1970 Alfa Romeo GT Junior Racer
Discussion
Hi all,
I thought I would start my first project thread on here with this wee beastie.
That's it in the hands of its previous owner in NZ.
The car is now on its way to the UK and should be here in Feb.
I’ve dug up the history on this one as well as I could and found out that the car was originally delivered to Alfa Romeo UK in London on 5th March 1970 having been registered as built at the factory on 3rd March 1970. It was originally Ochre Yellow with Black Skai interior.
Thankfully someone saw the light and took the liberty of painting it the ‘right’ colour (to my eyes anyway)!
The car was a UK car for many years before being exported to NZ. It remained a road car there until 2003 when it was converted for use in the NZ Trofeo series. It was campaigned by it’s first owner there until 2010 when it was sold and passed to the next chap who had the car completely rebuilt from scratch over a 3yr period. It has raced once since then and, having decided to go in a different direction, the car was sold on to its current owner. He had the car ready for the 2014 season but never found the time to actually race it so decided to sell in the summer of 2014. I saw it advertised at the time but given that my schedule was about as hectic as its possible to get I passed on it at that time. Now that I have a few moments to come up for air I contacted the seller and found that the car was still available. A hundred or so pictures, screeds of spec and dyno sheets later as well as many a conversation I took the plunge and bought it.
I've been an avid trackdayer for a number of years with my rather wild Subaru but the car (and I) never quite managed the transition to racing for one reason or another but mostly because it was just too quick for me and I was never completely happy with it's rather snappy handling.
I had always hankered after a classic racer and had hummed and hawed between an Alfa GTA-type, BMW 2002, Escort Mk 1, Lotus Cortina and Lotus Elan’s but the one that always set my heart racing was the Alfa.
So the car.
Well this is the spec. I suspect it’ll be pretty handy.
• Alfaholics GTA Veloce 7x15 Superleggera rims
• Full Watts Linkage rear end
• 4.3 Limited Slip Diff (setup by Diff Specs 87% grip)
• Full set Bilstein gas shocks/special coils
• Jaz fuel tank and electric fuel pump
• Fully dipped and seam welded body
• Fibre glass bonnet
• Perspex windows
• Lightened bodyshell doors and boot
• Laminated front screen
• Fully COD compliant with COD Log book
• New RACETECH Race Seat
• New RACETECH Seatbelts (6 point, EXP 2016)
• Lightweight interior
• Alfaholics Aluminum Radiator/Oil Cooler
• Fully adjustable Lightweight corner weighted suspension / Noelathane bushed
• Tandem brake pedal box and rear bias valve
• Wilwood front calipers / ventilated custom rotors (Les Hunter)
• Standard rear calipers
• ACCUSUMP oil system (1.9L capacity)
• OMEX Rev Limiter
• STACK rev gauge with shift light
• Life-Line detachable steering boss
• ODYSSEY Red Top race battery
• INNOVATE Air/Fuel mixture gauge
• Hard wired AMB transponder
• Weight 880 Kg (approx.)
Engine (1968cc)
• Close ratio Gearbox (OS Giken ex: Spruell Motorsport. Ratios; 2.73, 1.73, 1.27, 1.00, 0.83)
• TILTON Cerametalic clutch (250lb clutch)
• Tuned to 98 Unleaded fuel
• Lightweight steel flywheel and ring gear(new)
• Lightweight alternator.
• Alfaholics Extractors
• Dellorto 45mm carbs and intake rams with Pipercross air cleaner
• Block, cross drilled. Crank, balanced with pulleys and flywheel
• Rods 2litre Twinspark, shotpeened, balanced and polished
• Race Head – 40mm stainless exhaust & 46mm inlet (9mm stem & bronze guides).
• Camshafts - full race 12.4mm lift big duration hollow lightweight cams
The rest of the car looks like this;
The engine dyno sheet:
My plans with it are relatively straightforward. Race it and drive it on the road.
I’ve spoken to Customs and agreed the VAT and Duty I’ll pay on the car on entry to the UK and also to the DVLA to confirm I can road register once again with them provided the car can pass an MOT.
