'78 Alfa Romeo Spider getting a second chance!

Brilliant

Have fun with the car!  You may want to consider a frame stiffener, BTW, the higher rate springs are pretty darned stiff (I'm guessing north of 1000lb/in, Ward & Deane springs used to be 1200lb for the front, and they were yellow).  

What kind of budget (which is the sneaky way to ask if you are doing this anywhere near a Challenge budget)?

Are there any good Alfa Spider websites / blogs ?

I was offered a 1974 ( I think) Spider that has 1998 tags on it , so it sat at least that long , 

Old lady car and garaged at least since 1998,

If I get it I would like to get it started but do know know anything about them !

Not sure why you are concerned, you got this one way or the other. Your plan to use the flange tool will work just fine.

I myself like a good butt-weld. I would use a scribe and make a mark on the old panel, then I would use a snip to cut  the old tin just a hair long in front of that mark. Then I would fit the panel again and see if it all still lines up nice, then trim right up to the scribe mark and Butt-weld that sucker in place. If you can do this with the TIG, so much the better as far as metal finishing it is concerned.

Pete

In reply to californiamilleghia :

alfabb.com  Not just Spiders, but there are Spider specific boards over there.  I used to post there all the time, but have not.

In reply to RichardSIA:

You don't have to do an LS swap to be competitive in the Challenge- BTDT.  But all of the other reasons make sense.  If you don't already have the springs for your car, you will find the same springs for a LOT less money at circle track stores- as both the front and rear springs are actually the same dimensions as commonly used circle track springs....

And where are you?  Quite a few of the national AROC chapters host motorsports events- autocrosses and track days.  Some even do really awesome time trials.

Back to cmm

As for the injected cars- all Alfas post '69 came with SPICA for US versions.  And the pre-'74 Spiders have the SS bumpers.  If you can get the '74 Spider for a good price, you will enjoy it a LOT.  It's a great car, and has some significant value them.  The reality is that they are very simple cars- live axle, double A arm, and in spite of the DOHC, the engines are super easy to work on.  Can be very itimidating the first time, but once you get past that, they are great to work on, and very reliable.  My GTV has been super, duper reliable.  

Try reinstalling the hood temporarily and see how it lines up with the other three sides.  Adjust the hood accordingly so the gaps are good.  If you can do that with the hood being somewhere near the middle of its adjustment, you're probably close enough.

Thanks for the Alfa info , I only saw a couple phone pics of it in a garage with a flat tire , and the guy "guessed" it was a 1974 ,  I will have to check it out more and find out what it really is ......

Bumpers aside, when did the actual sheet metal on spiders change? Fat chance of simply taking the ugly DOT 75+ bumpers off and finding a hottie Duetto behind those glasses?

For more motivation, I have gotten 30mpg from my GTV. Highway miles, of course. 

In reply to alfadriver :i run a homemade frame stiffener, weighs in at 8 pounds, and its stiffer that the  steel on, 1200 front springs and 180 rear springs, panhard bar, qa1 duel adjustable shocks, coil over in the rear, deleated rear sway bar. you can check out my  ecotec conversion here,

RichardSIA said:

I celebrated New Year's night by working on the Alfa.
Body patch panel at the right rear behind the wheel is ready to be welded back in place.
Seemed a good place to practice before doing the more visible nose job.
The more I look at this car the more I realize that some day it will revert to being just parts.
It's really a little to rough with old accident damage to get carried away with a careful restoration.
Since I'm almost 65 getting 10-15 years out of it will be good enough.
So it's to be a Tart, looks desirable on the outside, a bit worn and tarnished on the inside.
Going to try making it my B-Day gift to myself, so I have just five months to make it run, finish a paint job, and install the new top.

 

Get that little tart going!!!!