• Welcome to the new SAOCA website. Already a member? Simply click Log In/Sign Up up and to the right and use your same username and password from the old site. If you've forgotten your password, please send an email to membership@sunbeamalpine.org for assistance.

    If you're new here, click Log In/Sign Up and enter your information. We'll approve your account as quickly as possible, typically in about 24 hours. If it takes longer, you were probably caught in our spam/scam filter.

    Enjoy.

New to Alpine

Ron67Alpine

Silver Level Sponsor
PM on the way, nick. Oh BTW I forgot that the battery is in the compartment behind the passenger seat, which is why I mentioned the engine compartment.



I had no idea that Saturn was producing an "Opel", Donna. The Opels I'm familiar with are '60's/70's era. The Kadet Sedan/Station Wagon/GT. Great little cars but they had a tendency to leak oil, so it was easy to find bodies in good shape but w/blown engines for about $50. Once I was driving in the left lane and some woman wanted to make a left turn.....from the right lane directly in front of me. So needless to say I needed a new body. I changed bodies in an afternoon, in the winter, in the rain, in the mud, by myself. Pretty easy actually, disconnect the wiring, shocks, linkages, drive shaft and the 4 bolts that held the body/chassie on the front axle. Jack up the front of the body, leaving the engine/trans/and front axle on the ground. Roll this assembly from under the old body and roll it under the new body. Redo the connections, drill the pop rivets out of the old body number plate, pop rivet the # plate on the "new" body and you have a GT or Sedan or SW. After the first time I did this body switch, I did it several times until I didn't pay attention to the oil level and another Opel ended up as a $50 body.
 

TulsaAlpine

Donation Time
Euro Ad for Opel GT

Across the pond website:

http://www.opel.com/brand_sites/gt/
SEXY O La La


Saturn's big sale

http://www.saturn.com/

Yes they make the Pontiac Solstice at the same GM plant in Wilmington, Delaware that is at this time closed, waiting on sales to pick back up. The Opel is the same car as the Saturn Sky Redline turbo version, with different headlights and badges, I like the cool Z but awh heck I got the Saturn Logo!

Donna
:D
 

Ron67Alpine

Silver Level Sponsor
The Opel GT always was a sexy car. I do like that they still have that style. I think I liked the Opel better than the Saturn, though. Although it could have been the babe in the comercial;). I don't know what the Opel runs for but the lower priced Sky is out of my price range:(
This is the Opel GT that I remember....linky below
http://tinyurl.com/5h3hz7
 

Ron67Alpine

Silver Level Sponsor
I've got a question. I've been poking around in the site and came across a post in the general discussion forum, about the cost of a used Alpine. I paid $2000 for mine, does it appear I got a good deal? Any help to keep my wife's apprehension abated would be appriciated.
Thanks
BTW I took the carbs apart and they look pretty good. I'm gonna take them to my bike parts guy and have them sonic cleaned, then put them back together.
 

TulsaAlpine

Donation Time
Sounds about right?

In the Alpine world the less rust the more they go for, rust is the main cost factor of repair. Dad paid the owners 50 dollars for mine to haul it out of the pasture, $10,500.00 dollars later it is a running car. So 2,000 for one that does not have the floor pans rusted through and all the glass broken, and the dash in one piece you will come out ahead! One has to consider the cost of dragging that rust free body from out of the desert to wear ever home is from Oklahoma to New York! I have seen less paid and more but the price you paid sounds like a fair one. What you will have to try and explain is were all the extra money keeps disappearing to, like duh Sunbeam parts! What you have to tell the wife it is a labor of LOVE, yes this is a restoration of a classic car, a piece of history. You can not just walk into a new car dealer and buy one of these Classic cars, they are unique, special. Once she rides in it and people wave and point, yell Cool Car she will like it also!

Donna
:D
 

Bill Blue

Platinum Level Sponsor
I second what Donna said. If the car had rusty floor panels and you paid only $500 for it, you'd be in worse shape. If Wifey is looking at the expenditures, concentrate on making it drivable. Paint, interior and chrome bits are absolute cash hogs. If necessary, fog it with some rattle can paint to keep the rust worms in control and have some fun while you accumulate goodies. Almost everyone in the Alpine world will understand.

Bill
 

TulsaAlpine

Donation Time
Chrome - flash and cost!