So, when it arrives in the UK, it’ll be going straight to Alfaholics. They are going to check the whole thing over for me and replace anything that needs it and advise on anything they would do to improve the car for me.
At the same time, for racing purposes, I’m having one of their heated screens fitted, plumbed in fire extinguisher and the accusump either boxed in where it is or relocated to the boot as it’s considered a pressurised vessel and cannot be in the cabin.
Then for the road use I’ll have the front lights and rear number plate light reinstated as well as anything else I need to be able to get an MOT. I’ll then find a nice cheap dateless plate and get the car road registered.
I will also see if they can remove the rear window spars which are a regulation requirement for the NZ series. It’s quite odd, they need things like that but no need for a plumbed in fire extinguisher and happy for the accusump to be in the cabin?
I’m also looking for some seats for the car. I’ll fit a matching pair of bucket seats which I want to look as period as possible but still be FIA legal.
The car comes with two gearboxes. The close ratio racing gearbox as described in the spec and then a regular road box with normal ratios. I’ll not be driving the car on any big journeys to begin with so will have the racing box fitted so I can get some track use out of the car. If its too short then it’ll come back out again.
I ran the box ratios, diff ratio and engine revs through an online calculator which threw out these numbers for the max speed in gear;
Car makes peak power at 6500rpm so first set were assuming max revs of 6500rpm:
Speed @ Limit 1st 38.23 Mph
Speed @ Limit 2nd 60.32 Mph
Speed @ Limit 3rd 82.17 Mph
Speed @ Limit 4th 104.36 Mph
Speed @ Limit 5th 125.73 Mph
The engine is built to rev to 8250 with a hard limiter set at 8000rpm so I re-ran the numbers with a 7000rpm rev limit and got:
Speed @ Limit 1st 41.17 Mph
Speed @ Limit 2nd 64.96 Mph
Speed @ Limit 3rd 88.49 Mph
Speed @ Limit 4th 112.38 Mph
Speed @ Limit 5th 135.40 Mph
My ‘home’ circuit is Knockhill which those speeds should suit. A leggier track may see me sitting on the limiter sometimes so I may rebuild the road ratio box to a better spec too as an option.
In the very longterm I would like to see if I can get the car to FIA App K spec. I know it won’t be easy but the Scrutineer who covers Scotland has been extremely helpful so far and is going to give me some pointers on things I’ll need to do and see if there are any fundamentals that will cause me issue.
Anyway, I’ve rambled on somewhat so hopefully it’s been interesting. I’ll keep this thread updated with the developments on the car and more pics once it’s here!
Thanks for looking
James
I thought I would start my first project thread on here with this wee beastie.
That's it in the hands of its previous owner in NZ.
The car is now on its way to the UK and should be here in Feb.
I’ve dug up the history on this one as well as I could and found out that the car was originally delivered to Alfa Romeo UK in London on 5th March 1970 having been registered as built at the factory on 3rd March 1970. It was originally Ochre Yellow with Black Skai interior.
Thankfully someone saw the light and took the liberty of painting it the ‘right’ colour (to my eyes anyway)!
The car was a UK car for many years before being exported to NZ. It remained a road car there until 2003 when it was converted for use in the NZ Trofeo series. It was campaigned by it’s first owner there until 2010 when it was sold and passed to the next chap who had the car completely rebuilt from scratch over a 3yr period. It has raced once since then and, having decided to go in a different direction, the car was sold on to its current owner. He had the car ready for the 2014 season but never found the time to actually race it so decided to sell in the summer of 2014. I saw it advertised at the time but given that my schedule was about as hectic as its possible to get I passed on it at that time. Now that I have a few moments to come up for air I contacted the seller and found that the car was still available. A hundred or so pictures, screeds of spec and dyno sheets later as well as many a conversation I took the plunge and bought it.
I've been an avid trackdayer for a number of years with my rather wild Subaru but the car (and I) never quite managed the transition to racing for one reason or another but mostly because it was just too quick for me and I was never completely happy with it's rather snappy handling.
