| Welcome to the first installment of AlfaCentro's Project Giulietta Spider by Lew Rosenberger. Members of the 750-101 newsgroup will recognize Lew as one of the founders, moderator and frequent contributor. Owners and restorers of 750-101 series Giulietta automobiles are strongly encouraged to check out this email newsgroup as it is an excellent venue for trading (and gaining) knowledge. Good information is an ever rarer commodity as these cars continue to go out of common currency. We hope you enjoy the series! --Bo | |
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 | |  | | | Giulietta chassis number 370602 left the Alfa Romeo plant at Portello on March 14, 1962 destined for Frankfurt Germany. She is one of the "third series" cars, with Giulietta components (left overs) installed in a Giulia chassis during the transition to the 1600 Giulia design. The car's first decade of history is still unknown, including how she came to the US from Germany, but the license plate stamping shows a first California registration in 1963. In the mid 1970's the owner, having driven her through high school, decided it was time for a restoration. He was mostly through the disassembly phase when other things caught his interest. In 1978 the disassembled car was placed in storage in an airplane hanger in the Anza Borrego Desert where she stayed forgotten for almost 20 years.
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 | |  | | In 1997 the owner decided to make another pass at a restoration, and the car was trailered to his home near San Diego CA. He soon discovered that this would involve more time and effort than he was ready for, and in May of 1999 the car (then just an empty body tub with a drive train and boxes of parts and fasteners) came to live with me. First inspection showed the body to be basically sound and undamaged with the exception of an amateur body-putty repair to a dent in the right rear wing. The desert environment was very kind to the metal parts, and there was no evidence of other than surface rusting.
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 | | | | | None of the original finish was visible; the dash had been sprayed white (along with the gauges and under-dash components!), and the rest of the coachwork had suffered the indignity of use as a test palette for miscellaneous shades of spray paint. The only serious eruption of body cancer was in the front floor pans, seen here in their "as received" condition. Apparently the car had been left top-down in one of Southern California's infrequent rains and the moisture was left to rot the metal under the floor mats. As it turned out this WAS the only rust damage found, and fortunately it was easily repaired with welded patches.
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| |  | | With a gas can rigged as a fuel tank to bypass the leaking fuel pump diaphragm the 1300 engine ran surprisingly well on the day I bought the car. I'm not sure how much fiddling was required to bring her back to life after a 20-year rest, but the previous owner claims the effort was minimal. The odometer shows a bit over 85,000 miles, and there is evidence of a head rebuild shortly before the storage period. The plan is for a complete engine rebuild, but time and budget will determine how far I go past a thorough cleaning and inspection.
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 | | | | | As part of the past restoration attempt the engine compartment and the trunk were painted black, along with all the components that remained in place. After-market relays and other wiring "improvements" were quickly discovered. The suspension and steering gear components were entombed in a thick layered jacket of surface rust, still-pliable grease, petrified road dirt and various colors of spray paint. The underside had the usual layer of 1960's asphalt undercoating, covered well with oil and grease.
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