'68 Alfa Romeo Gt Junior
Discussion
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.
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.Sounds wonderful, I'd be interested to hear how you get on!
I had the pleasure of being featured on Drive Tribes recently.
Seeing as I live close by, those nice folk at Donington Park gave me the Heritage Loop to play on for the day.
If anyone's reading this and has something older and interesting, 'The Toms' who wrote and shot this feature may like to hear from you.
http://tomeditorial.uk/
https://drivetribe.com/p/dHiAxPWNQNC1wZj2nTnTrg?ii...
I had the pleasure of being featured on Drive Tribes recently.
Seeing as I live close by, those nice folk at Donington Park gave me the Heritage Loop to play on for the day.
If anyone's reading this and has something older and interesting, 'The Toms' who wrote and shot this feature may like to hear from you.
http://tomeditorial.uk/
https://drivetribe.com/p/dHiAxPWNQNC1wZj2nTnTrg?ii...
Mr Dunamis said:
Hi Joe,
I am looking to buy some Corbeau Alpines like yours and wondered if you had a your fitting kit fabricated yourseld or did they come with the seats?
Cheers Adrian
Hi there. We used the original runners, but yes, I did have some cross members made up. I'd advise having a seat fitting beforehand, because, as i've said before, they are very snug, and I'm a 36" waist. Once in and settled, they are comfy. I drove the car to the Goodwood Revival last year, Derby to the event and back in a day without much difficulty, so not too bad.I am looking to buy some Corbeau Alpines like yours and wondered if you had a your fitting kit fabricated yourseld or did they come with the seats?
Cheers Adrian
scottos said:
Awesome, what a great car and story so far. Im glad you managed to keep the car rather than it getting sold off at auction!
One of these was on the initial short list for me when looking for a classic car but i just found them too unfamiliar, i'm much more comfortable with german stuff and the 2002 won me over, sadly haven driven it yet having spent the last 18 months building the thing but use will be much the same as yours, sprint days, track days and road trips etc. i cant wait and your thread here has got me even more excited for it. Of course ill also want it to feature heavily at my future wedding whenever that may be!
Scott
Cheers Scott.One of these was on the initial short list for me when looking for a classic car but i just found them too unfamiliar, i'm much more comfortable with german stuff and the 2002 won me over, sadly haven driven it yet having spent the last 18 months building the thing but use will be much the same as yours, sprint days, track days and road trips etc. i cant wait and your thread here has got me even more excited for it. Of course ill also want it to feature heavily at my future wedding whenever that may be!
Scott
These sort of cars are passion projects, but when they're right and being driven on the right road in the right weather, they are just brilliant.
Are you doing any sort of blog?
I'm saving up for the bodywork now, so the car is tucked away for the time being.
I should have got it underway, but bought a peach of a JDM DC2 Integra instead, in January, which is just great fun and very quick. I just couldn't let it get away! Great stable mate to the Alfa and long suffering B7 RS4.
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