May 2009 - Status check & disassembly

 
     

May 2nd 2009: The vehicle was extensively restored during the nineties. That is a blessing because otherwise the car wouldn't have been there anymore. Even though this restoration in the nineties was done very throroughly by experts the current condition requires another restoration. The vehicle hasn't been on the road in a very long time and this period of standing still has led to some issues. The list below is the list of currently seen/known items, I'm pretty sure the list will become much longer during the process.

    Body items to be done;

   1.)    Engine bonnet complete replacement, current bonnet is an imitation one and is most probably beyond repair.

    2.)    RH inner fender (near battery) completely rotten away, to be replaced.

    3.)    Rear side window section left and right hand side on bottom, rust repair.

    4.)    Area near windscreen wipers rust repair.

    5.)    Boot, rust repair.

    6.)    Boot, delete Alfasud Sprint licence plate lighting and fill holes, add holes for Alfasud badge.

    7.)    Several locations rust repair.

    8.)    Delete sun roof and weld hole shut.

    9.)    Repaint body in original colour.

    Trim & other items to be done;

   1.)    Replace plastic bumpers front and rear with original first type (before 1978).

    2.)    Replace plastic rear view mirror LH + RH with original chrome one(s).

    3.)    Replace front grille with original one.

    4.)    Delete Alfa 33 type 3 side skirts.

    5.)    Delete foil from rear windows and delete stickers from all windows.

    6.)    Delete front fog lights.

    7.)    Add original back-up light and licence plate light on rear end.

    8.)    Add chrome Alfasud logo on boot.

    9.)    Find back seat wood cover, currently missing.

    10.)  Add rubber trim on luggage compartment floor, currently missing.

    11.)   Replace Alfasud TI QV front seats with original black (imitation leather) trim seats.

    12.)  Replace third series dashboard with original first series dashboard (without center console).

    13.)  Possibly replace current first series Alfasud TI headlights with original square ones. I haven made up my mind yet. The TI headlights give much better visibility, but from an esthetical point of view I think the square ones should be fitted. Anyway I still have lots of time to think about that. A million of other things to do before I have to decide on which headlights to fit in.

    14.)  Engine bonnet, delete plastic trim at ventilation opening, those are applicable from a second series Alfasud.

    15.)  Delete alarm system.

    16.)  Delete front spoiler.

    17.)  Delete Quadrifoglio badge on LH + RH front fender.

    18.)  Replace LH + RH black door handles with original chrome ones.

    19.)  Replace cracked front windshield with original one without green sun-block stripe.

    20.)  Delete LH + RH rear wheel mud guards.

    21.)  Add rear seat seat belts if I can find them.

    22.)  Delete Alfasud Sprint licence plate and back-up lights on boot.

    23.) Add ceiling handles if I can find them.

    24.) Restore ceiling trim (hole due to sun roof).

    25.) Add locks to wood spare wheel cover plate (currently missing).

    26.) Replace current wood sports steering wheel with original first series Sud steering wheel (not TI one).

    27.) Replace current strange coloured floor carpet with either original rubber one if I can find it or black "normal" one.

 

May 8th 2009:  Emptied the luggage compartment which is full of spare parts and put them on the loft.

Car full of (spare) parts.

 

All (spare) parts taken out.

 

Spare parts on loft including "Blu Posillipo" 904B boot.

Spare parts on loft.

May 9th 2009:  Deleted rear mud guards left and right, disassembled rear bumper, disassembled Alfasud Sprint back-up lights and licence plate light on boot. The boot has been affected by rust in a more severe way then originally thought. Deleted the front fog lights and front spoiler. Tried to disconnect the front bumper but didn’t succeed. The bumper is relatively difficult to disassemble on your own because the fastened connection consists out of a bolt and nut. If you turn the nut the bolt head starts turning. I’ll just wait until somebody can help me out. When disassembling the rear mudguards it was clear that the wheel wells are in very good shape, the only damage is on the passenger side a small piece of the well flange is missing towards the vehicle front side. A slight surprise are the big square holes in the boot which became visible when the Sud Sprint lights were deleted.

Rear mudguard.

 

Rear mudguard deleted.

