Alfa Romeo GTV (916) - Azzurro Nuvola

[bolidemichael]

That is superb!

[Kingdom35]

Love this Alfa thread. Always wanted a GTV since I’ve heard the Busso engine of the Blue GTV V8 on YouTube whine along (raspy). I’m sure you know said video.
This is by far the best colour though and the levels you’ve looked after this is admirable. If you ever sell, first dibs please (no way you will sell)

[jamesbilluk]

The interior looks great! Really goes well together.

I really want to change the gear knob in my 3.0 but apparently it needs to be cut off with a hacksaw! I would love to try the wooden steering wheel from the 166 as well.

[Spinakerr]

bolidemichael said:

That is superb!

Thanks! Yes it really changes the interior - wife is very happy (despite her exactly colour matching nature).

Kingdom35 said:

Love this Alfa thread. Always wanted a GTV since I’ve heard the Busso engine of the Blue GTV V8 on YouTube whine along (raspy). I’m sure you know said video.
This is by far the best colour though and the levels you’ve looked after this is admirable. If you ever sell, first dibs please (no way you will sell)

This is defintiely sticking around for a little while... the original goal was to keep it as the daily until the Saab 900 is restored, back on the road and tax/ULEZ exempt.

Don't discount the twinspark noise - the stock exhaust system actually sounds great, very addictive. I would encourage you to try both engines - they are different animals, and my wife (who is the owner and a far better driver than me) really prefers the twinspark having tackled both.

jamesbilluk said:

The interior looks great! Really goes well together.

I really want to change the gear knob in my 3.0 but apparently it needs to be cut off with a hacksaw! I would love to try the wooden steering wheel from the 166 as well.

Try ebay.it for much cheaper items - even after postage - 'alfa 166 volante' will get you what you want to see. THe greaknobs are tight but at least on mine it didnt need any tools to remove. Good luck!

[jamesbilluk]

Spinakerr said:

Try ebay.it for much cheaper items - even after postage - 'alfa 166 volante' will get you what you want to see. THe greaknobs are tight but at least on mine it didnt need any tools to remove. Good luck!

Thank you I'll take a look. I may try again, give it a bit more force.

[Church of Noise]

I absolutely adore this car and how you're gently improving it!
(good thing (a) it's not for sale and (b) it's RHD with me being on the continent!)

[Alfahorn]

Lovely to see it being used regularly. I was fortunately enough to own a 147 in that colour, loved it, and miss my 147!

[Geoffcapes]

That's it, having read this thread from front to back (instead of working) I'm going to have to get a GTV.

Having owned 5 Alfa's previously I miss the pottering about doing little jobs like you are doing.

Best places to look? Car and Classic? EBay?

[Spinakerr]

Geoffcapes said:

That's it, having read this thread from front to back (instead of working) I'm going to have to get a GTV.

Having owned 5 Alfa's previously I miss the pottering about doing little jobs like you are doing.

Best places to look? Car and Classic? EBay?

Well I've only ever bought one, and my hands were tied on colour, so I would defer to some of the PH collective that have owners double digits of alfas and sometimes even GTVs on this thread!

Given they are around the 20 year mark, I think cast a wide net and just get your knowledge on what to look for and what things cost to fix up to scratch. The gap between twinspark and v6 seems to be widening significantly, which I understand but don't really subscribe to. A well sorted twinspark or JTS with no major rust issues or impending doom shouldnt be ignored.

On the topic of impending doom - the rear exhaust backbox hanger finally departed, so I decided to have a longer poke of the underside.



As with many GTVs, the rear suspension components are in need of an overhaul, and the crusty cornflake appearance is at odds with the continuously good ride. I suspect these are all good quality or original components near their end of life.

Drop links and dogbones in granola but working order...



TRW struts don't look too bad. Hopefully I can re-use them.

Springs looked alright but a poke with a screwdriver and the coating lifted to reveal rust on all ends - I think they're old and due replacement.



ARB looks original throughout.



Some further rear floorpan edges will need treatment while the back end is all out.



The control arm/wishbones also look original (behind the struts):



Bump stops look original, but perhaps the original cups will be salvageable:



Spring pans: as expected, they have completely gone. They might be salvageable - I know a lot of people do - but this car can't be off the road for the weeks I need to do that, plus the rose bushes are shot. Note the prominent rust pustule on the anti roll bar at the top of the frame.



What to do? Well, I think its time to do it all properly. We have a bit of money set aside to keep this car in good order, might as well sort the rear end before a spring pops through a springpan or a drop link snaps in a pot hole.

We are going the 'non poly' route where possible to keep a more pliable ride, and defintiely not lowering or anything like that.

