I thought I'd write a brief outline of the work carried out- but have a full spec sheet if anyone is really interested along with almost 300 photos of the whole restoration.
The base car was fully specced with full leather, ABS and A/C so a great starting point and although originally red had been resprayed in dark metallic blue- my favourite GTA colour.
As with all classic cars the first thing was to check the integrity of the shell. To this end the rear has been strengthened with aero grade steel including the turrets. The subframe at the rear has been treated as have all the other metal parts of the chassis.
All suspension components have been stripped and rust proofed with new ball joints. The car runs on adjustable Gaz dampers with uprated AVO springs front and Gaz springs rear. Bushes have been replaced where necessary incl anti roll bars.
The brakes have been refurbed and use grooved discs with Padgid blue racing pads with braided hoses. The ABS system has been refurbished. Dot 4 high temp blue fluid is used for the brakes and the uprated clutch.
The engine has been rebuilt by Lee incorporating heads worked on by Martin with bigger inlet inlet valves and other head work. New parts were used wherever possible. A Europa cup spec aluminium rad, twin uprated fans with silicone hoses keep things cool with a chargecooler to keep inlet temps down. The turbo is an ART stage 2 with aluminium hoses, the exhaust a quad exit ART stainless race. There is a Bosch 044 fuel pump with Bosch 252cc injectors on Magnecor KV85 leads. The engine is managed by an uprated Renix ECU with custom chip.
The A/C system has been fully refurbished by OE suppliers Reader Air Conditioning with all new parts and hoses. The interior fan has been refurbished, re-circ motor/flap refurbished and new resistor pack installed.
The interior has been spruced up with refitted headlining, deep clean, leather feed, pedal rubbers and carpets where needed. Leather door cards have been fitted. The door solenoids and window motors have been refurbished as have the wiper motors. The OE stereo has been adapted to include a 3.5mm phone plug for iPod whilst retaining full tape (with new belts!) and radio function. A new ariel has been fitted. The stereo runs Alpine (obviously!) front speakers with separate tweeters.
The car has benefited from a full respray in dark Renault blue with a little added metallic flake as the original red was showing in a few places and there were some bad areas especially around the nose which was badly scratched. New RATs headlight glasses have been fitted. A new windscreen and seal has been fitted with A610 wiper arms.
The car runs on Compomotive MO's- 16" fr 17 r.
So all in all a lot of work!!!! Being an Alpine there are still a million jobs to do and she's not a perfect show pony, but that suits me just fine- I want to drive her not look at her and I spend enough time worrying about my museum piece of a viola without worrying about my car too!
I'd like to publicly thank many of you on here for your advice, procurement of parts and general help especially Andrew, Filipo, Lee M, Andy, BigMVS and of course Stephen.
Martin Faulks for his help, guidance and generally putting up with a musician of little understanding taking up his time to explain things over and over again. I've really enjoyed the process and although I don't think I'll ever speak fluent Faulks I've enjoyed the challenge!
Above all though, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Lee for his professionalism, tolerance (turbo seals !!) and perseverance. He's had to put up with a kak handed assistant with less than no skill or knowledge and who demanded the impossible, yesterday. Lee's patience has been amazing and the hospitality of you and your family gratefully received. Thank you.
Above all I can't wait to take my new GTA to my wedding in June and on to my honeymoon in Europe- which was the point all along
Not to mention the small matter of it's shakedown run to Macon
