I bought a 90 a couple of weeks ago. The price was just too right, I had to do it! ::)
Anyway, I knew I was in for some work, that it had some rust. But there was more than some rust. I knew about the base of the rear windscreen and the dogleg on the driver's side, but not about the boot floor/beaver panel seam, right quarter panel to boot floor seam and rear boot gutters above the tail lights! Still, for the price I paid and the price of my labour (free), I can put it behind me.
The thing about rust is, once you have the grinder in your hand, cutting out bad metal, it really doesn't take much more work to cut all the bad stuff out everywhere. Fortunately, all the rust in this car is confined to behind the rear doors, the rest is perfect, even underneath.
I also have to give the engine a thorough tune up (apparently, the car had a "new timing belt...in 1998!). Car idles poorly but has strong midrange, I am sure the usual L jet massaging will get it back to how it should be, engine runs quite well otherwise. The front suspension has also been lowered, and too far. It has about an inch of travel, so that has to be fixed.
The car also needs a new master cylinder (it's leaking externally,and they're cheap enough), new front shocks and chase up a couple of small electrical faults. Oh, and I have to modify the pedals, they're waaaaay too far from the firewall as they are, a bit of carefully applied heat will fix that though. For those that haven't driven an RHD 90, the pedals sit too close to you, your ankle is put into a very steep, uncomfortable angle.
So, here are some before, horrible rust photos:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Rust009.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Rust011.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Rust002.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Rust001.jpg)
And the progress so far:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Rust008.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Rust010.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Rust006.jpg)
Regards, Andrew.
hi there let me know if you need any parts or info as i have heaps
Thanks for the offer. I'll yell out if I find anything missing. One nice thing about the car is it was 100% complete, even has the briefcase.
Can I use GTV6 engine parts (timing belts, filters, plugs etc) on this engine? None of the parts suppliers list the 90 in their catalogues.
Regards, Andrew.
yes you can its also the same as the 2.5ltr 75 v6
Got sick of cutting, grinding and welding today, so I got the engine running well instead. Messed around checking vacuum lines, manifold boots etc, looking for the cause of the surging idle and misfire.
Replaced the stupid Bosch Super 4 plugs (they always idle poorly) and got some improvement, I went with Bosch Platinum plugs, purely because I get them for a great price (six for $33) and I hate changing spark plugs.
Noticed the idle bypass plug in the air flow meter had been removed, so on a whim, stuck an allen key in there and gave it a few turns....instant smooth idle! Some people shouldn't be allowed to work on cars.....why they'd screwed the bypass screw all the way out (lean) till it ran rough, I'll never know. I still have to sort out the cold start injector, whether it's injector, thermo time switch I don't know as yet. I like Bosch L jet, it's super easy to work on, helps that I remember lots of this stuff from my old XJ.
Rust repairs are coming along well, I've finished welding up all the boot area and just have the dog leg to repair now. So I'll do some grinding during the week and start putting filler in. Hoping to spray some primer on the repairs in a week or two, then let the primer sit for another week or so. I'm pretty happy with progress so far.
Regards, Andrew.
have you pulled the cold start injecter out to see if it works, ive disconected mine (unplugged it) and dont have a prob at all
Quote from: dehne on July 18, 2010, 06:21:20 PM
have you pulled the cold start injecter out to see if it works, ive disconected mine (unplugged it) and dont have a prob at all
That's on the list for next weekend. Here in Canberra, I need the cold start injector, the car is hard to get to catch on first start of a morning down here (-2 to _6c)! I also found my Jag needed the cold start injector too, when I lived near Newcastle. I spose it depends where you live.
I expect the injector is completely blocked, I bought a Supra once that was all kinds of hard to start when it got cold in winter. Car had lived somewhere warm all it's life, so the injector rarely, if ever, got used. So it became an "end artery" if you will and filled up with junk.
Regards, Andrew.
To save a 90 from that state takes considerable dedication! Keep up the great work
Thanks. I wonder if it is worthwhile sometimes, but I know I have something unique and I enjoy the work.
Some photos I took this evening. I need to zap up a few small holes here and there and give it a finish grind before I start in with filler, but it's looking good. Shaping the corner radiused gutter pieces was fun but it's turned out well.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Rustrepairs002.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Rustrepairs001.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Rustrepairs003.jpg)
I found a fantastic abrasive wheel for removing paint and old windscreen adhesive, it also works really well on surface rust and loose paint. Scotchbrite clean & strip wheels:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Mediawebserver.jpg)
Regards, Andrew.
