New Alfisti with a 2 litre Berlina

[mickl]

Hello everyone
I am new to Alfas having bought a 2 litre Berlina last year on an ebay whim and then flew up to Brisbane to pick it up and return to Nelson Bay near Newcastle NSW.
She is out of rego now and no chance of getting passed in NSW until alot of work is done (how they pass rusty cars in Qld is a mystery to me).
The work has started and much rust has been transferred to the waste bin. I found a great used drivers door at South Windsor which helped out too along with a good spare wheel well. The interior is crook and there is much to do......it will not be a concourse retoration though as I could never justify spending big money on such a vehicle. I am hoping to get finished by Christmas if I am lucky and undoubtedly I will be seeking advice through this forum along the way. I have recently joined a local Italian car owners club which goes by the name of "Ciao club" and no doubt some of you will know of them. Have had quite a bit of help from one of the guys there in particular
I will post up some pictures along the way when I get organised.
Regards
Mickl

[Tim Jobson]

Good luck with your project Mick, having gone through some of the work required to restore a GTV I know you will have plenty of work to do on your Berlina.   It took me 14 months to get her registered and it is far from finished!

Are you doing it yourself?   The forum is a great source of info and help, however there does not seem to be the same level of input from members as in the past, I think many are using the alfabb as an info source.

Cheers

Tim

[Davidm1600]

Hi Mick and Tim, there is definitely an element of truth as to Tim's comments re many owners making use of the BB.  I post both here on the forum and the BB (under my other moniker of Super1600).  However, and to denigrate neither forums I actually believe both have their place.  The BB is largely US central with a UK/Euro bent and a number of Aussies and Kiwis who post there.  While to an extent this forum is a Victorian based one. For instance there are few of us Alfisti from Tassie who post here, largely perhaps since there is no AROCA chapter in Tas, as well as a few from WA, SA, NSW and Brisvagus.  The Tas AROCA chapter folded back in the early 90s from a lack of active interest.

Which is not to mean there are no Alfisti or passionate Italian car owners down here.  Far from it, for we formed our own club to cover for all Italian makes: Club Motori Italia.

In relation to Berlinas, while I have a passion for them, having previously owned a 2L and would love to have a 1750 Berlina in my collection, from a purely practical reason, there is a strong following for both Berlinas and Giulia Supers on the BB, and so hence a lot of knowledge available there. From my observations, in Aus, the forum largely serves owners of 105 coupes, Alfetta GTVs/GTV6, 90s and to an extent some of the newer models ie.156 etc.

Mick ask questions re your Berlina resto, since there are enough of us out there who have owned them or know about them, given the relationship with other 105 models.  I currently have a Giulia Super under restoration, as well as a 1750 GTV and a 156 Sportwagon.  Believe me 1 Alfa is not usually sufficient. 

Similarly, like many, I know of where parts are available and am pretty familiar with many of the problems you might encounter with the resto of your Berlina.  Would love to see photos if you can figure out how to post pics.  For some reason I have not been able to post pics as I can't seem to be able to reduce the size of the pics I have.  All the best with your project.  Dave

[mickl]

Thanks for the good wishes Tim and Dave. i am doing as much as I can myself but cutting out rust and welding in new steel, spraypainting, inside trim etc is to be left to the professionals.
i just realised that the photos I have taken so far are not worth posting so I need to take some soon. I have been working on the left side panels and I have just had the back brakes resleeved and the master cyl overhauled but neglected to clean out the lines with some high pressure air so the lines have to come off again to do that. Then I can drop her off the blocks and turn her around (tight fit in the shed) and start working on the drivers side panels and doors. I will no doubt be posting questions from time to time...thanks for the alfabb link. I will check it out soon.
regards
Mickl

[dehne]

 For some reason I have not been able to post pics as I can't seem to be able to reduce the size of the pics I have.  All the best with your project.  Dave
[/quote]

hi dave an easy way ro reduce the size of ur pics is
when ur pic is open if you right click on pic and then click on edit you can use the paint program. once paint is open if you click on image then click on stretch/skew. with most pics if you change horizontal and vertical to 25% u then should be able to post them.
good luck

[MD]

David (and anyone else who could do with the info)

Suggest downloading and installing this little gem of a photo program.

http://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm

When you "save as", chose "options". You can then select the size of the file to conform to forum specs.
You can also easily resize the photo with ease.

Mick, I am a former Berlina owner. Will help if I can.