1972 Alfa Romeo GT Track Day Build!

[Bulletpruf]

Fellas -

A little background -- I'm active duty military, assigned to Italy for 2-3 years. Instead of bringing over one of my musclecars from the states, I decided to pick up something local to build. After a fair amount of research and negotiations with the CFO (I was thinking Ferrari, she was thinking Fiat), I decided on a "smooth nose" '70-'75 Alfa Romeo GT Junior 1300. Frankly, it was an easy decision based on availability, price, aesthetics/character, aftermarket support, etc.

After a bit of looking, I found one relatively close by (Pozzuoli) that hadn't been "restored" (local translation of "restored" - shiny paint over ****ty bodywork/bondo). Cost me $13,500; could have found one a bit cheaper, but I was tired of looking and ready to get started.

It's had one repaint in the factory color (Amaranth Red); looks good from 20'.


Goal is to construct a track day car in my garage, farming out only engine machine work. It will remain street legal, but with minimal creature comforts. Plan for the drivetrain is to remain somewhat stock-ish, but ditching the 1300 engine for a 2 liter of the same vintage.

Some inspiration -









Scott

[Bulletpruf]

I've had the car for several weeks now, but the majority of my time in the garage has been spent on organizing and getting everything set up. Kind of a pain in the ass setting up a garage every 2-3 years when you move. Really seems to take about 6 months to get everything in place, wired, plumbed, organized, etc.

Here's the house we're renting; garage is the basement level.



Garage is decent size - fits my tools with room for the Alfa and one of our daily drivers.

From garage door looking towards back wall. This is before it was painted and before my tools arrived.



Same spot, looking towards the far corner.


And looking to the right.


It's still a bit of a mess now, but I'm getting there. This gives you an idea of the dimensions and setup. Guess I need to figure out how to resize this picture...



Scott

[Bulletpruf]

A few more car pictures.

Interior was all original and in decent shape.


Engine is all aluminum, twin cam, a pair of Webers, about 80 hp. Plan is to swap it out with a 2 liter of the same vintage. 200 hp to the rear wheels would be nice; doesn't sound like much, but these cars only weigh about 2,000 pounds.


Interior mostly gone and working the tar on the floorboards.


Glass out. It's a one man job with these cars.




Some rust near the back glass that will need a patch. These cars are notorious for rust problems, but at least this one has the original floors and rockers. Both will need work, but probably patches instead of full replacement.


Scott

[Godbolt]

Very cool. I've always liked this era of Alfa's. Car looks in reasonable shape. The ones in Australia of this vintage tend to be rust buckets.

Also love the Art Deco style house you are renting,

[rlodad]

I dig it. If you are going to swap wheels, go with mini lites. They look great in the inspiration pics.

[andrewb70]

Cool project. I'm in for progress!

Andrew

[Bulletpruf]

Very cool. I've always liked this era of Alfa's. Car looks in reasonable shape. The ones in Australia of this vintage tend to be rust buckets.

Also love the Art Deco style house you are renting,

Just about all of the Alfa's of this vintage tend to be rust buckets, unless perhaps it was imported to the U.S. and spent all of its life in a garage in California.

I looked at several that had significant rust repair done, and was definitely unimpressed with the work that was done. That's what I love about this car -- original floors, original rockers, one repaint many years ago, and no evidence that it was hit in the rear. The front is another story (cap appears to be from a GTV 2000), but we'll see what that's all about when I get the paint stripped off.

Thanks,

Scott

[Bulletpruf]

I dig it. If you are going to swap wheels, go with mini lites. They look great in the inspiration pics.

Minilites are tough to beat on a 105 series GT, but I'm keeping my options open. Still have plenty of time to think about it.

Thanks

[Bulletpruf]

Cool project. I'm in for progress!

Andrew

Thanks, Andrew. Looks like we have similar taste in cars. Had a few 69 Judges, recently sold my RAIV 70 GTO (M21, manual drums, manual steering, 4.33, steel wheels/dog dishes -- optioned to race), love the first generation Cougars, too.

Scott

[Dave B]

You should see them up here in Ontario..I don't think I've ever seen one that wasn't totally rotten. Pretty cool cars.

[Bulletpruf]

You should see them up here in Ontario..I don't think I've ever seen one that wasn't totally rotten. Pretty cool cars.

Thanks, Dave. Cool Maverick. I've always wanted to build one with a wicked small block.

