jerry

aw yes, i remember those days.  i liked to slog around in the mud in the personal attacks/political section back in the day where we could avoid 'virtue signaling' to the www.  it was a novelty in its time, but that time has passed.

josh,  put me in line for the air cleaner cover if the other guy passes.  it looks familiar.  is it?  i'm working on your car's twin right now.  same color, 2575914.  cheers.

I have been on-again, off-again working on a mid-year model 71 02.  this is the first 02 where i encountered glue/sealant used on the windshield gasket, front and rear.  although it was a bear to remove it really saved the metal underneath.  anyhow.  this car has the early pinch strip used on the early cars.  this pinch strip was not used on later cars; squaretails for certain.  i can see the benefit of using it to hold the headliner in place, more than just hoping the glue holds.  later cars have tiny clips that i haven't been able to locate.  i've installed windshields without this strip and it seems to make the rubber lip easier to place while using the pull-string during installation. 

i seem to recall that this earlier method had a different p/n for the rubber gaskets.  is that true? 

are the gaskets useable with or without this pinch strip?  

the last time i tried to use windshield sealant i ended up smearing all over the opening.  it made a mess of the paint.  

from the cracked appearance of the original weatherstrip i was certain i'd see a bunch of rust.  it was a pleasant surprise to see such clean metal underneath.  the gasket shrunk and cracked but the sealant did its job keeping moisture away. 

looks like the earlier variant used with single barrel Solex carbs.  if you pull it out it likely will have what appear to be thermocouples protruding into the exhaust ports.  i've taken them out and blocked the forward and aft holes and used them as a 'poor man's' tii cast manifold.  these are also the manifolds that came with those very cool cast aluminum heat shields. 

OK, i stand corrected.  nevermind my explanation.  i did not know that the cast heat shield was used on later cars...

i have an unused Garret turbo and a couple turbo-type exhaust manifolds i'll include as a package deal for $400 if there is any interest i'll bring it to Brisbane.  i bought it at the 1st Brisbane show several years ago, but i'm not likely to use it.  my loss is your gain.  PM me if interested. 

question: can this pvc material take and hold staples to attach the original vinyl?  is glue a better alternative, perhaps?

do you have a MIG welder and are you handy with thicker gauge sheetmetal.  if so, it is a relatively easy repair to do a nice job if you take the time to cut out the rot and butt weld a patch in place.  the frame rail is pretty straight in shape to begin with so you don't have any complex curves to deal with.  it looks like the area aft of your rust has crumbled in from jacking (i suppose).  that might suggest that it is rusty too and weakened.    i would wire-wheel the entire frame rail from the rust hole aft.  cut out the rust hole area and then take a mechanic's mirror and see what you can find inside.  you can cut a piece of hardwood to use as a template to reform some 14-16 gauge sheet metal to shape.  i'd probably want to make my welds along the side of the frame rails and not the bottom surface, but that's just me.

i've salvaged a couple quarter panels off square tails before.  there's a fair bit of troublesome reinforcement to get through by the tail light area.  much easier on a roundie.  also, the reinforcing panel glued to the quarter panel (delaminated in your case likely) would make it hard to reshape in place.  i'm betting if you were willing to do most of the panel beating or supply a good one to a body guy after liberating your panel, you could save a big amount of labor cost. 

removing the panel requires about a devoted Saturday to

remove the rear quarter window.

remove the aluminum trim by drilling the rivets out.

peel the pinchweld from the b-pillar,

remove interior panel and rear seat. 

remove rear bumper. 

best to remove the rear  window too if you'd like to avoid fussing with a larger butt weld down low, ie. make the joint along the c-pillar. 

get a handful of 1/8in and 5/16in cobalt drill bits and start drilling out the spotwelds all along the bottom edge, b-pillar, wheel well and carefully use a dremel like die grinder to cut through the handful of tackwelds along the way.  wire wheeling the spotwelds can help locate them. 

use a very stiff spatula and hammer to break the spotweld ligament apart as you pilot with the 1/8in drill and try to drill through the top layer only with the 5/16in drill. 

liberating your bashed quarter panel will make it easier to reshape any underlying structural parts underneath.  and, you might be able to actually save your quarterpanel. 

i've been trying to find that ever elusive free Saturday to do this very same job to save a '71 02 i have on hand.  it was hit from the PS tail light and pushed the quarter forward and bowed it.  all this rain hasn't made it any easier to get started.

