Introduction and purchase help (128k Warning)
Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 8:16 am
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!
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!