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Body work 9: rusty rocker remediation begins

I may regret not taking it to a professional at some point but I just can’t bring myself to let someone else do this job.  The whole point of this exercise -restoring the SS- was to learn a bunch of skills and see what I could do.  So, in that spirit I put on my grubby work clothes, got out the serious metal-cutting tools and went for it before I had time to turn back.

Friday afternoon I got to the shop at about 430.  I have been looking at this rusty mess since before I received the car and it struck me at that moment -now was the time to fix it. Under that rust hole is the support for the door, a sort of cup.  Fortunately it is VERY solidly attached and  I just need to work around it.

Continue reading “Body work 9: rusty rocker remediation begins”

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Market 162: Another Spider slips through the cracks

Update 2/2/10: 3 months, $800 worth of shipping, a $125 detail job and $75 worth of title transfer and this car is back on eBay, now out of Florida. The opening bid of $28,500 represents a hefty profit of $13,500 if my estimates are good, and if you buy it now for $39,800, the seller can take a few months off. I’ve said it before -I’m in the wrong business.

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.

spider 373358 frontThis 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.

Continue reading “Market 162: Another Spider slips through the cracks”

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Market #2: Giulietta SS project 00237

Update 2/1/10: This is a detail of writing market reports that I hadn’t really anticipated.  An update from the purchaser of a car with some progress pictures.  This car originally sold in May of 2008 and the owner has just gotten it back from the media blasters.  Makes me think I should get mine blasted.  Very cool!

I think I need a rotisserie.   The rockers look very good.

Continue reading “Market #2: Giulietta SS project 00237”

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Spider Veloce 10107 167952, a restoration

There are restorations and there are restorations.  At one end of the spectrum we find cars where efforts are minimal, as cheaply done as possible and focused on creating the illusion of a nice car -usually attended to with the aim of resale on the internet.  At the other end of the spectrum are cars whose owners take on the restoration as a personal challenge and lovingly consider every part, sparing no expense in the pursuit of perfection. George Kraus’s efforts on Giulietta Spider Veloce 10107*167952 are definitely among the latter.

Very nice indeed!  Giulietta Spiders look great in black with red interior.  Note the European specification side markers, same design as a Sprint Speciale and later boat tail spiders.

Continue reading “Spider Veloce 10107 167952, a restoration”

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Support your Giulietta Blogger: Buy a T-Shirt!

Update 1/29/10: I have a hand full of XL and 2XL’s left in both colors if anyone is interested.  $20 each plus shipping.

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.
giuliettasdotcomVery 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.

giuliettasdotcommTo give you an idea of how they will look.

How does $22 plus shipping sound?

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Market 183: 10103 Spider kit 169178

Update 2/11/10: Auction ended with no bids.  Not surprising considering the lack of pictures of the parts.  I’d rewrite the auction, reconsider the pictures, include an inventory and try again.

Giulietta Spider 10103*169178. This car, with its very odd selection of pictures is on eBay right now with an opening bid of $4995.  It is pretty far apart and none of the parts are pictured, but the shell looks good, with only a little surface rust accenting the bright blue paint.  It’s amazing how many Spiders there are in this condition!

Looks about right.  Floors are solid and the hard to find lower seat tracks are present.  Steering wheel is without cracks.  Good starting point for a thousand hour trek. Continue reading “Market 183: 10103 Spider kit 169178”

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Market 154: Another Spider roller, this time a 101

Update 1/27/10: Well wonder no more, this car is now on Italian eBay for 8900 Euros or $12,478 at time of writing.  I guess a trip across the Atlantic and the addition of a mystery 750 engine adds $9500.  I’m in the wrong business.

Update 10/20/09: 11 bids got this thing to $3100. Not bad for a rolling shell. The lack of rust had me thinking $4000. I wonder where it is headed?

Giulietta Spider 10103 1495*10862. This car is on eBay right now out of Livorna New York.  There are at least 2 eBay sellers that regularly post vintage Alfa parts for sale form this town.  This car is pretty similar body-wise to the subject of Market 153, but doesn’t come with much in the way of parts if they’re not seen in the pictures and attached to the car.

spider 10862 noseLooks about average really for one of these that has been off the road for ever and picked over by vultures during that time.  Nose sheetmetal is rough but I’ve seen and owned rougher.   There are a lot of little parts here, so it could be worse.

Continue reading “Market 154: Another Spider roller, this time a 101”

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Interesting parts: Blank 101 1300 block

It appears that I have an opportunity to buy an 00120 block with a number appropriate to by SS.  Exciting? Yes! Well, to help make it happen I am selling off some of the more interesting bits in my collection of spares. Among them is this block, a blank 101 1300 in fantastic condition.

Before I get into the details of this particular block I should address the subject of blank blocks in general. I have seen these, or cars with them under the hood for sale occasionally and the story often attached to them is that Alfa’s procedure for catastrophic failure (thrown rod, broken main support web etc) called for the replacement of the parts with new factory parts. If the block was damaged, you got a new one.  I don’t know if the replacements were short blocks, or blocks only to which any required parts were added to replace any unable to fulfill their role, but in any case, what came out the other side was an engine without an identity.  Like that seen here.  Why no number?  Something to do with accounting perhaps.  Maybe they were supposed to stamp the new block with the old blocks numbers, but the dealers never received the stamp set.  Anyone know more?

Starting from the part you see at the end of the build, the outside. You can see this is a pretty nice block.  In better shape than any of the blocks I’ve built up before.  I would paint the dipstick tube if I were building this.

Continue reading “Interesting parts: Blank 101 1300 block”

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Market 177: 1600 Spider “precisely restored to correct factory standards”

Update 1/24/10 (2010/01/24 for you non-US based date readers): This car sold for $75,000 plus 10% buyers premium.  This is very strong money -above and beyond what anyone I have run into estimated.  Reminds me of the Triumph TR4 that sold at auction a few years ago for $100K.  As I mentioned below, there are people for whom this kind of money is lunch money, and they only want perfect cars.  I wonder if it would have even made a difference if it was a 1600 Veloce.  Maybe a little is my guess.

Giulia Spider 1600 10123*379814, 00112*12842. This Spider will be auctioned off by Gooding Company at their Scottdale Az. Auction happening Jan. 22nd and 23rd.  Description is rich with details and as I read it I imagine Allen De Cadenet reading it to me while powering around a circuit in it with is hair blowing around and the exhaust note just loud enough that he has to raise his voice.  Let’s have a look at this “precisely restored to correct factory standards” car.

So far so good, looking amazing in professionally photographed ripose.  Door and hood fit very well, trim is all symmetrical, shiny and to a matched standard with the red paint.  I never saw one at the dealer, but I’m willing to bet this is better than new. Continue reading “Market 177: 1600 Spider “precisely restored to correct factory standards””

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Market 181: Early Spider Veloce

Update 1/23/10: Car has apparently sold, after 3 days on the market.  Who’s the lucky new owner?

Giulietta Spider Veloce 750F 1495*01942, 1315*30541. This car is at Fantasy Junction right now and I can tell you now, it wont last.  Why do I say that?  Well, it’s a 1957, a year they didn’t make many Spider Veloce’s, it’s restored to a very high standard by people who have good reputations and it’s only $8500 more than the two 1958 Spider Veloce’s that sold last year for $50K needing some sorting and tidying.

These cars look great in light blue.  I can find no fault in this picture -everything fits together well. Continue reading “Market 181: Early Spider Veloce”