Re: Giulia coupes, GTAs, GTVs & The Best Bits

["Joe Garcia" <corsanostra@domain.elided>]

Shedding further light on the matter of Ideal Giulia Coupe, Scott Fisher 
added:

<<I don't want to make any irreversible changes.  Such as, even if it were 
easy to cut the firewall and bolt in that lovely alumin-i-um
pedal box from the '74, I wouldn't gladly do that to my '67 because I
couldn't put it back to original later.  Who knows, one day I may get
religion and decide that I'd rather have a stock 1300 GT Junior than a
just-what-I-want hybrid hot-rod.>>

I like that corollary. In one sense, I feel like I am no so much the *owner* 
of this TBA GTV, but rather a "steward" thereof, caring for it for the 
benefit of future generations (ideally, those whom I have off-sprung...if my 
child rearing plan is executed properly. But I digress) who may at one point 
decide that the car in question needs to win Best of Show at the 2034 Pebble 
Beach. It'd be an awful thing if I had to make them de-fabricate the 
plutonium googleplex demodulator Dad put in in 2012 before he was sent away 
to Happy Valley to "rest" a while.

<<I might even paint it the factory original color, that weird pale 
blue-green that Jody (the previous owner) calls "Nazi mental-institution 
blue.">>

Well...I wouldn't go THAT far. I suppose if the grandson of the guy who took 
the 1976 Alfetta off my hands wants to knock off a Talbot Lago at a Concours 
in 2041, he is in for a rough time finding the exact shade of "socialist day 
care yellow". Methinks the upheavals in the various gummints in Italy during 
this century and their attendant societal changes have had a profound effect 
on the color schemes of the cars produced therein. Just a theory.

<<...with the extra power on tap, having more relaxed cruising would be a 
nice feature, especially if you do long trips in the car.>>

Although I want my car to be CAPABLE of being a daily driver, in my case 
commuting takes up exactly 4.4 miles round-trip...and that includes popping 
off to have lunch at home. So, most of my "real" driving involves occasional 
100 mile schleps (over uninteresting interstate & expressways) to see 
clients.

<<...the GTA head is a very good way to spend way too much money for
something that doesn't work as well as modern developments.>>

I'm not entirely sure that would be the case for two reasons. 1- One of my 
clients is a VVIP in Argentine motrosports circles, and I have had other 
stuff done "down there" (where Alfae are amazingly popular)in the past both 
for myself and for friends with all manner of Eurasian cars for a fraction 
of the price and the same (if not better) quality. When I go with said 
client to the PRI trade show in Indy I will fully report as to the length & 
breadth of What May and May Not Be Done Feasibly in Argentina. 2- If made to 
fit <shudder> the valve angle and port geometry of the GTA head (as you 
stated) is excellent, and the valve sizes do promote free breathing, even in 
a 2000.

The acid-test for all this theorizing, however, is a given owner's Break 
Wallet Power. Even if excellent stuff can be made for 1/2 the price in 
Argentina, 1/2 of an obscene wad of cash is still and indecent wad of cash, 
and if nothing else, it may run gravely afoul of previusly stated Spousal 
Acceptability Statutes.

<<Oh welll, as I keep telling myself, if I wanted cheap power, I should have 
bought an old Chevy Nova.>>

Ah. But you didn't and why? Because Alfae are cars for the right side of the 
brain. My '76 was very, very fast but it was no match (at least 
stoplight-to-stoplight) for anything with big Holleys, headers and pushrods. 
However, it would reward skillful driving and it make me grin like nothing 
that was allowed by the 10 Commandments could. I just wanna grin bigger now. 
:-)

<<I know that a/c was available on some '74 GTVs; my friend Chris used to 
have such a creature. Apparently, getting to the Spica on that one was an 
exercise in twisted elbows and scraped wrists.>>

Yet ANOTHER argument for the set & forget nature of SPICA. What wrenches my 
now-perspirant heart is that some people have had such A/C'ed GTVs and have 
extracted the cooling bits. <sigh> I have a feeling that retrofitting A/C is 
a prohibitive test of time, finances and patience...and not likely to yield 
the desired results.  I'd dearly love it someone else proved me wrong. 
Otherwise, I am stuck looking for one of the rarest of the breed.

<<And if you want to drop some weight, the usual racing sources make
fiberglass body panels (hood and trunk being the only ones I'd want to
put on a roadgoing car) and plexiglass side windows.>>

There was one place a friend o' mine found which made carbon fiber 
replacement panels (hood/bonnet, trunk/boot & doors) I'll have to rummage 
for the URL if anyone wants it. I have never ordered anything from them, nor 
do I know anyone who has...but there ya go.

- -Joe in SoFla, between Alfae but still searching.

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