time .
FB has its place for instant gratification and good to use it to link to the GTV6 website where everything is structured.. well supposedly:)
Moving along ..
I know I will be asking JimK soon on advice on turbo 75 my mate and are going to build . First we want to test this 75 and it’s suspension spot for next few months .
This is my track car in 130 which I opted to colour code bumpers and loose the trim below . The heat shield stuck to side is still remnant for the side exit racing days.

[Alfaaa1]

How true.
Your race car looks amazing with the 130 red.

My bumpers will be the same colour coordination.

[John in Albq]

I'd appreciate it if you could post the wiring diagram for the window-motor mods with the relays. Seeing your restoration makes me feel guilty that I've not done as much to my vehicle. Fabulous result!

[KevinR]

Hi John
Firstly I am not an auto electrician but just looking around on the net and forums you can find most things. This was one of the videos but the switch in this video is earth based or activated while the GTV switch sends positive activation. So I will show in a diagram my wiring below.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EYuhk7urqFE
I used two five pin type B relays for each window. The five relay has and extra pin 87a . This is like a gate pin and when it's not activated it rests in negative position. So this pin 87a on each relay is wired to each pole of the electric window. As the window reverses polarity when switched the one relay ( non activated one) will be the earth while the other relay will be switched from 87a to 87 creating a positive circuit.
So my wiring is as follows

Relay 1 ( Upwards)
86 window switch solid
85 earth
30 window motor solid
87a earth and loop to 85
87 positive 12v supply fused

Relay 2 ( downwards)
86 window switch stripe
85 earth
30 window motor stripe
87a earth and loop to 85 and loop to 85 of relay 1
87 positive 12v supply looped to 87 on relay 1

[KevinR]

A few hundred miles later in wet on muddy roads the underside is still in good shape after a wipe down. This would not be the norm to do this but I have been doing nut and bolt checks since since all the suspension has been put back.
Sad reality at this stage I'm going to have to sell the car as its really difficult/expensive to store cars here in UK if you don't have your own garages. Currently the garages/ storage I share are pretty full and also 70 miles from me. Leaving these cars on the drive through the winters is not an option with the levels of condensation we get in the winters and also you can't get fully comprehensive insurance. Things looking a bit gloomy at the moment ( no it's just the weather ) so if I can get the right price I will let it go and use the carb GTV a lot more even though I find the 2.5 easier to use and more relaxing to cruise around.

Finally my new number plates have arrived ! Weird to see these much larger registration plates on the car.