I bought the Alfa in 1985 while living in Honolulu. It ran poorly and had rust and accident damage, but it had the potential to be a worthwhile sports car.  The odometer showed 9,574 miles. Surprisingly, it did not occur to me that this 16 year-old Alfa had already gone over 100,000 miles! 

February 1985 - in Honolulu at the old Ironworks building, shortly after the purchase.

itto!

This photos shows, on the upper left, the the driver's side floor hole.

Later in 1985 at Manoa Park in Honolulu, after paint improvements, patches on the rusty floors and a new top.

In 1986, I moved to San Diego for a new job; the Alfa was followed.  I joined the San Diego chapter of the AROC and walked to their monthly meetings at a nearby Mission Hills S&L. 

The Alfa only got "essential" repairs and upgrades for my first 9 years of ownership and logging 8,000 miles.  During that time, left fender accident damage and the floor holes were patched and repaired while in Honolulu and San Diego.  It was also painted and a new top was installed. Later, I acquired a NOS replacement fender and a used door.

January 1987 -In San Diego, after body repair and paint by the Auto Body Institute.

In 1987 I moved to Santa Barbara with the Alfa for a new employer. A&A Import Services provided good service for the Alfa.

Again I had a new job in 1990, relocating me to Burbank. Alfa Only in Glendale provided good service for the Alfa.  I attended AROSC meetings at the downtown Los Angeles Department of Water & Power building on Hope Street.  

Late in 1990, I bought a used, factory/OEM hardtop for the Alfa.  It's been off and on often.  There isn't much information on the factory hardtop - this is a recent article from the "Alfa Owner" magazine.

Alfa Only completed an engine and transmission rebuild in July 1995 after Engine Machine Service prepared the block and head.   Mileage was just over 16,000.  After this engine and transmission work, the Alfa not only looked very good - it ran very well.   

2001 - At the Griffith Park Observatory

The Alfa's first road trip outside of the Los Angeles area was to Laguna Seca and Monterey in August, 1996.  That travel was repeated in 1997, 1999 and 2000.  In August 2001, we went back with the Alfa to Monterey and Laguna Seca.  The Alfa went to the Monterey car events again in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2010 

Alfa Italia on San Fernando Road in Burbank took over the Alfa's service needs in September 2005.  Prior to each of the August drives to Monterey, I would check with Onofrio if the Alfa would be OK for the 700 mile round trip - he always assured me - "Go! "  Since the 2010 trip to Monterey, the Alfa has logged just 3,000 more miles - all close to Burbank.

August 2010 - On Pacific Coast Highway, heading to Monterey

August 2010 - At Concorso Italiano.  The Alfa was part of the Alfa-Romeo centennial display. 

Alfas were arranged on a hill to spell "ALFA 100".  Where is our Alfa?  Hint: Look for a car the same color as our Alfa, behind and to the right.

August 2010 - at the "Be-boppin' in the Park" event in Burbank on Magnolia Blvd.

We took the Alfa to local car shows including "The Best of France and Italy" and only routine service was needed over the next 10 years. 

Restoration - January 2021

The restoration project started in January 2021.  I initially took the Alfa to Alfa Only in Burbank. This shop had provided excellent service for more than ten years.  Unfortunately, the long-term owners, Onofrio and Vittorio, had recently retired.

January 2021 - in Burbank, before starting the restoration.

There was an obvious miscommunication with the new owners about the scope of the restoration.  On February 2, the Alfa was then moved to Bar Italia Classics, a Van Nuys repair business that had repaired rust and painted a formerly-owned 1980 Maserati Quattroporte.

It was clear that the restoration would require replacement of the rusty floor panels and repair of the accident damage to the left front fender and door; this occurred before I bought the car.   

Although the floors had been patched in Honolulu and the left fender smoothed in San Diego, proper repairs required replacement panels.  I had bought a NOS fender and a good used door in 1996. 

I found several sources for replacement body panels in the US, England and Germany. I called Jon Norman (Alfa Parts, Berkeley CA) on March 15 with a list a needed parts. The parts arrived quickly.

Replacement floors, a B-post, rocker panels - March 27, 2021

This photo shows the Alfa on a lift after the driver's side "B" pillar was removed, June, 2021

An initial task was to replace the "B" pillar. This photo shows "B" pillar after replacement and treatment with POR-15.

More accident damage and sloppy repairs were found after the front fender was cut away.  A new "A" pillar and a support was ordered from Alfa Parts.  The parts arrived early in September. The damaged parts were removed, welded in and primed.

