Scrapheap Challenge - Yet another Alfa

[knapmann]

After a LOT of looking and begging I managed to get hold of a used rear left wing from France. This is the one panel I was saving my money for and prioritising over everything else. All it needed was a repair along the bottom, for which fortunately you can get repair sections.

[911hillclimber]

OSR wheel arch repair is a gem.
Big progress there. What about cross bracing the shell across the B pillars?

[knapmann]

It was soon time to flip it around and look at the other side. This side was worse than the first side, if that's possible.



Lots more rust to cut out





Rebuilding areas piece by piece


















Another Inner & Middle Sill done and not a penny spent but for gas and wire, having to save my pennies for the repro outer sills I was going to need.





With that done I started to attack the battered rear wing. Cutting out rusty metal is so satisfying you can kind of get carried away with it...



The inner wing arch was all bent out of shape, so I used this screw jack to bend it back somewhat correctly



As with the other side this front area of the rear wing is a complex area where lots of panels come together and is very prone to rotting out.



This is where the fuel tank is supposed to go, you can see that the recessed ledge that it should sit on has totally dissapeared

[sladey]

Massively brave work

[jb]

Saw this and thought of you


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[911hillclimber]

Ha! Me too JB.
Regular competitor in the midlands.
Nice car and I'm sure what this rebuild is aiming for, tidy and not perfect, but as here, very very usable!

[knapmann]

Yes thats a great looking car, Id be happy if mine came out anything like that, a 10yrd car will be fine by me! That looks like an early one, the very early ones had column shift and a full bench front seat, I assume it isnt quite that early....I have to say I always much prefer the twin headlight set up though. I would convert it, which I assume is easy. As a 1600 mine had the twin headlights from the factory so no worries there, other than my headlights/reflectors are corroded bad, im not sure if it will be easier to replace them or get them refurbed. My missus wants me to paint it in that sky blue too. We havent decided on a colour yet really but it is unlikely to be the original moss green as my 911 is dark green already. Will probably go for another period alfa colour. I would like it to be metallic as the metallic ones I think look great (they did have metallic options by 1972) but Im not sure about DIY metallic painting on a budget, especially having no really experience of large scale painting of stuff.

[Lightweight_911]

.

The car shown above is an early (1965) 1300-engined version - identified by its 'egg crate' grille & single headlamps ...

.

[RobFrost]

So payment was sent trailer was organised, rotten alfa turns up having only seen a few rudimentary photos.

You can't always tell from a photo, especially when it has been taken with an underwater camera by king Triton of the mermaids.

Sent from my SM-S918B using Tapatalk

[knapmann]

Clamped the replacement wing into place, and cut around it



Tacked it in place



Did further repairs to the leading edge



Time to look at the rear panel


Cut the panel out


Tacked the replacement donated panel in place


Had to weld it into the original, inner tower section thing


Then went about rebuilding the rear corners






With the whole rear end tacked together how I was relatively happy with it, I was able to properly weld all of the panels together to complete rebuilding outer structure of the rear end. I should have took some picture of this but apparently I didnt! The boot floor was the next thing to tackle...

[911hillclimber]

Significant progress and must be very satisfying!

Looking forward to more details of the build.

[RobFrost]

Great to see it taking shape. How on earth do you keep something like that straight when there is so much missing?

Sent from my SM-S918B using Tapatalk

[knapmann]

Great to see it taking shape. How on earth do you keep something like that straight when there is so much missing?

Sent from my SM-S918B using Tapatalk

Well I braced the shell as best as I could, and I kept the car on a flat level floor whilst I was rebuilding the sills. Also the shell has very little weight in it when it is totally stripped. The rear panels are largely cosmetic as far as straightness of the chassis goes, they certainly wont be perfect...

[knapmann]

While all of this was going on I was in the market for an engine. The obvious engine upgrade is a later 2l unit. I knew this was not going to cut it. The blank chequebook option would be an Alfaholics stroked 2.3l unit which cost crazy money so no chance of that. Indeed nearly all high performance 4-cyl engines cost big money these days e.g. Honda S2000 engines go for ~5k. I wanted a V6, and needless to say there was only one candidate. However when you look into it there are a huge number of obstacles to fitting a Busso V6 engine into a 105 shell, some of which are very difficult to resolve, which is why you can count V6 conversions on one hand. There are loads of modded 105 Alfas out there, next to none have a V6 in them for a reason. I didnt think it would be possible, until divine providence intervened, I saw this "Alpha Romeo" engine for sale, £300, and it was a sign. If you know Busso V6 engines you might be able to tell this is a very rare engine, and just what you need for a 105 conversion, absolute bargain. Brownie points for anyone who knows what car this came from. Triple points if you have seen one in the flesh.



With this in the pocket I sold the 4cyl engine from the car for £1000, it was a shame but - unlike Porsche, Alfa never recorded engine numbers and chassis numbers together so there is no such thing as "matching numbers" and this car was never going to be beautiful original example.

One of the many major hurdles in fitting a V6 into a 105 is the height of the intake system. Most of the conversions out there require a bonnet bulge/scoop. There was no way I would be accepting that. So what intake can I use that can be made to fit which is much lower than the factory system, something that sits right down inside the V, nothing, at least that is what everyone will tell you, ... yet it seems obvious to me - but as far as I know it has never been done on a Busso engine before... I got my hands on a set for triple DCNF 42s from a Citroen SM (£400), I was thinking if these dont fit nothing will....



I mocked them up together, I think these are workable... plus £300 profit! Just need a manifold... oh and an exhaust system, and engine mounts and to sort a gearbox, throttle linkage, radiator, etc etc



we do not want this...

[Nine One One]

Well the only Alfa’s I have not seen with a V6 are
Fiat Croma - apparently they did one
Something called a Rayton Fissore Magnum V6
and an AC 3000ME MkII

Any of those?