76's are really good solid 02's.  i liked the one i had but the smog thing is a bummer for CA. 

i'm not trying to scare you away from the job, in fact, what i described above doesn't take much skill, just patience and willing attitude.  good luck.

you sir, have stumbled onto a very nice car.  your brightwork is plenty bright as it is.  so is your paint.  apply a wax, but be easy on using an electric polisher.  avoid it actually.  those single barrel solex's are a wonder to have on a sorted engine.

i can only suggest that you post the VIN in case they try a re-paint in a new color and it's passed along.  i'm sorry for your loss.  is it time for the rest of us to put a transponder, ala, Lo-Jack, on our vintage cars?

thanks so much,  there is no better car forum site available.   period. 

4 hours ago, Wattfab said:

only 965 vin #'s away. (2761385)

 

Ah,.. no snorkel and a bulgie radiator hose,

hope all else is well.

 

i've got 2760403, only 9 VINs away.  but your's is in much better original shape, mine, not so much.  nice score no matter how it looks under that paint.

pictures, or it didn't happen.  if you never want it to rust again, store your car in an inert atmosphere, like nitrogen 

can you feel the jealousy at the end of my fingertips as i type this?   very nice.  if it were mine it would be jammed pack with garbage in no time...

it's been a while since i last asked, so i was wondering if the firewall insulation pad is still NLA?

the last one i bought was from a clearance sale from the Garage Mahal several years ago.  i could use another or two

those photos are killing me.  i want, i want.  the car is currently 1970's hippie purple and i'd guess it wasn't much later that it was put away, supposedly in a barn in MA.  the original color was white and i will keep it that color, although the blue example above is stunning.  these cars wear any color well as long as it's not metallic.  the original interior was red carpet, and black upholstery with red piping.  i'm gonna go alittle flashy with a white exterior (single stage paint) and a red interior. 

there are enough parts sources for these cars, some here, a couple in the UK and for sheetmetal there's a place in Italy as well as some folks here who custom make sheetmetal parts.  i bought my trunk floor and rockers from a guy in TX.  the crossmember was originally sourced from Italy but was a leftover from a customer so i was able to buy it without the import hassles.

my brother from OR saw it today for the first time and encouraged me to send it there for sheetmetal work.  i know the shop he's referring to and says the guy's reasonable and highly regarded (Hooligans).  i am considering it.  goes against my nature, but looking at those examples above, i'd sure like to push this one forward a bit.

i've signed up on the AlfaBB,  it's not the FAQ, but all car guys are generally good natured and want to help, there's just not as much activity as the FAQ.

thanks guys,  i'm off to free up some rusty nuts and bolts.  as soon as i can lighten it up and free some space, i'm pushing it under my semi-enclosed carport.  even as ratty as it looks now it just wreaks of Italian design savvy. 

when taken as a whole, this is indeed an ambitious project.  i deal with that on the notion of the blind man encountering an elephant.  i look at one feature at a time...

the 72tii was a very hopeless car when i got it, but in that case i was fortunate to be offered a junk car to cut parts from.  i am on my own to fabricate the rear inner side rails for this car.  that is akin to making a frame rail for an 02 from scratch.  i'm learning Tig welding currently, but can fall back on Mig if necessary.

the good thing about this car is that it does not appear to have been in an accident. 

first order of business is to remove the engine (tiny in comparison to an 02 engine, 1.3L vs 2.0L) and tranny, bumpers and then secure the body with braces.

one last observation: this alfa and i suppose the Porsche 356's are the closest adult toy to recreate the childhood excitement of the old Schuco wind up toys. 