:D
Right on Bill! After all I spent on the rust removing and getting the car floor pans, fenders on when it came time for the bumpers I was already to deep in cost to have them re-chromed, did you know the coke cola and aluminum foil are actually a good chrome polish, anyway my bumpers in my opinion have character, they are original and have some tarnish, what could not be buffed off. My other trick was to flip the door handles so the bad chrome is on bottom instead of on the top. I did after a couple of years buy a new gas cap all new and shiny! My other big cost was upholstery, paid to have it all done, doing it myself with a kit would of been cheaper, but since most of mine was rotted and gone not much to work with. Get it running and mechanically sound, brakes are a must, then work on the appearance. Tell the family that for Christmas a gift certificate at Sunbeam Specialties would be a great gift ;)

Donna
:D
 

Nickodell

Donation Time
I did the same with Matilda's seats, swapped left for right, because the driver's seat had sagged, and since the whole restoration was on a shoestring I wasn't up to new foams; just paid a local guy to make new pleated vinyl covers. The passenger seat appeared to have had little use. The only slight snag is that the seat back lever is now on the left (door) side, and it's easy to snag it with the seat belt or when pulling the handbrake. Once or twice I've come to a stop, pulled up on the brake and ended up looking at the sky. Impresses the heck out of onlookers.

I don't have passengers very often, and so what if their bottoms get a bit cramped on the passenger/original driver's seat :)
 

Ron67Alpine

Silver Level Sponsor
Thanks for the encouragement, guys. I appriciate any ammo:) Like I said, the body seems to be solid. I can't find any weakness in the body panels or floor pans, even the battery box is sound. All the chrome seems to be there also, even all the sunbeam letters and both side badges. All seem to be sound w/some of the long pieces w/a couple of bends. I should be able to press those out. Other than paint I entend to do all the work, so labor should be minimal. My motorcycle parts guy also has a couple of alpines, and has some parts he can help me out with, including a rebuilt starter, as well as advice. He also mentioned a double cylinder brake master cylinder, he says will bolt right up. I took a bunch of pics of the parts, laid out, if y'all are interested I could post those?
Again thanks for the welcome and advice.
Ron
 

Ron67Alpine

Silver Level Sponsor
Well I got back from a week in St Thomas, last Saturday, just in time for winter...uggg.
I went to my parts buddy's (Dean) shop the other day and got the wheels back for my XS750 project, put them on and rolled it to make room for my brothers Goldwing, for the winter. I'm pretty sure I can get the XS roadable @ this point w/in a day so I'm gonna be concentrating on getting the Alpine on the road by spring. Dean's got a recently rebuilt starter and single carb/manifold setup that he's gonna sell me and he gave me a pair of spacers for the rear wheels to align them w/the front.
I put the Alpine on jack stands yesterday and did some more dismantling. The exhaust is rusty but appears solid. I removed the starter, (didn't need to drop the exhaust) clutch slave cyl, front calipers and rear shoe assembly. The calipers look to be in better shape than first estimate and the rear cylinders look to be "new", both the shoes and pads look to be in decent shape but I'm probably gonna replace them anyway, as well as rebuild kits for the calipers and rear cyls. The clutch slave looks to be just a rusted lump and the starter turns but doesn't look like it's throwing out the starter gear, not sure if the solenoid is still good. Both will probably be replaced on general principals. I've also removed the top and bottom chrome from the windshield seal but the side pieces are giving me a bit of a problem. I've been using a wire brush on rust spots and giving them a spray of rust converter, which seems to be working. I'll have to do another degrease/clean of the engine compartment, before reassembling and maybe a couple of spots of paint.
I'm gonna be taking my starter, solenoid, clutch slave and calipers to Dean's, to check out and remove the caliper pistons in a couple of days and hopefully I'll be able to start putting the engine, brakes and clutch back together in the near future.
All in all, things seem to be proceeding quite well, but I am concerned about one thing. She doesn't seem to have much compression. I can easily turn the engine by hand on the crank pulley, through multiple cycles. I'm hoping this is because it's been setting for so long and when I put some oil in the cylinders the compression will pick up.
here's a couple of pics of my progress.
AlpineRebuild054.jpg

