hamilton.mm – Page 12

January 20, 2014

Market 157: restored 101 Sprint in Australia

Update 1/20/2014: This car found its way to Texas and recently sold through Driversource for about $45,000. Still a nice looking example. This car was priced a bit on the high side back in 2009 or the market hasn’t moved much I guess. I’ll split the difference.

A great color for Sprints I think.

10/21/2009: Giulietta Sprint 750B 1493*06979, 1315*06197. Frank sent me an email pointing out this car for sale at Classic Throttle Shop in Sydney Australia (who also has a VERY charming Fiat 850 panel van.). Asking price for this Sprint is AUD$43,995 or a little over $40,000 US. A high price, but a very nice car.

Nothing to fault here. Grills, headlight rings, lenses, bumper etc all look very nice. A pair of period Carello headlamps would be the finishing touch, but Australia might have ordinances about headlight brightness that they actually enforce. I have the wipers set that high on my windshield and they move around and chatter at speed, they need to be just at the edge of the windshield gasket on the up side of the free play since the 60 – 80 mph winds they will encounter while working will keep them at that position. Repositioning mine is like job 1142 on my list of things to do.

Continue reading “Market 157: restored 101 Sprint in Australia”

December 24, 2013

Merry and Bright

November 27, 2013

Market 440: Sprint 10105 21160 off the path and lost in the woods

Update: 11/27/13: This car is on eBay again. Someone with a sense of presentation has taken some decent pictures. Check it out. Still needs a lot. Original post: 8/30/2012: Giulietta Sprint 10105 1495*21160. This Sprint is on eBay right now out of Florida. It has all the hallmarks of a stalled restoration that got pretty far down the wrong road and the owner, rather than spend more money turning around and getting back on track the owner has decided to cut their losses. Wonder if it was a fix-it-up-and-sell-it restoration or someone trying to get a Sprint driver on the cheap-ish? Oh, and the starting price is $24,999 – a few bucks on the high side IMHO. Don’t get me wrong -these aren’t easy cars to put together -but really. Lets see… sombrero’s? No. Headlights? No -nice try though. Turn signal lights? Nope. Paint doesn’t look too bad. Continue reading “Market 440: Sprint 10105 21160 off the path and lost in the woods”

November 25, 2013

Spider tri-gauge cleaned up

I have had a gauge restoration kit from David at Parts Correct on my shelf for a while, and today I got to install some of the parts in the tri-gauge destined for my Spider. The gauge that came with the car had some dings in the trim ring and was missing a calibration screw so I dug into my gauge box for a better one to rebuild. Ended up putting together a ‘best from several’ gauge. The hardest part of the job was getting all the parts clean enough – especially keeping lint off the black tri-gauge faces. Lint-free wippes and Isopropyl Alcohol work wonders. The easy part was fitting David’s parts. The rubber ring that fits in the chrome trim ring fit perfectly, the insert needed no ‘adjustment’ to have the gauge fit back together perfectly. Absolutely spot-on fitting parts.

Ha! I didn’t realize I restored a metric gauge until right now. Might have to swap the business end of things tomorrow – or just deal with it – all my engineering and chemistry homework was in metric units so I’m comfortable enough in C rather than F. In my defense, I did this in about 15 minutes tonight. Big difference can be seen between the ‘usual’ old gauge and one with the dust removed, glass cleaned, the trim ring polished and a new insert.

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November 24, 2013

Giulietta 750 Spider parts wanted

I’ve got the Spider at a shop getting the brakes done with some rebuild kits that Classic Alfa managed to get to me in two days from England, then it’s getting the wrinkly-under-bondo nose straightened out, the little bit of rust repaired and some other little stuff done. Andrew is putting a 1600 from a Super together for me to run until the 750 gets rebuilt. Anyway, I have some parts I need to source. I have some stuff to trade if there’s anything you need. Fair market gladly paid!

Outer exhaust manifold piece (1 and 4) for 4 bolt 750 (see picture)
Lucas tail light trim ring
750 water pump aluminum fan or complete rebuildable unit
front center grill with some ‘character’, but not too much
spare tire hold down hook and fancy screw (new will look too weird)
tunnel case gear shift lever that’s not all scaled over with rust
Little front Lucas clear turn signal lens and trim ring
Alfetta oil pan and pump
set of 165 SR 15 tires for my Healey (these get pulled of Giuliettas no?)
I’ll start pulling the 750 engine apart soon and will have more.

