The Alfa From Colorado Springs (part 1)

"Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car" (pilot-and-car-guy) 01/06/2016 at 17:35 • Filed to: None

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Here is the full story of “The Alfa from Colorado Springs.”

I decided it was time for a new project car. Found this 85 gtv-6 listed at $750. I emailed the seller and got the price to $400 and included a 3.0L engine from a 164, and 12 extra wheels.

I left Denver for Colorado Springs at 12:30 to get the car. I had Denver follow me in his ranger for the wheels. Got to the seller’s lot just before 2pm. He helped me load the engine, wheels, and finally the car on the trailer. Got a bill of sale signed and handed over 8 fresh $50 bills.

We got gas in Colorado Springs and got back on the highway about 4:30. Completely uneventful trip until about 5:30 on I-25 around the Denver Tech Center area. I was in the right-middle lane of the 4 lane highway, car’s on both sides, and a black jeep liberty in front of me. About 1/3 before the DTC traffic piling up she slammed on her brakes from about 75 and got to about 5 mph, still 1/3 of a mile from the next car. I was following about 5 seconds behind her, doing 70 in the 75 zone. Because I had the trailer with “The Alfa” on it, I wasn’t able to stop nearly as fast as she was. I rear ended her going about 20 as she was going about 5.

Thankfully there was a cop a few cars back so we didn’t have to wait long. She ran our info and let the other woman go, and I got a careless driving ticket. I got going and got off at the next exit. As we were heading to the next exit Denver noticed sparks from under my trailer.

We got off and in to a parking lot. The accident damaged the front of my truck, but no mechanical damage. The rear wasn’t so lucky. When the truck stopped, the trailer kept coming. It ended up bending the frame about 1” near the back of the truck. As a result the hitch was dragging and that meant I wasn’t going anywhere. I adjusted the car to sit further back to reduce tongue weight. Got it high enough and we were off. Until the odd clicking noise when starting to roll. Turns out that the bend frame pulled the axle, which pulled the drive shaft about 1” out of the transfer case and was leaking gear oil. I’m not going anywhere. After about an hour and a half and several phone calls, we have Nibbles coming with his truck, Denver going to get a brake controller for Nibbles’ truck, and my getting the trailer and truck ready for towing. Nibbles get’s there as I call AAA to get my truck towed. Nibbles then left to go get some wire to finish the install, as Denver had to leave us. While Nibbles was getting the wire my tow truck showed up about 10:30 and tells me either I get in and go now, or he’ll unload my truck and leave. So I leave a note for nibbles and go with him.

I called nibbles when I got home about 11:15, and he estimates about 45 minutes to get the brake controller in. Then he and his wife get my trailer on their truck and start heading my way. They got there about 12:20 and we get the trailer off and the wheels from his truck in to mine. They left about 12:30.

What should’ve been a simple 4-5 hour job turned in to a 12 hour nightmare. HUGE shutout to nibbles for saving my ass. The plan is to restore “The Alfa” to it’s former glory. Now enjoy some photos of my new project car, dubbed my OPPO, “The Alfa from Colorado Springs.”

MonkeePuzzle > Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car 01/06/2016 at 17:48

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yay! boooooo! yay?

Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car > MonkeePuzzle 01/06/2016 at 17:49

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Something like that.

jkm7680 > Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car 01/06/2016 at 17:53

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Good news, Alfa.

Bad news, your insurance is about to skyrocket.

Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car > jkm7680 01/06/2016 at 17:54

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Yep. And I don’t own the truck, so the owners is too.

And with a bent frame, the truck is totaled. So I’m going to be spending a lot of money for a while.

jkm7680 > Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car 01/06/2016 at 17:56

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Ouch, that don’t sound good. Good luck!

You’re under 18 right? Luckily, I believe that you need 6 points to get suspended, careless driving is 4. Which is a very good thing.

HammerheadFistpunch > Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car 01/06/2016 at 17:57

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There is a guy near me that works at my local O’reilly here in Utah with a GTV-6, might be a good resource to call on. Have Denver ring up the Midvale, Ut location and find out what he knows.

Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car > jkm7680 01/06/2016 at 17:57

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Correct. A new truck is about $2k, this one is probably about that if I part it out. Then just pay the deductible on the truck owners insurance and see how high mine goes.

Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car > HammerheadFistpunch 01/06/2016 at 17:58

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Thank you!

Do you remember the guys name?

HammerheadFistpunch > Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car 01/06/2016 at 17:58

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No, I don’t. Just talked to him the other day though, his encouraging words for you are: it seems to like the cold.

Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car > HammerheadFistpunch 01/06/2016 at 17:59

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It’s a long time before this one will run. The 2.5 blew it’s timing belt. The 3L will get swapped in sometime next year.

jkm7680 > Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car 01/06/2016 at 18:00

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I’d say there’s $1,500 worth of parts on that truck, depending on mileage and condition. Parting out the truck will take a while though.

Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car > jkm7680 01/06/2016 at 18:01

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It will take some time, but I can do it.

It’s a 93 dakota, 5.2 v8 magnum, auto, 4x4.

Bed, interior, 5.2 magnum, tranny, t case, axles, wheels and tires, and then scrap the body. I bet there’s 1500 or 2k there.

jkm7680 > Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car 01/06/2016 at 18:02

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How many miles are on it?

Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car > jkm7680 01/06/2016 at 18:05

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130k on body, 70k on engine, trans, and t case.

Theropod > Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car 01/06/2016 at 18:05

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I had a similar experience a few years back at about the same location. A Jeep came to a complete stop a good 50 yards short of the stopped car in front of him. I was able to stop in time by about 2 inches but all the hair on the back of my neck was standing up sensing the car behind me. She wacked me a half second later doing about 20 MPH. So I guess you’re lucky no one hit the back of the trailer and made a bad day even worse.

I look forward to seeing your progress. I always liked the GTVs. You’re doing something noble saving it from the junk yard.

Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car > Theropod 01/06/2016 at 18:05

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Sadly it’ll be a few months before I can start the gtv. I need to pay for the accident first. Oh well, live and learn.

MonkeePuzzle > Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car 01/06/2016 at 18:06

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craigslist soon to be flooded with cheap wheels, that should help recover at least a little of your costs.

Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car > MonkeePuzzle 01/06/2016 at 18:09

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craigslist soon to be flooded with cheap wheels

FTFY

RallyWrench > Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car 01/06/2016 at 18:11

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Quite a saga, but I’m totally jealous. I want a GTV6 something fierce. Good luck with it!

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car 01/06/2016 at 18:29

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Crappy towing experience, but a gtv6 and a 3.0l v6 for 400 bucks? Man am i ever jealous.

Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 01/06/2016 at 18:31

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And 12 wheels.

I got a killer deal.

Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car > RallyWrench 01/06/2016 at 18:31

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I can’t wait to restore it.

AuthiCooper1300 > Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car 01/06/2016 at 18:43

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Wow, sorry about the truck.

On the other hand... another 3.0 conversion?? Soon nobody will ever remember the wonderful sound of the 2.5!

Don’t get me wrong, with the bigger engine it will be a very nice car indeed, but...

Consider mixing and matching parts and building a 2.8, à la Gleich. Almost as powerful as the 3.0 but as lively and as nice-sounding as the 2.5.

Or else try to find the heads of a carb Alfa 6 and the set of six Dell’Ortos FRPA to create something wickedly similar to a South African GTV6 3.0.

I strongly suggest you start having a look at the AlfaBB forums.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car 01/06/2016 at 18:49

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Jammy git ;)

You couldn’t get just the engine for that over here...

Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 01/06/2016 at 19:14

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Yeah.

MountainRoadPhysicist > Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car 01/06/2016 at 19:15

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That sounds like one eventful trip up I25. At least you didn’t run into a very large tree in the middle of north bound I25 like I nearly did new year’s eve. Hope you can get to restoring th Alfa soon!

Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car > AuthiCooper1300 01/06/2016 at 19:16

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On the forums now.

The reason for the 3L swap is that the 2.5 blew a timing belt. Really expensive to fix, where the 3L is running. The 2.5 sounds great, but not worth the cost to fix.

Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car > MountainRoadPhysicist 01/06/2016 at 19:16

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Thanks.

AuthiCooper1300 > Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car 01/06/2016 at 19:32

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If at all poss, try to keep the 2.5 tucked away somewhere. You may be able to fix it (either as a 2.5 or as a 2.8) at a later date. See, I don’t think you’ll tire of the GTV6 very easily, even if it gives you lots of grief. And sooner or later a GTV6 with its proper engine will be more desirable.

A British journalist put it very nicely once: “An Alfa Romeo makes for a rocky marriage, but divorces are uncommon”. He was talking about the 75/Milano.

Best of luck with your car. Please keep us all posted.

Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car > AuthiCooper1300 01/06/2016 at 20:09

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Oh I will. I’m going to post every little thing here.

I plan to keep it, I will be taking some parts from it for the 3L swap. Someday I want to put it back in as a 2.5. My biggest challenge for now is finding parts.

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car 01/07/2016 at 03:15

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No offense but your towing a full car trailer and car with a not even half ton truck. you really should not be following anywhere that close to someone. Even with my 1 ton truck id never get that close. Glad you didnt get hurt and learned a lesson

Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car > TheD0k_2many toys 2little time 01/07/2016 at 09:14

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Under normal circumstances, 5 seconds would’ve been fine. Also remember this truck is rated to tow 6500 and we only had 4500.

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > HammerheadFistpunch 01/11/2016 at 20:30

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Next time youre in there ask for the store number. I can put in a call if I know the number. Should be 4 digits.

HammerheadFistpunch > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s 01/11/2016 at 20:31

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!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > Theropod 01/11/2016 at 20:33

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He is lucky no one rear ended him, Because I was behind him the whole way running as a pilot vehicle. But an E series van came about an inch from my rear bumper. This couldve easily been a 4 car (5 if you include the alfa on the flat bed) pile up.

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > HammerheadFistpunch 01/11/2016 at 20:38

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I’ll talk to jake later. I’ll probably put a call in wednesday when I work next. If you can get me his name that would be very helpful as well

Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car > AuthiCooper1300 05/13/2016 at 14:02

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I found some exhaust valves for the 2.5 for a reasonable price so I will rebuilt it and keep it stock. So happy. And I have a 3L I can sell to make a little profit.