'68 Alfa Romeo Gt Junior
Discussion
Breadvan73 said:
I drove a GT Junior 1300 for a weekend once, and thought it a car of perfect balance and poise, and a sheer delight to drive on a country road. I could not fathom why Alfa ever stopped making so fine a car.
These cars where made at the time where car companies were still making "coachworks". In other words all of the body panels were made and fettled by hand, not press formed with machines and assembled by robots. In today's world and even back then the economics of the amount of labour hours required to achieve such beauty and perfection by hand tools (the 105 is both to Alfa and the motoring world imo) simply couldn't be maintained and/or justified in the price. In other words at one point in time to make cars by the old methods would have meant selling new cars at a loss. Viva industrial evolution.....blah blah.There is nothing stopping manufacturers re-making classics models with modern materials and manufacturing techniques though. ala Ford Mustang, Ford GT40, BMW Mini, etc. If only we can have the following remanufactured close to original dimensions with modern techniques and materials, we will be laughing;
Audi - S1 Quattrro
Alfa - 105, GTV6, 75
Lancia - Stratos, Delta S2, Delta Integrale
BMW - 2002, E30, E36
Porsche 911 RS
.
the list goes on
Personally I would never buy any car new, least of all the lemons being manufactured nowadays, but if manufacturers made the above in a modern flavour (excluding the stupid aids) I would be first in the que.
Sorry OP, she is a beauty. Don't despair about the nicks and nacks, that's just part of Alfa ownership and part of the charm (frustrations the rest of the time lol). It's interesting to see you have moved from an E36 M3 (presumably) to an Alfa
Enjoy!If you need connections to parts suppliers or specialists in Alfa circles, just pm.
Humour
I'm not convinced the 105 era cars are as 'handmade' as humour is making out. They still pressed metal shapes spot welded up on an assembly line, just not quite as efficiently as modern cars are. Mind you I do accept they were probably uneconomic to make, whilst Ford and the like had a mantra of making stuff as cheaply as possible, the Alfa way was exactly the opposite, just look at the number of complex aluminium castings for instance.
As one of the well known alfa follower said recently, everything you can't see on a 105 is built to last, everything you can see is not, this is the inverse of a modern VW. Lot of truth in that.
It is a shame you are having to sell Jo.
As one of the well known alfa follower said recently, everything you can't see on a 105 is built to last, everything you can see is not, this is the inverse of a modern VW. Lot of truth in that.
It is a shame you are having to sell Jo.
Bit of an update...
On auction day I traveled down to Westminster and on the way the organisers rang me to ask if I'd lower the reserve. Which I did. The bids came up to £500 below the reserve, but no sale, so I drove it back up to Derby that evening.
On reflection, the cars in attendance were investment pieces - rare in need of restoration, totally original cars or recent restorations. My car was actually parked outside the show room and was one of the cheaper cars there, non original and one to use and enjoy rather than an investment where you have to watch the mileage and the originality.
Looking back now, I'm really glad it didn't go, so the fact that my entry to the auction was a bit flawed imo, did me a favor in the end, plus being outside, I was able to drive it away that night instead of another trip to London to collect. We've got over the need for the cash in other ways, so looks like it'll be staying
Over the summer months I've been using it as much as possible when its been a decent day. The rusty bits are showing more now, so even if its damp I think 'Sod it' and use it anyway. Its great fun in the wet actually.
Considering the cost of bodywork, the sections of lower wing are around £30 each, plus sills at £100, so around £350 in parts plus the labor and paint to sort - not too bad. Hopefully there won't be anything too untoward when they start opening it up. I've got a list of desirable upgrades and business is going well at the moment, so I might be able to indulge in those seeing as the car will be staying for the foreseeable future.
I entered a Sprint day at Curborough on the 20th August and had a blast. My first run was around 1:48, and the second was 1:42 which I was happy with, but try as I might, I couldn't get quicker through the day. Four o'clock came and I was ready to leave, but had one more run before leaving. I felt what was holding me back was the confidence to move over the line between grip driving and letting the car flow, drift and skid a bit. Having pushed the little Alfa through the day I knew it wouldn't bite, its quite well balanced. With this in mind I took to the track again. I found that I was able to turn in on the brakes which made the back end come around, but pushed the nose right into the apex, then I could get on the pedal and ride out the oversteer with a quick twist of the arms. I adopted a similar style in the flowing corners with the car dancing on its tread blocks and on that delightful limit of slip and grip. It seemed to do the trick and knocked off a further 2 seconds from my time. I'll certainly be back there in future to see if I can improve - highly recommended.
