New used Alfa owner

[JohnB]

My son just bought with a little help from dad an 88 Alfa 33 1.7IE. Its his first car and is proud of his choice - we have spent the past few days tidying it up and doing some minor fixes - it is coming along rather well though my mechanical knowledge is somewhat ancient and rusty. We have a few minor issues that I could do with some assistance on.

The right lowbeam is not working - currently the fuse is out as the car will not start when the fuse is in place. I have read bulletin boards etc as a way of learning a little and have deduced that the issue is to do with a relay - can someone direct me to which relay (I suspect one of the two located near the right hand headlight) and how would I go about checking/testing that to be sure so that I can replace it if it turns out to be the issue?

The brake pedal depresses down about an inch and half before it gives action - there is plenty of brake pads on the front and rear drums (both about 70%). The pedal rises after a single pump to give a good response - would I be correct in assuming that a master cylinder kit would bring the performance that I expect?

[colcol]

Hello John, welcome to the Forum, you say your mechanical knowledge is ancient and rusty, the last bit will certainly help when dealing with old Alfa Romeo's, although the 1.7 33's where quite good in the rust department, they still tended to rust around the bottoms of the rear hatch glass, the right lowbeam is not working, do a swaparoo with the left one and see if that helps, make sure that the coil is getting power, just put a test light on the coil +, and make sure it is being powered, i don't know much about the EFI relays, sometimes the contacts stick together and burn, or you could have poor connections in the wiring, with the brakes, the 33 had a spongy pedal compared to its predicessor the Alfasud, the Sud had 4 wheel discs, the 33 has drum brakes on the back, the drums always have a bit more travel in the pedal, its the price you pay for drum brakes and a operating handbrake, don't worry about re kitting the master cylinder, unless it is leaking, give the system a good bleed, and do the clutch hydraulics as well, had my 33 since 86, thats 26 years, still a ball of fun to drive, the 33 name came from the race car Alfa Romeo made in the late 60's and early 70's that they won Le Mans with, Colin.

[JohnB]

Thanks Col - you got it in one with the rust spots - one on each side so will get that repaired and touched up in the near future.

Great stuff to know re the brakes - my feeling is the pedal must go down with th % wear on the pads so new pads in time will bump that up - will try your advice re the relays over the weekend. Its a first car for my son and am feeling quite good about this one after a lifetime of heavy vehicles and armchair riding in older Mercedes - took it for a play ride recently and found there is still a little of the young bull in me - its pretty handy in corners both under power and under brakes and is reassuring and responsive on the road and in surprising condition for its age. The log books show it to be one of those "lady only" cars - 2 owners and both were women - have already bribed a loan for a weekend drive in the future and am so tickled by it that I toyed with the idea of looking for one for myself as my last benz moved into old age and expensive electrical repairs so its on its way back into the ground as rust which has left me without a personal car for the past few months.

Thanks for your advice - greatly appreciated.

rgds

JohnB

[colcol]

John, my 33 rusted around the back window when it was 5 year old, Alfa Romeo in those had a 6 year anti-corrosion warranty, but only if it was regulary serviced by an authorised Alfa Dealer, so they got out of fixing it, i had it repaired by a panel beater that used to do restos on classic cars, and he cut out the rust and welded new metal back in, but the rust was back 5 years later, i repaired the rust by fibreglassing the place where the metal was, and it was ok until the constant slamming of the hatch loosened the fibreglass, after about 4 years, so i extended the fibreglass a bit further to give it some anchourage, and it seems to have held on ok, but it is starting to rust next to the fibreglass, so i have purchased a second hand hatch off a 1988, 1.7 33 that only has a little bit of rust in the corners, and i have repaired it with K+H Metalmend, that is a body filler with stainless steel fibres through it, for added strength, and also i notice the later hatches don't have a trim on the inside of the hatch, i don't know if this is a cost cutting exercise by Fiat, but it would allow air to circulate around the hatch to dry out any moisture there, the Alfa Repairer i purchased the hatch off, told me to put windscreen sealant on the back window when i put it back in, which i will, i put the sealant in on a earlier hatch repair, and it didn't seem to make much difference, but he said it all helps so i will give it a go, Colin.

[tony8028]

great choice of car - your son will have a ball in this although make sure he doesnt put his foot down. Easy to get a speeding fine in a 33!

Winter is a popular time for buying 33s given that there has not been a 33 made yet that has working air!

Great car all the same.

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Winter is a popular time for buying 33s given that there has not been a 33 made yet that has working air!

....or heater.  I still shiver at the thought of the times I tried to drive a 33 in winter in Melbourne.  Great car though, loved it to bits, it always wanted to go fast!!

[colcol]

Due to constant full time re-engineering and re-engineering, the aircon in my 33 works great, the problem is you cannot get the old R-12 gas for it, so alternatives are used, that are no good and corrode the internals that clog it up which stops it working, the heater works good, due to lack of leaves clogging the heater fins, and having the cables and flaps working, but need to work at it, Colin.