Need advise on buying an Alfa GTV

["Mark Battley" <M.Battley@xxxxxxxxxx>]

>This particular car is 
>being sold by the original owner and has 94,000 miles and no rust, but 
>needs complete restoration: paint, upholstery, and who knows what 
>mechanically, since it hasn't moved in twelve years.  My question is:  
>what's a car like this approximately worth in its current state and in 
>restored condition?  

Its value does depend on how accurate the "no rust" comment is! Does such a car 
exist? Maybe I'm being a bit negative because of the one in my garage next to 
the MIG welder, but even if it has been looked after the odds are that any car 
of that age will have some rust in it.. which may not be apparent until you 
start stripping it and preparing to paint. I'm sure that you are well aware of 
this: please don't take offence if you have already very carefully evaluated it!

Key places to check:

The panel below the front bumper (valance/apron depending on which country you 
live in!) can rust. Although this is not very structural there is an important 
crossmember behind it (under the radiator) which includes the mounting points 
for the front anti-roll bar. This box section crossmember and the antiroll bar 
attachments are very prone to rust.

As with most cars, the rear of the front wings tends to fill with dirt and then 
rust. Unfortunately rust in this region can spread into the inner and outer 
sills, the door pillar, and also the floor. Assessment of the condition of this 
area is quite difficult since the rust can start in any or all of these places 
and spread into the others. If the owner will let you I'd suggest removing the 
splash guards at the front and back of the front wheels arches. Also (if you 
can) remove the stainless steel "kick" plate on top of the sill in the door 
opening: it will help you to see if there is any rust at the base of the A or B 
pillars, and it may be obvious if there have been any previous repairs here. 
Check carefully along the bottom edge of the sills to see if the spotwelds look 
original. Probably the most likely place to have been repaired is the base of 
the front guards behind the wheel/at the front of the sill/above the front 
jacking points.

The rear of the sills (in front of the rear wheels) can also rust, as can the 
bottom of the rear guards behind the wheels. 

Always lift as much of the carpet as you can: the condition of the floorpan can 
be a good indicator as to the state of the rest of the car. The floor is 
constructed from a thin high tensile steel: once rusts starts it spreads 
quickly! The floorpan rusts around the rubber bungs in the front and rear 
footwells. If this is left untreated it can spread out into the sill areas at 
the front (including the jacking points) and into the base of the rear seat from 
the rear bungs. In severe cases rust in the front floors can spread up the 
firewall, and sometimes the floors can rust in the inner front corners (by the 
transmission tunnel- water from a leaky heater or screen). Check the floor in 
the region of the outer rear front seat mounts: they suffer from fatigue loads 
which accelerates the rusting process. The floor can also rust around the front 
outer front seat mounts if the doors leak water onto the carpet.

The bottom of the doors rust, as does the aperture around the door handles and 
around door mirror attachment points. Check around the front and rear screens 
(top and bottom), the grille below the windscreen, and in the spare wheel well. 
The small structural members down the sides of the boot at the rear can also 
rust. Bootlids can rust between the frames and the skins, typically along the 
rear edge. Bonnets are usually okay: a rusty one can indicate that the rest of 
the car is (or was..) very bad.

Inspect the rear wheel arches carefully. These tend to rust around the edge from 
within the folded seam, and can also provide evidence of a rear end accident. 
The cars are weak in the rear (perhaps more accurately, have a designed in 
crumple zone), and will typically bend at the arches if hit from behind. The 
rear valance and lower rear guards can rust, but this should be easy to see. 
Rust can also occur along the base of the rear side windows

The good news is that most of the rust areas are not too difficult to repair and 
reproduction panels or patches are available for most of the problem areas.. and 
as you can do this yourself you can control the cost. Most mechanical parts are 
relatively easily available and not too expensive too. There are a few more 
buying hints on my website.

Don't let this put you off though.. If the the one owner has looked after it 
when it was in use, and stored it somewhere dry "yours" may be a very good one. 
I can't help you with prices in your part of the world: I'm sure some locals 
will pipe up!

Regards,

Mark Battley
Auckland, New Zealand.

1974 Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV

Alfa Romeo 105 series Bertone Coupe home page and register at:
      http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/1806/105GTV.HTML

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