Thread: Some pictures of my Italian classics

Many years ago when still a legal Kiwi I had a 124 convertable Pinnafarinna body.LHD and a wild bright yellow.

Although there was 4 in the country at that time the other 3 were USA imports mine had come from Europe itself

Chick magnet.... hmmmm

Know what you mean Tony, and while I have never had a 124 spider, I have driven them and had a couple of mates who have owned them. One of my mates in Melbourne still does have his, bright red of course, he also has a modern 500 Abarth as well as a Series 1 850 coupe, and a 1500 sedan (but with a twin cam/5spd gearbox). He has previously had a range of 124 coupes, 128, X1/9 etc.

The Italians do styling very well.

I once had an MV Agusta 125 motorbike. In the lounge room. Best place for it.

Oh drool!! What a stream of memories .

Lass I taught with in Broken Hill had a 124 Sports. Lovely vehicle indeed.

A good mate had an Alfa Giulia. Wonderful vehicle to drive and a great handler - for the times that is.

Another mate had the GTV. Hhe was a qualified engineer an d a genius mechanic. The GTV had some problems with The rear windows squirming loose. He figured a tow bar woul fix it. And it did!


This same fellow acquired a Massaerati that had been involved in a horror roll as the result of a burst tyre. The two honeymooning owners were killed. Bob took the vehicle, restored it and converted it to right hand drive.

I had actually seen the car shortly before the smash. I was driving to Mildura and was west of Hay. The car passed me as though I was standing still. Not long after it was heading back to Hay. A few minutes after this I saw A Jag on the side of the Highway with an obvious tyre problem. The owners of the Masserati had stopped to lend a hand and were on their way back from Hay when the tyre blew. The couple had apparently poured their savings into this car, only to come to grief while doing a good deed.

I have a nice little Lancisa as my only Italian classic.

The only RHD version ever made.






Supercharged 2 litre twin cam rocket.

One of the last Group B cars.

Bloody hell Zuffen, you truely are one seriously lucky bugger to have that Lancia. What an awesome beast. I can well imagine that must put a huge grin on your face when you take it for a run.

My brother has a couple of rarish Lancias, well out here in Aus they are (Delta Integrale and a Pininfarina Flaminia GT), but not quite in your league.

My Italians are nice but no way as exotic as yours.

Know what you mean artme re the 124, let alone the Alfas. All lovely cars to drive, and slowly but surely starting to rise in value, (well really nice condition ones are).

Such a tragic story re the Maserati and it's previous owners. It is nice that something like that could be restored, but sad to hear what happened in its past life. For me, I think I might find it difficult to have such a car, given what happened, but perhaps in a way it is a bit of a tribute as well to them, as I would assume they too loved the car given how much they put into it.

Wonderful 037 Zuffen! I wonder how many there are of these in Australia. I know/knew of one other 037 in Australia.

I am building up a Volumex charged engine at the moment..

To my knowledge there are no other real O37's in the country.

This one was here once before for a rally in NZ.

I've owned it for 5 years and driven it once.

We've just completed a 4 year engine rebuild that cost more than most new Commodores!

These engines are nasty little things. You can't grind the crank and the supercharger plumbing is such that cylinders 1 & 2 run lean and 3 & 4 run rich. This is why they didn't last too long.

We've put a lot if work into a new intake and EFi system (all bolt on/bolt off and easilly returned to factory) so the engine will last a bit longer and will be easier to drive.


When we pulled the engine down it had 4 different brand exhaust valves. The engine was supposedly rebuilt just before we purchased it but I think they cut a few too many corners.

Originally Posted by zuffen

To my knowledge there are no other real O37's in the country.

This one was here once before for a rally in NZ.

You may well be the "other one" I was thinking of. A fellow over on F-chat in the Aussie section has one. Given you mentioned the manifold, I guess you and him are the same people. I have read over on the other board (assuming you are the same person) about the issues you went through getting the 037. It is a real eye opener and to be honest I had no idea "this sort of stuff" went on. I do know however know two separate individuals in Italy re-casting the 16valve heads in 131 or 037 spec. I expect to see some show up as genuine with "full history"..

Originally Posted by zuffen

I've owned it for 5 years and driven it once.