By mid-October work on the "A" pillar was nearly complete.  The photos below show the new parts needed some cutting and welding to fit properly.

"A" pillar is repaired

New "A" pillar and support bracket

A new headlight ring/support panel was ordered from Alfa Parts. The photo below shows the new headlight support panel installed.  

The new fender is placed for a trial fit. 

The fender was welded in January 2022.  This was a complex task because the replacement door was on restored hinges.  The fender was adjusted to create the proper gap between the door and the fender.  

Correct door-fender gaps

The symmetry is checked with paper templates.  The bucket shape is confirmed with Euro-standard headlight covers on March 18:

Final fender and rocker panel attachment: 

New chrome headlight trim pieces were ordered to check for the correct headlight-fender shape.

A few weeks later, work began on the rear fender, as shown below. The scalloped contours were matched, from the front fender, through the door and into the rear fender.  New headlight rims and hubcaps arrived from Alfa Parts.

The driver's side door jamb was further reinforced; shown with its hinges.

Before painting on November 25:

A replacement fender arch was ordered from Alfa Parts and installed. This is the rear fender after the repairs were done, before painting.

In January 2023 work started on the floors.  When the passenger side floor was removed, the cross-brace obviously needed repair as shown below.

 

This was the "floor-less" Alfa early in March.  

The exhaust system - normally in 3 sections - came down in one heavy, unwieldy piece.  Before the new floors were welded in, the chassis edges were checked, trimmed and reinforced as needed.

 

The next floor sections needing repair were behind the seats.  The double layer was replaced with newly fabricated metal, as shown below.

In April the new passenger-side floor panel was finished.   The photos below show the new floor and the two-layer rear floor after rust-treatment.

The chassis cross-braces were reinforced with boxed steel.  The rusty double-layer floor behind the driver's seat was cut out.

The photos below are from early June.  The first photo shows that the lower section of the floor behind the driver's seat patched with steel.  The next photo shows partial completion of the driver's side floor.  The upper layer of the floor behind the seat required fabrication and welding.

This June 17 photo above shows the near-completion of the floor repairs; it shows new steel on the the upper section of the floor behind the driver's seat. All welds were ground down to clean up the entire floor.

Other work continues - this is a rear view of the Alfa on the lift.

In mid-July the floor repairs were nearly complete - the welds had been ground down.  This photo shows anchors for the roll bar; installing or removing the roll bar is easier because bolting can be done from above.

In late July all body repairs were complete and ready for priming and painting.  The floors were painted with POR-15.

Primer was sprayed on in August.

Further priming:

The trunk hinges were reinforced in September.

The passenger door is installed. 

The heater assembly was removed.  The heater matrix showed signs of leaking which caused rust on much of the assembly. 

It was de-rusted, cleaned, primed and painted.  The heater fan motor had never worked and would be repaired or replaced.  Burbank Radiator Services completed repairs to the leaky heater matrix on June 13.

The heater matrix is placed in the assembly:

The firewall area behind the heater was the largest section of the original white paint.  After the insulation was removed, it was covered with rust.

The firewall was wire-brushed, sanded and cleaned before painting with POR-15.

The insides of the doors were cleaned and painted with POR-15.  The window lower pulley sets and the right door latch assembly were partly installed.

The radiator and the fan shroud were temporarily placed in front of the engine on a new rubber mount and secured in place.

The new battery was installed.  The air cleaner and the hood latch were cleaned and provisionally attached.

On the first day of July, the trunk area under the gas tank was padded with closed-cell foam and the tank was bolted down.

On July 2, the rusted mounting plates for the electric fuel pump were wire-brushed, treated with rust neutralizer and painted with POR-15.

The rollbar had been removed to ease the interior cleaning and painting; it was re-installed with light foam protection.

The spare tire was painted and secured in the trunk.  The tire and gas tank were covered with fiber board panels which were made years ago.

**

The panel covering the windshield wipers was positioned.

The new 3-piece exhaust system was cleaned and painted with VHT "Flame-Proof" high temperature paint.

Both driver's side wheels were removed, cleaned, painted and remounted on August 10;  the other wheels were painted later.

On August 22, I called Alex's Auto Glass to install the windshield.  An technician from Glass 4 Car Auto Glass arrived a few hours after the call.  Although the Alfa windshield is retained by a complex rubber gasket, very different from the adhesive used on modern cars, the tech completed the installation in an hour.  This photo below shows the work in progress:

I continued to clean and sort the parts until a Ventura restoration shop agreed to take on this project.  Jay said he would complete the reassembly, the needed mechanical work and get the Alfa back on the road.

