Alfa Pages

[gritsop]

Hi guys,

Wanted to share with you my latest experience I ahd with the 33. This time luck was not on my side and the 33 became victim of incorrect timing, bad luck and wrong choice by me.

So the story starts ... Monday morning June 9 I decide to go to the bank to do a long awaited transcation. So the 33 is parked outside the bank and the weather turns to dark cloudy. Within 5 minutes rain starts ... within another 5 minutes it turns to heavy rain and then the disaster begins. Road is converted to river and the water level constantly rising. I then decide to get out of the bank and run, Run, RUN. This was only a thought as it was impossible to jump out of the biulding. The level is so high that half of the car's wheel is covered by water.

Rain hopefully stops and within 5 minutes the water level has decreased so that I can reach the car from the behind. I open up the door and presto the floor has turned to a small swimming pool. Needless to say that the under of the 33 is not recongisable from the dirt, leaves, etc that the road had transfered.

Got home and within 1 hour I have removed seats and carpet. Felt sheets are soaked in water and dirt. Water entered the floor via the gear lever opening and spread to everywhere including sills.

First try is to gather water; it was easily done and the quantity was 1/4 of a bucket.
Then second attempt is to remove the sills rubber cap located at the sills end at the rear wheel arch. Using a LED torch I can see the sill from the inner side full of dirt. Here comes the air compressor and air blower to remove everything foreign. Did a good job and the sills are now clean but full of mud; So I jack up the front and with the help of a garden hose i pour water on the sills making sure that it drains from the real part of the sill. After some tries the sills look clean, gray primer color is back but ... hey do I see brown metal there? It looks like it around the area of the rear jacking point. Now a more effective means should be employed; a metal bar attached to sand paper removes surface rust (rust was not deeper) and again water from the garden hose removes all traces of rust. Again air blower makes sure that no moisture is trapped in the sills and then rust inhibitor is injected through the opening. The quantity was so much that it drained via the sills openings. Wait for a couple of hours till the inhibitor dries and then a layer of PPG 1K primer is injected to the sills. Next day is cavity wax day... In case you use this product be sure to wear protective clothes so that only a few areas of your body are exposed to it. This thing will stick nearly everywhere and the most important is that it smells awfully. Like rust inhibitor, cavity wax starts to drain after some minutes and it will do so for a couple of hours until it has drained and covered any difficult area of the cavity.

So next day was assembly day for carpet, seats etc. so that it looks like a car again. Total days of restoring the 33 was 8 just for 15 mins of heavy rain resulting in flooding the road.

Sometimes things happen jsut by coincidence or bad luck but again the Alfa gods wanted me to find out issues that were unknown to me and probably for the years to come.

Now that the weather has turned hotter I can smell the wax even from inside the car with the windows up ... imagine the smell on the outside

However, I can now sleep quietly as I know I have done some work that surely has paid off.

Regards,
_________________
Thanassis Gritsopoulos
1991 Alfa 33 1.4 IE
2001 Alfa 147 1.6 Distinctive

http://www.alfa-restoration.co.uk
Parts Shop: www.alfa-restoration.co.uk/shop

[greencloverleaf pat]

glad you got the car sorted but in your country with the good weather it will dry out quickly.

[BigAl]

good job than, any pics???
_________________
x2 33 16v
pictures http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=5203

[gritsop]

Hi all,

No pics unfortuantely as I was so pissed of that I didnt want to have photo documents on my hard drive ...

Regards
_________________
Thanassis Gritsopoulos
1991 Alfa 33 1.4 IE
2001 Alfa 147 1.6 Distinctive

http://www.alfa-restoration.co.uk
Parts Shop: www.alfa-restoration.co.uk/shop

[lee16v]

Hi Than,
Glad you got it sorted with no damage caused to your car. I can imagine how pissed off you were!

Look forward to meeting you next weekend

[Eddie_W]

Hi Than, sympathies. What a succinct description of what must have seemed an endless frustration. I can only admire your self control,were it me I think the Gods on Olympus would have had red faces and both hands over their ears.
Still as you say, something was revealed, and rectified, that could have caused a great deal more grief later on.
Always a silver lining.
Regards Eddie
_________________
The pop star formerly known as Eddie W

[RFlower]

Hi Thanassis, Glad you survived your trial by water!
It's a pity you didn't take some pictures, they might have been good for a laugh in future years.
I got the front wheels of my Land Rover stuck in a deep pool on the beach years ago. It was in Borneo, so at least it was a nice warm evening.
I fought with a jack to get logs under the front as the tide came in, until the water was up to my waist. I got it clear a couple of times, but it fell in again when I reversed. I gave up when the water reached the air intake.
I sat on the beach in the moonlight and watched until only the roof was visible.
Next morning it was buried in hard sand above the wheels and took about ten of us a couple of hours to dig out. The whole inside was coated in oil which had floated up.
The Landy survived after washing everything out with many gallons of water and several oil changes, but I always regretted that I was too mad at the time to take photos, although everyone else seemed to think it was hilarious.
_________________
Dick Flower, Nr. Carcassonne. '94 Trofeo 1.4 ie (F), '93 Imola 1.3/1.4 ie (now for breaking) (F), '91 1.7 ie (GB)(spare car), '86 Sprint 1.5 QV (F). '87 VW Syncro camper (F), '73 NSU Ro80 (F), '99 Fiat Seicento (F)