Thanks!

For you originality guys who have been wondering about the exact correct way to plumb a head mounted fuel pump. Do you get these lines dull cad plated?

The part of the header that goes to 1 and 4 is broken, so I need one – this is fairly urgent because I need it to put the 1600 in the car.

November 18, 2013

Drum roll please: Giulietta Spider 750D 04151

You know the scene in a spy movie when the guy has a stethoscope on the safe door next to the number dial and the final number clicks into place? The safe opens, everyone breathes a collective sigh of relief, the required thing was inside, and the plot moves on. Something like that happened to me this weekend. Andrew had this Spider on eBay and I went for a casual look – not expecting anything dramatic to happen – like me actually buying, but here I am today getting a Spider towed to the shop of a buddy who does body repair (rust and collision damage) on old cars – especially Giulietta Spiders. The plot has moved on – the cast of characters has increased – I have proven myself acquisitionally undisciplined. Woot – I have a SWB 750 Spider!

How you find them sometimes – totally as parked. No one has monkeyed with it. Needs everything, but doesn’t need it all at once. I can deal with that. Needs a nose job, but it’s going in for that today.

Continue reading “Drum roll please: Giulietta Spider 750D 04151”

November 14, 2013

Serendipity Distraction Collection part 2

Never underestimate. Avoid gift horse mouth looking. Roll with punches. Say what you will. Ellipsis. I wont apologize, but dammit, I’m all full up with cool cars that came a-knocking and were almost entirely unlooked for. I created a vacuum by selling everything but the Sprint last spring, and nature being nature threw some cars at me to fill the hole in my garage. It’s my fault, I should have bought that SWB series Land Rover to strap an aluminum canoe on top of, pack some fishing poles and camping gear in and take Rufus out into the trees, but I didn’t -not yet anyway (anyone have a SWB series Land Rover to add to this tale?). I know, get on with it – what did I get?

As found…

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September 21, 2013

Market 484: Early 750B Sprint in Texas 05588

Giulietta Sprint 750B 1493*05588, 1315*04982. This somewhere between here and there project is on eBay now out of Richardson Texas. Asking price is a somewhat aggressive $33,500 that will seem like a deal in 5 years. While the project has been moved forward, and one could carry on, ignoring the less-than-perfect aspects and create a driver, I would consider a rethink on some of the work done and take a step back. The wiring looks awful and new well made harnesses can be had from multiple sources for not much money -so this at least needs to be redone -yes, I know the under dash wiring is a bear, but that’s what patience is for right? Overspray and incorrect finishes in the engine compartment also needs attention, but none of this is particularly difficult. At the end of the project you’d have a nice early Sprint!

Looks very nice. I’m sure someone can count few things wrong – like the missing badge, but as these go it’s pretty good.

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August 13, 2013

Concorso Italiano 2013 – Anyone going?

I’ve been to the Concorso a few times over the years and it’s always a lot of fun. I didn’t think this year was going to work for me, but yay ho, a window of time opened up -I get to go! I’d enjoy seeing some of you readers I’ve never met there – so, who’s going? I wish I knew I was going to make it earlier, I’d have registered the Sprint. Alas.

And I’m still a poor bastard (more on that later), so anyone have an extra ticket?

See you there! I suppose I’ll wear a Giuliettas.com T shirt. Oh, and I’ll be back to regular posting last week – had a lot on my plate lately…

And a Rufus update.

August 13, 2013

Market 483: Sprint Veloce 750E 03798 ‘lightweight’ at RM this weekend

Update: A reader who has inspected this car says there are a lot of details incorrect about it, and wonders about its provenance. Especially of note are the all chrome rather than aluminum trim bits, and the overstuffed seats. Go have a look if you’re interested! I’m just an admirer of a shiny red Sprint -especially considering the sad state of my own!

Giulietta Sprint Veloce 750E 1493*03798, 1315*30552. A lightweight Sprint Veloce is one of the most exciting Giulietta models, and to find one of the few they made in unmodified form is unusual. RM is auctioning off this nicely done example next weekend. If you’ve always wanted one, now is your chance.

Nice nice nice. Original marker light? Want!

Continue reading “Market 483: Sprint Veloce 750E 03798 ‘lightweight’ at RM this weekend”