AlpineRebuild053.jpg

AlpineRebuild059.jpg

AlpineRebuild058.jpg
 

Ron67Alpine

Silver Level Sponsor
Thanks for the clarification, Mike, so the manual adjust is a "better" setup, that's good.
I took the calipers, clutch and brake master cylinders, clutch slave, starter and solenoid over to Dean's yesterday, to have him take a look and give me the bad news on what will need to be replaced. The verdict was much better than expected. The clutch and brake MC's have "new" kits in them, a little honing and cleanup and are good as new . The starter works but the solenoid is fried and the clutch slave cyl is just a rusted lump of metal...the circlip that retains the piston is fused to the cylinder I've left the calipers, so Dean can remove the pistons and check the kit but it looks like they also have "new" kits.
Dean is willing to help me out on some parts. He's gonna set me up w/a single carb setup and probably has a rebuildable clutch slave cyl. The body gaskets and seals are gonna be rather more expensive than I thought. There are a few new seals, in the parts boxes but a dollar here a $30 kit there, is gonna add up, most of them will need to be replaced. Since I'm gonna remove the intake manifold for the single carb, I might as well drop the exhaust, and give the engine and compartment a real cleaning and repaint the compartment and touch up the engine. With the exhaust dropped the compartment will be just about empty so it should give me pretty good access.
Well...that's all for now
 

RootesRooter

Donation Time
As posted, it could be the original diff, if your VIN is very late Series V (per Sunbeam Specialties' catalog, most Alpines after B395017553).

The self-adjusting brakes work fine if all parts are in good condition and well-lubed. Manually adjusting? Well, they can work just as well, as long as you remember to do the adjusting regularly.

Regardless of which diff you've got, you'll definitely want to do a search through this site for tech advice on diff weaknesses, specifically the "crown wheel bolts."



Uh...really? What's the diff? Any advantages/disadvantages?
 

Ron67Alpine

Silver Level Sponsor
Thanks for the tip, rooter. :)I presume you mean that the bolts, on the crown wheel, have a tendency to loosen and/or sheer? I'm not unfamiliar w/the inards of a differential, (I screwed one up on a '66Dart:eek:) but I'd prefer to not have to do more than tightening/replacing a few bolts. I'll keep, your warning, it in mind when I get to draining and checking the differential. Periodic brake adjustment is just part of having a car, I can tinker with.:cool:;)
 

Ron67Alpine

Silver Level Sponsor
I guess it's about time to update my progress.
I've continued the dismantling and started to reassemble a few systems.
I've ripped out all the old carpet and "insulation", wire brushed the rust on the floor pan and put down some rustoleum. Removed the windshield/frame, figured out how to remove the frame side trim and cut the old gasket out, removed glass from frame. Ordered much of the trim/seal rubber, as well as "fuzzies", rug kit and insulation from VB. Traced out half of the rug kit on the insulation, but will need another roll, to complete the whole set. I've also removed the lower dash bar, the dash is now held on w/2 phillips screws and linkages. I've also removed the upper dash padding/cover.
I've rattle-canned the engine compartment, w/rustoleum, and reinstalled the starter, starter relay, brake and clutch MC's and a new clutch slave cyl. I'm working on getting the hydraulic lines. I've also cleaned and rebuilt the left rear brake. Rear brake cly's in worse shape than they looked.:( That is the dumbest cyl attachment setup I've ever seen. What they couldn't use a bolt??? I took the brake booster apart, the leather diaphram is "decomposed" :eek: and the leather seal is shot. Is there supposed to be fluid in the vacuum can?
Dean couldn't find the Solex carb setup so I'm reinstalling the Strombergs. They've been cleaned, bench adjusted and installed. Changed oil and new filter. New plugs, points (gap set) and wires have been installed. The new distributer cap doesn't match the plug wires, so have the old one in, until I get a new correct cap. I thought I'd be able to get it to, hot-wire, start, w/ether, Saturday, but the portable power pack, I have, didn't have enough amps to crank it w/compression. It will spin fine w/o the plugs, and seems to have good compression. I'm gonna have to get a battery, I'll bench test the coil, also. Gas pump/filter seems to be shot, still have to drain tanks.
New purchases are gonna have to wait until after Christmas, my charge card is about to have a meltdown.:eek:
I haven't recharged my camera battery, since comming back from vacation, so no new pics.
Well...Th...Th...That's all folks!
 

Ron67Alpine

Silver Level Sponsor
Well, it's been awhile since I updated this thread.
I've made quite a bit of progress. Brakes and clutch are rebuilt and "working". I still need to rebleed them. I've rebuilt the brake booster, but haven't hooked it up yet, not sure if I will. I've converted to the Weber 32/36, modified the linkage and the gas pump is working. I've replaced the alternator w/a 1 wire from an 80's MGB. I've had it idling, but it's still a bit rough, trans seems to go through all gears. I've also removed the exhaust, sanded and painted it (1000*paint). The tires I got from Merchants Tire w/the thin whitewall out. I've also laid some insulation in the passenger compartment. The other day I took it down from the stands and have given it a massage w/250 wet/dry, to clean up the surface rust and gone over it again w/600. The upshot of this post is that it's to the point, that I'm sending it out for paint and undercoat tomorrow. Wiring, interior, top and rubber/chrome trim will be done after paint
Here are a couple of pics
BeforePaint009.jpg

BeforePaint001.jpg

BeforePaint004.jpg
 

Ron67Alpine

Silver Level Sponsor
Project update

I've had a couple of milestones, since I updated this thread. I've talked about the car comming back from being painted, in another post. So, I won't rehash old news, but here's a pic, for those that didn't catch the earlier post.

