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EXIGERACING.com

Started June 1st 2020

An inauspicious start to the Alfa build was it developing an electrical fault that I couldn't overcome at the side of the road in good time to catch the ferry home, so my wife had to quickly learn how to tow. The issue was that the car had TWO 1990s era immobilisers that had decided to come to life and shut the car down, both systems were fully removed when we got the car into the garage....soooo many wires!

alfa collection 01jun20 00027.jpeg
alfa collection 01jun20 00027.jpeg
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IMG_5390.JPG
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alfa collection 01jun20 00012.jpeg
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prop shaft support bearing jun20 00005.JPG
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prop shaft support bearing jun20 00007.JPG
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prop shaft support bearing jun20 00009.JPG
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prop shaft support bearing jun20 00012.JPG

PROP SHAFT SUPPORT BEARING

During the test drive I could feel a knock when changing gear and drumming on acceleration, which I knew was the prop shaft support bearing, so one of my first jobs was to rmeove and split the prop.

prop shaft support bearing jun20 00010.JPG
prop shaft support bearing jun20 00010.JPG
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prop shaft support bearing jun20 00013.JPG
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prop shaft support bearing jun20 00014.JPG
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prop shaft support bearing jun20 00011.JPG

As with any job I took the oportunity to discard and replace any nuts and bolts for new, clean and paint the part then fit the new bearing and housing before replacement.

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clutch slave cyl 00059.JPG
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clutch slave cyl 00056.JPG

CLUTCH SLAVE CYLINDER

The clutch had to be double pumped to operate due to a faulty clutch slave cyl that I've replaced for a new orignal equipment one and while under there I degreased and washed the underside of the car.

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Jun20 00014.JPG
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clutch slave cyl 00057.JPG
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BUMPERS

I've removed the bumpers to allow access to the front valance, the side parts of which are corroded and will be replaced. I'm also going to restore the bumpers to the original silver and black, replace all the rubber parts and fit them tighter to the bodywork than shown.

1987 Alfa Romeo Spider 2000

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New Alfa Heart and Badge 00057.JPG
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New Alfa Heart and Badge 00061.JPG
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New Alfa Heart and Badge 00056.JPG

BIG BOX OF ALFA BITS

I ordered a few body repair parts and essential mechanical items, but also a couple of vanity parts, like a new heater console and Alfa Heart. The repro heart alfa badge wasnt as good as the original so I swapped it. The badge is glued on, but I've threaded the fixing lugs so it can be bolted on instead.

Theres also a new Zender tail spoiler in there. I'd always planned to fit this in place of the duck tail as it restores the Kamm Tail look of the original design as in the Zender promo pic on the left.

The Alfa Spider is a beautiful Pinifarina design and is probably one of the last chances us regular folk will have to afford a classic Italian roadster as values spiral wth them currently hovering around the £12k mark for a decent one. This is an 87 S3 with the revvy 2.0 Twin Cam on Twin Dellorto carbs in Rosso and it included the very rare pinin three window hard top with heated rear window. Its all original, the factory never made a RHD model (they were all dealer conversions) so all of the engine components, wiring and other gear are in the right place and beautiful. Overall its solid, but needs some non structural welding, mechanical work, small body dents removed and some retromodding :)

Suffering from Garage Boredom over lockdown, I needed a project....

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REAR BUMPER SIDE SPLIT REPAIR

I've noticed bad alignment for the bumper sides on S3's as there is little support from the bracket, which then splits the side. I'm going to build in support later when I fit the bumpers tighter to the body, but for now its a chance to see how the bumper responds to repair. I clean the area and key it, then epoxy in a small alloy strengthener before melting in a bumper repair staple. Normally the staple would be enough, but this bumper cannot be plastic welded as it is thermoset and contains fibres which you see here as a white froth when inserting the hot staple, so epoxy specifically for plastic is the only option.

REAR SPOILER

This is the (rather expensive) Alfa Romeo Zender style spoiler that gives a real sleek look to the Kamm tail, while still being an 80s era part for the car.

Fitting is easy, but there was quite a bit of work to properly remove the old double sided tape and glue fixings.

A gratuitous pic of the fab new Stainless Steel mirrors with a wider field of view and very nice Alfa Romeo logos on the stalks to replace the tarnished originals.

I've done a few jobs on the Alfa, but its been sitting for a couple of months now gathering dust and with another robot on the way to restore it could get neglected so I decided over the weekend to sell it as is and hope someone can really enjoy finishing the work and driving the car. I've made this video below for the ad and I've endeavored to be as honest as possible about the condition of the car and any work that needs done.