Category Archives: GTV Cup 125

The rear suspension rebuild is now complete and only £60 over budget!

Now that the rear end isn’t creaking all the time I can hear that there is a similar noise from the front offside when going over speed bumps etc. While the car was up on the ramps I did have a bit of a look at the front suspension and it does look like the wishbone bushes are a bit perished and the wishbones themselves probably need sand blasting and powder coating like the rear ones although the front is nowhere near as badly corroded as the rear was.

Next job is paintwork though and then I shall return to the front suspension and possibly wheel refurb – the inside of the front wheels are a bit corroded.

No.

These are the original parts that have been sand blasted and powder coated. Pictured is one set of powder coated spring pan and dog bone (there is another set) and two painted wishbones. They look as new.

The spring pan is £250 new from Alfa or around £120 reconditioned from Autolusso. All six pieces cost me a total of £120.

The Cup went in to HRG yesterday for a rear suspension rebuild. Alfie and his team have dismantled everything and earlier I nipped up to collect the spring pans and dog arms which I have taken to be sand blasted. After that they are going to be powder coated.
Car is up on ramps and will be cleaned up underneath and waxoyled while the parts are being sorted.
Ultimately the rear suspension will be rebuilt with powerflex bushes.

Took her up to Alfie at HRG today to book her in for the rear suspension rebuild. Part of the work will be to shot blast and powder coat the spring pans and dog bones. What colour should I get them coated in? I want to keep her as original as possible so the obvious colour is metallic grey or silver. Has anybody any alternative ideas which won’t be too gaudy? A little bit of me thinks red or yellow would look good but …

The fuse?
Symptoms. Interior lights, glovebox light, boot light and puddle lights all out. Can’t be all 4 bulbs so must be blown fuse obviously. Been through the fusebox systematically and all ok so while at HRG mentioned this to Alfie who kindly said he would take a look. He went systematically through the fusebox but couldn’t find the fault. We decided to leave it until the rear suspension is being done. Drove home and noticed the windows didn’t now work, nor did the central locking or fuel and boot solenoids. Fortunately Alfie wasn’t too busy this pm so drove her back. 2 hours later after Alfie and two of his lads had all scratched their heads and I had jet washed one of their vans we found that Alfie had accidentally disconnected a wire at the back of the fuse box. Doh!

The interior lights are fixed as well. Not a fuse. Someone had deliberately disconnected the bulb in the boot to save drain on the battery. The loose cable was earthing the other lights on the same ring.

Didn’t do much today. I watched the Italian GP. Well done Lewis but where did Perez get that late race speed from?

Anyway after the GP had finished I cleaned a bit more of the car’s interior. AG Vinyl & Rubber Care on the plastic dashboard parts and then AG Leather Care on the leather part of the seats. She is starting to look really quite good inside.

Went systematically through the fuses to try and find which one has blown but they all look ok to me. The drivers handbook says that there are “pictograms” against each fuse. I can see them on 3 of them but not on all. Note to self. Download the workshop manual at earliest opportunity.

Have sourced a secondhand rear top arm ball joint but won’t be able to get it for a fortnight. I shall speak to Alfie and book her in for the suspension rebuild for the following week. The rear suspension squeak is really annoying especially now the engine problem is fixed and I want to jump in and give her a good drive. Acceleration is awesome and the engine pulls really well but the fuel consumption is heavy to say the least.

Some of the suspension parts are a bit corroded so will be getting them shot blasted and repainted as part of the rebuild.