1989 GTA turbo

After several years of deliberating, I finally took the plunge earlier this year and bought a 1989 GTA turbo. Having looked at a number of cars for sale over the previous 18-24 months, I decided in the end to go for an outright project car rather than a runner which could still end up needing a load more work further down the line.

I bought the car as a non-runner which was last MOT'd about 10 years ago. It's been previously owned by one or two club members over the years and is currently at RATS having the usual rust areas sorted and general recommissioning ready for MOT.

While the rear subframe and engine are out, I'm taking the opportunity to refurb some parts before they get bolted back in. As a newcomer to Alpines, there are a few areas where I would appreciate some advice from some more experienced owners (or someone with a less rusty car than mine!)

Rear subframe
Does anyone have a colour reference for the original factory grey colour? I took a RAL colour chart up to RATS recently and 7038 was looking like the closest colour.

Oil cooler

What was the original finish? Zinc plated? Painted?

Oil cooler pipe bracket (I think?)

Would this have originally been zinc plated?

Cheers,

Phil

Well done on your purchase Phil.

All rot in the rear turrets is now done.
Needed both turret pockets and the LHS needed a new top section where these attach. Lower turret repairs as per usual and that was it.

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How did front cross-member look?

Same as it did when I sold it to Phil
No rot apart from that mentioned. We are honest and trustworthy up 'tnorth ...No dodgy MOT's here ...salt of the earth etc eccky thump et al ....

Here's another set of rust pockets just done .....Sam's Atmo now in for full refurb and paint .
#1 son made these from scratch from a set of drawings I did ages ago and they fitted bob on so must be doing something right

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Same as it did when I sold it to Phil
No rot apart from that mentioned. We are honest and trustworthy up 'tnorth ...No dodgy MOT's here ...salt of the earth etc eccky thump et al ....

Here's another set of rust pockets just done .....Sam's Atmo now in for full refurb and paint .
#1 son made these from scratch from a set of drawings I did ages ago and they fitted bob on so must be doing something right

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Great work ! nice to se the young`un picking up the torch (so to speak)

Well done on your purchase Phil.

Thanks Simon. A bit of a journey still to go until the car is back on the road but Clee's rot busting is already making it look a lot better, not to mention safer and MOT-able.

In between fierce commitments with work and a young family, I've stripped down the intake manifold assembly ready for various parts to be re-plated and vapour blasted. I was fairly lucky as the only fasteners that required extra effort to remove were ones where a previous owner had chewed up the heads in the past. These fasteners were either too damaged to re-fit or had to be destroyed in order to remove them but I was able to order individual replacements for a few pence via my local Renault dealer using the original part numbers rather than having to buy a whole box full of screws or bolts that I would never use up in a lifetime.

The engine covers had been painted silver at some point in the past and the paint is now flaking off. They will be re-painted in the original satin black finish prior to re-fitting.

Good Progress

Great work....another one kept on the road
Gotta love satin black engine covers.....

A very nice clean and tidy engine bay too.

Sub-frame and gear blasted. Frame needed a few welds and heavily pitted. Repaired and coated.

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Ready for lump .

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