Projects

Projects - 75 1.8 Turbo 1987 sill & floor repair

November 2016: In the not too distant past I repaired a 1987 75 2.0 Twin Spark, that turned out to be a more time consuming job then initially estimated. This time I hope this 1987 1.8 Turbo does not contain just as many surprises. The only way to find out is by starting to take a close look and of course disassemble some of the plastic parts the usually conceal issues such as the skirts and wheel well trim. The symptoms with which this vehicle entered the operation room were some "small" sill & floor issues, lets see what reality will look like. Just like on the other 75 I did in 2015 this car seems to have some unconventional welding repairs as well. I see some resemblance.

An Alfa red 75 1.8 Turbo from 1987, what is it hiding?

Right hand side front floor with some "unconventional" repair welding done by god knows who.

Right hand side sill with some extra ventilation holes.

Quite messy previous repair welding to the right sill.

Right hand side front floor with previous bodgy repair welding seen from underneath.

I start by opening up the right hand side sill on the front side. The material that appears during this operation is quite ready for replacement to say the least. Also the right hand side front floor is targeted.

Right hand side sill opened up, doesn't look much better on the inside.

Same sill seen from a different angle, pretty hefty isn't it?

Front right floor & sill removed.

Reconstruction of sill started with newly made front end.

Reconstruction of sill second step is a newly made rear wall.

Partially reconstructed sill treated with anti corrosive coating.

Outer wall of sill recreated.

After a week of rest it's time for some progress on this project. Firstly I will recreate the wheel well end connecting to the sill. Additionally I will create a new floor section in line with the original factory specification and work on the other sections of the sill which require some attention.

Right front inner wheel well lower section recreated & original material.

Inner wheel well completely healthy again.

Sheet metal material with shaped edge to recreate floor.

Factory original specification floor shape becoming visible.

Another section of the right sill opened up, some repair required.

From a different angle it doesn't look any better unfortunately.

Pretty crispy, isn't it?

Lateral chassis beam which has seen better times.

Chassis beam & section of sill repaired.

Looking very different from starting status.

Newly made sill tack welded into position.

Excessive weld material removed to create a smooth surface.

Slightly different repair quality which came out of the sill.

Besides the questionable welds also plenty of kit on the inside of the sill which came out of the car.

Another section of the sill .

End of sill which needs some attention.

Repaired section of outer sill treated with anti corrosive coating.

Up to the next task which will be welding the self made floor section and attaching some jacking points which are currently completely missing and paying attention to other sections of the sill. The jacking points I have available as ready made repair sections so no manual recreation is required for those parts, potentially some small adjustments to fit to the existing body only. In the majority of cases I recreate the repair sections by myself, but to be honest every once in a while these ready made repair sections are a welcome change of habit.

New jacking brackets as ready made replacement parts, also handy every once in a while.

All ready made repair sections for this car gathered.

Trial fit of hand made floor, fits quite good.

Trial fit of hand made floor & jack bracket, ready for welding.

New piece of floor welded in position & treated with anti-corrosive coating.

Another section of sill in need of refurbishment.

Soild positioning feature for jacking point created.

Ready made jacking point welded in position.

The sill misery doesn't seem to end.

Repaired right rear sill looking a tad better than the original one with which it entered the hospital.

Right rear sill ready for may years to come.

Right rear inner wheel well with some "wrinkles".

Pealing away material from right rear inner wheel arch, of course more misery appears.

Repair piece held in position with pliers.

Repair piece plug welded into position, excessive weld material to be removed.

Right rear inner wheel well finished & treated with anti corrosive coating.

Right hand side rear door frame, crappy material partially removed.

ight hand side rear door frame, looking a bit better.

Right hand side rear door frame, trial fit of skirt to see whether geometry matches factory original spec.

Right hand side rear sill, inner wheel arhc & door frame completed.

Left hand side rear floor with some need of repair

Left hand side rear door frame, additional suspicious looking material found.

Left hand side rear sill with some unconventional welding repair.

Left hand side rear sill, no other resolution then to cut a big amount of material away.

Left hand side rear sill, looks pretty severe with the infected material removed.

Very high standard previous repairs, .................... or not??

Left hand side rear sill initial repair piece trial fit.

Left hand rear floor, looking from the outside into the vehicle interior.

Left hand side sill, ready made repair piece welded in position.

Left hand side inner wheel well, front bottom section repaired.

Left hand side rear sill, repair well on its way.

Left hand rear side looking solid with new jacking point incorporated.

Left hand side sill repair seen from a different angle, this will survive some years.

Rear right hand side floor refurbishment on its way.

Right hand side sill clamped in position for trial fitting, seems to be okay.

Right hand side sill clamped in position for trial fitting, seen from the outside.

November is gone which means it's already December (I'm a genious aren't I). As always the repairs are more time consuming then I had hoped for. Although a lot of work has already been done I'm still far away from completion. Lets see if the repairs can be finished in December, but I suppose I will run into some unexpected surprised as usual.

Front end of left sill welded to body with completely flush surface.

Left side door rear opening with thick layer of filler and crispy metal material on its way to be cut out.

It's almost like pealing a banana which is too ripe.

Sick material cut away.

Left side door rear opening with thick layer of filler and crispy metal material on its way to be cut out.

The month of December didn't bring as much progress as I had hoped for. Sometimes inspiration is lacking due to the ever increasing problem areas discovered and sometimes other things than this hobby have priorities. Now it's already January 2017 and the intention is to finish this project within this month. Whether that will be feasible we will see. The first issue to tackle is the left hand side rear door which has a rust spot in the door opening section. Whilst removing that particular section it becomes clear that some previous "repair" is popping up. Smearing a millimetres thick layer of filler is considered as a repair by some people, off course not by me so a new section is welded which is completely flush with the rest of the door opening material and therefore not in need of any filler.

Rear left door opening with awkward rust spot to be mended.

I guess this needs replacement material??

When looking from the rear side it appears the previous person who did repairs owned stocks in a filler company.

Repaired left rear door opening making a healthy appearance.

Left rear wheel arch in need of some atttention.

Left rear wheel arch area underneath the plastic cover not looking very good.

Left rear wheel arch with paint peeling off.

Left rear inner wheel well, healthy material treated with anti corrosive coating.

Left hand side rear sill, sick material removed.

Left hand rear wheel arch, material brushed clean to check its status, not bad at all.

Left hand rear end of skirt trial fit, smart looking seam.

Left rear sill / door opening looking solid.

Repaired section of sill door opening looking exactly like the factory original geometry.

End of left hand side rear sill solid.

Removed lmaterial from left rear door opening looking crappy in comparison to repaired geometry.

Left hand side rear door opening final step, treating with coating.

Another section of the floor in need op repairs.

After a bit of poking it's starting to look even worse.

Repaired floor section treated with coating, ready for several years of loyal service.

New healthy section in floor welded in position and treated with coating.

Another hole in the floor which requires closing.

Hand made repair piece for floor welded in position.

Floor section on inside of vehicle treated with coating.

Another section of the floor ready and treated with coating.

Whoops....., left front inner wing at rear end with some unwanted skin issue.

Yet another hole in the floor.

Strange that this cut away piece of sill features an Alfa slogan.

Repaired cross beam which will most probably last forever.

Repaired left rear door opening making a healthy appearance.

Left front floor with hopeless looking previous repair welds.

Left front floor, rust affected and crap welded material cut away.

New piece of sill held in position for welding.

New sill with cut-out for jack bracket.

New sill welded in position and excessive weld material removed.

Newly constructed sill looking good.

Next step is to fill this big hole in the inner wheel arch.

Repair section in place in inner wheel arch.

Front left floor looking different with sill welded in position.

Front left floor before welding other repaired sections treated with coating.

Left front inner wheel well & sill end completed.

Handmade left front floor repair section ready for welding into the body.

Left front floor welded into position & treated with anti corrosive coating.

Left hand side front inner wheel well near castor rod attachment with unwanted holes.

Left hand side front castor rod attachment in inner wheel well refurbished.

Significant amount of material removed from the car in the end.

It's already February, darn. Only the very last finishing touch I wasn't able to complete within January. The only thing remaining to do is to cover the potentially visible areas in a new layer of red paint. Since the visibility of these areas is quite low like for example the sills (they will be covered by the plastic skirts) I will do this not so difficult painting by myself. Of course everybody has their specialism and painting is definitely not mine the low visibility of these particular areas enable a paintjob by me ;-)

Right hand sill and front inner wheel well covered in a new layer of red paint.

Right hand rear inner wheel well repainted red as well.

End result with signature of course.

As seems to be a recurring issue on almost all of my projects this one again was more labour intensive then I hoped for. Although this is often frustrating I'm sure the executed repairs will ensure this Alfa 75 1.8 Turbo will continue to do what it was designed for, driving, for many years to come.

Last update: February 14th 2017