1966 Giulia TI Story – Part 2
Picking up where we left off, the Giulia was delivered to Luciano at Auto Veloce on Monday, August 25 with a number of must-fix items. I was to arrive on August 28, but I’d figured on spending a day or two with Luciano sorting out any remaining issues.
August 28, by the way, was the day Obama gave his acceptance speech at the DNC. Here’s a pic of my dog Charlie sort of enjoying that moment at the Ft. Lauderdale Motel 6.
Charlie, non-plused by Obama's speech
And back to the topic…. I took a cab to the shop Friday morning. Issue #1 was the differential. Earlier that week, Luciano had installed a complete axle from a ’91 Spider, which meant a slightly less fun 4.10 differential and Ate brakes instead of the Dunlops the car originally came with, and had still worn until then.
The new diff, installed. Also visible: koni shocks, very tired springs, Luciano's arm.
Issue #2 was the exhaust. This part we tackled together, and Luciano was very kind to me here. The original exhaust was long gone, replaced by pieces of unknown origin and held together by rust and Cuban gum. With thousands of miles of windows-down summer driving in front of me, this was an important fix. Among the many donor or project Alfas in Luciano’s shop was a 2L GTV that was nice enough to give up its complete and decent exhaust system. Luciano lengthened the rear section a bit to make it fit (below), but otherwise it was a solid if well used unit.
Luciano welding in the new exhaust. Note sweat around neck. It was a 90 degree, 90% humidity kind of day in Miami. Or as they call it, Friday.
The next photo is the front section of the exhaust, and is interesting for a bunch of reasons.
- Very creative solution to 2L engine / floor clutch issue. It’s a Titon cylinder. This isn’t pretty.
- Original Dunlop brake master cylinder
- Reverse light wires hanging dangerously close to exhaust. (Yes, they are now fused glob of melted plastic.)
- Missing exhaust support bracket. I have it, but since the clutch cylinder was installed there, it can’t be used without some kind of hackery.
New exhaust installed. Nothing to see here. Move on.
Issue #3, last but not least, the tires. At the end of the day, I drove the car back to the hotel and got online and found a Pep Boys just a mile or two away. I bought 4 tires and about $100 worth of tools, hoses, fluids, etc. for the trip home.
The next day Luciano let me use his shop to put the bumpers on the car, check and top off all the fluids, and adjust the handbrake. It was 90 degrees and rainy. Hurricane Gustav was churing its way up the Gulf, and had already stated its intentions to make landfall near New Orleans on Monday. My girlfriend Meredith, who was meeting me for the second half of the drive, had a flight scheduled to arrive Monday night in New Orleans. So much for that.
Actual road photos will appear in the next installment of this series, I promise. In the meantime, many thanks to Luciano for getting me and the TI out of Miami.
Auto Veloce
