Well, Jungle Justice just left the SF Bay Area and I had the opportunity to be with him from Thursday to Sat. JJ is a really great guy and we had a lot of fun talking and working on Alfa's among other activities are well.
I guess I'll start with the Engine. We received a large crate this week with my engine in it. I have been so busy with work that I did not get to look at it nor did we remove it from the crate since we are not going to install it until JJ returns to the bay area in the new future. All I can say is thanks to everyone that recommended going with a 3.0l 24V. Even though I went with a entry level engine for now, I just can not express what excitement this engine has brought to my associates and myself. Here the some pictures the the engine that JJ took before he shipped it. We did not want it to get damaged or dusty but I did peak at the top and it was everything I expected and more.
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New Alfa Engine #4.jpg (64.6 KiB) Viewed 8870 times
New Alfa Engine #3.jpg (66.22 KiB) Viewed 8871 times
New Alfa Engine #2.jpg (65.75 KiB) Viewed 8870 times
New Alfa Engine #1.jpg (61 KiB) Viewed 8869 times
Alfa Engine in Crate.jpg (58.75 KiB) Viewed 8868 times
Ok, so the reason why we did not do anything with the engine yet is that my suspension, wheels, & Brakes were not sorted yet. We were originally going to go with stock parts and really not change the bushings, etc. All I can say is what a mistake we would have made if I went this way. JJ was so kind as to actually drive down with my parts rather than ship them. At first I thought this was not necessary but after I looked at how many parts there were and the high quality of the components I can see how these could easily get lost. Thanks JJ for taking the extra effort to insure the delivery of my parts. JJ was also very understanding that I did not do anything that I said I was going to do before he arrived. (Ie: Jack up car, balance drive shaft, Boil and paint radiator).
Anyway, we did our Plan of Action and started what I think was the hardest part of this restoration. I have always been wondering how we were doing to update the under carriage and take off the suspension and JJ directed us as well as did the hardest jobs. JJ is not just a racer, he really knows what to do. He First had us put the car as high as possible. Here are pictures of the Alfa being prepared to have the suspension parts removed.
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Alfa Ready to remove suspension #3.jpg (53.06 KiB) Viewed 8864 times
Alfa Ready to remove suspension #2.jpg (56.15 KiB) Viewed 8865 times
Alfa Ready to remove suspension.jpg (55.25 KiB) Viewed 8864 times
We then did the removal of all the suspension parts. This was definately a labor of love since this was hard work. And I really did not do much. We removed the whole di dion suspension with coils, shocks, etc as well as the rear muffler. We removed the whole front suspension. The upper control arms were rusted and we had to actually cut them off with a metal saw. The lower control arms were rusted and we had to literally use a slege hammer to get them off. All the rubber bushings were wasted and I was really surprised how bad my suspension really was. Here are pictures of the details.
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Alfa Side Suspension Removed.JPG (62.88 KiB) Viewed 8863 times
Brakes & front suspesion removed.JPG (60.05 KiB) Viewed 8863 times
Di Dion Removed.JPG (40.78 KiB) Viewed 8863 times
Di Dion Suspension Removed.jpg (57.09 KiB) Viewed 8863 times
Di Dion Suspension Removed #2.jpg (58.54 KiB) Viewed 8863 times
I have learned that if I my Alfa is 25 years old now, all the parts are definately not good. We then took out all the old bushings for every part with a press. From the Di Dion bushings, Wheel bearings, and Control arm bushings and will replace all bushings. We decided that we are going to stand blast all the suspension parts and powder coat them before I put them back together. Therefore, once we finished this stage we are at a pause since the parts needed to be sent out. Here are pictures of the parts ready to be sent out.
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Rear Wheel Area Suspension Removed.JPG (79.21 KiB) Viewed 8860 times
Suspension being removed in progress.jpg (30.73 KiB) Viewed 8864 times
Suspension Bolts to restore.JPG (54.63 KiB) Viewed 8864 times
Suspension Parts for Sand Blasting.JPG (38.32 KiB) Viewed 8863 times
Suspension Parts for Sand Blasting #2.JPG (68.57 KiB) Viewed 8863 times
JJ had us modify the upper control arm by making the shock area larger so the coil over will not rub. I did not get the new transaxle yet but it really did not matter since it would just sit with the engine. Here are the last picture of where we stopped work.
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Transaxle Removed.JPG (51.13 KiB) Viewed 8862 times
Upper Control Arm.JPG (58.76 KiB) Viewed 8862 times
And finally, I saved the best part for last. We were looking at all our new parts forever which is not a good thing when your on a schedule but I just could not get over how much better the performance parts are over the stock parts. Here are the pictures of the new parts for my Alfa that will be installed once we get back the suspension parts and finish the under coating of the car.
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New Brakes & Suspension #5.jpg (59.14 KiB) Viewed 8860 times
New Brakes & Suspension #4.jpg (57.09 KiB) Viewed 8861 times
New Brakes & Suspension #3.jpg (57.09 KiB) Viewed 8856 times
New Brakes & Suspension #2.jpg (74.5 KiB) Viewed 8858 times
New Brakes & Suspension #1.jpg (61.85 KiB) Viewed 8855 times
We have also decided on the tires. We went with Team Dynamics 17 x 7.5 with the correct offset for this Alfa. Here are some pictures of the wheels and tires. So this is where we are at for now. Probably won't get a chance to work on the Alfa for the next couple of weeks but moving foward slowly.
Thanks again for checking out my progress on my Alfa and it looks like I might actually complete my project so I am very happy to everyone who is contributing to my goal of restoring my Alfa.
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New Rims & Tire by Alfa #5.jpg (44.6 KiB) Viewed 8855 times
New Rims & Tire by Alfa #4.jpg (45.13 KiB) Viewed 8854 times
New Rims & Tire by Alfa #3.jpg (38.83 KiB) Viewed 8857 times
New Rims & Tire by Alfa #2.jpg (37.78 KiB) Viewed 8857 times
New Rims & Tire by Alfa #1.jpg (38.09 KiB) Viewed 8855 times
Hi:
I like the wheels - wll the 17" fit at the front? They look kinda close the the wheel arch in the pic. I was planning on 16" but might change plans if yours work OK
I'm also looking forward to seeing your engine install since I have the exact same setup
Cheers,
Hello,
Thanks for the encouragement. I need to get a video when we dyno the car and I hope to be able to share it with the Forum. The new Tires & Wheels are just put in front of the existing wheels before we took apart the suspension. JJ knows all the tricks. I hope that the 17 inch wheels fit but we have not actually fitted it yet. I was assured that just like the brakes and suspension were designed for my particular Alfa. The wheels are the same. My wife just saw the pictures and now she doesn't like black. She feels that I should have went with the aluminum color. What do you think guys? The black or aluminum color? The wheels & tires are brand new with 0 miles so I am sure I can exchange them.
We were originally going to go with stock parts and really not change the bushings, etc. All I can say is what a mistake we would have made if I went this way. JJ was so kind as to actually drive down with my parts rather than ship them. At first I thought this was not necessary but after I looked at how many parts there were and the high quality of the components I can see how these could easily get lost. Thanks JJ for taking the extra effort to insure the delivery of my parts. JJ was also very understanding that I did not do anything that I said I was going to do before he arrived. (Ie: Jack up car, balance drive shaft, Boil and paint radiator). 
