So the question is - was the battery holder in the 1968 1750 GTV made of metal or plastic?
I'm not talking about the tray that is welded to the chassis rail - that is clearly made of steel and painted body colour.
I have a repro item made from plastic, shown in attached photo. The parts manual (also attached) isn't clear, but appears like a plastic moulding to me. A good authority on these cars however says that they were originally steel, and I don't want to disagree ;-).
Anybody got any old photos or original cars that solve this one for me?
Here's a shot from alfabb.com, but it may also be a modern repro item...
(http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/attachments/gt-1965-1974/114928d1220489255-cleaning-up-battery-tray-dscf1418.jpg)
Evan,
From what i have seen over the years there certainly were metal ones. Giulia sedans had them until 68'ish and even some GT Juniors until a year or 2 later.
As far as I can recall 1750's onwards had the plastic version. Also a lot have just been discarded over the years so many cars have nothing at all.
Hope that helps.... come on 1750 owners fess up!
Cheers,
Paul.
Evan
Mine is plastic and believe that this was factory standard from late sixties as mentioned. Nice battery cover - where did you purchase?
Thanks
Paul
Hey Paul,
Bought on eBay from Automobilia.NL. I think Highwood also do them. Thanks to G Pearce for the tip.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Alfa-Romeo-Bertone-GTV-Spider-105-NEW-BATTERY-TRAY-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem1c1812f8d8QQitemZ120662980824QQptZVintageQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories
Cheers,
Evan.
Sorry for the grainy scanned pictures but these images from period road tests may help. The first is from Autocar, December 1966, and is of a 1600 GTV. Looks to me like the battery tray is metal and body coloured.
The second is from Motor, July 1968 and is of a series one 1750 GTV. The image is not great but if you look carefully the tray seems to be black, partially obscuring the battery just ahead of the cam cover. Given they shape, the colour and that the car itself is light coloured that suggests it's plastic.
I find these old magazine reprints a really valuable visual reference for things like this. The quality of print is not great but they're period shots of new cars normally straight from the factory. These are from Brooklands "Guilia Coupes Gold Portfolio 1963-1976".
Hope this helps.
Alister
an
I have a battery tray from a 70 Super and it is plastic type material.
Barry
Mine (Series II, 1750 GTV) was black plastic.
It was eventually ruined by the exhaust header heat and has been replaced by a reproduction item that looks identical.
Chris
The Series One 1750 GTV's had both ..... like a lot of 60's and 70's Alfa models the Alfa parts bin came in handy regardless of them being for the US, European, African or Austral Asian markets all of which were specked slightly differently. I've had and seen very original 105's and 115's with both the plastic tray (it's virtually indestructible) and the metal one (prone to rust in one of the most rust aggressive locations of the car hence it was changed) from around 68' onwards with the changeover period to all plastic trays in Australia appearing to be around 1970. It would therefore be considered original either way for a Series 1 1750. Hope this helps.
Very much - thanks!