On auction day I traveled down to Westminster and on the way the organisers rang me to ask if I'd lower the reserve. Which I did. The bids came up to £500 below the reserve, but no sale, so I drove it back up to Derby that evening.
On reflection, the cars in attendance were investment pieces - rare in need of restoration, totally original cars or recent restorations. My car was actually parked outside the show room and was one of the cheaper cars there, non original and one to use and enjoy rather than an investment where you have to watch the mileage and the originality.
Looking back now, I'm really glad it didn't go, so the fact that my entry to the auction was a bit flawed imo, did me a favor in the end, plus being outside, I was able to drive it away that night instead of another trip to London to collect. We've got over the need for the cash in other ways, so looks like it'll be staying
Over the summer months I've been using it as much as possible when its been a decent day. The rusty bits are showing more now, so even if its damp I think 'Sod it' and use it anyway. Its great fun in the wet actually.
Considering the cost of bodywork, the sections of lower wing are around £30 each, plus sills at £100, so around £350 in parts plus the labor and paint to sort - not too bad. Hopefully there won't be anything too untoward when they start opening it up. I've got a list of desirable upgrades and business is going well at the moment, so I might be able to indulge in those seeing as the car will be staying for the foreseeable future.
I entered a Sprint day at Curborough on the 20th August and had a blast. My first run was around 1:48, and the second was 1:42 which I was happy with, but try as I might, I couldn't get quicker through the day. Four o'clock came and I was ready to leave, but had one more run before leaving. I felt what was holding me back was the confidence to move over the line between grip driving and letting the car flow, drift and skid a bit. Having pushed the little Alfa through the day I knew it wouldn't bite, its quite well balanced. With this in mind I took to the track again. I found that I was able to turn in on the brakes which made the back end come around, but pushed the nose right into the apex, then I could get on the pedal and ride out the oversteer with a quick twist of the arms. I adopted a similar style in the flowing corners with the car dancing on its tread blocks and on that delightful limit of slip and grip. It seemed to do the trick and knocked off a further 2 seconds from my time. I'll certainly be back there in future to see if I can improve - highly recommended.
joesnow said:
Cheers, there were some TVRs in attendance too, including the 5.5 Chim featured on here somewhere. Lovely stuff.
That would be Peter in his blue 5.5 Chim, very nice chap and handy behind the wheel.I think I mentioned earlier in this thread, stunning car your GT Junior and I shall look forward to reading further updates. I have always had a soft spot for the 105 series Alfas, very pretty cars and with a few Alfaholics bits they handle very well indeed.
More updates from the sprint events in 2015, but the main reason for going was that a chap brought his 911 turbo S down for a few laps, and then at lunchtime went home and swapped for his 918 spyder.
Amazing machine, the acceleration is like something from Alton Towers.
Got my time down by 1 second from the last event, and realised that I'll only be getting incremental improvements now.
Which sort of leads me on to the fact that there is another Alfaholics parcel winging its way to me - a fast road suspension kit - lowered springs, new Koni dampers, thicker antiroll bar, and also higher ratio steering arms and a beautiful Nardi steering wheel.
Should stop this lean happening:
But not this:
918
Amazing machine, the acceleration is like something from Alton Towers.
Got my time down by 1 second from the last event, and realised that I'll only be getting incremental improvements now.
Which sort of leads me on to the fact that there is another Alfaholics parcel winging its way to me - a fast road suspension kit - lowered springs, new Koni dampers, thicker antiroll bar, and also higher ratio steering arms and a beautiful Nardi steering wheel.
Should stop this lean happening:
But not this:
918
I was really pleased with how the car sounded with its new exhaust system and the changes I made to the induction. You never really hear the exhaust note from inside.
You can also see that the pitch is much more controlled with the Alfaholics kit fitted!
Here are a couple of shaky vids, and a few pics from an afternoon with some friends at the sprint circuit.
http://vid16.photobucket.com/albums/b16/alastair12...
http://vid16.photobucket.com/albums/b16/alastair12...
You can also see that the pitch is much more controlled with the Alfaholics kit fitted!
Here are a couple of shaky vids, and a few pics from an afternoon with some friends at the sprint circuit.
http://vid16.photobucket.com/albums/b16/alastair12...
http://vid16.photobucket.com/albums/b16/alastair12...
Edited by joesnow on Monday 13th February 23:26
Around the same time as the seats, I had a rare day off to work on the car. I set myself up in the garage listening to Bob Harris' Sunday morning show with a mug of freshly brewed Bialetti coffee.
I started with an oil change, filter change, coolant change, and changing the sparkplugs and HT lead set. I rather enjoyed this process, and was pleased when I had put everything back together and ran the car that there were no leaks or misfires.