I've been pretty busy bashing, cutting and welding metal, throwing bog and sanding. Have tried to devote 15 hours a week to the car, which is working.
I have the repairs in filler, roof and quarter panels sanded back ready for primer. The plan is to paint roof and quarter panels plus beaver panel and inside boot. I am letting the filler sit for a couple of weeks to out gas then will prime.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Panelprogress003.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Panelprogress002.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Panelprogress001.jpg)
I have traced all the rust in the rear of my car to a torn filler neck boot. Moisture got in, carpets got wet, humidity in boot went up, condensation set in and the rust is history! ;D
This weekend I sorted out the slow wipers by disassembling the wiper motor gearbox, cleaning out the old solid grease and reassembling with a nice teflon grease. I also lubed all the wiper linkage points, got about another 10 wipes a minute out if the system!
Fortunately there is no rust below the windscreen, although I am glad I took the cowl grille off, there was mud under there, waiting to rust through the paint eventually.
Whilst the car has been sitting, it's developed a new trick, it's started to smoke when idling hot. It's oil smoke, I hope it's just a sticking ring or similar. ::) I don't think it's too bad, it wasn't doing it before it was laid up and it's only been idle for six weeks so far. Probably just needs a good blast round the block.
So my next trick will be to pull the seats out and restitch them. I have no chance of finding replacement material, so they will just be restitched and put back together for now, they're faded but it will buy me time to find material that's close enough to use as a replacement. I also have to work on the motors for the seats too, hopefully it's just old grease and bad earths. I'm also going to mod the driver's seat a little to get it a bit further towards the rear of the car and an inch lower. Should be easily done I think!
Regards, Andrew.
the motors in the seats will be fine, it has something to do with the wiring in there. if you want to lower the drivers seat just take the height adjuster out and you will sit lower you must be tall to need that as im 6"1 and its fine for me, also to move seat back further check the bolts at the back of the seat as there minght be a lug under the head if its there you can take it out and it will give you an inch and a half more, with redoing the seats since ur in syd why not look at putting black leather into it the front seats out of a 156 fit straight in and you need to adjust the back a little not sure how much it maybe putting some new mounts there. im going to do this to my 90 soon as i get some seats in vic at a good price
I'm in Canberra. I do all my own upholstery work, used to me a sailmaker/marine trimmer for around 15 years. It's nice to have your own machine! Newer seats sound nice but I think I want to try and keep the car reasonably original, so I will hold out for awhile and see if anything close to original turns up, if not, I'll save money and buy some brown leather and redo the whole car. The seats work now, but the motors have very little grunt.
I'm not particularly tall, 6 ft, but am very long in the body, it's a huge problem in some cars, I don't quite fit in our Magna comfortably, have to sit leaned too far back, but my Volvo is great, was built for Vikings so heaps of room!
More work done today, butyl/ tar sealer sprayed over repairs to help with corrosion protection and to hide my ugly body work!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Tarcoating002.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Tarcoating001.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Tarcoating003.jpg)
Regards, Andrew.
I got a few "big" issues fixed on the weekend. The blower motor on the climate control system wasn't working, the wipers were really slow and the headlight switch made the lights flicker on and off.
The wiper was an easy fix, I've come across this issue before. Bosch wiper motors of this era have grease in the reduction gearbox, it goes hard and oxidises after 20-30 years. The solution is simply to disassemble the gearbox, clean and re grease, teflon fortified greases work extremely well. I also oiled all the wiper linkages and gained about 10 extra wipes per minute for free.
The blower motor, again an easy fix. I strongly suspected the resistor pack, I've seen it a lot on older cars. The symptom is no blower motor at all, or on some cars, just blower on full speed. What happens is the resistor pack gets covered in leaf litter, resistor wires overheat and fail. The fix is to just re form the end of the resistor wire and recrimp/resolder it into it's hole. The only side effect is a very slight change in motor speed on this setting.
The resistor wires are simple coiled wires, the control switch on the console simply chooses which resistor go go through to establish a certain blower speed. The resistor pack is also fitted into the side of the airbox so they are cooled by passing air, unfortunately, they are always put at some low point, so they either trap leaves or on one car I owned, get immersed in air conditioning condensate when the drain backs up due to leaves. The resistor pack on the 90 is up and behind the console, fortunately for me I have the console and seats out, else I'd have never gotten to it.
The headlight switch was even easier, pulled the combination switch off the console, soaked the internals with contact cleaner sprayed in through the top and all fixed.
