Grrr...I finally got enthused enough to get back into the repair and very slow major tidy-up of my Alfetta sports sedan...
However, an injured Achilles in July that has taken months to recover, a sick child for a few weeks, another with constant issues...and now me ill with a virus for three weeks has thrown a large metric spanner in the works. The poor old car has sat for a year and a half since the head gasket let go at Lakeside - I've refitted the head and along the way lost a little bag with a few parts. The kind Julian Lord has held a little tensioner part for me for some time and I've not even been able to get that!
All this frustration is leading me to 50-50 want to sell the thing as I just can't seem to find the time, or when I do the motivation is gone from all the other crap and I just want to drive something. But....I have no idea what value to put on the thing or even if it is a bright idea. I know it'll sell better if it is running again but if I get the above time/motivation I'll keep it. Isn't life a fun little six of one and half dozen of the other. I'm sure you all have your own hassles in life....so I'll end the rant with a big sorry and bid you all a good day!
When you get well and looking to end your boredom and tackle the job to finish it, you will wonder whatever got into your head to want to sell a gem like a transaxle. You may even hope that nobody ever read your post and so I promise not to tell.. ;D
Hey Lee,
Which car is this one? Is it a sedan or GTV? Can't picture it in the old memory banks...
Hope you get it going mate - we'd love to see you back out on the track. Just remember, everything about owning a race car is a pain in the arse, except the unbridled joy of driving the bastard!!
Cheers,
Brent
Yellow GTV. Nothing super and as it's only been partially used once here in Qld since I bought it, you likely would not know the car. I bought it to get back into hillclimbs....but MGCCQ just charge too much per km of racing these days. So, thought I would try my hand at some basic sprints...but...well...you read the first post!
Hey...anyone want a bit of money for getting my engine finished? Whooping cough-like virus then morphed into a flu virus...9 weeks later and I'm finally showing tiny bits of improvement. I need a running engine for motivation! Timing gear to finish, plus likely a tune-up. I know if I hear the thing running again, I'll be inspired to work on the other parts.
would love to help get your alfa going again, but a little far away, im sure there will be someone close buy that would take a couple of hrs out of their time to give you a hand,
just remember thats the Alfa way, if i see an alfa broken down on the side of the right as an alfa driver you are obligated to help.
How's that alfa going. Still frustrated????
Somewhat...recovery is slow...it turned into pneumonia over Christmas and New Years! Got a toolmaker friend set to make me some new exhaust manifold studs, once I pull one of the remaining ones out of the head. Picked up a part from the kind Mr. Lord and was sorely tempted by a car there....mostly as it was running.......... I now also have 10 months worth of home and yard maintenance to catch up on and the rain isn't helping! I just have to find the motivation - my joi de vie has been slightly dented of late.
Progress/motivation....kinda sorta. Ordered some parts for the forlorn yellow thing sitting under a tarp. Nothing super, just some exhaust studs and a new master chain link. See how we go when they arrive.
Progress...engine is bolted back together as best I can and filled with vital fluids (its' own not mine). New plugs and leads and such and a first attempt today to kick it back into life after some minor battery issues. Fail so far - perhaps I need to check my lead firing order again - but the starter at least turned the engine and it even gave a pretty massive backfire once. Ran out of day....see what happens the rest of the week.
Got it sorted yet?
Yeah common Lee, I have seen that car and it will be bags of fun to run with. Heaps of interesting stuff on it.
Not sure if you remember the garden next to the car, MD, the one with 100mm deep of bark....well....that's where the timing chain master link circlip ended up......oily hands, fading light, rushed, insert other lame excuses here. So thanks to the awesome folks at Spruell Motorsport, I now have another. $10 and a week and a half wait, rather than the $170 complete with timing chain that local folks wanted to charge, along with a wait (because they were genuine from Italy....oooooooo)!!! Some silly bugger had put the exhaust cam in one tooth out, so I'm hoping that was the cause of the startup issue, as nothing else has changed (ok, so it was me). Everything else seems right, new leads and plugs, rotor button and cap are good, etc, etc...see how we go!
