Ian Ellis Classic Alfas |
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Alfa GTA recreations and bespoke builds | 19th October 2016Â |
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GTA RecreationThe brief: Our customer, an experienced racer of Morgan cars in the past & previous owner of an Alfa Spider wanted a GTA recreation that could be used on trackdays, but which he could also take on continental tours with his wife. The car needed all the necessary attributes (power, handling, braking) to drive spiritedly at various tracks in the UK such as Goodwood, Silverstone etc, but be compliant & comfortable enough to drive to each circuit & do European touring in relative relaxation, so the interior would have plenty of creature comforts - plentiful sound deadening, carpets & luxurious bespoke trimming in charcoal grey alcantara.Engine is a 2.0 twinspark unit, fully rebuilt in-house producing 200bhp, fed by Weber 45 DCOEs & managed by Omex 3D mapping. Uprated clutch, rebuilt standard gearbox & 4.3:1 LSD axle. Suspension is an Alfaholics handling kit with Koni Sport front dampers & Classic rears. An aluminium T-bar is fitted with poly bushes rather than a uni-ball. Wheels are 15" GTA alloys shod with Toyo Proxes 195/55 VR 15 tyres. Brakes are 4-pot front calipers, vented discs & Frodo DS2500 pads up front, stock rear brakes. Interior: The bodyshell used was a 1968 example which had the 1750 style dash, but our client requested the correct early 'flat' style dash so the shell was adapted to make this fit (no mean feat, as the early dash has a curved steel plate across the width of the car beneath the windscreen which supports the dash, and the screen de-misting air vents also had to be made). An early dash was sourced & restored, finished in the correct grey textured finish of the 1600 GTAs and a Stack electronic counter with shift light was fitted. New lenses were fitted to the 2 smaller gauges. A pair of Recaro bucket seats & Willans harnesses are fitted, the driver's seat being a race seat, while the passenger seat is a more comfortable, tilting & reclining version. A false rear deck has been fabricated & installed which incorporates 2 useful 'security boxes' which can be used for storing valuable items out of sight. The whole thing is re-trimmed in charcoal grey alcantara, as are the door cards, rear 1/4 panels and footwell kick panels, resulting in a luxurious interior, which is not only soft to touch but also hard wearing & extremely light in weight. The rear parcel shelf is covered in a bespoke diamond-quilted drape in the same charcoal grey alcantara. A Momo suede steering wheel is fitted. GTA replica from a '68 GT Junior 'step-nose'My own next track day/ fast road car.The '68 GT Junior, all outer panels removed, ready to go to Cleaning Consultants at Loxwood to be blasted: The blasted shell returns to have new inner, middle & outer sills, new floors, front crossmember, rear scuttle and inner rear arches welded in: The shell is finally in 2-pack primer. This will be allowed to harden for several weeks before blocking back. The process is then repeated before the final colour coat is applied. Front suspension & steering components fitted - reconditioned steering box, RS suspension kit (developed at the Nurburgring race circuit in Germany by Dutch guru Ron Simons) with adjustable dampers, all new ball joints & poly bushes, adjustable top arms (to give negative camber), drilled lightweight spring pans, All other components are powder coated. |
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