GT 1600 Junior

Hi Guys,
I have just purchased a rather lovely GT Junior and as I'm new to the Giulia scene I was wondering if anyone could help with the following questions please?

1) Could anyone please advise me on where to take the car for the usual Bodywork renovations in and around the Nottingham area? She's in pretty good order but rust bubbles are just starting to show through in the usual areas and I'd like to nip them in the bud before they get any worse.

2) The carbs need tuning, again can anyone recommend somewhere close to Nottingham?

3) What's involved in an engine tune on the Nord engine? Is it just a matter of changing the plugs, points and leads or would they also check and adjust the timing, if so is this difficult to do?

4) The car has a deep consistent whirring noise coming from the passenger side of the car which is there all the time, rolling with the clutch in or in gear, any suggestions please? (I know it's not easy to diagnose but any suggestions that I can then check would be very much appreciated)

5) Will the carbs need rejecting if I fit some Alfaholics GTA Aluminium Trumpets? (The looks and noise alone mean I want!! )

6) Can anyone recommend a place to get leather seat and door card covers with the sort of prices I should expect? (I can't see them being offered by the usual suspects, Alfaholics, Classic Alfa and Highwoods)

7) Finally, I have read the earlier post about unleaded fuel but I'm a little confused as the previous owner told me 4 Star only. Just to clarify the situation, can I run my standard 1976 1600 engine on Unleaded Super (98 Ron) without any additives or problems?

Many thanks in anticipation of any assistance on any of the questions and apologies for the amount of them!

Kind regards,
Julian.

Hi Julian, congrats on the Junior

Originally Posted by Jube

Hi Guys,
I have just purchased a rather lovely GT Junior and as I'm new to the Giulia scene I was wondering if anyone could help with the following questions please?

1) Could anyone please advise me on where to take the car for the usual Bodywork renovations in and around the Nottingham area? She's in pretty good order but rust bubbles are just starting to show through in the usual areas and I'd like to nip them in the bud before they get any worse.

2) The carbs need tuning, again can anyone recommend somewhere close to Nottingham?

I'd suggest Trentside classic and sportscar co, up in Lincolnshire (I think) they are quite good if a little pricey. Jamie Porter also isn't too far from you he's one of the best there is for Engines, not sure about bodywork, but I expect he would be quite good too. Do a web search they will come up.

Originally Posted by Jube

3) What's involved in an engine tune on the Nord engine? Is it just a matter of changing the plugs, points and leads or would they also check and adjust the timing, if so is this difficult to do?

Not difficult really, just a timing strobe and good observation on the timing marks painted or cut into the crank pulley. Second nature to the experts, takes some getting right for normal folks but it can be done.

Originally Posted by Jube

4) The car has a deep consistent whirring noise coming from the passenger side of the car which is there all the time, rolling with the clutch in or in gear, any suggestions please? (I know it's not easy to diagnose but any suggestions that I can then check would be very much appreciated)

Might be a wheel bearing, when my rears were shot there was a constant rumbling noise, it didn't varie under cornering either, which i would have expected. It also might be the prop shaft centre bearing.

Originally Posted by Jube

5) Will the carbs need rejecting if I fit some Alfaholics GTA Aluminium Trumpets? (The looks and noise alone mean I want!! )

Yup, you must re-jet as I understand it.

Originally Posted by Jube

7) Finally, I have read the earlier post about unleaded fuel but I'm a little confused as the previous owner told me 4 Star only. Just to clarify the situation, can I run my standard 1976 1600 engine on Unleaded Super (98 Ron) without any additives or problems?

Yes you can run them on unleaded, they have aluminium heads with iron inserts on the valves so lack of lead isn't a problem. I run mine on 98RON with Millers VSP lead substitute for the extra octane, not for the lead. If you can find genuine 4 star thats fine, but it's so expensive you have to ask if it's worth it. Don't bother with LRP it's rubbish.

Good luck and can I recommend you join AROC it's an excellent resource particularly for older Alfa owners.

Can't disagree with any of VeloceMitch's comments.

4) Wheel bearing was my first thought too.

5) I've always had doubts about these unless you've got a full race, track-only motor that will never run in crappy weather conditions. If it is a road/track car I'd steer clear. Air filters don't look sexy but they do stop crap getting into and damaging your precious engine. Trumpets don't necessarily give anything more than look/noise dependng on your set-up too.

6) I'm sure door cards and definitely seat-covers are on all their web-sites. IIRC the re-trim cover set for each front is about £80 and the rear in the £150 region. Ball park is £310-320 for the original style vinyl full set exc door cards.

Hi VeloceMitch / 73GTVJim,
Many thanks for your replys to my questions, you've been very helpful.

On the air filter front, I have to agree I was a little worried as the filtration powers of the trumpet's mesh doesn't look too great. (They just look so good and more period than a Pipercross)

Would a Pipercross / K&N be a better bet as I would really like to have that lovely induction sound? (Reminds me of my first car, a 1979 Alfasud Sprint 1.5 which had K&Ns on it, a bit of nostalgia)

Thanks again for your replys and assistance.

