November 10, 2009
Update 11/10/09: Below was first posted on 6/26/08. I carry on with the projects and other pursuits. A new post is almost done. There are some Spiders (as usual) on eBay that deserve a quick mention but again, time has been precious.
Thanks for stopping by and today 5 boxes with T-shirts went out to Tom who paid first, Chris in UK, Dirk in Germany, Peter in Portland and Marco in Illinois. Send me a paypal or check and I’ll get yours in the mail too,
Update 2: Looking over all the cars I have numbers for it looks more likely that 101.02 cars have the new 001.02 engines while 101.05 cars have the 1315* series engines that are modified to accept the 101 engine series head.
Update 1: 101.02 versus 101.05 is a market difference. I read in a reputable source that 101.05 was the model number for US Market Sprints.
If you start looking carefully at the parts on your Giulietta Sprint, Sprint Veloce or Sprint Speciale you will notice there are a lot of numbers stamped, cast, engraved or written with grease pencil in Italian long-hand. These numbers tell you the year, model, and on early cars can match engine number to VIN number. The more subtle markings can shed a little light on how these cars were assembled and can be of great assistance when trying to identify what is correct for your car. I am going to focus on the vehicle identification numbers of Sprint and Sprint Veloce’s in this post and will look at the Engine numbers, Bertone numbers and Sprint Speciale specific numbers separately later.
Tipo or type and series are the fundamental identifiers. Tipo is essentially the model name and series is the model number, which changed over time and for different markets. The first picture is the build plate for one of my cars. It is a Tipo: Giulietta Sprint, Series 101.05. It doesn’t actually say Sprint on the build plate, it’s sort of implied by the car itself that it is a Sprint.
Several identifying numbers can be seen in this picture. On the build plate are the Series, Autotelaio (VIN) and Motore (Engine) numbers. Above the plate, stamped in the body is the number Bertone used to identify the car during fabrication and assembly. The Autotelaio is also stamped on the firewall just below the bundle of wires that can be seen in this picture.
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History, Identification Numbers | Tagged: cars, Classic cars, History, Italian cars | 
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Posted by Matt
November 9, 2009
Update 11/9/09. Alas yes, I have gotten a bunch of work done on my projects but haven’t found time to write a proper post about it. I started driving the GTV to work and tonight the battery gave up on my way home. A friend picked me up, and we got it going. I borrowed a new battery from another friend until I can figure out if it’s alternator or battery related. On the bright side I had just spent a half an hour getting the heater core hooked up and heater fan working so I wont freeze on the way to work at 630 am tomorrow.
Enjoy the below post which maybe 3 people read the first time around.
Originally posted May 9th, 2008. Years ago when someone would ask me how I managed to get a project together, and wasn’t I daunted by all the parts that they saw laying about I would reply casually, ‘It’s all just nuts and bolts with a few special parts thrown in’. Little did I know how true this ingenuous response was. I didn’t however grasp the complexity and importance of those nuts and bolts.
I was thinking about this yesterday as I was working on the rear axle ‘casing and covers’ to quote the parts book. Besides a few big obvious parts I ended up with a pile of nuts bolts and washers. I usually bag and tag the fasteners after cleaning, or loosely assemble the parts if possible, but sometimes I get interrupted and 3 weeks later I find myself faced with a crusty pile of unfamiliar nuts and washers to try and identify. I looked at the parts bookto see how much information it had on these and it has a simple but useful nomenclature: what it is, what size it is, what it’s for. I guess if I get in any trouble I can reference the parts book.
Axle housing nut getting cleaned up.
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Fasteners, Sprint Speciale | 
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Posted by Matt
November 7, 2009
Update 11/7/09. I’m happy to say this rerun series seems to be doing well. Todays installment should show clearly why this car is not on the road. If I can display the same tenacity towards this car as I have the TI or Berlina it will get done. It’s just going to take a while.
Originally posted May 2nd 2008, my third blog post! Just a quick guided tour of what the body needs. Remind yourself that surface rust looks worse than it is in pictures. The plan at this point is to scrape off the undercoating with a putty knife and use abrasive wheels etc on the rust. I have had lots of suggestions to take the body to the blasters and this is probably what I will end up doing.
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Bodywork, Sprint Speciale | 
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Posted by Matt
November 6, 2009
Update 11/6/09: Following yesterdays installment is this one. I saw that some of you peeked ahead and read this by following the link at the bottom of the page. Sorry, nothing new for you guys. Don’t worry, there will be a few new posts this weekend if the load of new parts in the back of the Sprint is any indication. How’s the novel coming you ask? I think I’m at about 7000 words right now. I plan to be a few thousand ahead by Sunday evening.