Since she came back from paint, I've been working pretty steadily. Mostly 3 steps forward, 1 step back. She came back so beautiful, my earlier intentions, to just get her on the road, kinda went by the wayside. Everything would have just looked shabby, beside the paint. I pulled the dash and decided that I needed to just totally get rid of the "Prince of Darkness", and bought an EZ Harness as well as their Dolphin guages, new switches and neon dash lights. As mentioned before, I'd already upgraded to a 1 wire alternator.
I bought 5 yards of marine grade, leather texture, black vinyl for the interior. I made a dash cover using this vinyl, a piece of pipe insulation, for the edge pad and padded the top w/ 1/4" foam. Then installed the windshield frame. I was going to just cover the dash w/the vinyl, but when the harness and guages arrived I discovered the speedo and tach guages were just a little too small for the holes, so I needed some way of taking up the extra space and decided to pad the dash also. By cutting the holes in the foam and vinyl much smaller than the dash hole, I found the guages streched the vinyl and the foam took up the extra space. The guages, switches and lights now sink into the dash. I think it looks kinda good:D

 

Ron67Alpine

Silver Level Sponsor
Ran into that 4 pic limit per post.


Since those pics were taken, I've repadded, using pipe insulation, covered and, installed, the bottom dash rail. I've also covered the glove box frame and painted the box w/fabric paint. I may use the vinyl to cover the inside, will decide later, when I finalize the box. The adheasive I've been using, mostly, is DAP Weldwood contact cement.
This brings me to the rewiring. The EZ harness is divided into 4 sections, front, back, dash and steering column. Front, back and dash are pretty straight forward, but the steering column wiring needs to be divided between the dash, hi/lo floor switch and steering column (turn-signals).
I got the 21 circuit mini-fuse harness and it has a lot of circuits, I'm not gonna use now, but may in the future. Things like AC, radio, electric windows, interior/trunk lights...etc. I've run some of those, to the proper area and stored others, just in case.
I've also got the fuel pump working and gas in the tank.
I had a senior moment when I was working on the ignition and hooked up the points power to ground... figured that out. I also got a Bosch Blue Coil, to eliminate the ballast resistor.
The upshot of all this balther is that I now have a mostly operating electrical/ignition system. Other than a bulb or 2 all my lights work. There is a problem w/the turn signals, no matter, right or left, they act like hazzard flashers. A guy, I know, that runs a shop that works on LBC's said that will clear up when I get a hazzard switch, in the circuit. He's also the guy that told me to get the BB coil. I can start her w/a key but there are still adjustments that need to be made.
At first she was hard to start and wouldn't idle under 2200 and would die. I've upgraded to a Weber 32-36 w/an electric choke. But I forgot that it also had a Primary Idle jet solenoid. I tied the solenoid to the choke power and a little futzing w/the idle screw, she will now idle @ around 650. I still haven't adjusted the valves, set timing or air/fuel mixture. I'm not sure if the vacuum advance is right, I think it may be sticking or have a leaky diaphram. When I got her idling another senior moment occured. I forgot that I had disconnected the oil pressure tube from the guage and hadn't installed the new electric OP sending unit. I ended up w/about 2qts of oil in the passenger foot well. Luckily the insulation held it in a puddle, that was easy to clean up. I apparantly have a ground short in the tach wiring. When it's connected, the motor dies. The temp probe, that came w/the guages, is much smaller than the original, and I have to find an adapter to make it work. The original's connection spade is broken. I also got the GM pulse generator, for the electric speedo connection. It turns out you need the Ford model. That's now in the mail and I'll send back the GM when the Ford comes. Since everything seems clear w/the tanks and fuel pump, a little while ago I reinstalled the gas cap assembly. The latch seems real stiff and I've sprayed it w/WD40. It would seem to me, there should be a spring, in there, to push the button back out?
Since I still can put 2 more pics up, here are 2 of my more recent pics, much progress has been made straighten out the wiring, since I took the pics.


Well, that's about it, for now.
Ron
 
Top