Alfas aren't scary cars electrically, they're put together exactly the same way as anything else of the era. I used to hear that sort of thing all the time when I owned a Jaguar, but common sense and a wiring diagram allows anything to be fixed!
I also spent the weekend cleaning the interior of the car with citrus cleaner, it seemed a good time to do it with the console and seats out. it's come up well. A little faded, but it's faded everywhere so it works out o.k!
It's starting to warm up now, hopefully I can get some paint on the car in the next few weeks.
Regards, Andrew.
I'm enjoying this thread Typhoon90. It sounds like you know your way around a car; I've had my 90 for over 4 years and done a lot of work on it, but I learn something new with every post of yours. I hope you're going to enjoy the car when it's done.
I hope I enjoy the car too! I'll probably register it and not look at it for a couple of months, will be sick of it! The seats will go back together this weekend, I might write up a pictorial of how to do that, the Alfa seats are very complex in their construction.
I've owned around one car a year since I left high school, all older cars except our Magna which was 2 yo when we bought it, so I have kind of had to learn to fix things or be broke paying someone else to do it. Luckily for me, I enjoy learning and also like a challenge.
Regards, Andrew.
Hi Andrew,
You've done really well on your 90 and I have also enjoyed reading your post. Nice panel work as well........ I can see a lot of hours gone into the car too :)
Just a quick query, the wiper on my 75 seems to stop midway on the windscreen when I switch it off. Do you think it could be the motor needing a clean and grease or something else? I swapped the intermittent relay with another one and it still does the same thing. Anything else I should be looking for?
Cheers,
Brian
There are contacts in the wiper motor gearbox that actually control where the wiper arms stop. The large gear in the wiper motor has contact tracks on it, I suspect either the contact tracks are broken (unlikely) or the contact arm is losing contact with the track at some stage. Should be a matter of bending the arm, it will be obvious when you take the cover off.
As an aside, I need a new front windscreen now. :(
Regards, Andrew.
Hey Andrew,
Sorry to hear that your windscreen broke :(
You were right in that the gearbox in the wiper motor had hard caked on grease. Cleaned it all out and put new grease in there.....All perfect now :)
Cheers,
Brian
Hi Andrew.
Great reading your post and congratulations on your progress. Good to see you getting stuck into your 90, they deserve a bit of tender loving care. Wish I could muster up some of your enthusiasm. Did read with interest that you've noticed some smoking at idle. Quote;
Whilst the car has been sitting, it's developed a new trick, it's started to smoke when idling hot. It's oil smoke, I hope it's just a sticking ring or similar. I don't think it's too bad, it wasn't doing it before it was laid up and it's only been idle for six weeks so far. Probably just needs a good blast round the block.
I too have noticed this same problem with my car and a good blast doesn't seem to help. So I'll be keeping an eye on your posts to see if you come up with a fix.
Keep up the great work
Leon
Well, I am trying the old kerosene trick with the car, around 250ml of kerosene into the engine oil, run and let it sit. The longer it sits, the better. It helps clean up ring grooves and sticking rings. I also cleaned the PCV system. Smoke has reduced but is still there. Oddly, it is worst when warming up, but not cold and just about disappears when the engine is hot. I don't know what that implies....
As for enthusiasm, it's more a matter of knowing what needs to be done and devoting time to keep moving forward.
Brian, glad the grease worked for you!
Regards, Andrew.
Quote from: WETPRICKLES on August 22, 2010, 04:14:19 PM
Hi Andrew.
Great reading your post and congratulations on your progress. Good to see you getting stuck into your 90, they deserve a bit of tender loving care. Wish I could muster up some of your enthusiasm. Did read with interest that you've noticed some smoking at idle. Quote;
Whilst the car has been sitting, it's developed a new trick, it's started to smoke when idling hot. It's oil smoke, I hope it's just a sticking ring or similar. I don't think it's too bad, it wasn't doing it before it was laid up and it's only been idle for six weeks so far. Probably just needs a good blast round the block.
I too have noticed this same problem with my car and a good blast doesn't seem to help. So I'll be keeping an eye on your posts to see if you come up with a fix.
Keep up the great work
Leon
Big day today, got some primer on the car. Removed the front windscreen yesterday, much easier when you don't care about saving the glass!
I'm glad I pulled the front screen, I know for sure there's no rust and it allows me to tidy up the front of the headliner.
I've also degreased the engine/engine bay and found that there was indeed an engine in there! Oh, and so much for Alfas being unreliable, I SOAKED he engine and engine bay with 2 litres of degreaser then spent a good 10 mins hosing the whole lot down. Then it started immediately when soaked! I think the only unreliable thing about most old Alfas is the owners....but I digress.
I've also ordered some cheapie adjustable shocks, if they work O.K, great, but if not, they'll give me time to save for some Konis or similar. Also had to order some radius rod bushes, one of the rubber ones is trying to escape from it's home, that also explains why the car was darting left on any pot holes or bumps on the freeway trip home.
The upholstery has also been removed from the seats, resewn, washed and re fitted. It's still faded but entirely serviceable, the material Alfa used on the 90's is very rugged. The way it is woven, the sun can't get past the knap into the actual woven part of the material, so it keeps it's strength.
The car looks pretty fair on all the repairs, the old wet paint shows up ANY mistakes, and it looked good (thankfully!). It'll never be concours, but it was never intended to be.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Primer001.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Primer002.jpg)
Guess what I'm doing next weekend? ;D
Regards, Andrew.
Paint it done! Yes, there are some runs, yes, they'll rub out! I haven't painted anything larger than a motorcycle fuel tank in 10 years, I forgot a few tricks!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Topcoat001.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Topcoat005.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Topcoat002.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Topcoat004.jpg)
Also degreased and pressure blasted the undercarriage yesterday, will be much easier to work on, plus rego inspection will be happier with no oil stains.
Regards, Andrew.
Sometimes, I can't believe this car is the same POS I started with!
Been busy reassembling the car. Polished the tail lights before reassembly, ensured the gaskets were clean and used lots of sealer on them.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Reassembly002.jpg)
Also buffed the whole car up, paint on the passenger's side is very average, but will pass for a while. I guess I'll be painting that side next.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Reassembly003.jpg)
These little plastic vents sit under the C pillar covers and provide trough flow ventilation to the car. One of them on my car had a failed gasket, allowing water into the boot. It was the side that had been painted before, the vent had been installed poorly, causing more rust than fixing it repaired! No chance of it leaking now, slathered with butyl sealer on assembly.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Reassembly001.jpg)
I'm excited to see the car coming back together!
Regards, Andrew.
Hi Andrew,
Looking very nice,good job.
Cheers
Andrew
Interestingly, the whole turret shakes at a high frequency when the engine is idling rough when cold, it's amazing what two windows bonded into a can add as far as torsional rigidity goes, and always an interesting thing to see.
I wonder if I twisted the car jacking it up on one corner with the windscreens out? Could explain it being high on the side that was jacked up, I might jack the opposite side up and see what happens. ???
Regards, Andrew.
Jeez Andrew,
that 90 is coming together really nicely, it's given me some ideas for some preventative measures to make sure that my own car does not develop any rust...
Can't wait to see it finished and out on the road :)
My lovely fiancee helped me bond the front windscreen in this evening. I am waiting for a third brake light for the rear window before I install that, you can't have too many brake lights in traffic these days. ::)
Regards, Andrew.
Whadda ya know, the bootlid still fits!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/nearlyfinished.jpg)
I'm pretty excited, all that's left cosmetically is the C pillar trim, gutter moulds and figure out a way to keep teh rocker/sill panel moulds on the car. mechanically I think it's sorted, rear rotors may be suspect, but I'll wing it for rego.
Regards, Andrew.
VERY VERY IMPRESSIVE- I salute u.
The 90 passed registration inspection yesterday and is now registered in NSW!
At times I didn't think I'd make the deadline or actually find the wherewithall to finish it, but there you go, it's done. The Ass*#*e that did the rego inspection managed to rip the turn signal/light combination stalk right out of the column, I guess he thought pulling back flashed high beam, and pulling back harder when that didn't work would fix it. >:(
Now I have to fix those little things I forgor about, like the left front caliper not doing much when braking, or the lack of power the engine seems to have. Other than that, it drives really nicely, the urethane radius rod bushes have really sharpened the front end up. Still needs a performance alignment though.
I have some nice rotors on the way from the US, no one wanted to take my money for what I wanted over here, so again, suck it up Australian aftermarket. Supply what people want or lose sales.
Regards, Andrew.
Hi Andrew
Congrats on getting your 90 on the road, and thanks for posting the repair/resto process.