The seats, exhaust systems and other parts were put in the Alfa. Sean (The Tow Guy, Inc.) loaded the Alfa into his enclosed truck on September 24.  I loaded 22 boxes of parts into our Corolla and drove to Jay's Ventura shop.  

In Ventura:

In early October, we went to Ventura to check on the Alfa and saw significant progress in the short time it had been moved there.  Jay had installed the pedals; this had required a new sheet metal piece to replace the new floor section that had incorrect location holes.  He also installed rebuilt clutch and brake master cylinders and the exhaust system.  The Alfa finally had a correct exhaust rather than a system that had been patched with generic parts over the years.

Before heading to Ventura on November 1, we took the "boot-cover" for the top and other interior vinyl sections to Roberto at North Hollywood Auto Upholstery. This is the shop that had made new seats covers and restored the dash pad in April.  

At Jay's shop, we saw the bumpers, grill, license, emblems, tail and running lights were installed.  On Jay's bench were "as new" refurbished Bonaldi brake boosters from Classic Alfa, scheduled to be installed.

Although the Alfa looked ready to get on the road, much work remained  Nevertheless, this significant progress justified the drive to Ventura.

The refurbished top boot cover and other interior vinyl sections were picked up from North Hollywood Auto Upholstery on November 6.  A month later, we took these items to the Ventura shop.  The Alfa was running when we arrived.  Jay said it started right up earlier in the day.  He had previously finished installing the gas tank, new fuel lines and five gallons of gas.

The dash was installed.  Most of the gauges were OK, but Jay recommended refinishing two cloudy gauges.  He also noted that the dash opening for the radio-cassette player had been filled; this would be corrected for this vintage item.

Because previous work on the scoop in front of the left headlight and fender was incorrect, the chrome rim on the driver's side headlight did not align with the fender.  The chrome rim needed modification to fit the headlight, fender and scoop.

The heater blower motor could not be repaired and a new motor was ordered.  Jay planned a final check on the tail lights and that will complete the major wiring task.  Altogether, a great, sunny drive and visit!

On February 19, 2025, just a few weeks after the fourth anniversary of starting the restoration,  we drove to Ventura to see progress on the Alfa.

Jay told us he had earlier driven the Alfa a few blocks to check the brakes and clutch - both checked out Ok.

The engine had been pressure-washed. The brake boosters were installed, the throttle linkage and hood release were fixed.  The hood now fits perfectly.

The dash was nearly complete, with only two small gauges waiting for better chrome trim.  The heater fan had been fixed and the heater assembly installed.  After a small amount of wiring was completed, Jay planned to install the glove box door.

The seat tracks would soon be welded to the floor and the seats set on the tracks.  Jay acquired a die to fixed the threads on the steering wheel shaft, then the new nut should fix the wheel to the correct spot on the shaft.

It was nice to see the Alfa coming together; we had another pleasant drive back home.

Just a month later, on March 21 we took AMTRAK to Ventura.  Jay picked us up at the station and we were soon saw the Alfa with the seats, steering wheel, dash gauges, lower dash trim and glove-box door all installed.  The windshield chrome trim, the front cowl and wiper nozzles were also in place.  The Alfa looked ready to be driven home, but work still  remained.

The rubber mats were in the front foot-wells and new carpet covered the transmission tunnel.  Jay gave us options for the rear floor, the roll bar, the drapes and rubber mats.

Finally, we sat in the Alfa, anticipating future road trips!

We walked up the street with Jay to the Lunch Box restaurant and met with Lisa and Craig.  Jay dropped us in downtown Ventura.  We visited the Ventura library and stopped at Vom Fass, then walked to the Ventura station to catch a 2:30 AMTRAK back to Burbank - home by 4:45.

We took the 101 to Ventura on April 24.  The Alfa was ready for a short drive and I was the passenger for less than 1/2 mile.  As the Alfa entered Jay's workshop, the fuel pressure warning light lit up and the engine stuttered.  Jay explained this had happened on a prior test run; he found the fuel filter clogged with rust.  Although the tank was cleaned in 2023, it was apparently clogged with rust.  Jay recommended a new tank, reportedly not too expensive from Classic Alfa.  Classic Alfa will also supply new plastic trim.  Jay planned to order a convertible top and install it. 

The roll bar had been removed to install the rear compartment vinyl.  The doors and windows were done.  Jay had matched up the keys, so a single key would open both doors.  The entire interior, dash and instruments looked ready for a show.

