Please post a pic of yourself or your car tell us about yourself and let us know where you are from.
Post Reply
Odranoel
Silver
Silver
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 10:03 am

Introduction and purchase help (128k Warning)

Post by Odranoel »

Hello everyone, I'm Leo. I live in Washington DC, but I am from Italy (lived there the first 28 years of life).

I have found a beautiful 1985 GTV6 that I am strongly considering buying, but it has a couple of dubious frame issues that I'd like to present to someone with more experience than me on this specific car. It's by far not my first rodeo with classic cars, but it would be my first Alfa.

The car has been in some sort of minor accident (there is a little bit of metal repair in the back and possible signs of repair in the front. Floorpans and rocker panels are beautiful, there is some corrosion at the bottom of the driver front fender and in the spare tire well, but nothing hottible.

the car has been sitting for 5+ years and has been stored outside for a brief stint. It's dirty but looks to be a good 10 footer. It's been resprayed rather well but you can definitely see some overspray in the engine bay and some overlapping where some weatherstripping wasn't removed.

Engine:
has upgraded belt tensioner, has Alfa 164 camshaft (supposedly), has newer injectors. Starts fine, runs a little rough (it has been sitting for years, probably a combination of bad fuel and dirty fuel filter). POSSIBLE PROBLEM: the oil was milky as hell, I GUESS and HOPE it might be just from condensation from the aluminum engine. Owner said that the day before when he started the car the oil was looking good, he ran it for a little bit and by the time I saw it it was all milky... Any insight?

Transmission:
back brakes need to be re-installed so I could not run it, but the shifter linkage feels solid with no play and based on the other mods the car has I would think it has been upgraded to make sure it shifts properly. Owner says that syncros work well and gearbox has never been growling back at him. He also said he had the transmission pole mounts replaced and the thing balanced but something went wrong so the car vibrates quite a bit even idling.

Interior:
black cloth, clean, no rips, electrical system seems a little messy, I could see cables lit by some dash light behind the central vents, is that normal? Other than that nothing to report.

Frame: there are a couple of spots that seem suspicious: at the end of the roof trim in front of the passender door there is something that looks like a crack on the frame. I took a picture from behind and it seems like there has been some work done there, I am wondering if it was a clumsy try to fix a crack in the frame?

Also, in the engine bay where the body frame connects to the engine frame extensions, it seems that there has been some bondo work to blend in the two welded parts and some of it is cracking especially close to the upper lip of the fenders (see pictures). Was that something done by the factory to make it all look nicer or might it be hiding a surprise? And if it's factory work, is it normal for it to be cracking?


Recap: it has some issues, and I think that based on it sitting for so long there are bound to be more popping up with failing gaskets and o-rings. However I like the look of the car. I can take care of the mechanical problems myself, but I have two big question marks:

- milky oil
- frame cracks

In all this the owner has been a super nice guy, hasn't try to mis-represent anything and seems a very stand up person.

Suggestions? Insight?

Thank you!

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
User avatar
SydneyJules
Verde
Verde
Posts: 619
Joined: Sun Dec 19, 2004 1:57 pm
Location: Sydney

Re: Introduction and purchase help (128k Warning)

Post by SydneyJules »

What do you want to do with the car?

It's an unfortunate bi-product of owning these cars, that without a good knowledge of its' history, you can't be too sure of what you're getting yourself into.

And that's where the fun starts- They ARE getting rarer, but their appeal isn't universal- sure, you'll have admirers walk and up take a look, but as anyone will tell you, buying one that isn't a good example can be a heartbreaking experience. Selling said car is even harder.

And like any old car, buying one that's been neglected without the drive or commitment to see it properly fixed means you end up chasing your tail and often give up in disgust!

From what I saw in your post, the lower sill rust looks like it will be a reasonable repair job. I think you can buy repair sections from the UK, try Highwood Alfa.

Frame cracks? That's hard to say without a pic... I don't like the sound of that, but I've never experienced it.

Milky oil? Headgasket... if it's been sitting a while, the water pump has probably developed a leak as well. Change the timing belt straight away, too

If it's been started for brief periods of time, then that will explain the rough running (fouled plugs).

Messy wiring? It's an Alfa, and the only neat Alfas I've seen have been re-done. You have to imagine that over the years, everyone has had a go at those wires- moving them, connecting stereos etc.

I did some fairly reasonable repairs on my car earlier this year, but I have an illness caused by owning one of these cars for a long time!
I knew the work that had gone into my engine, gearbox and driveline, suspension and had a good idea of the state of the car, what issues it had and after considering scrapping the car, realised that I would probably just buy another one and start again!

IMO, you can't get much better for an old skool driver's car- it's a light, well-balanced RWD, the electrics on my car have been good (especially if you throw the factory ECU and AFM setup in the bin and put a modern computer on it). The suspension has room for improvement, and so do the engines, but none of this is uncharted territory. The shape is timeless and they are a good basis for a track day/tinker car if built well and taken care of, however, I warn everyone that thinks about buying one of these- you have to have the resolve to see whatever you start, through to the end!

I've just read this again, and didn't want to come across as all negative!

I thought I may add, that if the price you pay is quite reasonable, then fixing those problems may not be too bad an idea- the interior looks to be very neat, and if you can't find the accident damage, it may have been fixed well. The paint looked to be OK from the photo.

But it's hard to know unless you can drive the car!

So I'll ask again, what you wanted to do with the car!?

That will determine what things you're going to accept spending money on, and you can plan yourself a path forward.

Cheers
Julian
Fixing it bit by bit....
Post Reply