GTV Spider (Type 916) 1995 - 2004

Since I purchased the car it has had a full overhaul as I slowly worked my way through it over the first few years.  I had the advantage of being the Head Of Product & Pricing for Alfa Romeo in the UK, so had both help and advice from some very knowledgeable people, and access to tools and facilities.  

After purchase my Spider had a full mechanical check by one of our lead technical trainers to confirm that the main components (Engine, Transmission etc) are in excellent order and are as would be expected for a car that has covered an average of less than 3,000 miles a year over the course of its life.  This includes a regular change of cam and auxiliary belts, plus variator and tensioner. The engine also receives a regular full and thorough service, with all consumables and all fluids replaced, including brake fluid, clutch fluid and hydraulic fluid for the hood operation.

Additionally from a mechanical point of view, all suspension and braking components have been overhauled. This has included a new front hub, knuckle and wheel bearing, abs sensors, new standard front brake calipers, any bushes replaced wherever even remotely showing signs of wear, new drop-links front and rear, new front wishbones, new rear tie rod and upper wishbone to one side, new drilled and grooved brake disks front and rear with new pads, new brake return springs in stainless steel to rear calipers, most bolts required to be removed for all of the above and below have been replaced with new ones if remotely showing signs of wear, new standard rate front shock absorbers (rears were already new when car purchased), new Eibach suspension springs all round (uprated for a slightly firmer ride and 20mm lower), new top mount on one side, new centre and rear exhaust (the whole exhaust will be replaced with a stainless steel one in due course – probably next year), 4 new matching tyres and a new Bosch battery.

Body wise the car was already very good, but the rear boot and hood cover had some ‘pimpling’ and the fuel flap was broken when I got the car. Both of these areas have been painted and a perfect used fuel flap was repainted at the same time and fitted – all of which match very well (this was done by the same bodyshop that was used by our press garage at the time). All badges have been replaced with new ones. The hood has received a thorough clean, recolouring and reproofing – it has also had a new rear window panel fitted so the window is perfectly clear. The car has also had the underside scrubbed, cleaned and treated and a fresh coat of underbody protection.

The interior was very very good and was in line with a car of this mileage.  The leather was repeatedly fed to make this supple again, everything had a deep clean, all electrics were checked and everything was working perfectly, the audio head-unit was changed for a quality Alpine unit fitted in a silver surround to match the centre console. All speakers were replaced (as the originals by now had deteriorated in a big way!) by Alpine front, JBL front tweeters and Kicker rear dual voice coil sub – all of these were chosen as they were direct replacements for the standard speakers and still hide behind the standard speaker grills so the car looks standard (apart from small JBL logos on the tweeters). When the car was purchased it was already fitted with original Alfa Romeo accessories of billet aluminium Zender handbrake cover and gear knob. Additionally a genuine Alfa wind break was fitted behind the seats – this has now had the netting replaced.   Any other small bits of trim that were missing, worn or broken have been replaced. The car retains its original genuine Alfa Romeo Spider mats from launch.

Essentially my aim is to keep the car looking as standard as possible, whilst making the small updates already mentioned to make it ride, stop and sound as it should (better than factory standard).

Modifications:

Modifications already mentioned were completed August 2016. These are the fitting of drilled and grooved brake discs (to bring the poor standard braking to a more modern standard) and the fitting of 20mm lower and stiffer suspension springs (to correct the overly floaty front end that is standard on these cars. Ideally I didn’t want to lower the car, but I was unable to find any stiffer springs that weren’t also lower – 20mm was the closest to standard I could find and my measurements would suggest that these have actually only dropped it 15mm) to the new standard rate shocks and bushes – the result is a firmer and much less ‘floaty’ suspension that is now very plush and not 

Since all of the above was completed, the main task has been to care for the car so that it retains its condition. As such it is kept in a dry and ventilated storage facility, never sees rain and covers usually less than 1,000 miles a year.