Meguiars

The Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROC) is holding its 2019 Annual Convention (“Cortile Della Corsa”) in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix (PVGP). The events actually began this past weekend; however, most of the AROC-specific goings-on will be held from Wednesday July 17^th through Sunday the 21^st.

For varying reasons, we (the “we” being my buddy George) and I are departing Friday morning. It’s about a 350-mile one-way trip, and while my 51-year-old Italian car is more than up for it, there’s still all that last-minute stuff to attend to. Since it got a full tune, valve adjustment, and oil change earlier this year, most of what I’ve put effort into these last few weeks has been cosmetic. After all, it will be on a show field with many of its siblings and cousins, and it needs to look it best!

Here are some of those recent efforts:

Floor mats

When I got the car in 2013, there were custom-fitted carpet floor mats in place. Pete, the previous owner, had had them made, and they fit well and looked good. But during my time with the car, the driver’s side mat had started to bunch up near the pedals. Looking at replacement mats online, the biggest challenge was finding a set that could properly deal with the “standing pedals” (hinged through the floor) on my Alfa. The set in the car had a rubber panel, cut to allow the clutch and brake pedals to pass through. I was looking for similar, and was not satisfied with what I was finding.

The good folks at Coco Mats (www.cocomats.com) offered to make a custom set for me, and went so far as to send me a template for a hanging pedal car, which I could customize. But during my email exchanges with them, they seemed reluctant to deal with a mat that would be slotted for the standing pedals. While I liked the idea of coco mats, I continued to search.

My usual UK supplier, Classic Alfa, didn’t carry floor mats at all, but Alfaholics did (www.alfaholics.com). While the mats appeared able to adapt to the pedals, the image on the screen was less assuring. The Alfa logo AND script were rendered in bright red, and took up a large chuck of real estate on the mat; perfect perhaps for a car with some red on the outside or inside, but my GT Junior has neither. I decided to keep looking.

Centerline, based in the states, possibly had a good-looking mat, as the screen shot showed the Alfa logo done up in proper colors. The issue for me was the entire mat wasn’t shown, and I wanted to see how they handled the pedals. So I called and asked if someone could perhaps take a photo or two and send that to me. The nice chap I spoke to said, “well, it’s Friday, but we could do that for you next week”, to which I replied, “great!”. When “next week” came and went, I called again, and got a different, somewhat less-nice chap. His first question was “who did you speak to?” and I replied “I have no idea”. When I again asked for pictures, he said “well, we’re kind of busy filling orders”. Hmm. Guess I’ll just look somewhere else then, shall I? (I never did receive photographs from them.)

**Driver’s mats: old mat on left, Mr Fiat mat on right**

Out of frustration, I Googled “Alfa Romeo mats made in Italy” (U.S.-made mats were for hanging pedal cars only). This brought me to the website of Mr. Fiat, where I saw good-looking mats for standing pedal cars. The Alfa logo was in all-red, but it was small and subtle. I called. Mrs. Fiat answered the phone, and verified that they had my mats in stock (the company is in Atlanta GA). She transferred me to Mr. Fiat, who took my order over the phone. I had the mats in 3 days.

**Juniors left factory with rubber mats, but you got the cross & snake logo!**

The look is good; the fit is just so-so, but about what I would expect for aftermarket mats. Their main purpose, after all, is to protect the original rubber mat flooring, so these will get the job done!

**Mr Fiat’s Alfa mat installed; not bad**

Sheepskin seat covers

Blame Bring A Trailer for this one. Several years ago, a buyer bought an Alfa sedan in Greece, toured Europe with his family in it for several weeks, then had the car shipped back home to the states. He wrote a blog about his journey, and in it, he highly recommended sheepskin seat covers.

I will admit that on 90-degree summer days, the vinyl upholstery in my car becomes a bit unbearable. So the idea of sheepskin covers, with their “cool in the summer, warm in the winter” advantages, appealed. I’m also lucky to work for a company which sells aftermarket car parts and accessories, and I bought my covers, through www.carid.com, from U.S. Sheepskin.

**Sheepskin covers are for travel only; big help on hot days**

They are universal fit, and while the fit on the seat back is excellent, they are quite big on the seat cushions. The color is complementary at best, but that’s OK, because these are for travel only. Once I get to a show, the covers are coming off to expose the original upholstery. I’ve made some short local trips with the seat covers in place, and so far, pretty comfy.

**US Sheepskin doesn’t carry pigskin brown; tan was closest match**

Polish and wax

The Alfa has single-stage paint, meaning, no clear coat on top. Not sure that any 1967 cars had two-stage paint, probably not. I’m also guessing that its paint is lacquer, as it has that “soft” feel to it. Whenever I apply any kind of wax, the cloth quickly turns green, so I know I’m removing paint.

Since buying the car in 2013, I’ve put over 10,000 miles on it. When it goes on one of the New England 1000 rallies, it spends a full week outside, and that quickly takes its toll on the paint. In my garage, the car stays covered, but the paint still needs frequent attention.

Meguiars products have been my favorites for over 10 years now, and I’m 99% exclusive with them. For the Alfa, having tried several different combinations of products, I’ve settled on two: Show Car Glaze #7, and Liquid Yellow Wax #26.

**#7 and #7 available in the Mirror Glaze Professional line**

The Show Car Glaze is a polish, designed to rejuvenate the paint by nourishing it and adding essential oils back into it. It has some compounding effect, but very little. I’ve read articles which refer to Meguiars #7 as “Queen For A Day”, meaning that it may be short-lived, but it will quickly bring back a deep shine.

