1970 Alfa Romeo GT Junior Racer

[James B]

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

[James B]

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.

Edited by James B on Tuesday 30th December 21:43

[James B]

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.

[James B]

Car hasn't arrived yet but accumulation of things for it has begun.

I have just acquired the plate 2 UBE for it. Pretty chuffed with that one.
I'll get some black and silver vinyl plates made up for the car. Regular rectangle for the front but a square for the rear.

[James B]

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.

[James B]

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.

[James B]

Well the journey has begun.





It'll arrive at the container loaders tomorrow for containerisation. It has some nice container-mates at least;

993 RS and BMW racecar. Both UK-bound.

[James B]

Containerised and enroute! The excitement is building!!!!

[James B]

Just got the news from the MSA via the SMRC scrutineer;

The cage is Legal!!!!!

Woohoo! No need to go ripping it out.

[James B]

Thanks for the comments folks.

Yes, what a relief on the cage. Its really nicely designed and ties in to a greater number of points than an off the shelf cage. Saves me a couple of thousand at least.

The car is sailing now and is expected into Tilbury in March 2nd. Then Customs to pass through before it heads to Alfaholics around the 5th. There for just over a month as it's first shakedown is a Castle Coombe Trackday on the 11th April. Cannot wait!!!!!

[James B]

I have been speaking to the chaps at Alfaholics and all is looking good. They're extremely helpful and so knowledgeable. I've saved money already on things that I was assuming needed done that they were able to say didn't need doing.

Their job list isn't short however....

For making road legal:

1 Supply and fit lightweight headlights to the car
2 Supply and fit Alfaholics HID lighting to headlights
3 Supply and fit Indicator stalk
4 Supply and fit rear numberplate Carello lighting
5 Supply and fit front heated screen
6 Supply and fit lightweight heater unit
7 Supply and fit horn and horn push button
8 Supply and fit passenger wiper and washer system
9 Supply and fit wide angle rear view mirror
10 Fit Yokohama A048 tyres
11 Fit vinyl '2 UBE' number plates front and rear
12 Fit short ratio OS Giken gearbox
13 MOT the car

For racing:

14 Fit Plumbed in Lifeline Sero 360 electrically operated fire extinguisher with external button
15 Move existing drivers seat and harness to passenger side
16 Fit new Racetech bucket seat and HANS compliant harness to driver side
17 Remove Accusump and associated plumbing completely
18 Fit rain light to rear of car
19 Assess car for racing and suggest any upgrades you would recommend


They will have the car on the 5th March I hope and their trackday is on the 11th April which will be its shakedown day so i'll need to see how they get on in completing everything.

[James B]

Having received the car's technical papers I've been able to identify a few more areas for improvement.

1) Fuel cell.
Currently the car is fitted with a foam filled plastic type tank of 30 ltr capacity. The install looks ok but the tank is positioned at the back and to one side which can't help the balance of the car. The car is cornerweighted so a fundamental change like this will affect it but I'm keen to improve the fuel system and will have any weight shift dialed out with another corner weighting session.

This is how it looks at present:




I plan to fit this:
http://www.alfaholics.com/2010/07/alfaholics-57-li...
It's better positioned, tidier and of nearly twice the capacity. I think it makes sense to fit. It will eventually look like this:


(Coincidentally the yellow car will also be racing in Classics at KH this year I'm told)

2) Brakes

The car is fitted with a set of relatively standard looking discs and Wilwood 4 pots on the front and then a near standard setup on the rear. I have a pic at home which I'll post later.

I think it's worth my while putting on something beefier so will probably go for the Alfaholics 6 pot setup on the front and then the billet rears. My car has had the servo assistance removed and a balance bar system fitted. If the system is deemed quality enough then i'll just change out the front and real caliper and disc assemblies. If it's a sub-optimal setup at present then the whole lot comes out and i'll fit the Alfaholics GTA-R system.
A lot of money could be frittered away on this site....
http://www.alfaholics.com/race-performance/alfahol...

I would obviously then have the decision on whether I go with the regular calipers and bells or the Superleggera versions to save 2.0kgs over the regular calipers all for the princely sum of another £450.......
People who know me will also know that 2kgs of additional weight in the car is not a particularly big deal when compared with the mobile weight penalty I add!!!!

[James B]

It has arrived in the UK!!!!
Sadly I'm not in the UK at the moment but will be home on Sunday. Car is now at Alfaholics so the work can begin. I will be down there next Friday to see the car in the flesh for the first time.







That's the car sitting on good old UK soil!

[James B]

Thanks for the comments.

I really do hope it's what I'm expecting. I must have watched every single but of racing footage from Alfa's of this type. I'm so excited to hear the induction roar from the twin 45's!

[James B]

So I saw the car in the flesh for the first time today. It really is every bit as good as I hoped!

Alfaholics are already well underway with the work. The screen is out for the heated one to be fitted and the headlights are in but we're needing to fit all new wiring as it had been removed.

After a bit of deliberation we decided that the best way forward for the braking system was to replace the whole lot inc the pedal box. There is an unknown type and fitment of master cylinder in there that will mean I would have replacement/maintenance issues. Add to that the fact that the Alfaholics kit is literally the best in the biz it made sense to do it. I went for the superleggera kit in the end too.... I'm such a sucker for lightness! Haha

The suspension and rear setup all looks good with the right bits in the right places. A few minor tweaks required but nothing fundamental.

I also test fitted the seat and I fit...just!
It's going to be lowered by around 2" and moved back a touch if possible. On the strength of the test fit I've bought a matching seat so will have the new one fitted to drivers side and the existing one shifted across to the passenger.

The car is due for the Trackday at Combe on the 11th April so Alfaholics are going to have it all done in time for that. However, there was one less than ideal part. The roll cage.

Whilst being safe and MSA approved now that I've seen it in the flesh I'm not completely happy. It's actually quite small in the car and reduces the space within what is already a small car. It also has a daft cross member between the a-pillars that would usually be shaped to hug the top of the screen. This one is just a straight bar right across the top but about 3" from the roof so very visible to me. Sadly it will annoy me and it's not "right" so needs sorted. On that basis, following the Trackday, the car will come back to Alfaholics and have the interior stripped and the whole car will go to custom cages for a fully welded in T45 cage. It's the right thing to do and will make me happier about the cage. Its also lighter which is a bonus!

Then once it's all back together it can come home to Aberdeen for some racing!!!!!

Believe it or not but I was so happy to see the car I forgot to take many pics at all! I think I got three But all of the underneath. I'll upload anyway.

[James B]

[James B]

[James B]

Down at Goodwood for the Members Meeting today getting my racing (spectating) fix. Dearly wish my car was;
A) ready
B) eligible!

As for the weight, It won't matter much but in my class for the car to be competitive I need to add lightness as the Escorts running 2.3 engines have a fair power advantage.

[James B]

Down at Goodwood for the Members Meeting today getting my racing (spectating) fix. Dearly wish my car was;
A) ready
B) eligible!

As for the weight, It won't matter much but in my class for the car to be competitive I need to add lightness as the Escorts running 2.3 engines have a fair power advantage.

[James B]

Just got a wee update from the Alfaholics chaps.

Brakes are now on. I stumped up for the superlight kit.




The kit also includes a new pedal box, balance bar and master cylinder assembly so that is all new, serviceable and made up of known parts.



All looking really good. Only 12 days left till I see the car again, driving it in 13 days!