1) Dog legs (with three bushes) sourced from Germany.
2) Fedi drop links ordered.
3) Spring pans and Springs - aiming to order from Alfashop as I have th 10% AROC discount and they have rubber rose bushes.
4) Wishbones - might ahve to go with an eBay refurber that paints them red and puts in poly bushes... can't find originals anywhere.
5) Shocks - the TRWs might look a bit brown but the are working well. Keep.
6) Bump stops - aimign to refurb the cups and replace the actual stops.
7) ARB - Original items not found, again likely to be the eBay red paint refurber, but with rubber bushes.

I would be keen to hear any advice, guidance or experience changing out these components and the rear end!

[snotrag]

Spinakerr said:

I would be keen to hear any advice, guidance or experience changing out these components and the rear end!

Don't try and piece-meal it. I've learnt this the hard way after owning numerous similar value/age/style of cars.


Sit down with a notepad and google, and some parts diagrams if you have them. List out everything thats needed, and start collecting parts from your chosen suppliers. Buy everything, try to remember bolts, hardware, clips etc.


Eventually you'll have a huge pile of shiny new bits - even if its taken you a little longer to afford/order/collect them. Then do it all in one hit. Even if that feels like more time prepping and collecting bits than actually doing anything, I promise you its the the best way.


The absolute worst thing to do is start pulling bits off willy-nilly, without a proper defined plan, and you end up with a car sitting on axle stands for weeks/months on end and you get frustrated that the cost is ramping up.

[V6Nelo]

Cool to read you are sticking with the rose bush spring spans. I got a local specialist to polybush mine back in 2010 as back then I drove around cities and the suspension was taking a hammering (speed bumps).

Noticed the additional stiffness straightaway, now I'm driving on smoother roads if the spring pans needed changing I'd try the rose bushes too and take it back on track to compare. Din't get much time with the passive rear steering.

Regarding the other suspension stuff I have a good indy to do those bits but enjoyed watch Rick going through the steps on YouTube, inspiring.

https://youtu.be/KByLGWZ51-8?si=FwI-tGz8AqXRalP9

[Spinakerr]

snotrag said:

Don't try and piece-meal it. I've learnt this the hard way after owning numerous similar value/age/style of cars.

Don't worry - I have form on ALfa undercarraige refurbs... I completely subscribe to dragon-level parts hoaridng and spreadsheets. My 164 took around 8 years before we replaced everything front and rear - completely transformed the car, then the damn ULEZ snuffed it out from my daily driver duties!

Spreadsheet already started, parts numbers and diagrams saved in a new folder... eBay and cross reference across dutch, german and english parts suppliers underway...

V6Nelo said:

Cool to read you are sticking with the rose bush spring spans.

Regarding the other suspension stuff I have a good indy to do those bits but enjoyed watch Rick going through the steps on YouTube, inspiring.

https://youtu.be/KByLGWZ51-8?si=FwI-tGz8AqXRalP9

Yep the roads we drive on are dreadful, and I've not had too much joy with polybushes over the years.

I will be watching all videos - hoping to book in time with Phil of Alfacraft for 2 days once I finally get everythign together. Hopefully shorter than the 8 years for the 164!

My estimated parts cost seems to be around 1300GBP once I factor in the bolts and all the tie rods and other pads/bobs I had msised off initially. Phew. Its goign to be a big one. I'll just ignore those sills over there for a little while to ensure I don't second gues the veracity of this action...

[mercedeslimos]

I wish I had low annual mileage and could subscribe to that sort of game plan on a daily driver - instead I'm very much of the fix it when it breaks or is going to fail test agenda on my dailies - doing 45-50k a year between 2 cars also would mean ruinous cost. I often use secondhand parts taken from various other donor vehicles I've owned and broken for parts over the years and kept the best parts. On my projects, I tend to take a halfway house, if something is broken or worn out I upgrade as well as replace. My parent's 75 Tourer has had almost everything suspension and brakes replaced in the past 7 years, just not all at the same time. Suppose then it never drives like a new car, but they don't mind and with the roads where we live, wouldn't feel like a new car for very long!

[Spinakerr]

mercedeslimos said:

I wish I had low annual mileage and could subscribe to that sort of game plan on a daily driver - instead I'm very much of the fix it when it breaks or is going to fail test agenda on my dailies - doing 45-50k a year between 2 cars also would mean ruinous cost.

The trick is to buy enough cars to have a low mileage annually on all of them... and be able to have some off the road!

While suspension parts are being inexorably drawn to my GTV, I replaced the two most diseased exhaust mount to cure a clonking.

These two looks a tad past it...





Original Alfa parts - Klarius now in. Might not be as long-lived but it alt least has structural integrity.





The rearmost one in particular looks a bit... rubbish. We'll see.



A hanger further along needs correction - this angle looks a bit too geared to speed bump antagonism for me...

[MightyBadger]

Spinakerr said:

We spent last week in Cornwall on a bit of a last minute decision, and despite my case for the MG 260, its last gasps of air con, droopy headlining and 'not being an Alfa Romeo' argument meant the GTV was goign to be our steed of choice.

As every review of the car whinged about the boot space, I am pleasantly surprised by how much we got in (5 night trip, including wetsuits/fins and my computer).



