1981 GTV2.0 popped my cherrie

[Nate Dog]

Hi gang.
After many years of admiring from afar, but being too chicken shit to own anything other than made in Japan, i pulled the trigger and flew to Melbourne to buy sight unseen an 1981 Alfa Romeo GTV2.0 for my sins.
In all my years of owning various cars and motor bikes and thinking i knew what it was to really enjoy a drive, i now know how truly wrong i was. I LOVE this car. Have had it for 3 weeks and get a huge grin every time i see the thing parked, never mind get behind the wheel and actually chuck it into a corner!
Yes, it leaks oil out and water in, yes the electrics do interesting things, like occasionally turning on as expected, bizzare things like that, but i've never loved a car like i do this one.
So, previous owner, though furiously denying it was him, put on a massive cannon exhaust, and a huge airbox with a filter that is pure mesh, looking through it, well, if blind people could see that well seeing eye dogs would be a dying breed. Suffice it to say, its got no top end to speak of. Pretty sure these brilliant mods have destroyed any and all performance this car is capable of.
So far, have been concentrating on mechanicals, front suspension (steering rod ends, ball joints, etc.) oils, clutch fluid, brake fluid and stripping away ubiquitous subs, amps, 6x9 speakers, et al.
Gearbox oil was grey gloopy sludge, doubt it had ever been done (car shows 59,500k's, dont know how to take that.), it smelt like the secretions from Satans anal glands, if Satan was lactose intolerant, had eaten a cheese cake and sat on it for around 2-3 millennia. will leave the new oil in there another few weeks then replace again, oil change+flush done. Already shifts super smooth.
Next is get proper air filter, replace the cat swallowing rear cannon with a pretty dual exhaust system that doesn't wake up the neighbours across the tasman and might provide a little back pressure. After that, get the carbs tuned and then get the 2 rust spots sorted (Drivers A pillar and C pillar, reset the windscreen, previous yahoo that did it left lots of gaps and bumps in the sealant/rubber, allowing water in).
So, a project. I'll be buggin you all for as much experience as you can shed my way.
Lastly, want to A/C the bugger. Won't be putting in the York compressor, looks huge and heard it does nothing, I have hoses and condenser already, looking for alternative compressor that i'll mock up a custom mount for, thoughts?

[Evan Bottcher]

Like!

The four cylinder Alfetta GTVs seem to be quite undervalued at the moment, especially with plastic bumpers. If I had space I'd love to snaffle one up. Yours looks very nice.

Where are you? Make sure to join your local club division and get out there for a drive or rally...

[116_Veloce]

Hi, great car to start with! I'm a newbie on the forum myself but not new to these cars.

First you will find them wonderfully balanced and well-mannered alfas. I believe it is one of the most under-appreciated cars of all times, also one of the best designs of all times. About the A/C compressor the original is an old-fasioned vertical piston "YORK" type, which was used also in Volvos and some trucks. It is a reliable piece but even when new it doesn't cool very well.

Your best choice would seem to convert to an Alfa 75 setup, if you can find one. It is much better with a proper bracket in cast aluminum as opposed to the heavy metal one on the Alfetta GTV, and the compressor is a much more modern unit. The maker eludes me (perhaps 'Sanden', I'm not sure). The bracket does bolt on but you will need to change the accessory belt and some peripherals and hoses, but it's not difficult.

Good luck with your new acquistion and safe driving...

[Nate Dog]

Whoops,
Forgot to say, Sydney NSW,
And yep, at $2,400 very very cheap motoring.
Sanden A/C units. Roger. Will try to keep an eye out for an Alfa 75 being wrecked.
If i want a new compressor, would it be a big ask fabricating an Aluminium mount?
Not fond of trusting to 20 year old compressors.
Thanks for the tip either way.

[Beatle]

Hi Nate, welcome to the nut house....

There is an Alfetta AC comp and bracket currently on offer in the classifieds section.

My first Alfa was a '79 GTV I bought back in '84.  Loved it for the full 14 years it was my daily driver, and still love it now, wherever it is.....    My car already had a rotary compressor on it when I bought it, and after it seized the A/C mechanic had no trouble fitting a generic Sanden (or was it a Denso??) compressor to the original bracketry.  Just be aware that no matter how good the compressor is it's the poor airflow and large glass area that results in minimal cooling effect.  However, the A/C is great to keep the glass mist-free inside.

Was your car airconditioned originally?  Or will you need to plumb in everything behind the dash?   If you are only missing stuff from the engine bay, it will be simple, if not.....it won't.....

Bite the bullet, pull that screen, and fix the rust NOW.   Then get stuck into the whole car with rustproofer.  Left unattended, A-pillar rust will spell the death knell of yet another Alfetta coupe, and that's sad.

