Buying First Classic Alfa - help!

[mikeh501]

Bought a 105 coupe a few months back and its a hoot. Gets more looks than anything else i've driven tbh. Blasting up B roads is great, and you feel a driving god at 60mph lol. Lots of fun, and i've already started planning mods for over winter. Its pretty simple mechanically whilst at the same time being more modern than its years would suggest. Good advice on ensuring its as rot free as possible, as I thoroughly checked mine and still found a little bit once id stripped the interior out.

Mine is a 72 1600 Junior which had been setup for historic rallying. Roll cage, limited slip diff, rebuilt engine by Bob Dove with 10.9 cams etc.


Im currently stripping the interior in order to make some upgrades and mods to my taste.

[jonesey]

mikeh501 said:

Bought a 105 coupe a few months back and its a hoot. Gets more looks than anything else i've driven tbh. Blasting up B roads is great, and you feel a driving god at 60mph lol. Lots of fun, and i've already started planning mods for over winter. Its pretty simple mechanically whilst at the same time being more modern than its years would suggest. Good advice on ensuring its as rot free as possible, as I thoroughly checked mine and still found a little bit once id stripped the interior out.

Mine is a 72 1600 Junior which had been setup for historic rallying. Roll cage, limited slip diff, rebuilt engine by Bob Dove with 10.9 cams etc.


Im currently stripping the interior in order to make some upgrades and mods to my taste.

What an absolute beaut! Do you anticipate doing any long road trips? I love my annual lads trips (4 996's of various flavours) but i'm not sure that i'd want to go in a 105 with 3 guys in 911's - for no other reason that i'd need to push the Alfa hard to keep up?

[Scalino]

If your not pushing, you’re not using it properly...

On a serious note, if you were to go for a 1750 or 2000 (or swap one in yourself), I think you would be surprised how hard of a time you could give a 911 on some twisty roads!

[mikeh501]

Ive actually got a 911 too, a 991 GTS which tbh is in a different universe of performance; but i enjoy driving the alfa just as much. You can really ring its neck, keep up with most on B roads and its just a hoot to drive tbh. The 911 is an amazing sports car, so fast; but at legal speeds its a bit mundane like most modern cars.

As for long road trips, yeah I can see me doing some in the alfa (would love to follow the mille miglia for example) but only as i steadily get to know it, trust it and improve it. Its still a 48 year old car! and I think it could do with some usability improvements to really get the best from it. luckily there are a huge number of upgrades you can do to it easily from the likes of alfaholics and classic alfa.

[sunbeam alpine]

mikeh501 said:

...but only as i steadily get to know it, trust it and improve it. Its still a 48 year old car! and I think it could do with some usability improvements to really get the best from it...

The Nord motor is very strong - so long as you take care of basic maintenance, these cars are very reliable.

I've always had the attitude that if a car can drive 10 miles, it can drive 100. If it can drive 100 it can drive 1000. My cars have been all over Europe, and taking a classic Alfa down to Italy is an experience in itself. You'll meet really friendly people and be invited to see unbelievable cars. I'm sure that pretty much very village in Tuscany has as least one classic car collector!

This is my Alfa collection -

[mikeh501]

Agreed, and its a basic vehicle so not much to go wrong tbh. I've yet to go through all the fluids and maintenance items as yet so its early days for me.

However, in the first 2-3 weeks...

1. The clutch slave has blown. Now replaced with AH race clutch hydraulics kit (its now ace)
2. The starter motor is sticking when the engine is hot. Looking at an upgraded one when i fit trumpets.
3. Found the burman box is leaking, very common i understand and it was only 1/2 full. Filled with penrite.
4. Reading through the history file (2 box files!) I think the tyres are 12 years old! no wonder they squeal lol.

[sunbeam alpine]

mikeh501 said:

Agreed, and its a basic vehicle so not much to go wrong tbh. I've yet to go through all the fluids and maintenance items as yet so its early days for me.

However, in the first 2-3 weeks...

