Re: bought GTV6 and need advice

[JimboMGA@xxxxxxx]

<<<<Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1998 23:10:18 EDT
From: Milanogold@domain.elided
Subject: bought GTV6 and need advice

Greetings Alfisti!
       Dreams have come true for me today, 
I found and purchased a 1984 GTV6 today.Silver in color, tan leather
interior,85 k miles and godawful looking gotti gold and silver modular all=
oys
on it.I bought the car SUPER CHEAP,and there was a slight problem w/ the
car.(Of course).
I have NO clutch pedal feel at all, and what looks to be massive amounts o=
f
brake fluid on the transaxle housing.The clutch master cylinder is dry as =
a
bone,so I'm suspecting A:bad clutch master/slave cylinder or B:busted hose
somewhere.Brakes are fine,so it must be the clutch.Any one out there got a=
ny
ideas/advice/hankerchiefs to cry into?
     I have been lusting after a GTV6 for a long time now,and now that I'v=
e
got it I hope it is or will be as reliable as my beloved Alfie (87 Milano =
gold
sedan) has been.There is very little rust on the car, some in the right up=
per
rear side of the engine compartment, and the left fender.The fender is ok =
and
none of it appears to be structural rust.I'd like some advice from GTV6 ow=
ners
as to the peculiarities of the model versus a Milano, etc.What should I lo=
ok
for?
Mr.DiMatteo,I'd love to get some advice from you.Looking forwad to all
replies....
Terry and Sharon Akins
Alexandria,VA>>>>>

Congrats on the GTV6,
     I'm just finishing my second year of GTV6 ownership. I drive this car=
 a
lot.
     I purchased the car as a winter car (I live in Omaha Nebraska, winter
driving is a challenge and has only proved impossible in a 12" snowfall st=
orm
we had last fall). Cosmetically my car sounds just about the same as yours=
.
      I picked mine up for $3,200. It was running fine and had 140,000 mil=
es
on the clock.
      First order of business was to clean and protect all the electrical
connections I could get at. A couple hours of rubbing the fuse box with a
pencil eraser and every light and electrical accessory came to life.
      Next came the dark days. Within the first 6 months I shelled for hea=
d
gaskets,
water pump, and clutch. Painful? Yes. But, it's all behind me now. Did rep=
lace
the entire rusted exhaust last spring, total rusted mess, funny how two
mufflers and a catalytic converter gave it up at the same time. All better
now. Spent a couple weeks under the car rebuilding/replacing the rear cali=
pers
(this was actually quite fun).
     I hope I'm not scaring you here with all this stuff. Let me make clea=
r to
you that this car is a pure delight to drive. Worth every penny of the rep=
air
costs. And the best news is things that get fixed right, generally stay fi=
xed.
     All total I think I've got about $6,000 dollars in the car (purchase
price, repairs and parts). I could have probably bought a nice six year ol=
d
Honda Civic for that much but I'd be sooooo bored.
     The GTV6 has a nasty tendency toward shrunken weather stripping and
rubber flashings. You can save yourself much grief by making sure that wat=
er
that surely will leak into the doors through the shrunken rubber flashing =
at
the lower outside window sill has a place to get out. I drilled a couple d=
rain
holes at the rear most corner of the door bottom. Keeping the sunroof drai=
ns
clean is a good idea too.
     And now I'm reminded of the most irritating problem I've had with my
GTV6. The door locks. Maddening! I had nearly forgotten, as this only happ=
ens
in the cold (below 30=B0). The factory installed grease in the latch mecha=
nism
gets too thick in the cold and won't latch the door. I had good results
pulling the latches out, cleaning the nasty old grease out and replacing i=
t
with a lite oil. The lite oil will need to be reapplied periodically. Work=
ing
with these latches is my least favorite ALFA event.
     My only other big expense with this car has been speeding tickets. Be
smarter than me and only speed where you know you can get away with it.
     Once you get the clutch thing worked out, do yourself a big favor. Op=
en
the sunroof and the front windows, turn the radio off, blast through a lon=
g
tunnel at about 6,200RPM.
     There you go. That's most of what I've learned in my two years with t=
he
GTV6.
Happy Varoooming,
JimboMGA@domain.elided
1984 GTV6 (graunch)
1969 912 (44/56)

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