New tail lights

Found some new rear lights on eBay. Hope they arrive in the new year.

Stripping the engine

Header off. Carbs & rad out.

Bodywork progress

Metal repairs done. Prepping for paint.

Update

A quick update - a compression test on the engine showed that some of the rings / bores are badly worn.  The plan is to pull the engine and take it to a machine shop for further inspection.

68-69 Color Codes

To dos

Lots of little projects in the future:

- Conversion to spin-on oil filter (https://www.centerlinealfa.com/catalog/oil-filter-housing-spin-on)
- Clamp for Alfa airbox or change to K&N filters
- Electronic ignition (http://www.123ignition.nl)
- Electric fuel pump & regulator
- Replace radiator and fuel hoses
- Coat trunk in POR-15
- Stainless steel header & exhaust
- High performance starter
- Door pins and bushings (http://www.alfaholics.com/browse-parts-by-car/105-series/panels/coupe/door-hinge-repair-kit/)

Fuel tank repaired

The dent in the fuel tank was pulled out, and the tank was sent off for cleaning and pressure testing. It took a bit of fettling to get it back in.

Bodywork progress

The metal repairs are looking really good.

And some new surprises:

New battery and spark plugs

New spark plugs (NGK Iridium BPR7EIX) in.

One of the old plugs broke while I was removing it.

A new battery (Optima Red-Top) installed.

Changing the fluids

The Alfa spit out some of the foulest looking oil I have ever seen. It must have been in the engine for a long time. After a filter change and 6.5L of fresh Valvoline VR-1 20W50, everything looked and smelled much better.

We also sprayed some lubricating oil into the cylinders so the engine did not turn over dry.

The radiator was down about 2L of anti-freeze.

New steering wheel on

The broken steering wheel was very stubborn. It's not a big surprise, it did take a lot of force when the car was rear-ended. We had to break the old horn buttons and hammer a puller through the holes to get it out.

Everything went back together easily.

Ordered new rear clip

Ordered a new rear clip & running light from Alfaholics this morning.

Progress update

So far, so good...

Update

The collision shop has the Alfa on the rack and has made the first pull. Good news! The rear trunk tray is now straight. More to come.

New steering wheel found

Purchased a used steering wheel on eBay.

New bumper found

I purchased a used bumper for the car this week. It will need some work, but I found these are really hard to find!

Steering wheel and rims

I've been looking for a new steering wheel and some 15 inch wheels. Unlike the Lotus Elan project, where originality has been the focus, I'd like to customize the Alfa.

There was a Hellebore steering wheel listed on eBay last week. It looked great, but the bidding got ridiculous in the final minutes, so I backed out. I think the best approach is to find a nice Momo wheel and hub at a car show or on Craigslist.

I've noticed a lot of 105 owners opt for Saab 900 steel wheels. They look close to the GTA wheels and have the right bolt pattern and offset. These were popular cars here in the 80s and 90s, so I'll have to scour some of the local wrecking yards for a deal.

Alfa restoration video

I found a good video of an Alfa Romeo GT restoration on YouTube. The damage looks very similar to mine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWuwzW9aT3E

Car out

The 105 is at a collision shop to check the rear end damage. Hoping for good news.

A new project

I purchased another project car: a 1969 Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV. It's euro-spec (Webers, cams and header) with roughly 40,000 miles on the odometer. The car was in a rear end collision 20+ years ago, but is otherwise in excellent condition.

The next step is to get a collision repair shop to make recommendations about how to proceed.

Some pictures: