'01 GTV 2.0TS

[ALXege 75]

Sold my 916 Spider more than 4 years ago, owned a Brera and then a 939 Spider, while my girlfriend had a MiTo. Sold both our Alfas late last year and replaced them with other makes. After almost 12 years of Alfa ownership, I was no longer an Alfa owner Or so Without anybody knowing it (not even my girlfriend), I bought a GTV TS 2 days before Christmas! It was in good condition, with some good maintenance done by the previous 2 owners (which I both knew): full PU bushes on the rear axle, rebuild exhaust, new tires etc. Unfortunately, the engine failed 2 years ago due to insufficient oil.. Now it was lying in a yard, with it's engine torn into pieces.

I was on a tight budget, so planned carefully for the acquisition and the engine rebuild. Few days later, I was spending the entire repairing budget on another GTV with same problem (broken engine) This time, it was a beautiful Edizione Sportiva, with it's typical red carpet - black leather / red stitches electric seats interior

 

Fast forward, 5 months later, I finally managed to have the engine rebuilt, swapped the interior with the one on the Edizione Sportiva, installed side wings & rear spoiler, Eibach sport springs, swapped the MP3 player with an old-school high-end series Pioneer, and drove the car to AlfaFest, our annual national Alfa meeting

 

Car is far from being perfect, engine still doesn't run as it should, exterior could use some fresh new paint, there are some parts that need immediate replacement (some crankshaft or bearing) etc. but will get there with time! On the plus side, it's far better preserved than I expected, it also handles far better than I expected on twisted roads (definitely better than my old 916 Spider, although that was also tweaked in terms of suspension).

 

Although I fancy with photography myself, untill I shoot my own pictures, here are some official photos from the event, shot by a famous romanian automotive photographer. Enjoy!

 

[elm11g 5]

awesome!  Love the photos also!

[Silverarrow 28]

Beautiful pics with an astonishing GTV

[Paso 239]

Great! Thanks for the photos!

[ALXege 75]

Since it's a 17yo Alfa with quite a few retrofit parts, of course it ain't perfect A friend of mine is helping me fix all the small but annoying issues. He already replaced the cheap aftermarket xenon lights with standard halogen bulbs, repaired the non-working reverse lights (broken "solenoid"? on the gearbox), fixed a broken light on the center dial for climate control (god damn bulbs, impossible to find) etc.

 

The biggest challenge now is the air-bag warning light in the dash. It's on since we retrofitted the electric seats (or even before, who knows, I never drove the car before switching the interior). The error on the tester says something like (from memory) "Driver side pyrotechnic charge open circuit". Any idea what could be the cause of this and how can it be fixed?

 

Background story: the car came with standard interior which was recently replaced with an electric interior from another car (Edizione Sportiva). I don't have too much info on this since my mechanic did it, my understanding is he needed to port part of the wiring loom to make the electric adjustments work?

 

Here's a recent pic of the car (for attention purpose )

 

[ALXege 75]

Fixed (pyrothecnic charges blown)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[elm11g 5]

looking awesome.

I don't think we ever got the electrical interior in Australia, would love some electric (red) seats, even if a little heavier!

[ALXege 75]

On Saturday, I took advantage of a Giulia/Stelvio Owners event held at the local racetrack and entered the track for a few laps myself. Didn't focus too much on setting lap records but mostly on the experience itself, getting to know the car and the track. Great experience all in all!

 

 

Other than that, I'm collecting alot of parts; I already installed a Supersprint 4-2-1 exhaust header, small 4 pot Brembo calipers from 156GTA with 305mm discs are awaiting for custom brackets, a brand new original CUP splitter is waiting for some side skirts to finish the CUP look, and finally, a set of Zender Siena must find their way home..

Edited September 24, 2018 by ALXege