Jay agreed that completing the Alfa for the June Burbank Road Kings show was feasible, so we got back on the 101 for a mostly easy drive home.

We used the Simi Valley Freeway (118) and Los Angeles Avenue to drive to Ventura on May 9; there was less traffic and a change of scenery.  Jay had fixed most of the top frame, but it still needed small parts to operate properly; the new black top then can be installed.  

The new gas tank was designed for later Alfa roadsters, so needed modification to fit this 1969 Alfa.  The pickup and return lines were cut from the old tank and welded on the new one.

A cutout was made in the dash for the vintage radio-cassette player.  Jay had installed the best of three I had collected.  The radio played well with a remote antenna, but it would not play a cassette.  Jay also thought the speakers had weakened, so these non-critical items will be upgraded later.

Other work on the interior included installing the gear shift boot and the plastic steering column clamshell.  Not visible were new heater hoses, coolant and clutch master and slave cylinders and flex hose.

Jay had made more local test runs to check the entire fuel delivery system.  He noted the gas gauge seemed to be erratic, so a new fuel tank pickup was needed for installation.

Again, the Alfa looked ready for a drive to Santa Barbara and points north!  We went again to the Lunch Box cafe for their teriyaki chicken special, then it was back on Los Angeles avenue and the Simi Valley Freeway to Burbank. 

At the beginning of June, Jay sent an email that the top frame had been repaired.  Jay then sent  photos showing the top nearly finished:

On June 9, we visited Jay's shop in Ventura. Only small details remained and the Alfa was soon expected to be back in Burbank.  After dining with Jay at the Lunch Box Cafe, we again used Los Angeles Ave. and the Simi Valley Freeway to return home.

Later in June, Jay reported that he had replaced the oil pressure sender;. it fixed the sporadic oil gauge. Jay also located an original water temp sender which fixed the water gauge. Then he replaced the fuel sender in the tank to fix the gas gauge. The three small gauges that had sending unit problems now all worked correctly.  Jay then installed both the coolant overflow bottle with a new hose and the oil vapor recovery system.  Because one of the new brake boosters has been leaking, it was replaced; this issue seemed to be sorted.  With completion of the work behind the dash, the new speakers and glove box would be installed. 

A new problem popped up just before the July 4th holiday.  Jay had fixed various issues - wiring up a horn relay and installing the airbox permanently.  He then took the Alfa on several test drives that went well, but then the car died about a mile from his shop.  Jay rebuilt the distributor after walking back to the shop and returning with his Alfa and tools.

The Alfa started and ran well back to the shop. But after idling a bit, it died again. Jay determined there was no power to the coil. He jumped it and it fired right up. Because the coil power comes directly from the ignition switch, he concluded the short was either the wire on the back of the switch or the switch itself. 

A few days later, Jay examined the 12v connection to the coil and found only a few wire strands were connected under the rubber shrink wrap.  A new terminal was installed and this "mystery" issue was fixed.

To Burbank and back...  Jay notified me on July 18 that the Alfa had been running well for two weeks and he could bring it on Sunday, with Lisa following him.   They arrived mid-afternoon and parked the Alfa just outside our garage,  Jay said the drive went well until he slowed to leave the freeway and found degraded braking.   Lisa also reported increased exhaust smoke when Jay braked.

When Jay checked the brake boosters, he found a leak from the booster for the rear brakes.  He said the Alfa should go back to his Ventura shop to have the booster replaced or bypassed.  The Alfa was put in the garage and they returned to Ventura.

On Monday, I arranged a flatbed from AAA, using the extra cost coverage for tows up to 200 miles. The truck came at noon and Jay later reported its safe arrival.  He also said a new booster was ordered from Classic Alfa.

Three weeks later, Jay brought the Alfa back to our garage.

One of the 2025 goals had been to show the Alfa at the August 24 San Marino Motor Classic.  The Alfa had been accepted in July, but a foot injury late in July would keep me from driving any car with a clutch.  Greg Woog, a good friend and Bristol owner, agreed to help out.  Early on August 24, the Alfa's top was down and Shannon & I followed Greg to the show in our Corolla.  

The Alfa had a good spot in the "Italian Sports Cars - Alfa Romeo 1946-1975" group.  It was hot, but shade and a breeze cooled us a bit.  I had checked the entry form to have the Alfa judged, but this request apparently didn't get through to the judging team.  So perhaps it would be scored high 80s - low 90s?  Greg brought the Alfa back to Burbank and it waits for us to take a spin through Griffith Park.