THE STORY OF A REBORN ALFETTA

One night at a social gathering late last year one of our members was heard to say….”mmmm, I don’t have a four door sedan for club runs.”

Another member present said, “well, I have lots of Alfetta GTV’s and only a couple of sedans.  I would like to reduce my collection to GTV’s only.  How about a 1975 Alfetta sedan? I just happen to have one that I don’t want and another which is “as rotten as a chop” that was a freebie, for the necessary parts to make one complete working vehicle.”  Geoffrey said “I don’t have time to work on it and neither do you.

Andrew, would you be willing to work on it, if I provided all the bits?”

So began our latest project with Alfesta 2011 at Clare being the goal for completion.

So on arrival and closer inspection, once we cleaned the windows inside and out and removed all the rat poo from under the bonnet, it appeared to be a worthwhile project, by no means concourso, but good enough to provide many miles of enjoyable driving.

It was put on the hoist for a thorough inspection of suspension, brakes and chassis.

This provided quite an extensive shopping list but most parts could be provided by the three of us without much expenditure.

The most amazing thing of all was how well the doors opened and closed on a 35 year old car.

Hi ho, hi ho off to work we go….. much detailed cleaning and restoration of the interior, however, the seats and trim were in pretty good condition considering.

Next came the mechanicals, replacement of  front and back brakes, front hoses, all suspension bushings, bearings and joints, shock absorbers, I repainted the wheels and new tyres were fitted with beautifully polished centre caps. 

Next, for the “motorvation”.  In went the tailshaft, exhaust system, engine and all engine bay ancilliaries, including radiator.

Exterior work included some small panel repairs, a much nicer grille with new headlights and an overhaul of the parker indicators.

All wiring, switches and fuses were checked and tidied, repaired and/or replaced as necessary to ensure all electricals functioned as they should.  We made one set of bumper bars out of two and with a bit of ingenuity, they were made to look as they should.

An electric aerial, console and stereo were added with some speakers and the dash made to look as good as it could.  Finishing touches consisted of six cans of touch up paint followed by lots of rubbing and polishing, rubbing and polishing, rubbing and polishing, and wait for it…more rubbing and polishing!!!

Once it was historically registered, I enjoyed test driving and final adjustments for the wheel alignment and handling.

It was finished ahead of schedule and I think the new owner will get many hours of enjoyment out of it, as much as we have enjoyed the project.

ANDREW & MARLENE SCADDING

What a day!  The weather had been glorious for so long leading up to the 23^rd May, but alas, someone told the weather gods we were going to play at Mallala and decided to throw everything at us from a dust storm in the morning, to quite heavy, persistant rain in the afternoon with a cold wind thrown in for good measure, ho hum!

But that couldn’t stop the enthusiasm of Team AIM (Alfettas In Motion) which consisted initially of six drivers, they being Malcolm Ebel, Andrew Scadding,

Julie Crafter, Sam Schmidt, Geoff Heaven and Andrew Ebel.  However, Julie had to pull out on Saturday due to illness and with Grant Pigot as our wonderful Team Manager, we soldered on. 

It has become a wonderful team spirit for not only do we have the drivers mentioned above, but a cast of  approx. 14 other helpers all co-ordinating their duties and working well together.  A huge thank you to Pat Storr and Liz Camilleri for the fantastic catering which included a whiteboard selection for breakfast, lunch and dinner and the club bbq trailer has come in very handy for events like this. 

Many thanks also to our very accurate timers, Phil and Chris Crouch and Jim Delaine and the girls on pit wall for enduring such a harsh climate throughout the day.

It is a long day for everybody but when all the planning comes together, the strategy works out how you want it and Murphy stays away, it is very rewarding and this resulted in our team winning Best Presented for the day and 2^nd place overall out of  18 teams.

A huge thank you to Peter Hall, Sue Stephenson, Rob Hankinson, Adrian Flynn, all officials and flaggies for another well run event.

If you have the opportunity to make up a team for next year, please remember to put it in your diary.

MARLENE SCADDING

(DRIVER ASSIST GIRL FOR 152)