Originally posted May 1, 2008. My second blog post ever!Money was paid, promises made and in early December 2007 I was the proud owner of a 1961 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Speciale. Between Christmas duties and ski trips for the kids it took about a month for the seller to gather the boxes of parts, pull the car out of storage and get everything loaded up and ready to ship. I have had bad experiences shipping cars through brokers so I did some searching and found Randy of Motor Auto Express on Hemmings.com. His was the only listing I found that simply had his cell phone number and what seemed like a good sign, he works out of Washington. I called Randy on a Monday afternoon and the car was picked up the following Friday. Randy was as professional as could be asked for and I am very happy with his service and have recommended him several times.
Of course the day the car arrived at my shop it was raining. Hard. Randy’s truck rolls up and amazingly the rain stops. When the door opens and the car is revealed my heart sinks, not necessarily because the car is worse than I expected, it’s just the gravity of the project settles on me with its full weight. This car needs a lot of work, a lot of work I know how to do in theory but have never attempted. I change the one flat tire and we roll it out of the truck. OK, maybe it is worse than I thought, or was I just glossing over the rough edges. I’ll have to review the pictures again to see if it was me who misled myself.
I unpack the boxes, make a list of parts that are present to compare with what was promised and take some pictures. The parts list will also be helpful as I start searching for missing parts. My work space is a little cramped so I decide the first thing I should do is build a loft to put shelves and work tables on so I can spread out. As I drive home from the shop I am wondering what I have gotten myself into. Pictures below are from the day after the car was dropped off.
Someone had started this project. The brownish-black is some sort of rust inhibiting paint.
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Leave a Comment » | Discussion and Strategy, Sprint Speciale | Permalink
Posted by Matt
November 5, 2009
Update 11/5/2009: I am participating in the NaNoWriMo this month, a 50,000 word novel written in 30 days. I’ve written about 5000 as of writing this, I started on the afternoon of the 2nd so I have a day of catch-up to do. My participation there means I will have less words to add to Giuliettas.com. In addition to that I purchased a years supply of real honest-to-god web hosting so I have a learning curve ahead of me figuring out how to have the blog stay as it is but the pages with registers and histories and all that expand and be easier to navigate.
In light of the above, and considering I am going to be back on the SS full time once the Fiat is finished and the 69 GTV is daily driveable, both of which are days away from happening, I am going to rerun a lot of the posts about the my Sprint Speciale to remind the reader of how I got it and what I’ve done so far. I think 7 people read this post the first time around so it will be new to most of you. Enjoy!
Original post from April 2008. My first blog post ever! Why give up a perfectly doable 1972 GTV project and undertake a very challenging Giulietta SS project? There are lots of reasons that have nothing to do with common sense, among them: the persistent desire to own and drive an SS, the ever increasing value of SS’s making the prospect of buying one in the future ever more remote, the desire to accomplish a challenging long-term project; any of these is answer enough. If you ask yourself though, as I did: “What classic sports car project, that is not a pipe-dream given my financial circumstances, do I REALLY want to spend money and time on, own long term, and drive?” The answer should inform your hobby as it did mine. Life is short, too short to work on a car you are not extremely excited about. Whatever car is the answer to the question above is the car you should be after. For me it is, and has been for the last 8 years, the Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Speciale.
Period advertising shot. I suppose I’ll have to dapper it up when I drive mine.
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2 Comments | Discussion and Strategy, Sprint Speciale | Permalink
Posted by Matt
November 4, 2009
Giulia Spider 1600 10123*373358. This Spider sold on eBay recently for $14,000. Based on the uninspired auction description it sounds like the seller inherited the car and never thought or did much with it.
This car looks really good. The trim has a good shine, as does the paint, and the curves are all going the right way. Someone took good care of this car at some point.
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Leave a Comment » | 101's, Giulietta & Giulia Market, Spider Normale's | Tagged: Alfa Romeo, cars, Classic cars | Permalink
Posted by Matt
November 4, 2009
Update 11/3/09: This car is back on Craigslist. Still in Palm Springs, still asking $18,000 and still potentially a good deal if the condition is as good as it looks.
Nose looks very good with lustrous paint and good chrome.
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4 Comments | 101, Giulietta & Giulia Market, Project cars, Sprint Normale's | Tagged: Alfa Romeo, cars, Classic cars | Permalink
Posted by Matt
November 3, 2009
Fiat 124 sport sedan engine transplant is moving right along -and if the 69% hp increase all indications point to it seeing is realized, it will probably finally live up to the ‘Sport’ in its name. Fiat enthusiast Csaba Vandor in Texas came through with a big box of parts that I needed and Friday was the day I was set to start. As usual I didn’t have a detailed plan, or much of an idea of the hurdles I’d be jumping, but I knew that it took starting the race for the hurdles to appear.