Good to hear Lee. Hope to see you on track next year mate. Hope all is going well on the work/home/family front - all that important life stuff that keeps a bloke away from the race track.
Cheers,
Brent
Onya mate ! Never say die ! Almost drove past your place today on my way to a meet at Lakeside Park . Gave the Cab another Mammoth flogging of around 80 laps. Starting to get the hang of this track. All good, no hassles simply great fun. Just got home from being up at 5AM then coming home and putting all the stuff away but its a good kind of tired. The type that makes you want to go out tomorrow and do it all over again. ;D
I know you can do this, you know you can do this-even the Milkman knows you can do this so dig deep and get spannering.. ;)
MD, where's the vid evidence with your fancy camera you got.
Neil
Hahaa. Good and valid question Neil. I will deliver a full report in the original topic set with some examples in addition to photos of the set up in the car. What I will say just quickly is that the video aspect is great. It's the audio that is holding me back from releasing the material that needs to do justice to the equipment as a whole. The issue is the noise level in the cabin. It's huge and overloading 7 filter levels on the onboard microphone. I am therefor experimenting with a bunch of alternative external micrphones that wil do the job and once in the groove, happy to show some in car footage. I know you can relate to that.
...matter of fact I am editing some of the footage from today as we speak. Talk about overload distortion...faaark!!.
In order not to derail Lee's topic completely, I have made an "update" post in the original topic set for this subject:
http://www.alfaclubvic.org.au/forum/index.php/topic,9195.new.html#new (http://www.alfaclubvic.org.au/forum/index.php/topic,9195.new.html#new)
Thanks for the indulgence Lee. If you want to chat about the progress (or lack thereof) on your project, feel free to call me.
It's all good...your thread is waaayyy more interesting! :) Who was the track day through, that you just did?
The Queensland GEAR Club book the track for the day. I think they are working on a website but I haven't got the details. Here's some of the mob that role up to these events. Check out all the photos to get a wider mix of cars.
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=954019 (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=954019)
Perfect club for a late bloomer like me. Grey wigs for sure but they all know what the loud pedal is for !! Old school gentlemen racers too.
Sounds good for me, too. And nice pics!
Well....it runs....like a two and a half-legged dog....but it runs.
Mate, just read your story from beginning to end. It is truly inspirational. A lesser man would have given up much sooner with the number of set-backs you've experienced. Hope you have recovered and the car will be running sweetly soon.
Quote from: OzMidnight on November 14, 2012, 10:21:01 PM
Well....it runs....like a two and a half-legged dog....but it runs.
More detail?
I think what OzM meant to say was that when it fired up, something ran down his leg. The jury is out whether this is was due to:-
1 Excitement
2 Surprise
3 Amazement and disbelief
4 False alarm from a passing truck
5 Pants wetting exhilaration...
I feel sure he will clarify this in due course...
(Mate, we were never gonna let you just give up..... ;D )
It was more likely due to the radiator hose that split next to a clamp. Next thing to replace. Thought I'd sussed them all out....replaced one fuel hose but this one slipped my blind eagle-eyed gaze.
More detail.....well..it may just be ignition timing...or possibly just needs an Italian tune. Either way...will fiddle until it runs as well as I can get it...then onto the trailer to get a run on some rollers. Just got to re-floor the trailer tracks now...and add the winch bracket that I made up.
Mate, she runs! How good is that? If you get a chance, post some photos of the girl?
Found an oil leak too....time to go over bolts for the 40th time. Got the head bolts retorqued, so I guess that is some progress. As for pics....yes, I will get there soon!
Sadly, this is likely the last instalment. Ongoing issues with other things, mainly my health, is leading me to sell the car. Sad...it has so much potential...I am just unable to get it there and it is upsetting to see it sitting there day after day. There's an EOI in the For Sale section. Cheers, everyone. Ciao.
Now firmly for sale. $5k'ish.