Originally Posted by zuffen

We've just completed a 4 year engine rebuild that cost more than most new Commodores!

I have dropped well north of 15k (and still going) on my Beta engine alone. I am not even working with 16 valves! I know the pain of "unobtainable" parts. Even with the Beta's there are parts that are not available anymore, such as tri-metal bearings in standard size. Then there are the little things like water pumps (Fiat used different profile pumps between models which is a nightmare in itself), not to mention the fact that there are no parts (outside of bearings) for the superchargers. That said, I am not alone. Apparently there is a similar situation for old air cooled VW's.

I just spent the weekend (actually about 6 weekends in total) fabricating a new set of stainless headers and stainless top water rail for the engine. The engine has all custom pulleys (right down to the water pump pulley), rebuilt Volumex, forged rods/pistons (own design), kent camshaft, full port job, big valves inc sodium cooled ex valves, custom baffled sump with trapdoor, megajolt ignition, keyholed crankshaft, lightened flywheel, mocal oil cooler, moroso accumulator, custom carb to vx manifold, electronic fuel pump, full data logger etc. Every nut and bolt in this engine has been replaced for new.

My "next year" project is a 16 valve head and "cam flip" and custom manifold with fuel injection.

One question: What were hardest parts to source for your build?

Originally Posted by zuffen

These engines are nasty little things. You can't grind the crank and the supercharger plumbing is such that cylinders 1 & 2 run lean and 3 & 4 run rich. This is why they didn't last too long.

I guess it is Nitrided. Sounds like a typical 2ltr 8v crankshaft. You wont want to score the crank! I don't suppose there are many of these lying around these days!

Interesting that you mention cylinders 1 & 2 running lean and 3 & 4 running rich. The Volumex manifold setup runs lean on #4. I wonder if the 037 and Volumex manifolds are similar? I know the 037 runs a larger blower (Volumetico) - I have been trying to hunt one down!

I will resolve my own lean condition when I move to EFI next year. That said, I intend on data-logging (wideband on each primary and EGT) to get some data on the condition.

Originally Posted by zuffen

We've put a lot if work into a new intake and EFI system (all bolt on/bolt off and easilly returned to factory) so the engine will last a bit longer and will be easier to drive.

It would be great to see some of the work you have done on this. There is a fellow over at Guy Crofts website that is a bit of an inspiration on the Volumex manifold development. He fabricated up an EFI manifold for his VX. It was a nice piece of work.

Originally Posted by zuffen

When we pulled the engine down it had 4 different brand exhaust valves. The engine was supposedly rebuilt just before we purchased it but I think they cut a few too many corners.

Scary stuff! It really makes me wonder why someone would do that. I guess (I have not read my 037 book for some time) that 037's run sodium cooled exhaust valves which are expensive. Why someone would do it on such a collectable and valuable car is beyond me.

It would be great if you could share some photos of your build. Given how rare 037's are it is a real treat to find one lurking here in Australia!

Variant,

It's one and the same car.

My mate Gerry did all the legwork to buy it and used my money to pay for it.

Legally the car is mine and when it sells the money is mine but I have little interest in driving it and he always wanted an O37 so my wife and I said buy it and we'll pay.

Sounds like a wierd relationship but we've been great mates for 20 or so years and we had some spare cash so did it.

Originally Posted by zuffen

My mate Gerry did all the legwork to buy it and used my money to pay for it.

Legally the car is mine and when it sells the money is mine but I have little interest in driving it and he always wanted an O37 so my wife and I said buy it and we'll pay.

Sounds like a wierd relationship but we've been great mates for 20 or so years and we had some spare cash so did it.

Lucky Gerry!

Any chance that you can share some photos of the build? These are amazing "works" machines and it would be great to see some of the internals and manifold work.

I don't have much in the way of photos but I'll drop down the the storage facility and get some.


When there I may even drive it!

Originally Posted by zuffen

I don't have much in the way of photos but I'll drop down the the storage facility and get some.


When there I may even drive it!

Fantastic!

If I may suggest another investment to add to your collection... Lancia Delta S4 - four of these Rallye Legends at one Hillclimb Race - "the" Group B Rally Car - YouTube