First step after the starting gun goes off? Remove the 1438 bell housing and install the twin cam bell housing.
Here’s the transmission after I removed the 1438 bell housing. I was expecting the bell housing to put up a fight but it just came right off once the 7 nuts were removed.
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2 Comments | Engine refresh, Fiat 124 Sedan Special, Working on my Cars | Tagged: 124, Alfa Romeo, cars, Classic cars, Fiat | Permalink
Posted by Matt
November 2, 2009
Dare I go into the needless tasks I’ve been performing on the GTV? I’m supposed to just make the wipers work and here I am with the gauges apart. Well, I actually like the challenges that lurk behind the cloudy glass of a gauge set and I am waiting to take possession of a used wiper motor and heater valve so why not? I tied one end of the rope securely and tossed the other into the dark depths, lit the light on my miners helmet and descended.
Come on, if you had the power to make these nice and clear and functional and well, just better you would do it too wouldn’t you?
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Leave a Comment » | 1969 GTV 1530320, Working on my Cars | Tagged: Alfa Romeo, cars, Classic cars, GTV | Permalink
Posted by Matt
November 1, 2009
Update 11/1/09: T-shirts are in the house! I’ll be contacting everyone and figuring out shipping over the next few days. I am sold out of small and XXL, but there are a few of the rest available.
Update 10/27/09: My goal of 50% presale has been accomplished with one prepay (Thanks Tom!) and the order has been placed for the first batch of shirts. I have exactly 22 shirts left to sell so if you didn’t contact me to let me know you wanted one, don’t hesistate, they will be disappearing fast!
9/26/09: You will all (I hope) be happy to hear that after a year of fooling around, the giuliettas dot com T-shirt design has been finalized and is ready to go to the screener. The design is inspired by a 1960’s Alfa advertisement entitled “Special Sale plans for foreign tourists” which explained how you could travel to Italy to pick up your new Alfa, drive it around Italy/Europe while you are there then ship it home.
Very graphic in that 60’s style. Davin did a great job don’t you think?
The Design will be printed on the front of either a dark blue or dark brown shirt which will be available in sizes Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large. If you want one and are outside the size range stated above, let me know and I’ll do my best to accommodate you. Supplies will be very limited (-less than 50!) unless this is a huge hit, so send me an email at: sprints at giuliettas dot com with your size requirement to reserve yours today.
To give you an idea of how they will look.
How does $22 plus shipping sound?
15 Comments | Giulietta & Giulia Market | Tagged: Alfa Romeo, cars, Classic cars | Permalink
Posted by Matt
November 1, 2009
Update 11/6/09: 30 bids, $26,100, reserve not met. A lot of money for a 1600 Spider. I suspect we will be seeing this car again.
Giulia 1600 Spider 10123*372671. This car is currently on eBay out of Seattle Washington. There seem to be a lot of these 1600 Spiders making the rounds on eBay lately, perhaps a good time to jump in if you have been considering one.
Very nice image here. Good to see someone thinking about how the effort put in to listing a car is proportional to the result. It just looks right. Trim, stance, panel fit -everything and a nice vista to boot.
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Leave a Comment » | 101's, Giulietta & Giulia Market, Restored Cars, Spider Normale's | Tagged: Alfa Romeo, cars, Classic cars | Permalink
Posted by Matt
October 31, 2009
This pushing product series is funny -an analogy for the intended effect of having the ladies beside the vehicles. I get a high number of visitors for about 2 days after posting one of these photo collections and lots of picture views of the sexier numbers. This installment is the usual aggregate of pictures of ladies used as advertising that readers forwarded me links to or I found on my own while on an internet expedition. From the classy to the silly to the chaste to the sleazy. Behold.
Aaron sent me this one. She is very cute and obviously quite fond of the motorcycle. Dig that white belt. She would be what, 75 years old now?
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1 Comment | fun stuff | Tagged: Alfa Romeo, cars, Classic cars, girls | Permalink
Posted by Matt
Several identifying numbers can be seen in this picture. On the build plate are the Series, Autotelaio (VIN) and Motore (Engine) numbers. Above the plate, stamped in the body is the number Bertone used to identify the car during fabrication and assembly. The Autotelaio is also stamped on the firewall just below the bundle of wires that can be seen in this picture.