OK, this was not an impulse buy because i had been 'on again, off again' searching for one of these for the past 2 years after seeing one on Bring A Trailer.  reading the comments of folks who've owned these cars and just the mere shape of them was enough to pique my interest.  in the meantime i had been outbid on a couple that i had the courage to put a bid on and they were not getting any cheaper.  the only way i was going to possess one was to buy the rattiest one i was willing to pay for and then i had to have it shipped from one end of the country to the other; in other words it was an east coast car going to the Left coast; generally not the preferred direction to acquire a car.

i must admit that to bring this car home i had to make room for it and the easiest way to do that was to let one of my 72tii's go.  i chose to let go of the tii that i had spent considerable time repairing rust.  the good news is that it is going to a former owner who had the car in the 1970's and had always wondered what had happened to it.  it was on this forum that he found me and we'd kept in touch while i worked on his former car.  i offered him the body shell and matching block with KF pump for a nominal fee.  i chalk it up to my sheetmetal education so it's a win-win for both of us.

so, now back to my early xmass present to myself.  it is a 1960 alfa romeo guilietta spider veloce.  the veloce version is the equivalent to the tii variant of an 02.  it has more HP and was set up for racing with several tweaks including hotter cam, dual webers, bigger oil pump and oil pan, higher compression and other details.  unfortunately, mine did not have the dual carb setup as it was removed sometime in its existence.  i do have the proper weber dcoe2's for it and bought an earlier version of the correct intake manifold.  one thing is for sure, new and used alfa parts for these cars make 02 parts seem very reasonable in comparison. 

i will have to up my game as far as sheetmetal work, but i have already committed to buying some good quality repair pieces as i want to speed the process along somewhat and the value of the completed car makes it necessary to keep the repairs looking OEM as much as possible. 

2 hours ago, Son of Marty said:

I just use JB weld and have never had it let me down, as for the bracket if you have the broken piece cut to sheet aluminum bits that just fit the bracket contours then sandwich the broken piece between them with JB weld and pop rivets, let it dry overnight and it will be as good as new.  

i'm a big fan of just using a 2-part epoxy cement and aluminum patches.  avoid rivets as they are only necessary to join the case together and they are merely stress risers on already brittle plastic.

use some 16 to 18 gauge Aluminum stock (around 0.025-0.040in thick), could be thinner.  i've made valve bracket out of this and merely epoxied to the remnants of the plastic attachment feature.  good as new and strong enough; no rivets needed.  as for the missing corner section, make a corner out of aluminum sheet to the contour and epoxy to the box.  use c-clamps to secure overnight.  if your housing is cracked (who's isn't by now?), merely glue an aluminum patch (can be thinner stock, even a beer can gauge thickness) over the crack and clamp overnight.  don't clamp too hard or you'll squeeze out the magic epoxy.  spray paint the whole exterior in satin black and no one will ever know the difference.

are you interested in 02 shells or do you need all the bits?  i'm in marin and am considering downsizing a bit.  i've got someone in St. Louis, MO who has first dibs on my 72tii shell (only because he was a previous owner).  all my shells have their matching engine blocks.  most have rust.

8 hours ago, Z3M said:

One more bump!

i'm guessing one's car will go bump, if these tired-looking bushings were reinstalled...

i got a set of these a couple years ago from Bavauto, IIRC and was pissed because i thought they were for another model.  i never got around to returning them.  still have 'em and will see if they fit now that i see yours. 

BTDT  don't just cover it up with POR.  remove the cancer.  i literally went piece by piece to reconstruct this firewall .  i just wish i had the time to complete this car...

you're gonna want to remove your heater box.  i bet the opening into the plenum area is rusted at the bottom and a major source of your rusting floor up front.

this car's got to come down to the bones to fix.  even to fix halfway you'd be better off removing engine, suspension and interior to get at the rusty bits.  if you can get it for $1800 or less, the parts could be sold to recoup your fee if you give up.  it is a worthy cause to save it...

(easy for me to say from the comfort of my easy-chair)