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so.. are you saying that getting this is not a great idea? It's tempting me pretty hard..
Honestly not unless you couldn't live without it. These cars are built in a shed with dim lighting haha. Even making the windows roll up and down is ridiculous. It uses a whole cable and pulley system that would drive you mad. If you ever broke a windshield good luck.. All of them I've replaced have come from overseas and weren't easy to find over there. If you dived into that GTV I'd estimate at least 4-5 years before it was near complete, and which by then you would have aged 10 years from all the stress. If you had to have one I'd look for someones half done project car that they've given up on. Out of all the older vehicles I've worked on I'd say alfa are one of the most stressful. I'd rather work on old porsche's all day. Oh and you thought e30 pans sat low :rofl:
so.. are you saying that getting this is not a great idea? It's tempting me pretty hard..
To be honest, yes and no. I had a '69 US Spec GTV (that is a later one, mine was 1530324) and it was a fantastic car. Even after sitting untouched for 30 years I had it reliably driving in a month and a half. Here is the thing about US spec '69 GTVs however, lots of specific parts that weren't shared on the 71s (there were no '70 GTVs brought into the US). The seats are unique, and pretty comfortable actually. The fuel injection pump, brake master cylinder, gas tank, are all unique to the '69 as well. Now, the good news is that Alfa Parts in Berkeley has many or can get many of the parts. Oh yeah, the heater control valve is different, but you can use a later cheaper plastic one (I went through a small pile of them, they'd last 6-8 months then blow up at the most inopportune times dumping hot coolant all over my foot.) The brake masters are a floor mounted dual circuit type that up till recently was NLA, however Centerline Alfa has started producing them.
The good news is that because there were only 640 US Spec GTVs built, and perhaps 200 of them are left, the clean ones bring the most money of all the GTVs aside from a real GTA (with the Aluminum body) The 1750 motor is also better than the 2l. It made more power, higher redline (still low in my mind but whatever) and is less prone to blowing head gaskets. The transmissions use a Porsche style steel servo-syncro design that is known to be a good design, but like most transmissions from that age, 2nd gear gets tired. The rear end will be an open diff, however you can swap a taller LSD rear end in no problem. The stock 4.56 rear end is really too low for anything. I put a 4.10 rebuilt to have a 56% lockup in and the car and it was all win.
Is that car worth saving? Yes you bet. Its not going to be cheap however. Because its a '69 and there are so many unique parts to a '69, it might take some time. It does have a fair bit of rust, but again, patch panels are pretty easy to find, and new panels are being made in England. As far as GTVs go, the '69 US spec is the holy grail, short of a GTA, or one of the 12 real GTAMs (based off the '69 US Spec GTV. If you see a GTAM listed as anything but a '69 you can call BS because it is. You can't have a '67 GTAM since the car was two years before the original car it was based on was released.
If you are serious about looking into this one, let me know, I'd be happy to answer questions or perhaps take a look at the car with you. It will be expensive to restore, but it will also bring top dollar if done right.
If you are serious about looking into this one, let me know, I'd be happy to answer questions or perhaps take a look at the car with you. It will be expensive to restore, but it will also bring top dollar if done right.
Will
At least you'll know that GTV's will only go up in value
Do you guys know which correct gap to use on the ngk zgr5a plugs? I have a stock m20, i read people gap theirs around 0.25 to 0.28.
Really i find that gap varies. .28 is a starting point, but my car was idling rough so i opened the gap to .32-34. I was slightly advanced on the timing though :), but the butt dyno sensed a difference.
At least you'll know that GTV's will only go up in value
5 or so years ago there was a silver '69 US Spec 1750 GTV at the RM (I think) auction at Monterey. It was an older restoration that was about the same condition my unrestored '69 was in at the time. It went for $40k+. The market has softened a little, but the nice cars are still bringing $30K+
They really are pretty simple cars, I think the hardest part to restoring one is finding the correct parts, but even that is getting easier. On the later '71-'75 cars, many of the parts from the spiders are interchangeable, engines, transmissions, fuel tanks, suspension, brakes, brake booster, and master cylinders. It makes finding parts both a lot easier and a lot cheaper.
Really i find that gap varies. .28 is a starting point, but my car was idling rough so i opened the gap to .32-34. I was slightly advanced on the timing though :), but the but dyno sensed a difference.
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