I had always hankered after a classic racer and had hummed and hawed between an Alfa GTA-type, BMW 2002, Escort Mk 1, Lotus Cortina and Lotus Elan’s but the one that always set my heart racing was the Alfa.
So the car.
Well this is the spec. I suspect it’ll be pretty handy.
• Alfaholics GTA Veloce 7x15 Superleggera rims
• Full Watts Linkage rear end
• 4.3 Limited Slip Diff (setup by Diff Specs 87% grip)
• Full set Bilstein gas shocks/special coils
• Jaz fuel tank and electric fuel pump
• Fully dipped and seam welded body
• Fibre glass bonnet
• Perspex windows
• Lightened bodyshell doors and boot
• Laminated front screen
• Fully COD compliant with COD Log book
• New RACETECH Race Seat
• New RACETECH Seatbelts (6 point, EXP 2016)
• Lightweight interior
• Alfaholics Aluminum Radiator/Oil Cooler
• Fully adjustable Lightweight corner weighted suspension / Noelathane bushed
• Tandem brake pedal box and rear bias valve
• Wilwood front calipers / ventilated custom rotors (Les Hunter)
• Standard rear calipers
• ACCUSUMP oil system (1.9L capacity)
• OMEX Rev Limiter
• STACK rev gauge with shift light
• Life-Line detachable steering boss
• ODYSSEY Red Top race battery
• INNOVATE Air/Fuel mixture gauge
• Hard wired AMB transponder
• Weight 880 Kg (approx.)
Engine (1968cc)
• Close ratio Gearbox (OS Giken ex: Spruell Motorsport. Ratios; 2.73, 1.73, 1.27, 1.00, 0.83)
• TILTON Cerametalic clutch (250lb clutch)
• Tuned to 98 Unleaded fuel
• Lightweight steel flywheel and ring gear(new)
• Lightweight alternator.
• Alfaholics Extractors
• Dellorto 45mm carbs and intake rams with Pipercross air cleaner
• Block, cross drilled. Crank, balanced with pulleys and flywheel
• Rods 2litre Twinspark, shotpeened, balanced and polished
• Race Head – 40mm stainless exhaust & 46mm inlet (9mm stem & bronze guides).
• Camshafts - full race 12.4mm lift big duration hollow lightweight cams
The rest of the car looks like this;
The engine dyno sheet:
My plans with it are relatively straightforward. Race it and drive it on the road.
I’ve spoken to Customs and agreed the VAT and Duty I’ll pay on the car on entry to the UK and also to the DVLA to confirm I can road register once again with them provided the car can pass an MOT.
So, when it arrives in the UK, it’ll be going straight to Alfaholics. They are going to check the whole thing over for me and replace anything that needs it and advise on anything they would do to improve the car for me.
At the same time, for racing purposes, I’m having one of their heated screens fitted, plumbed in fire extinguisher and the accusump either boxed in where it is or relocated to the boot as it’s considered a pressurised vessel and cannot be in the cabin.
Then for the road use I’ll have the front lights and rear number plate light reinstated as well as anything else I need to be able to get an MOT. I’ll then find a nice cheap dateless plate and get the car road registered.
I will also see if they can remove the rear window spars which are a regulation requirement for the NZ series. It’s quite odd, they need things like that but no need for a plumbed in fire extinguisher and happy for the accusump to be in the cabin?
I’m also looking for some seats for the car. I’ll fit a matching pair of bucket seats which I want to look as period as possible but still be FIA legal.
The car comes with two gearboxes. The close ratio racing gearbox as described in the spec and then a regular road box with normal ratios. I’ll not be driving the car on any big journeys to begin with so will have the racing box fitted so I can get some track use out of the car. If its too short then it’ll come back out again.
