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SlewofDamascus
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Rust in wheel wells

Post by SlewofDamascus »

Guys, I have an important question (well, important to me, probably not very important to you - smile).

I am looking at a '86 GTV-6 (I'll never give up), it's relatively nice, but has what the owner refers to as "Alfa rust." Whatever that is. He says there is rust most noticeably on the wheel wells.

Is this a deal breaker for a GTV-6 that I plan on spending a lot to make into a stunning example of the model?

Need answers asap.

Thanks a bunch.

David B.
Greg Gordon
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Post by Greg Gordon »

Hi David,

Here is a quick GTV6 rust tutorial.

There are three wheel well locations that tend to rust on these cars. The first is down near the bottom of the fender at the rear between the wheel well and the door. The sunroofs drain into this area and it tends to collect dirt. The plastic trim on the GTV6 was designed to hide rust here until the car was off the warranty period. Unless the owner pulled off the rear splash shields and cleaned this area out every couple years, there is almost always rust here. Not too tough to fix. Repair panels can be purchased and it's partially hidden by the plastic trim.

Next the rear inner fenders tend to rust (that mean inside the wheelwell and engine bay. This is super common and not usually a problem. It's usually not structural and is hidden from sight. Of course it's important to take car of it before it spreads too much. On the driver's side you usually need to remove the windshield washer tank and coolant overflow tank to see this area. You will probably find rust here on any GTV6.

The worst area is on the tops of the fenders. This rust occurs due to failure of the owner to clean out the inner fender area. It's cosmetic, but it's a highly visable area and it's hard to make it look right once it's rusted.

The last area is forward of the rear bumper at the back of the car. It starts here it a way you can't see it without crawling under the car or pulling off the rear bumper.

Greg Gordon,
www.hiperformancestore.com
SlewofDamascus
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Post by SlewofDamascus »

Thanks, Greg, terrific info, not only for the current situation but for future maintenance tasks, as well.

I will be a GTV-6 owner/Iwill be a GTV-6 owner/.......................

I will.

David B (he will)
gtv11636
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Post by gtv11636 »

Hi David

I want to add few places of "be awear for rust" in GTV's as far as I know them(and I do)

4 corners of wheels - lower corners of wheel wells front and rear.
rear inner wheel wells - some GTV's has them and some dont! it starts from inside the rear inner wheel wells between the wheel well and the frame rails! problem with this rust is it can only be seen once it is already rottened and then you have to fix both rails and wheel wells!

corners of scutle panel in front of windshield is also a common problem! when you see it rust from outside you should be awear that you will find a lot more of it when you'll take the dashboard and windshield out! you will also see rust behind the dash at both corners becous of the air ducts seatting there and getting moister to that place.
there is an original sealent at those corners behind the dash wich trap moister and once you take it off you see rust.

most GTV's also suffers from rust at the inner side or spare tire well.

BTW - rust at the rear behind rear bumper is a problem to fix becous the rust comes from inside between rear panel and trunk floor.

front inner fenders also hard to fix becous you'll need to take the front fenders out in order to do a good job.

Hope I didnt scare you :lol:

My Best freindly advise to you is - be patience and find the cleanest GTV you can put your hands on no metter the cost! Body panels are extremly rare and expensive this days, and good bodywork cost a lot of money!! and it will never be the same ... :?
SlewofDamascus
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Post by SlewofDamascus »

gtv11636 wrote:My Best freindly advise to you is - be patience and find the cleanest GTV you can put your hands on no metter the cost! Body panels are extremly rare and expensive this days, and good bodywork cost a lot of money!! and it will never be the same ... :?
That is the best advice I have ever seen, and I think I did just that in buying the following car (with NO RUST):

http://tinyurl.com/2ry94j

This is a one owner car, and he stored the car every winter since 1986, and when he drove in the spring and summer months, the car was garaged, hence this car has been garaged virtually every night of its life.

The dash is perfect. Even the engine benefits from not being subjected to extreme temperatures and very cold starting year after year. Rubber pieces, of course, have longer life as well, obviously.

The engine, which runs well (according to the owner) will, nevertheless, need updating. The Carfax report came back perect for all intents and purposes.

I'm hoping this was the right car.

