Finally a new update in 1.5 years time! End of 2009 I decided to do some quick work on my Alfasud, new wheels, then I thought I would install big brakes, then I thought it would be nice to get rid of the plastic wheelarch extensions and remake them in metal, then I thought why not while busy increase the track width, in the end I made 4 new wheelarch extensions in steel, a new matching steel front spoiler, big Brembo brakes from the 166 V6 in front and alu 4 piston Willwood handbrake calipers in the rear, with a new custom made rear axle with coilover struts and a complete respray. But it is finished now more or less... A few pics, I have a little homepage for the Sud at www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk/bert .
So I have 3 cars and 2 were being worked on that meant my daily driver was the Lancia Montecarlo...I knew that was not a good idea and then indeed it decided to drop a valve or something similar ugly in the cilinder head, and quit. I had absolutely no desire to take of the head and examine what was wrong and fix it, that damned car is asking to much attention time and money for what it delivers so I just put it in the bushes were it was all winter. People, the Lancia Beta is a worse car than an Alfasud or any Ferrari but hey, I will put an Alfa v6 24v in it as my next project and then it will be a supercar, with the DNA of the 246 Dino, Stratos, 037 etcetera...letīs see. When the Lancia broke the Sud wasnīt finished for 2 months so in that time I had to do the 13 mile trip to my job on my bicycle, the joy of having old cars. Well, fuel is expensive and the weight loss looked good on me, of course I got back to normal as soon as I had a working car again.
But while the Sud is a lovely and nice riding car with the 16 valve 4 cam twin Dellīorto boxer engine, a supercharged widebody 308 is in another league of course, so back on track, I pushed the car back in the shop and as you can see by the dust on the ground, I started sanding the filler.
I made a larger air intake in the sill (under the door) and will have to copy that on the left side. And while I made the new rear side glass set up on the left, I will have to copy that on the right. Then it is basically straightening and smoothing the body, making it ready for paint. So while this is a new update, in the coming months I wonīt have much to show in progress pictures as sanding and filling is a boring proces and progress isnīt really visible in pics.
I made some further plans in the past 1.5 year break. I think I will make a full metal targa roof with a reinforcement frame that will be bolted in, for extra rigidity comparable to a GTB but still removeable (allthough a bit less quick than now) for open top driving. For that I think I will go to the breakers yard and look for a car with a roof that has about the right curves and cut it out, I realize I will need to refinish the sides to the proper width but the slight curve front to back and left to right should be easy to find as most cars have this. I already imagine going there, my favourate place has a lady owner these days, īīwhat are you looking forīī, emmm, need to close a sunroof on an old Alfa or something can I look around? haha. And no, a 308 GTB roof is not an option as it will be expensive and still needing adjustments for the frameless GTS door glass. And as a bonus I can sell the painted original targa roof for 308 enthusiasts that want a colorcoded targa roof but also want to keep the original. Accepting offers now :-)
Also I want 1 inch wider wheels front and back. For a long while there was no rear tire in the width and height that I want, I have 245/40/17 and wanted wider, but there was no wider tire in 17 inch that is low enough, but now Bridgestone makes a 275/35/17 and I want them badly! See above pic, the fronts are 8 inch wide and the rears 9, but if you look, the rears look 2 inches wider from the outside, but actually have a narrower inside compared to the fronts. They are 3 piece wheels so now I want to buy from Compomotive 2 one-inch wider inside rim halves for the fronts, and move the old front inside halves to the rear. I can re-use the 245/40/17 rear tires in front and buy 2 new 275 bridgestones...a lot of money for a small visual gain and then the quick steering rack combined with 245 tires and no power steering...hey itīs not a car for everyone.
So while I didnīt do anything to the 308 in 1.5 years time, Iīm really excited and motivated now and past week I was walking around the car for hours, taking pics and imagining how good it will look eventually, to me it looks good already because I can see through the filler and roughness and see the finished car in Alfa Rosso 530, which is a darker red than it had. Why not a proper F color, because Iīve seen examples of the Alfa color and that is what I want. Iīm sure there is an F color that is close or the same but I donīt bother.