Yellow Wax #26 is a blend of carnauba and other waxes. It’s easy to apply; there’s no rush to remove it; and it doesn’t dry white, so if you get a little in some nooks and crannies, it’s no big deal. It also seems to sit nicely on top of the #7 Glaze.

**Microfiber cloth shows results from polishing entire car**

I started with the horizontal surfaces, which had the most hazing on them, and they cleaned up nicely. I was able to go lighter on the sides, and finished up with the front and rear. By the way, the #26 wax works beautifully on my stainless bumpers, frankly, better than the metal polishes I have. We’ll see how well the car does when it’s judged on Saturday!

The Alfa Convention in Montreal in 2017 was my first visit to an AROC event, and I was knocked out. I missed 2018 in Washington state, and am thrilled that the 2019 Convention is so close. Watch this space for updates and a full report!

My Alfa is a mostly completely original car, meaning that it’s never been “restored”, not in the sense that classic cars are restored with all-new cosmetics and completely overhauled mechanicals. Yet with 65,000 miles on it (and counting), there have been maintenance and wear items needing attention.

The car is wearing about 90% of the paint and 100% of the interior with which it left the factory. The engine, gearbox, and rear axle are likewise the same assemblies that Tony, Vito and their fellow factory workers installed. During the past 51 years, the car has gotten new tires, brakes, belts, hoses, bulbs, shocks, clutch, tune-up parts, and fluids. I’m very conscious of my role as “steward” of this car, and hope that when it eventually moves to its next owner, the preservation efforts will continue.

As you may know from reading this blog, I’m not shy about putting several thousand miles a year on it, and if the paint gets a little worn or slightly chipped from my enjoyable time behind the wheel, so be it. But I would never consider repainting the car. Likewise, should a major engine component fail, I’ll repair it as necessary, but I’m not going to seek out a larger engine from another Alfa. I’m continually striving to maintain that balance whereby I get to enjoy the car while only fixing what needs fixing.

Earlier this year, I discovered that the reverse light didn’t work. The truth is, in the 5 years I’ve owned the car, I don’t think I had ever checked the back-up light. Its inoperative status gave me the impetus to remove the light assembly (there’s only one, below the rear bumper) and get it working again. The overall goal was not to replace it, but refurbish it, reusing as many of the original components as possible.

**Bezel, housing, lens, and broken hardware after removal from car**

The first challenge presented itself when two of the four fasteners snapped during removal. The clear lens was held in place by two Philips head screws, and half of one stayed in the housing. The housing itself used two studs with nuts, and one stud broke in half. Unlike the recessed screw for the lens, the broken stud projected far enough above the housing that a pair of locking pliers got it out the rest of the way.

**Closeup of housing. Note broken screw on left, and hardened white gasket.**

The gasket beneath the lens had been some kind of rubber that had turned to stone. It’s likely that it had never been disturbed until now. The chrome housing was somewhat pitted, and looked like it would respond to some metal polishing. The rubber bezel, mounted between the housing and the painted rear valence, would be treated to a trick I successfully deployed during the Isetta restoration: using Meguiar’s #40 Rubber Reconditioner, the bezel would be submerged and soaked for several days, hopefully returning some of the rubber’s pliancy.

**I had my doubts about salvaging the lens; the old gasket was that hard.**

While that sat in its bath, I tackled the removal of the old gasket. This was more of a fight than I anticipated. Not wanting to damage either the housing or the lens, I started with a plastic scraper, but made little progress. Next, I tried various solvents, attempting to soften the material. WD-40 had a minor effect on it, so I kept at it with that, fearful that anything stronger would also harm the lens. The most effective removal tool turned out to be a single-edge razor blade, but this took time. Eventually, both surfaces were rid of the hardened white material.

Instead of purchasing a replacement gasket, I fashioned one from sheet cork which I keep just for such purposes. I tacked it in place using non-hardening gasket glue. Three days in the conditioning bath brought the rubber bezel mostly back to its former glory.

**I’ve had great success with Permatex #2 non-hardening sealant; note LED bulb in place**

My best shot at finding the metric hardware I needed was the local ACE Hardware store, Post Hardware on Route 22 in Somerville NJ. They had the correct screws for the lens, but not the studs. So instead, I bought bolts with the right thread pitch, and hacksawed off the bolt heads. Viola! Metric studs.

**There’s a reason they say that ACE is the place**

The broken screw was drilled out, and retapped with my metric tap and die kit. The studs were installed with a dollop of thread-locking compound. The old incandescent bulb was replaced with an LED bulb from CARiD.com. As the repair books state: “reassembly is the reverse of disassembly”.

**I may use the tap & die set infrequently, but it’s great to have**

As you can see, the back-up lamp burns brightly. There’s just one more thing to report, but before I do, I must ask you to think like an Italian. You see, when I first tested the refurbished assembly, it still didn’t work. And that’s when I remembered: in 1967, as far as the Italians were concerned, a driver didn’t need the back-up light to illuminate every time you put the car in reverse! After all, it would provide little or no help in daylight. But if the headlamps are on, indicating it’s dark out, THEN a reverse lamp would prove helpful. So the back-up light is wired to come on only when the light switch is on. I’ll be taking a night cruise just to confirm how well I can see behind me….

richardscarblog

All automotive, all the time

Prepping the Alfa for the AROC Convention in Pittsburgh

Floor mats

Sheepskin seat covers

Polish and wax

Alfa Romeo Reverse Lamp Assembly Refurbishment