Classic Alfa Forums

Well done GTV
Be careful, my GC sprint had 11 months MOT when i bought it and when I "filled her up" for the first time the petrol came out of the tank just as fast (should of wondered why the two times I went for a test drive he put a gallon in her from a tin
Headlights can be overcome, I think the best idea is to buy LHD replacements and then swap the lenses (as long as they don't break), but other than the MOT tester no one, like you said will ever notice

Jacking points, floor, inner wing rails and A pillars are (i believe) where to look first, then depending if you want a car or something to look at go from there.

Best wishes for tomorrow - kep us informed

H

Welcome mate, and good luck tomorrow!

Well, I picked up the car this morning, where do I start, I never really took to the owner, the issue of mysterious bidder putting the car up by a grand then disappearing still bugs me, but then again I shouldn't have put the last bid, so I will live with that, and I presume there were two other people who would have bid 100 quid less than me that were really interested. He kept banging on about how modern it felt to drive and listen to it pop and crack. I was thinking these are the last things on my mind right now. I was offered 5k he tells me, I said he should have taken it. The car isn't his he was selling it for someone. Seems to have done not many miles from 2010-2012. Then was MOT'D until now, past advisories on handbrake, front caliper. Anyway the car seems quite solid around the windscreen, engine bay, rear panel, inside the wheel arches seem to be there, all four arches are still in one piece,. The front panel looks a little bit rusty, will check if it's surface or worse. Underneath looks ok too. old paintwork but surprisingly ok as in all the panels have painted surfaces, with slight imperfections here and there, some tiny surface rust in places on edges but nothing scary.
I don't think the car has had much money spent on it in the last few years, and quite frankly I think he just got a bargain from what I paid him, that said whatever I do is going to make the car better, it needs some love, one of the rear tyres is still a p600. The other has cracks all over the place, I don't know if that should have passed the mot like that. I'm funny with tyres so that's probably the first thing I might do.

More positives it makes me smile, it pulls really nicely, interior is ok, the wipers work although one is fixed quite high, the wheels are in very good condition and generally I'm happy. First major issue though is after spending a long time in a tailback I was thinking great it doesn't overheat, the last mile of my journey I got stuck in some traffic and the fan wasn't cutting in, it got quite hot, but luckily not for long before I parked it up. Am going to see my mechanic tomorrow morning and my paint sprayer friend to see exactly what's lurking. I'll get some pictures up soon.

Glad it all seems ok and you're happy with the little Sud. I find that there's always jobs needing doing on these cars but that's part of the charm. My drivers window doesn't go up or down that well and I catch my hand on the speaker as I try to wind it up and down. The door card needs to come off and the winder mechanism needs freeing up but the car will be more user friendly after that!

Are you going to take your Sud to car shows?

Thanks Alfasud driver funnily enough the passenger window on mine doesn't go up and down either at all. A bit stiff it said in the ad, here are a couple of pics of the car, I had a lovely 200 mile drive at the weekend and the car goes well, engine sounds fine, what a cracking noise, I had to replace a couple of connectors to the fan that were rusted and the first thing I have done is replaced all the tyres, I really have no idea how it passed the mot with the crap that was on the car, one was an original p600.

Just an update my winter storage plans are out the window and my alfetta has to take priority, I intend to drive the car for the Summer, but it would be criminal to leave it outside in the winter months, if anyone has any interest let me know Thanks

I'll "drive it" though the winter if your worried

Won't even charge ya

If you need to leave her outside then you can get "breathable" covers these days and try not to park over grass or gravel as this holds water

H

Traders and Classic Cars, not a good mix. Looks good in the pictures and sounds like you have the basis for a really good one with a bit of work, even if you did pay top dollar. Can't believe that comment - offered 5K (but clearly he thought taking less was better!!!!)

Good idea on the tyres having had an old one fail on me before, I'd also check the front strut top nuts to make sure they are tight - had one let go once when my mrs was driving, quite scary but fortunately she was only doing 30 when it came undone.

looks good though - apart from the wipers, should be easy to pop them off the splines and reposition them.

I always liked the crackle on the over run, all part of the character.

Thanks Bluesuit, I think someone did a bodge on the wiper arm, it has a tiny bolt going through the arm into the spline, for everyday I just need to give it an oil change a tune up and a check over, for long term I am doing some long hard thinking. I think If I found a buyer an alfa person I would sell it to them for the same or slightly less. For now I intend to have fun and enjoy.