1. The clutch slave has blown. Now replaced with AH race clutch hydraulics kit (its now ace)
2. The starter motor is sticking when the engine is hot. Looking at an upgraded one when i fit trumpets.
3. Found the burman box is leaking, very common i understand and it was only 1/2 full. Filled with penrite.
4. Reading through the history file (2 box files!) I think the tyres are 12 years old! no wonder they squeal lol.

On a new (to me) classic Alfa, if I swap the slave I do the master cylinder as well - often a new slave will cause the master cylinder to fail and vice versa.

Sticking starter motor when hot can also be related to ignition wiring, which is a common problem with these cars. You can test this with a wire from the positive terminal on the battery to the feed coming from the ignition switch (OBVIOUSLY NOT THE MAIN FEED TO THE STARTER!!!). You attach the wire to the positive battery terminal and just touch it to the low tension side of the solenoid. If the car turns over OK the starter is OK. If that's so, the simplest solution is to fit a relay under the bonnet - using the ingition feed to activate the relay. I've fitted this on quite a few Alfas.

[mikeh501]

Thanks for the thoughts on the starter motor ill give this a whirl when it next does it.

On the clutch slave, I replaced the all of the clutch hydraulics including all the lines so its literally bran new. New girling resevoir, braided line down to master cylinder, new girling master cylinder, new braided line straight to the slave omitting the existing flexi, and then a new clutch slave.

[arguti]

For those of you contemplating a 105 twinspark conversion, a few photos for inspiration: MOT done, just needs some tidying up, cavity waxing, etc

[sunbeam alpine]

arguti said:

For those of you contemplating a 105 twinspark conversion, a few photos for inspiration: MOT done, just needs some tidying up, cavity waxing, etc

That is truly a thing of beauty! Congratulations

[mikeh501]

arguti said:

For those of you contemplating a 105 twinspark conversion, a few photos for inspiration: MOT done, just needs some tidying up, cavity waxing, etc

that is lovely, enjoy. love the colour

[arguti]

mikeh501 said:

that is lovely, enjoy. love the colour

Thanks I had decided that I have enough red alfas but then again, I now have enough grey and black ones too - apart from the yellow Lancia which is now for sale!

[ghgunning]

jonesey said:

This is exactly what I had imagined I’d hear and it’s great that these anecdotes continue popping up. My misty eyed visions of keeping one on the boil down my favorite roads and then taking the family to the pub or tinkering in the garage seem well placed here!

Thanks for the heads up on bills- I’ve run and modified a 911 (albeit the “ugly” one) for a few years so I’m no stranger to heart over head spending.

Any pics?

[jonesey]

Not quite the original remit but i wondered if the PH Alfa audience has any views on this Sprint 2600. Obviously not a standard car but does anybody have one? I'm doing some digging on the straight 6 but thought i'd ask. I love the ethos of it, sound, historic racing eligibility etc.

https://themarket.co.uk/listings/alfa-romeo/2600-s...

[sunbeam alpine]

I've never been a big fan of the Sprint, but at that price (as it seems to be indicating that the reserve has been met) it seems a steal.

[jonesey]

sunbeam alpine said:

I've never been a big fan of the Sprint, but at that price (as it seems to be indicating that the reserve has been met) it seems a steal.

Thanks very much. Re: your views on the sprint - does that come purely from a styling point of view? Driving?

We'll see how how the auction goes.

[sunbeam alpine]

jonesey said:

sunbeam alpine said:

I've never been a big fan of the Sprint, but at that price (as it seems to be indicating that the reserve has been met) it seems a steal.

Thanks very much. Re: your views on the sprint - does that come purely from a styling point of view? Driving?

We'll see how how the auction goes.

Purely from the styling. I've never driven one. I like the idea of a straight 6 though.

[velocemitch]

I remember that car from a series of articles in a magazine I used to get. I can’t remember the name of it, but it was a racing engineering sort of mag. I think it was the editors car.

[chrisr29]

Stick to the 105, they drive like a proper sports car where as the sprint doesn’t!

Parts supply is no where near as good, especially body panels.

They are more tourer than sports car.

[Elderly]

chrisr29 said:

Stick to the 105, they drive like a proper sports car where as the sprint doesn’t!

/\ Especially the RHD versions of the Sprint..

Edited by Elderly on Monday 9th November 09:04