Scott

[Bulletpruf]

Progress continues, but not at breakneck speed. Grille is out. Getting ready to yank the engine, but my cherry picker is 5,000 miles away. Ordered a chain hoist/chain fall and will see if I can fab up an A-frame to hang it from.

[andrewb70]

Thanks, Andrew. Looks like we have similar taste in cars. Had a few 69 Judges, recently sold my RAIV 70 GTO (M21, manual drums, manual steering, 4.33, steel wheels/dog dishes -- optioned to race), love the first generation Cougars, too.

Scott

Scott,

I think you might be right. Your 70 GTO sounds like it was built in the same theme as my Cougar. Just a fun street/strip car. I do so love the 4.33 rear gears and with a T56 it is totally awesome on the highway.

I have always loved those little Alfa Romeos. My family lived a short time in Austria around 79-80 and I remember seeing those cars running around on the street. I hope that after you build this car right that you bring it home with you.

Andrew

[Twentyover]

The deal with European cars of the era is all about the weight. A Mustang or Camaro will have about 7-800 lbs on an Alfa, Fiat or MG. Even with the stonkin' heavy C series engine (weighs almost as much as a BBC), my MGC comes in 400 lb lighter than a six cylinder Mustang of the same era. The MKII Ford Capri in my avatar was still only 2500 lb w/ huge bumpers. was 550 lbs lighter than a 70 six cylinder second gen Camaro, and almost 900 lbs less than a 76 Camaro.

Less horsepower, less tire, less everything needed to achieve similar performance

[Motorcitydak]

Awesome build and you are doing exactly what I would in the same spot, love it! Can't wait to see more!

[Bulletpruf]

Scott,

I think you might be right. Your 70 GTO sounds like it was built in the same theme as my Cougar. Just a fun street/strip car. I do so love the 4.33 rear gears and with a T56 it is totally awesome on the highway.

Actually, I sold the GTO because it was absolutely not a fun street/strip car. It was a full concours restoration, won Concours Best Restored at the 2013 GTO Association of America Nationals. Started off as a frame-off in my garage and things got out of hand from there. Anyway, it ended up being too nice to drive and too expensive to beat on, so I sold it.

Here's a picture of it in Muscle Car Review -

I have always loved those little Alfa Romeos. My family lived a short time in Austria around 79-80 and I remember seeing those cars running around on the street. I hope that after you build this car right that you bring it home with you.

Andrew

Yes, I'll bring it back with me. I'll put it in a shipping container and ship it back at my expense ($3k or so). The Army will only pay to ship one car at Government expense, and that will be the wife's daily driver.

[Bulletpruf]

The deal with European cars of the era is all about the weight. A Mustang or Camaro will have about 7-800 lbs on an Alfa, Fiat or MG. Even with the stonkin' heavy C series engine (weighs almost as much as a BBC), my MGC comes in 400 lb lighter than a six cylinder Mustang of the same era. The MKII Ford Capri in my avatar was still only 2500 lb w/ huge bumpers. was 550 lbs lighter than a 70 six cylinder second gen Camaro, and almost 900 lbs less than a 76 Camaro.

Less horsepower, less tire, less everything needed to achieve similar performance

Weighs almost as much as a BBC?!?! Those are some massive and heavy suckers. I've built one before; they make SBC's look like a toy.

I think my starting point on this car is about 2,000 lbs. I should be able to drop a few hundred pounds from that -- bumpers, back seat, lighter front seats, hood latch, lighter battery, aluminum radiator, heater, etc, etc, but will add some back with the cage. Still expect to be comfortably under 2,000 lbs without driver, so 200 hp with give me 10 lbs/hp.

Thanks,

Scott

[Bulletpruf]

Awesome build and you are doing exactly what I would in the same spot, love it! Can't wait to see more!

Thanks, Steve. BTW, I have a soft spot for 68 Chargers -- an AWD one would be awesome. Do you have a build thread?

Scott

[andrewb70]

Actually, I sold the GTO because it was absolutely not a fun street/strip car. It was a full concours restoration, won Concours Best Restored at the 2013 GTO Association of America Nationals. Started off as a frame-off in my garage and things got out of hand from there. Anyway, it ended up being too nice to drive and too expensive to beat on, so I sold it.....

Common tale. The reason I built the Cougar is because I can drive it and park it anywhere.

Hopefully you won't make the Alfa "too" nice.

Andrew

[19,69camaro]

I love those little cars. Should make for a great project!