Years ago I cut up an Alfetta sedan.  Not exactly the same as the coupe, but close enough to give you an idea of the skeleton, and where to squirt in the rustproofer:   http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/car-restoration/14822-alfetta-sill-cut.html

[Nate Dog]

Waiting on the panel beater to finish with my Mazda 6, (its there thanks to an awfully careful driver pulling out of a parking spot as i drove sedately by, thx a$$h0le, thx.).
Then swapping cars, windscreen out, Pillars fixed and rust proofed. I don't know if it had aircon originally to be honest.
Batterys in the front and no long bolts on front of crankcase so probably not. However, the heater box under the dash has got the Aircon fittings sticking out of it, (can see them when sticking head under dash) 2 on the left hand side and haven't checked the right side yet but assuming its the correct unit with condesnor intact, lucky break. Have a set of hoses and front radiator/condensor thingy, will be sticking all that in myself and let aircon dude simply plumb them all in with new seals for modern gas.
Bracket and compressor is what I'm shy of.
Think i asked after that one in the classified section, will trawl through again.
Thanks for the advice, as far as fighting me goes has been relatively painless experience so far, proved fairly easy to work on. Rust then aircon are next on agenda.

[Beatle]

Another tip when you get to remedying the exhaust, is to have the pipe joints made FLANGE joins rather than slip joins.  You'll thank me when it comes to pulling the exhaust off to get to the propshaft.........  

Oh, and I honestly wouldn't go to the trouble of a twin system on the 2L.   Pipe routing is tight as it is and running twin tubes will probably have the exhaust hitting the floor or rear axle somewhere.

If your car had A/C there will be a switch/dial on the dash.

Does your car have the earlier split-instrument dash or the later style with all dials in front of the driver?

[Nate Dog]

Split dash, Speedo in line of sight, (which only goes up to 100kph then jams   )
Then on the left tacho plus other dials...
Bellow that is the air control module (int ext blue )
Bellow that is a dual knob stack, top one is fan speed, bottom one is heat regulator

Am i in luck?

Didn't mean a dual system
Meant a small dual tip to a normal muffler as opposed to the silly cannon mounted now.

[Beatle]

It's been a while.....  but I believe the lower of the two dials is the A/C switch.  It's surrounded by a blue/orange band and you should hear a click when it's wound fully counterclockwise.

Hot/Cold heater tap control is via one of the slide levers, the other slider should be int/ext air (i.e. recirc).

On my '79 the tacho and speedo needles swung in perfect unison in top gear.  So in 5th you can accurately guesstimate road speed by looking at the tacho.   I guess these days a GPS is the tool of choice.

[Nate Dog]

Thats right.
Bottom dial has orange blue surround.
Don't remember if it clicks in, will check tonight.
Does that mean it used to be A/C?

[Beatle]

Yep, would have been optioned with AC (most/all were).  So you should only require the engine bay components, then flush / new seals / new Tx valve). 

Dash is easy to remove so if you feel up to the task, I'd discuss things with the A/C mechanic, then pull the dash yourself so you can get easy access, replace all the heater hoses and the tap if you can source a new one.  Clean any crud out of the heater box etc.

From memory, you should be able to remove the dash/instruments leaving the heater box/lower dash section in place (probably still need to loosen it), so you can still operate all the heater and A/C controls with the dash out.   

Dash out will help with cleaning up that windscreen too.

Might be best to take this conversation over to the 116 section.  You'll get responses from those more current on these cars, and maybe some pretty pictures!!!

[116_Veloce]

What I forgot to mention is that the 75 has an original factory bracket for the peripherals, it bolts on the two front plugs of the engine-head if I remember correctly, so you can just use that.

[Midda Samid]

Nice car, you beat me to it.. kinda.. my wife said no   apparently 1 GTV is enough..

my garage said no too.. and my bank balance.. I was up against it..

I swear that you've got the elusive Strada..

[Midda Samid]

and like PB said, the AC's are next to useless in the 116.. save the weight and the expense, buy yourself a good windscreen shield for when parked and wind down a window or 2 when driving.. I am sure the 116's go faster with the windows down anyway they certainly sound faster..

make sure the heater works tho.. helps for both foggy conditions(inside) and engine overheating issues(another reason for driving with windows down in the height of summer)..

[aggie57]

Nate - I have replied to your PM on the aircon.  Did someone else put their hand up?  Can't say that rings a bell.  I'm overseas at the moment so a little slow getting to my personal mail.

I'm a dissenter on the a/c on these cars though.  I say it works OK on cars with light coloured interior but useless on black interiors.  Not that it couldn't have been designed to work properly - many years ago one of my mates had a Red Alfetta GT with black vinyl interior and aftermarket A/C under the passengers dash.  Froze the proverbials off anyone within 5 metres of it.  But I do agree the factory system does help with humidity which these cars suffer badly from.