 

Rear bumper (third series Sud) & Alfasud Sprint licence

plate lights & reversing lights.

Rear bumper deleted.

 

Boot trim removed, Sud Sprint lights visible.

 

Sud Sprint licence plate lights & reversing lights removed from boot.

 

Front fog lights & TI spoiler.

Front fog lights & spoiler disassembled.

May 15th 2009: Received an Alfasud badge which I won on the auction site E-Bay. The part comes from the UK. The state of the chrome is not so good, but the important thing is that all the pins on the rear end are in perfect shape. The current boot of my car doesn't have the required hole pattern so with this not so beautiful badge I can at least the determine the correct hole pattern. The badge will be put on eventually as it should be on a Giardinetta type 904A.

Alfasud boot badge won on E-Bay UK.

May 19th 2009: Through the Dutch Alfa Romeo Club forum I came in contact with someone who had chrome rearview mirrors and a complete hood release cable. Today I received a box with a left hand & right hand side rear view mirror in chrome to replace my current plastic third series Sud ones. Additionally the hood release cable was included which makes me very happy. It’s a complete cable including the lever and the emergency lever. This will allow me to open the hood and release the front brakes if they become stuck again ;-)  Whether I will keep the mirrors in the current lower position or in the original more upward position I haven't decided yet.

Box with Sud parts.

 

Hood release cable complete with emergency cable.

 

Left hand side rear view mirror.

Right hand side rear view mirror.

May 21st 2009: Today’s a national holiday so it's a nice opportunity to proceed. My dad helped me to disassemble the front bumper. 2 pairs of hands made this job a lot easier. The next item is to take out the seats. Somehow I can’t move the driver’s seat nor the other seat so I can’t reach the hexagon bolts to disassemble them. Quite frustrating but I want to move on so let’s try the rear bench. The lower seat is connected with 4 M8 bolts at an easily accessible location so that one went out quickly. The only bummer was that one of the bolts was broken. I have no idea yet how to get out the remaining piece. A worry for later. Next item is the back seat’s back. Basically a simple task because it’s only connected to the body with the 2 locks on the upper side and the 2 hinges on the lower side. The upper side is of course the easiest one, just apply the lever and it’s done. Then for the hinges; I have no idea. The most obvious thing is to disassemble the 2 bolts and the nut on the left hand and right hand side. Just as easy said as done. Now how to get it out? After struggling for some time I accidentally moved the stud from which I removed the nut. The stud was free to move and this was the solution. A clever construction, but it took me quite some time to find out. Normally you would firstly have to disassemble the wood cover of the back seat before you can reach these hinge bolts and nut. I also removed all the wood trim from the trunk. 1 part is broken and I have to see if I can find a new/other one. That will be difficult.

Front bumper removed with the aid of my dad.

 

Rear bench in position.

 

Lower seat fastening bolts (2 RH side & 2 LH side).

 

Upper seat fastening (lower side) with 2 bolts and 1 nut per side (RH & LH).

 

Rear bench disassembled.

Rear bench and wood trim removed from trunk.

May 23rd 2009: Through the Dutch Alfa club internet forum I found out that the panel at the rear seats is glued around the B-pillar and tucked between the door rubber, so time to get them out. First I got the door rubber out and then released the glued portion of the panels. The rest of the trunk trim is fairly simple to remove. The only extra-ordinary thing to do was drill out the rivets which hold the aliminium strip in place. This strip was placed by the previous owner to hold a cover the luggage compartment in place. The fabric on the C-Pillars is something which puzzles me. In the sales brochures I have of the Giardinetta the C-Pillars don't have fabric, but just bare (painted) metal. If anybody knows whether the fabric was there for certain versions please let me know. The door cards left & right are disassembled.

I want to get the front seats out so let’s give it another try. The first time I tried it the problem was that I couldn’t move the seats backward or forward so I couldn’t reach the hexagon bolts with which the chairs are bolted to the floor. After some struggling my dad finally found that the chair lever wasn’t supposed to be lifted but it was supposed to be tilted towards the side. Thanks to my dad finally the chairs could be disassembled. Next the third series Sud center console was taken out. That one won't come back. Now the floor carpet was the next thing to get out. The trim at the door opening which holds the carpet in place is relatively easy to disassemble with a few screws, however the left hand side front screw was not moving. I tried a screw driver and then a screw driver with an arm to apply more force/torque. Still the screw wouldn’t turn. As a final resort I tried it with a hammer and it worked, but it broke. As a final job for today the C-Pillar ventilation rosters and rear lights removed.