I removed the spare tyre, a dicey prospect on the horrible 'Dailyway' threadbare biscuits the car was on, with the agreement to stop at Micheldever Tyres en route to get a new full set.

The spare wheel unscrews as normal, then a deep socket takes out the boss/prong. Boss Prong, incedentaly, is a great name for an 8-bit arcade game.



The car had used about 500ml of oil in 1000 miles, so I recruited an old 1 litre 10w40 vessel and found a niche in the boot for it to live. Tyre and screenwash checked, we set off. En route, the 2000s Sony CD player turned out to be not only working but in resonable audio output territory, even with Portishead as a trip hop, somewhat muted test.



Unfortunately, while Micheldever had four Falken ZE310s at a decent price, it transpired the car had locking wheel nuts. CUe disgorgement of a full car's luggage and protracted ransacking of every nook and cranny. Nothing. Nada.... Nuts! The Micheldever team prodded the tyres a fair amount and said we 'should be ok' for Cornwall. One lad even said 'he'd been to the Ring and back on worse', which made me chuckle. I assume he meant Wagner's full production at the National Opera House.



We decidded to press on, carefully, while I scoured eBay and the Alfa forums for the correct wheel nut caps (they look normal at a glance, but require special caps that go on each nut, ratehr than a socket tool).

We had a great run down. Probably one of the best ever.







During the week the Alfa aquitted itself for Cornwallian lane diving, proving small and nimble while immensely satisfying at normal speeds.



It didnt miss a beat, which is more than can be said for the usual collection of terrying colanders people seem to fart down to region every day.



MOT exemptions...great idea...

Rejuvenated by a week in Fowey, we had a bit more of a 'normal' journey back, with several detours parallel to the A303 to dodge traffic and a pit stop to pick up a certain green Saab from its recent maintenance.

At home I was happy to find a set fo the correct locking wheel nut caps from a fellow alfa owner on the doorstep, and today my wife it heading off to Micheldever once more, so hopefully that particular type of risk will be significantly mitigated.

In the meantime, a week of no work has led to a large amount of service part purchasing...

That van isn’t mot exempt, just expired.

[B'stard Child]

Not quite sure how I missed this thread but I'm all caught up now - thanks for sharing the journey

My brother had a TS GTV in the same colour for several years - quirky but nice looking car.......

Replaced it with a Nissan Terano/Ford Maverick or whatever it was called (don't ask) and an MGB RV8

[thomasrs50]

I hadn't seen your post about the rear suspension. It will be a money-pit if you tackle it all at once. I've learned with the GTV (and other alfa's I've owned in the past) that once you starting diving into it, you'll come across other things that need adressing.

As you've probably seen in my thread, I try to make choices on that to deal with immediately. Replacing the spring pans and dogs legs is quite straight-forward, but replace the upper spring cone, spring and bump stop.

The whishbones can be refurbished with rubber inserts (instead of poly) which can be had trough tedgum (they are polish and sell trough autodoc). Have a look at their website and use the partnumber on autodoc. The ball joint on the wishbones can be head trough autodoc (or any other parts supplier, same goes for the endlinks).

Moderator edit: no advertising

[Jhonno]

A little tip I was given for exhaust rubbers.. Get some big zip ties and wrap them around also. Might help if the replacements aren't great.

[Spinakerr]

B'stard Child said:

Not quite sure how I missed this thread but I'm all caught up now - thanks for sharing the journey

My brother had a TS GTV in the same colour for several years - quirky but nice looking car.......

Replaced it with a Nissan Terano/Ford Maverick or whatever it was called (don't ask) and an MGB RV8

I fancied an RV8 for a while when I was on my succession of Rovers, but they always seem to have been expensive due to rarity. What were his thoguhts on driving it?

thomasrs50 said:

I hadn't seen your post about the rear suspension. It will be a money-pit if you tackle it all at once. I've learned with the GTV (and other alfa's I've owned in the past) that once you starting diving into it, you'll come across other things that need adressing.

Thanks for the note and yes your thread is exceptionally helpful (and inspiring!). I am erring on the full replacement side, or at least big chunks in one go, as Phil at Alfacraft will be my tutor and I have bought or managed to secure a large amoutn of the bits already. If I'm paying for a day or two of Phil's expertise, I'd rather get as much done as possible.

Jhonno said:

A little tip I was given for exhaust rubbers.. Get some big zip ties and wrap them around also. Might help if the replacements aren't great.

Good idea - some rubber actually do have an integrated fabric or plastic circlet. I will add a jubilee clip or two.

The GTV has not been washed in months, so on a rare dry day I gave a it a good scrub. It came up well, as always, despite the absence of polish or any actual detailing.

[CarlosSainz100]

Having had 2 GTV's a 3.2 and a TS spider and polybushed the rear spring pans on both of them, I couldn't tell any difference in ride quality; that is to say it didn't get any worse. If anything it sharpened the rear end up a bit.