I ran the box ratios, diff ratio and engine revs through an online calculator which threw out these numbers for the max speed in gear;
Car makes peak power at 6500rpm so first set were assuming max revs of 6500rpm:
Speed @ Limit 1st 38.23 Mph
Speed @ Limit 2nd 60.32 Mph
Speed @ Limit 3rd 82.17 Mph
Speed @ Limit 4th 104.36 Mph
Speed @ Limit 5th 125.73 Mph
The engine is built to rev to 8250 with a hard limiter set at 8000rpm so I re-ran the numbers with a 7000rpm rev limit and got:
Speed @ Limit 1st 41.17 Mph
Speed @ Limit 2nd 64.96 Mph
Speed @ Limit 3rd 88.49 Mph
Speed @ Limit 4th 112.38 Mph
Speed @ Limit 5th 135.40 Mph
My ‘home’ circuit is Knockhill which those speeds should suit. A leggier track may see me sitting on the limiter sometimes so I may rebuild the road ratio box to a better spec too as an option.
In the very longterm I would like to see if I can get the car to FIA App K spec. I know it won’t be easy but the Scrutineer who covers Scotland has been extremely helpful so far and is going to give me some pointers on things I’ll need to do and see if there are any fundamentals that will cause me issue.
Anyway, I’ve rambled on somewhat so hopefully it’s been interesting. I’ll keep this thread updated with the developments on the car and more pics once it’s here!
Thanks for looking
James
Thanks for the comments folks. I'm certainly very excited to get my paws on it and get some classic racing under my belt!
Yes, sadly the HMRC deem it as having been out of the country for so long that it needs imported rather than 're-imported'. Also there appears to have been some form of VAT reclaim system in place in years gone by where it could be recovered on exportation.
As the car is deemed classic I do at least get away with only a 5% flat rate on the purchase price inc shipping cost so we're not talking a fortune.
The car cost me £23k and shipping of 1850 USD. 5% duty onto that and then the road registration and legalisation process. I think I'll be sub £30k all in for a road legal car but expect another £5k or so on that for race prep to my standard and some nice to have items in the car like Video V-Box etc for recording my racing and a pair of FIA approved matching seats.
Yes, sadly the HMRC deem it as having been out of the country for so long that it needs imported rather than 're-imported'. Also there appears to have been some form of VAT reclaim system in place in years gone by where it could be recovered on exportation.
As the car is deemed classic I do at least get away with only a 5% flat rate on the purchase price inc shipping cost so we're not talking a fortune.
The car cost me £23k and shipping of 1850 USD. 5% duty onto that and then the road registration and legalisation process. I think I'll be sub £30k all in for a road legal car but expect another £5k or so on that for race prep to my standard and some nice to have items in the car like Video V-Box etc for recording my racing and a pair of FIA approved matching seats.
Edited by James B on Tuesday 30th December 21:43
B'stard Child said:
Also did you manage to track down the original UK plate so it can be registered back on that?
The DVLA can't locate the original paperwork and I dont have it either so I suspect I'll just be allocated a period plate. Assuming it's nothing nice I'll change it for a 3x3 or 2x3 dateless plate. 
d 
Got the roll cage specs through from the seller. Sadly it appears the good people of NZ don't have the same level of requirement that we do in the UK. The main hoop is the only issue as its 38.1mm and should be 45mm for UK racing so I'll need that sorted.
I'll put a call into Alfaholics tomorrow and see what they suggest. I guess it's unlikely to be as simple as just replacing the main hoop so I think I'll end up putting a new full cage in.
I'll put a call into Alfaholics tomorrow and see what they suggest. I guess it's unlikely to be as simple as just replacing the main hoop so I think I'll end up putting a new full cage in.
Well you learn something new every day. Yesterday it was that the space for a seat to the right hand side of the transmission tunnel in the 105 series cars is less than the space to the left because of the tunnel is offset. The impact of this is that a gent of "greater proportions" in a RHD car cannot fit his usual GT width Cobra seat in the car but it would work in a LHD car.
I now have the task of finding the widest seat width that can fit in the driving position of the car and I suspect this news will also help me kick off the NY weight-loss regime!! I'm a hefty 17.5st at present so hope to be 16st by March and then see how I go from there.
I now have the task of finding the widest seat width that can fit in the driving position of the car and I suspect this news will also help me kick off the NY weight-loss regime!! I'm a hefty 17.5st at present so hope to be 16st by March and then see how I go from there.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff