I thought I'd keep you guys posted of the (slow) work I'm doing on my 75. I bought this car in March, though have only just started the overhaul. In the past 4 months I've been buying new and used replacement parts (and also finished my Alfa 155, which was the main reason to defer the 75). The body is really straight, with only a handful of carpark dents, and a few small spots of surface rust. The interior is in great condition for one of these; perhaps the best I've seen in any that have been on the market (eg: no collapsed door arm rests, only a couple grab handles cracked; ARC fully functional). It's also low km's, at 135,000. But I don't think many of the original parts have ever been replaced (either haven't needed them, or previous owners disinterested). So a lot needs to be done, especially with what I have in mind for the car.
At the end of the project, I am aiming for a highly tuned (ie: performance upgrades), clean, and eye catching street car. No plans for track work, no plans for outrageous power, nothing garish. Just a car that hopefully, you will sit back, look at twice (or more!), and admire. I want to complete it in time for Spettacolo 2012.

Stage I is the engine/engine bay. Lots to do here, so it will probably take a couple months, and still many parts to buy. Work will include:
-cosmetic:
*thorough clean/degrease
*respray/paint areas of surface rust and where paint has been stripped (brake and PS fluid damage)
*spray air plenum and cam covers
*new oil cap
*titanium Allen head bolts: to replace all visible bolts in the entire engine bay; a few will be stainless where Ti unavailable
*new hose clamps throughout: replace all visible clamps
*new cambelt cover
*new bonnet front edge rubber seal
*new clips for bonnet seal and bonnet liner
-electrical:
*upgrade groundwires
*upgrade main powerwires
*new covers over wiring looms
*replace split rubber boots
*replace damaged/poor terminals
*fit upgraded and refurbished alternator
*new deep cycle battery and terminals
*new ignition leads
*new distributor cap and rotor
-mechanical:
*new cambelt
*overhaul hydraulic (de)tensioner
*new 164QV camshafts
*new inlet/exhaust tappets and reshim
*new gaskets and camshaft seals (not replacing head gaskets as no evidence of failure)
*new belts for AC, waterpump-alternator, PS pump
*new silicone hoses for vacuum lines and air plenum
*new air filter pod and silicone hoses
*fresh oil and filter
*new rear engine mount
*new fuel filter
*new lambda oxygen sensor
-cooling:
*new waterpump
*new thermostat
*new radiator
*new fan thermoswitch and relay and troubleshoot why fan not kicking in
*new expansion bottle
*new silicone hoses
*flush then fresh coolant
-AC:
*troubleshoot why it's not working: could be electrical or mechanical and at least needs a regas; time to learn how AC works!
Phew, that's roughly it, plus a full 'tune up'. Full exhaust will be a separate thing. So far, there's probably over a couple thousand in parts for this stage alone, plus a lot of new workshop tools I've had to buy. But it should end up being one immaculate and bling engine bay!
Photos. To begin with, the front bumper, headlights and front grill were removed. A general degrease was performed a few weeks ago. It's amazing what 20 years+ of grime looks like!

Coolant was drained, and radiator and main hoses removed. This provides a lot more space to work with at the front.

It's worrying to think what gunge is circulating in the cooling system! I have purposely not flushed the system at this stage, because a lot of the crap is probably in the old radiator and hoses. Nearly all of it will be replaced - leaving only the engine block passages and interior heater matrix/hoses - so I will flush it once all the new parts are fitted. This was on the thermostat outlet:

Overhaul begins on the left/passenger side. The battery tray has surface rust:

The wiring loom has tatty coverings that will be spruced up:

The thin wire connecting the NEG battery terminal to the chassis was loose, and simply pulled out! Not a reliable setup, and looks like 10awg (5.26mm^2 cross section). I will replace it with 0awg (53.5mm^2). The thicker wire is the engineblock-battery groundwire, which is the main wire in the OE setup, and looks like 0awg. I will replace this with new 0awg.

Next to the windscreen washer fluid bottle, is a black wiring terminal block (cover removed in these photos). This accepts the main wire from the alternator, only 8awg (8.36mm^2) thick, before continuing onto the POS battery terminal, and a branch feeding the main wiring loom. The alternator wire will be upgraded to 4awg (21.1mm^2). There is an existing 4awg wire that goes from the POS terminal to the starter motor; this will be retained.



The wiring looms on this side were unplugged from all components and unclipped from the engine bay; then moved aside. The ignition coil, module, and bracket were also removed, and the washer fluid bottle. The belts and alternator were removed (passenger side engine mount required unbolting and entire engine jacked up a few centimeters to facilitate removal of the main alternator bolt), and the PS pump brackets removed and pump moved aside.


After further degreasing on this side, the areas of stripped paintwork are now accessible for repainting. The area at the back is where brake fluid would have split; a previous owner removed the rear brake bias regulator, normally connected after the master cylinder. I presume brake fluid leaked during this procedure, and precautions not taken

. The stripped paintwork nearer the front is under the PS pump, so I presume a hose had a leak at one stage or was replaced, again without proper care or clean-up.

Nice clean alloy found behind the grease and grime! Most of the engine block will be cleaned similarly.

That's it for now. Once the weather improves, I will paint the exposed metal with a rust-prevention primer. There's also patches under the radiator, as well as the battery tray. Once that has cured, I have a can of specially-mixed colour-matched Alfa Red to respray the areas. The paintwork that isn't damaged will be hand polished to a nice finish.