I don't think there is a problem with the filtration on K&N's, and you can add 'socks' to the trumpets for filtration too.
It's just apart from the sound, which can get a bit wearing after a while, I'm not sure they enhance the engine much.
It's very much a personal thing I suppose.

Another place for the mechanical side (doesn't do body work) is Peak Alfa out at Hope in Derbyshire. He just serviced my Junior and she is flying, as the owner of a 130tdi passat can testify, (I out dragged him accelerating from 60 to 80mph).

Originally Posted by VeloceMitch

Might be a wheel bearing, when my rears were shot there was a constant rumbling noise, it didn't varie under cornering either, which i would have expected. It also might be the prop shaft centre bearing.

My bet would be the prop too. Mine was like a silent magic carpet after the prop was rebuilt. One of my UJs was no longer U'ing. It was just a J.


Re: the filters. If you go for trumpets, you have to have additional filters too. The trumpets are just there to alter the length of the induction system, so you need filters on top - Pipercross foam "socks" are the usual. I've got K&Ns on mine with small doughnut style ram pipes inside. Add about 0.000005bhp and a lot of noise.

Velocity stacks or trumpets look and sound great but you really need something to stop small birds and field mice being sucked into the engine.

Maybe something like these would be a happy medium. Good noise / air flow, minimal wildlife induction.

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I was told the foam filters are not ideal if the carbs are prone to backfiring. Foam can deteriorate or burn causing, you know...fire. Other than that, bloody great!

Thanks everyone for the advice and assistance,

On the noise front, what would be the best way of isolating the cause, or is it just a case of changing a part at a time starting with the most probable?

How easy it it to change the wheel bearing, prop centre support bearing and prop UJ?

Also, has anybody got any ideas as to where I could potentially download a workshop manual PDF for a GT 1600 Junior please?

Cheers,
Julian.

I would like the same thing (PDF Version) for my 116 but they don't seem to have been made available. Could be a copyright issue, but I doubt it as AR don't seem to interested in heritage models these days nor do they sell the manuals for them, themselves to my knowledge.

I produced PDF versions of the Parts Manual and Workshop Manual for my old bevel drive Ducati and it wasn't such a great hassle apart from the time spent scanning each page. I just did it over a few nights between beers.

The other alternative is to get a copy of the CarDisc CD ( @ $56) with all the manuals on it. I've ordered one so when it turns up, I'll let you know but I'm not sure if my 116 series CD also has 105 manuals on it. If so, we could scratch each others' backs some how, I'm sure.

PM me in a week and I'll let you know if it has arrived yet.

Cheers,

Chris (....trying not to sound like Jason Bourne)

Chris - there is a Haynes manual available for the 116. Keep an eye out on Ebay UK for them. They turn up fairly regularly.
e.g. ALFA ROMEO ALFETTA, 1973-1981, HAYNES WORKSHOP MANUAL on eBay, also Alfa Romeo Workshop Manuals, Alfa Romeo, Car Manuals Literature, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 05-Apr-08 00:05:46 BST)

As for the 105, the original workshop manuals are available but I find it very hard to follow, and it is primarily for the original stepfront manuals. I use a combination of the Alfetta Haynes manual for the engine and an Autobooks manual which is like a Haynes guide. I also managed to get an official parts book which is great as it has exploded diagrams of everything with part numbers - it's in Italian though!

Well Chaps,
I've managed to source an Owners Manual for the 1974 2000cc Models in PDF format - It's a start anyway! (For the 105 Coupe GTV, Super and Spider.)

An awful lot of the content is applicable to the GT Junior and it makes for quite an interesting read.

If anyone wants a copy then please just send me your email address and i'll forward it on to you.

Cheers for now,
Julian.

Julian
Would apreciate a copy of that manual, please send to nmurray@gssair.co.uk.

Best Regards asb.

Hi asb,
I've just sent the promised Owners Manual via email.

Let me know what you think to the document?

Regards,
Julian.

I'd be interested in that too Julian

Ian.mitchell57@ntlworld.com

Cheers

Julian and Chris,

I may be able to help you both out in that I've assembled Alfa published material into an all-in-one CD. The CDs include parts manuals, owners, service, tech specs, etc. and are model specific. If you'd like a one, please drop me a line at alfalibrary@optonline.net .

And Julian, I'd love to get a copy of the 74 2l owners manual as well.

Hi VeloceMitch / Papajam,
I've sent the Manual as promised, I hope you find it useful.

Regards,
Julian.

Hi Julian,

Could you please send a copy of the PDF manual to me at nickhodgman@bigpond.com?

Thanks & Regards,


Nick

Hi Julian,
I'd like a copy too if it's not too much trouble.


Thanks again,

Chris (.....now staring longingly into his inbox)

Hi Julian
I'd like a copy too for I'm new to the alfa seen with my 1600 GT and see needs some work.
I need a wiring diagram to redo her back to standard.

johannesjacobussmith@yahoo.com

Thanks
JJ