Aluminium strip riveted to body and bolted to handle.

 

Aluminium strip removed.

 

Wheel arch trim removed.

 

C-pillar trim removed.

 

Front seats, center console, door cards & carpet removed (thanks for the great help dad).

C-Pillar ventilation roster & rear lights removed.

May 24th 2009: Disassembled the front grille and the right hand headlight frame. The left hand headlight frame was not co-operating and 1 of the studs was turning together with the nut. The headlight is assembled with 3 nuts. 2 nuts can be assembled relatively easy, but I have no idea how to reach the third nut. Possibly disassemble the wing first??? To be continued.

Front grille & right hand headlight frame removed.

 

Front grille removed. Left hand headlight frame didn't co-operate.

 

Carpet removed (hideous dashboard & steering wheel).

Interior view to front side, pretty empty.

May 30th 2009: Another fine day, the weather is fantastic again. Today’s targets are; remove the LH plastic headlight cover, remove LH & RH headlights, delete alarm system, remove windscreen wipers. First things first and start with the LH headlight cover. Since the thread stud is turning together with the nut I thought using a blind nut was the solution however the nut was already so far that the blind nut didn’t fit anymore. Damn damn damn. Some WD40 and several tries further I decided to leave it for the moment. Next I removed a very thick cable which was bolted to the battery. There must have been a very exotic stereo in this car in the past. The hole this cable left has to be filled in the future. Next item is to delete the horn from the alarm system on the inner wing. This went quite smooth. The horn itself was attached with 2 M4 nuts and the bracket with 2 parkers to the inner wing. Next item is to delete the main switch. This must have been for the exotic stereo as well or the alarm system? I thought it was just disassembling the 2 M8 nuts below the dashboard, but there was no movement after disassembly. I found out that the top (service area) had 2 big M10/M12 connectors. With those 2 connectors disassembled there was still no movement. With a little more light I found out that kit was holding the switch in position. With a small screwdriver I impaled the kit and used the screw driver as a lever. Finally the main switch was out. Now the whole wiring could be pulled inside. The amount of wiring is so much that I decided to leave it for someone with more knowledge about electronics than myself. The LH windscreen wiper came off easily. The RH windscreen wiper resisted a whole lot and it took quite some time to get it off. Now for the headlight disassembly. The final nut with which the headlight is fastened is unreachable so I decided to remove the front wings. With the front wings removed the access should be good. After disassembling 9 bolts and nuts in the engine bay I thought the wing was loose, but it wasn’t. Again I tried the Dutch Alfa Club forum for some tips, let’s see. A shocking discovery today was the fact that my doors are third type Sud doors. The rearview mirrors are fixed at a lower point than the 1st type. I have to think about what to do. Put the chrome mirrors in the original more upward position or leave the attachment holes where they are now. Additionaly I found out that the chrome mirrors and the 3rd series plastic ones have a different pitch between the bolt holes so anyway the door has to be modified. That's something I didn't expect.

Left hand front headlight frame thread end with blind nut.

 

Alarm system on RH inner wing.

 

Main power switch seen from underneath the dashboard.

 

Main power switch seen from engine bay service area.

 

Alarm system and main power switch removed. Wing nuts & bolts disassembled.

 

May 31st 2009: The battery doesn't show much life. The voltage when checked was 10.7 Volt. Not dramatic even though it's too low of course. When I opened the cap of the cells these were completely dry so I went to the closest available gas station and bought distilled water. After filling the battery cells with distilled water it could be connected to the charger near a well vented area. Lastly I removed the sun visors and cloverleaf badge on RH wing.

Distilled water and battery charger.

 

Charging battery at a vent.

 

Rearview mirror (3rd series Sud).

 

Rearview mirror removed.

Chrome rearview mirror bolt hole pitch different then 3rd series Sud, damn damn.

Cloverleaf badge removed from wing.