Thanks, all, for your encouragement.

David B.
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Cassin
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Rust in Grover Beach, California GTV6

Post by Cassin »

David,

I think that you may be talking about a black '86 GTV6 for sale in Grover Beach, California ... 100 miles north of Santa Barbara near Pismo Beach.

Last week I took the train up from San Diego (325 miles) to look at the car, and decided against it at ANY price. The car is cosmetically very pretty, having had a recent, quality paint job, and with a velour interior in reasonably nice shape.

HOWEVER, the wheel-wells are badly rusted through - completely - particularly around the front shock towers, such that in my opinion, the vehicle may not be structurally sound for anything except mild around-town driving. There is also significant rust in the aft wheel wells, and under the spare. One wonders what else might be rusted but out-of-sight. We put the car up on a lift in a local mechanic's shop, and you could see light through the wheel wells. This is not just "surface" rust. The metal is simply gone. With the bonnet open, you can see the front tires through the large rusted-out sections around the shock towers. I'd hate to push her hard into a turn and have one of those rusted shock towers collapse at speed.

The car is originally from Philadelphia, where the current owner purchased it from a dealer, and where it spent its first 16 years. Ergo the big rust problem. He bought the car there 5 years ago, and moved it to California when he and his wife relocated here shortly thereafter. There's no salt on the roads of California's Central Coast, but it has very foggy, salty air which is also conducive to rust.

The odometer had about 103K miles on it when the current owner bought it in Philadelphia five years ago, but the odo/speedo has never worked since he bought it, so there is no way anyone really knows how many miles are on the car. The speedo/odo are still not working; nor is the tachometer nor temp gauge, which comes to life only when coolant reaches around 150 degrees. The clock doesn't work either, and the brakepad warning light is on, although the seller claims brakes were done recently (he has receipts).

Apparently the AC has never worked under the current ownership. The clutch was replaced a year or so ago, but 1st and 2nd gear synchros are very crunchy. The owner doesn't know whether the tensioner is hydraulic or mechanical, but it does not appear to be leaking, and without taking the belt cover off, to my untrained eye looking from below, it looks like it may be a mechanical tensioner. Not absolutely certain, however.

The dealer who sold the car back in Philadelphia claimed there had been an engine rebuild job, but there are absolutely no receipts to document anything, and I frankly doubt it. Although the engine runs smoothly, I found it seriously piggish compared to my lively stock '86 GTV6 with 75K original miles.

It has fancy alloy wheels (plus the 4 original wineglasses), but the tires need replacing. As I mentioned, the new black paint job was nicely done, and all the black trim is flat black and in nice satiny condition; the rear Alfa badge is missing, however.

The seller is asking $3900 but it is unlikely that any rust-averse Californian (most of us) would touch it for more than maybe $2k, and then just for a pretty around-town car with a nice exhaust note. It's been on the market for a few months - mostly Craig's list and some others - and although there have been lots of inquiries, to my knowledge I'm the only one to actually go up there and see the car. The combination of the seller's honesty about the rust, plus the relatively isolated location on California's very pretty Central Coast is partly responsible. The beautiful train trip on Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner was well worth it, however, even though the car wasn't.

A serious GTV6 Alfisti probably wouldn't touch her other than for parts.

Richard
La Jolla, California[/i]
'86 GTV6
SlewofDamascus
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Post by SlewofDamascus »

Richard, well done! Yes, that was the car I was asking about when I started this thread, but it's not the one I ended up buying (thank goodness!).

Probably just dumb luck I didn't buy it. The price was tempting, especially with all the mods that were claimed.

Anyway, I certainly appreciate it, I'm hoping I picked out a winner, which came from NY (believe it or not), the link is above.

Thanks, great post.

David B.
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Post by gtv11636 »

Good for you David!
Just make sure to check very carefully! a specialy at all the places we wrote about! also try move some rubbers and look carefully at the trunk, under carpets, and Under the car.
Rust sometimes hide well in this cars.

If your car is as the way you describe it then I'm realy happy for you and you probably done a grate deal! :D
SlewofDamascus
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Post by SlewofDamascus »

Dear 11636, I appreciate the good thoughts! I have a "man" (a very, very capable man) on the job. More to come.

David B.
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