[MalcQV]

Same here. Parked up, roof down, on Plymouth Hoe on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Sit a few feet away enjoying an ice cream and just listen to the comments. Can there be any car that looks so damn good for such little outlay?

No I don't think it can be beaten. It is probably, by and far the best car in the world/£1 you can have.
True [Malc] fact .

 

[fourgreenleaves]

Had that before now from a few teenage girls :lol:

Haha great! That would be nice but I'd need a saw to take my roof off. :depressed:

 

[Spidermarco]

This was a great help - shortly before I headed off to Lancashire 2 weeks ago to buy my gorgeous 2001 lusso 2.0ts spider in silver. A weekend car and living under a quality car cover when not out and about - runs beautifully, but the worrier in me dreads to think what I might discover when I take her in for the first service !. 105k on the clock and looks spotless under the bonnet - so hopeful that she has been well loved in her earlier years.

 

[MalcQV]

No I don't think it can be beaten. It is probably, by and far the best car in the world/£ you can have.
True [Malc] fact .

No, no it's not. The valves just went through the pistons. I need to start collecting plastic dogs as a hobby.

 

[AlfaKen2600]

Photos?

PS The original had photos,but could`t work out/be bothered to put all the photo links in just now.You might get the fully illustrated version later.

Hi - newbie here - any chance of reinstating new links for the photos please as they don't work? I know it's an old post but it's really useful.

 

[andyt]

I hear different things about the keys for the PH1. Is the brown key absolutely essential? My son is looking at one at the moment and it has only one key, which isn't brown! Just concerned in case of future needs.....

Any comments?

 

[bradpit999]

dont worry...................... Timpsons were able to cut and clone mine fore around £35 i think,

 

[ExBrick]

This guide really desperately needs updating to deal with the rust issue.

I must have looked at 20 GTVs over the last year or so and *every single one* has had rust somewhere.

So add checking of:

Floor pan, particularly around the D-shaped 'drain holes' at the rear edge. Even if you think it's OK, press the underseal here and listen to it crunch. I have yet to look at a single GTV up for sale that *didn't* have some evidence of corrosion living underneath the sealant and merrily spreading through the floorpan. I thought mine only had a little 50p-sized bit but on peeling back the underseal it was more extensive (car now booked in to get it cut out and a repair section welded in). Any stone chip digging into the underseal down here opens up other locations for it to start rusting at.

Under the plastic sill covers (sometimes showing up beyond their edges, underneath the car, by which time they're utterly knackered).

Behind the wheel arch covers (often showing as small bubbles on the arches, again by which time what's under the covers is much worse).

Between the bonnet hinge point and suspension turret there's a void filled with a sponge, the panel is mostly hidden by the wing, this can rust away and is close enough to the suspension turret to be an MOT fail with a strict tester.

Boot floor. Only seen two suffering here but both were well rotten with only the boot carpet providing any integrity at all.

Around the radio aerial.

Radiator support cross-member underneath the rad, though I wouldn't reject a car based on this as it's straightforward/fairly inexpensive to replace.

Probably more I've missed...

 

[Crazychick]

Thanks for this. Will be most helpful on my journey into ownership

 

[JimmyRea]

Thanks for this. Will be most helpful on my journey into ownership

Hi,
I would advise checking the lower areas of the front strut reinforcements and inner wheel-arch area. The inner wing/wheel-arch section which is sandwiched between the chassis rail and the strut was holed on both l/h and r/h sides. To fix this required drilling spot welds of lower 6 inches or so of the strut reinforcement and cutting horizontally to remove the section. You could plate the section but most of the sandwiched panel was rotten and some of the strut reinforcement also needed replacement. Thankfully the chassis rail was in perfect condition (even the flanged edges) and once repaired is invisible. Took ages to fix though. Drivers side was the worst.

Bases of rear jacking points were also shot but was an easy fix.

Other areas have already been covered (boot floor/floor edges though inner and outer sills were perfect). Had previous owners inspected the underseal on my particular car and taken the appropriate action (98 GTV) then there would have been no issues. Once moisture gets in it's a slippery slope to welding woes...

Regards
Jim