My next task was to remove the bumpers.
I've enjoyed the look of the car with the bumpers fitted, but the majority of use at the moment is for track driving, and over time I think the car will evolve into a gta replica, visually. Now the car sits a bit lower, losing the bumpers is the first step in that process, and as I approach the mental hurdle of addressing the rusty patches, gives a better appraisal of the bodywork.
It was a bit of a swine to be honest, with rounded off nuts, inaccessible bolt heads, and rusted threads and nuts. I had to use a long extension on the ratchet of a lot of the bolts, zip-wiring spanners in places where I couldn't physically hold them and angle grinding very close to the body to get rusted studs out. Once I started, there was no turning back, but I'm pleased with the results.
It looks better the further away you are. The truth is that the sills are getting bubbled, there are lots of chips and the rear arches are looking rather sorry for themselves. This will be the last summer of use before some body work has to be done.
When the time does come, I'd dearly love some gta bubble arches on the back, like these:
Mechanically, its spot on and you can drive the doors off it all day and it uses no oil. The water and oil temps sit at half way no matter what. I guess because its built to survive the Italian sunshine, the radiator and sump are oversize for the size of engine.
Interior now looks like this, with my new Nardi wheel fitted.
I started with an oil change, filter change, coolant change, and changing the sparkplugs and HT lead set. I rather enjoyed this process, and was pleased when I had put everything back together and ran the car that there were no leaks or misfires.
My next task was to remove the bumpers.
I've enjoyed the look of the car with the bumpers fitted, but the majority of use at the moment is for track driving, and over time I think the car will evolve into a gta replica, visually. Now the car sits a bit lower, losing the bumpers is the first step in that process, and as I approach the mental hurdle of addressing the rusty patches, gives a better appraisal of the bodywork.
It was a bit of a swine to be honest, with rounded off nuts, inaccessible bolt heads, and rusted threads and nuts. I had to use a long extension on the ratchet of a lot of the bolts, zip-wiring spanners in places where I couldn't physically hold them and angle grinding very close to the body to get rusted studs out. Once I started, there was no turning back, but I'm pleased with the results.
It looks better the further away you are. The truth is that the sills are getting bubbled, there are lots of chips and the rear arches are looking rather sorry for themselves. This will be the last summer of use before some body work has to be done.
When the time does come, I'd dearly love some gta bubble arches on the back, like these:
Mechanically, its spot on and you can drive the doors off it all day and it uses no oil. The water and oil temps sit at half way no matter what. I guess because its built to survive the Italian sunshine, the radiator and sump are oversize for the size of engine.
Interior now looks like this, with my new Nardi wheel fitted.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Well, yes I suppose. I think it was sills mainly, and a respray. The car stood out for a bit a couple of years ago, and was also parked under a lean-to when I couldn't find a garage near by. I have used it and tracked it in the wet too occasionally, though stopped any wet weather use once I noticed the bubbles. Probably the main contributing factor is that the previous owner did many things on a bit of a shoestring, so I'd imagine behind the scenes things weren't prepared quite as you'd imagine. I keep finding bodges. I have my fingers crossed that any nasties inside the sills is just surface corrosion and can be cleaned up and fully protected.I'm after prevention and a reasonable finish on the paint, but this is a car for driving predominantly, not showing.
Edited by joesnow on Wednesday 15th February 16:03
JimmyJam said:
Looks great! I've been thinking about getting some bucket seats like yours. How does it affect the seat height, I'm worried that I'll be too low down?
Hi JJ, well, my shoulders are just above the window line when I'm sitting in the car, so they are perfect for me. I'm 6''4' with a 34' leg. The seats are mounted on cross members attached to the original seat rails, and so the base doesn't dip down below the frames. You could probably find some info on the Corbeau website if you're thinking of goling for the Alpines. They do a wide version too, which is in the passenger side. The seats are snug, but hold me quite well. I'm a 34' waist. The only thing I would say is that they could be better finished, but I got around that by having them re-trimmed. I guess you get what you pay for.
joesnow said:
Hi JJ, well, my shoulders are just above the window line when I'm sitting in the car, so they are perfect for me. I'm 6''4' with a 34' leg. The seats are mounted on cross members attached to the original seat rails, and so the base doesn't dip down below the frames. You could probably find some info on the Corbeau website if you're thinking of goling for the Alpines. They do a wide version too, which is in the passenger side. The seats are snug, but hold me quite well. I'm a 34' waist. The only thing I would say is that they could be better finished, but I got around that by having them re-trimmed. I guess you get what you pay for.
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