Butchering a Bertone

[P5BNij]

I think the word epic is often overused, but in this case it hits the spot nicely.... what a fantastic way to get something just the way you want it...!

[irocfan]

thebraketester said:

CarreraLightweightRacing said:

Once finished getting mashed up and ended up like this:

That is stunning.....

[geeks]

What a machine!

[5pen]

Love your work. And the rest of the garage content too.

[supacool1]

Utter porn!

[Cocknose]

This has just become my favourite Readers' Cars thread. Those old Alfas are stunning, and that suspension, wow!

Well played, Sir

[woodnut67]

Phwooar! Do you watch Home Built by Jeff (Australian YouTuber) perchance? He's doing a Ferrari engined Alfa albeit a road car and I think your fabrication could show him a thing or two!

[gf15]

Superb, Thank you for sharing.

[CarreraLightweightRacing]

In answer to a few of the questions raised:

Mr.Jimbo said:

That's utterly awesome. I think I prefer the restomod (ish) look you've ended up at but no denying that the aero machine is something else.

What power is the engine running? Must be a healthy improvement over stock and a fair power to weight I'm guessing.

Thanks Jimbo, from memory the stock 1600 GT Junior develops 107bhp. This car is now pushing out 265bhp but I will dyno the car shortly to verify.

SturdyHSV said:

Oh that's excellent, I'm going to assume there is video of this...?

Once the car is fully resolved, I will look into some sort of video

Jaaack said:

Now THAT is a seriously good way to ps off the purists

Bet it's a right laugh. Love it.

Funny you mention this Jaaack, I thought the Porsche beards had it bad from when I ruined my 911 in similar fashion but the Alfistas are truly on another level

Superhoop said:

Is that an MX-5 or RX-8 rear diff assembly in the rear end?

Well spotted SH, tis indeed an MX5 torsen diff with a 4.77 final drive.

shalmaneser said:

Do these have a steering box as standard? Would be interested to see how you've (presumably!) converted to a rack.

It has been fitted with a new Mk1 escort rack reworked with a higher ratio

woodnut67 said:

Phwooar! Do you watch Home Built by Jeff (Australian YouTuber) perchance? He's doing a Ferrari engined Alfa albeit a road car and I think your fabrication could show him a thing or two!

I've watched every video Jeff has made from when he first started out. He is incredibly talented with a great engineering mind and a diverse skillset from painting to welding to upholstery and everything in between. I'll give most things a go but have wide gaps in my fabrication knowhow. See 'Bad Obsession Motorsport' for real skill. Those boys are seriously talented.

Many thanks for all the positive comments guys The car has been a project for the last 8 years, for which I've spent the last year going over the whole car and reworking many systems including, Fuel, ignition, suspension, wheels, steering, body work, interior, engine, aero, NVH... It is getting pretty close to finished now but I still have the monumental task of getting it through the TUV approval process. Should that fail, I shall be finding another country to register it in which is a little more friendly in this respect (The UK or Sweden for instance, where it is currently registered).

[mooseracer]

Oh my goodness. WHAT a car!

Congratulations OP.

[Slippydiff]

Not nearly enough pictures

Get a video up smartish, or I'll have to post a link !!

Hope you're well Rich
Got your email thanks, I'll respond to it sometime this week.

[CarreraLightweightRacing]

Apologies for all the pictures Henry, I realise for some, this level of destruction could cause life long injuries

Regarding a video, a prominent YouTube has expressed an interest in coming over in late summer to review the cars so we will draw up a plan of action for this shortly.

I’m actually over in the UK right now but unfortunately spending a little too much time with the NHS, I’ll send you a picture via WhatsApp but you’ve been warned not to open before breakfast!

[Slippydiff]

CarreraLightweightRacing said:

Apologies for all the pictures Henry, I realise for some, this level of destruction could cause life long injuries

Regarding a video, a prominent YouTube has expressed an interest in coming over in late summer to review the cars so we will draw up a plan of action for this shortly.

I’m actually over in the UK right now but unfortunately spending a little too much time with the NHS, I’ll send you a picture via WhatsApp but you’ve been warned not to open before breakfast!

Too late I don't normally do breakfast until 9.00-9.30 ...

CarreraLightweightRacing said:

Regarding a video, a prominent YouTube has expressed an interest in coming over in late summer to review the cars so we will draw up a plan of action for this shortly.

Ah yes, I remember we spoke about this some months ago. CV-19 had put paid to any plans IIRC.

Hope the NHS get you sorted smartish Rich

[CarreraLightweightRacing]

Slippydiff said:

Not nearly enough pictures

Get a video up smartish, or I'll have to post a link !!

Hope you're well Rich
Got your email thanks, I'll respond to it sometime this week.

I'm looking into learning video production and editing over the winter but in the meantime here are a couple of raw one-take no editing videos; one is a walkaround and quick overview, the other is an acceleration test:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFSfXRSirjQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhbNhoioaVg

Apologies in advance for the crap quality, as mentioned above, I'm working on this for future videos

[RichTT]

Pure. Automotive. Porn.

Just stunning.

[CedricN]

Ive been following this build for years here in sweden, i didn't know where it went. Did you buy it from the builder in sweden or have it moved around? Nice to see its being continuously worked on and that it didn't disappear in someone's garage.

[CarreraLightweightRacing]

CedricN said:

Ive been following this build for years here in sweden, i didn't know where it went. Did you buy it from the builder in sweden or have it moved around? Nice to see its being continuously worked on and that it didn't disappear in someone's garage.

Hi Cedric, yes I bought the car from Bjorn. I saw the car and just had to have it. It was a 3200km drive with a trailer in one hit. I didn't even drive the car just loaded it up and drove home. It was an amazing achievement by Bjorn to get it to where it was, but quite simply it wasn't drivable for many reasons. A year since owning the car it is now just about fully resolved. I will still have to do all the testing and final set-up but the basic car is now one that starts, steers, is fully road compliant, mapped for normal fuel, NVH levels reduced...

There is still a fair way to go but it has been a very interesting project to be involved in. But like any project of this magnitude, there are always things you want to improve. Over the winter I still have to complete the TUV process, I want to optimise fueling & ECU map, fit sliding windows, change the wheels and suspension set-up, fit ICV and cold start system, change diff (from 4.7:1 to 4.1:1 final drive), redesign of ARB's... I just can't wait to get the drive the thing.

[Richard-390a0]

Now that is lovely. I hope it brings you many years of pleasure O/P.

[geeks]

Love the video, particularly in the mirror where it can be observed you are stopping yourself from smiling like an idiot, something I would do every time I went near it! Keep up the good work.

[Julian Thompson]

Tremendous build! Congratulations - I’m sure it’s going to provide tremendous fun over the years. Thanks for sharing!