Its great to see another 90 strutin around in this day and age, and its no surprise that
theres always a dimbulb doing rego inspection
Cheers
Pep
I've driven the car to work all week, it's running better every day. I think this car sat for a few months before being sold. It's an amazing vehicle, even though it desperately needs new brakes and an alignment, it's still a really enjoyable car to drive. It's an amazing handler even stock, body roll isn't THAT bad, I'e owned far worse that were much newer! It's a very neutral chassis and has surprisingly good power to weight, but it's no rocket. Even more surprising is how nice the ride is and the NVH levels are very low too. It feels like a late 90's car.
What has surprised me is how tractable the 2.5 is in day to day driving and that it has a definite powerband above 4000 rpm. It just sounds beautiful when the revs get above that.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Alfa.jpg)
Regards, Andrew.
Oh, she's still not track ready! The brakes are woeful, I'd head for the nearest sand trap with any sort of spirited driving! The rear calipers may or may not be doing much, I know they're making an awful metallic rubbing sound and the handbrake is definitely sticking. One f the frotn calipers is not etting ful pressur eeither, it likes very much to turn right.
But I'm driving it sedately, just making a mental list of things to tweak and adjust. I have rebuild kits for the calipers, new pads, rotors and braided lines on the way from various suppliers, so she'll be spot on once the brakes are done.
When that is finished, I'll put it on a local dyno and check the A/F ratios. I don't care about the numbers, I just want to ensure it's not lean so I can drive it in the manner for which it was intended without worry. It'll also get a nice performance four wheel alignment.
Then I'll ease into it with a few quiet track days, bed things in, get used to the car. Once I am happy with the car, I'll see what I think it needs to get round a track better, but I have to tune the driver first. :P
Regards, Andrew.
So I've once again found the "Alfas are hard to work on" line a myth...one hour to change the timing belt.
I'll give the front of the engine a good clean whilst the belt is off and replace all the drive belts to, cheap insurance, especially for something that's going to spin 6500 rpm a fair bit.
I might also give the rocker covers a coat of wrinkle finish paint when I remove them tomorrow for a valve adjustment, and give the Alfa script a brushed finish. The stock Alfa rocker covers seem to be made of corrodium alloy, they look shite.
Finally have a tracking number for my brake pads from the US as well. So I can get stuck in to rebuilding the brakes.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Timingbelt.jpg)
I love these engines, they're built very nicely.
Regards, Andrew.
Hello Andrew, i have never done a valve adjustment and would like to on my current 2.5 project, give me the details on how you do yours and any problems you come across plus the tools you use, i have had a close listen to the valves the other day when i was doing a oil change and two cylinders have a fairly tappety noise coming from them, let us know when you do the check on yours ;)
As it happens, I just sat down from adjusting the exhaust valves on the 90. There are two methods of adjustment on the single cam V6, the exhaust uses an adjustable ball with a lock nut and the intake is shim over valve bucket follower.
The exhaust valves were all tight on my car, one of the lobes is marked almost all the way round.
So, the exhaust valves are simple enough to adjust. Pop one of the plastic cam covers off, remove rocker covers (you'll have to remove intake plumbing on driver's side and there is one tricky bolt under the master cylinder, you WILL need an 11mm open end spanner to get it). I used a spanner on the cam pulley to turn the engine by hand.
The process is to wind the engine over by hand until a cam lobe is pointing directly AWAY from the exhaust follower, then find a suitably sized feeler gauge and try to insert it between follower and camshaft. If the clearance is correct, the feeler gauge will drag through the gap, too loose and no resistance, too tight and it won't go into the gap.
So, if the gap needs adjustment, loosen the locknut on the exhaust rocker and turn the inner adjuster whilst trying to move the feeler gauge in and out between camshaft and follower. Once you have some drag, stop and tighten rocker arm lock nut. I held the inner adjusting screw from spinning with a pair of pliers, you just have to ensure it doesn't move when you tighten the locknut. Once everything is tight, recheck the gap. Then move on to next exhaust valve.
The intake valves are harder to check, you really need some bent feeler gauges. The process for checking is the same, insert feeler gauge, ensuring cam lobe is pointing AWAY from cam follower. However, the adjustment is much harder. You have to measure the gap you have, remove camshaft, measure shim thickness and add to the gap you measured, then subtract from this measurement the correct valve clearance. This gives you your new correct shim thickness, which you now have to go out and buy one of. Repeat five times!
Fortunately for me, all the intake valves were tolerably close to correct.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/typhoonpud/Cars/Alfa/Valvegear-1.jpg)
Regards, Andrew.