Alfa Romeo Spider 3.7L 24V V6 Build

[street]

Replys.

WOW is all i can say you did an amazing job.
Props to you mann.

Thanks Timm! Lots more detail work left to do. But I'm on it!

street

OMG! with those wheels is just perfect. doesnt get any better. PLEASE don't change them.

Thanks Rebounder! But those are strictly shop rollers. I'm currently awaiting my CCW Classics.

street

[street]

Rad Mesh and Upper Panel Fabrication

Continuing with detail/clean-up work today on the front end. First up was the mesh for the rad. I wanted it to sit at the rear of the rad tunnel and not be "in your face" mounted. This decision kept in line with the concept of the front bumpers internals. And that was to create a space that's clean, has depth, mimics shapes, repeats form and has function.

To start, I measured and had my metal shop cut a piece of 16 gauge, 1/2 inch hole mesh. This was the cleanest, yet simplistic and most modern shape that I came across that went with the car. The spacing was right and I only needed a small section to cover seeing the design of the rad tunnel that was fabricated.

Pay no attention to the bumpers and mesh for not being level as nothing was bolted down except for the mesh itself. This was just for spec.



After all checked out, I removed the entire unit and drilled the rest of the holes.



Next was the cleaning and paint.



While the mesh was drying, I started in on the upper panel's notch points and grafted them in.



Then marked the drill points for cutting.



Then drilled the turn-around room out.



Finished notches to go around the bumper's brackets.



After gently curving the ends to match the front nose curvature on the car, I mocked panel into place for spec check.



Mesh was dry by now, So I reassembled the unit in preparation for reinstall.



Gave the tow loop another 2 coats of paint as well.



Then put everything back together and only had time for one shot before I had to leave. Once again, nothing is bolted down. But all specs passed. This panel will get blacked out like everything else and possibly have the same mesh holes spacing drilled into the central section to break up the expanse and offer more cooling.

The only item left to take it's place within the bumper, will be the CNC'd triangle in the center. This triangle will be left in raw aluminum and contrast perfectly against the blacked out intake and all internals.



street

[P78]

damn, ur sig just says it all man

this needs to go outside and baffle the masses!

[Rebounder]

Thanks Timm! Lots more detail work left to do. But I'm on it!

street



Thanks Rebounder! But those are strictly shop rollers. I'm currently awaiting my CCW Classics.

street

what are they?

[Puma]

Fuuuuuuuuck yes... I know my comments don't really contribute anything, but I just can't help but keep coming back and drooling. You're gonna owe me a new computer soon due to all the water (drool) damage it's incurring from looking at this thread!!! haha...

[street]

Replys.

damn, ur sig just says it all man

this needs to go outside and baffle the masses!

Thanks P78! I'm just stayin' true to what matters to me personally. Along the way I've made more than my fair share of mistakes. But at least I've learned from them. And continue to do so. I'm only too happy to share my efforts with others that strive to do their own thing. Might I add, it's also refreshing to showcase individuality here. Cause I can't stand purists in the Alfa world. Thanks for all the compliments. Here's a part of my work uniform that I bought recently.

What I'm building. Front



How I feel about most Alfa guys. Back



street

what are they?

Ford Contour aftermarket.

street

Fuuuuuuuuck yes... I know my comments don't really contribute anything, but I just can't help but keep coming back and drooling. You're gonna owe me a new computer soon due to all the water (drool) damage it's incurring from looking at this thread!!! haha...

Are you kidding? You guys on here are fuckin' awesome!! I LOVE all the creativity and self expression!! I do this for me and me only. Fuck the rest. If someone likes what I'm doing, then all the better. But I'm no show-off and don't desire to be at car shows. That's just not me. I'm a driver and I've been around these cars helping me dad fix them from very young. But I always saw room for improvement. Now that I'm older, what I saw was room for expression. My respect goes out to anyone doing what they want.

Send me your computer bill!! My bad!!

street

[street]

Front Tweaks.

Time for a bit more tweaking on the front.

Today I had a bit of time to adjust the upper panel and sort out the central section. One concept, was incorporating an original Alfa badge. So I mocked one into place and thought out the concept further.



Standing back, it was clear that the central section had to get drilled for esthetics and balance. In this shot, the driver's side fell down a tad, so don't refer to the lines as level as well as the bumper.



After marking the parameters, I took out the panel and rad mesh to use as a template for the drill locations.



Masked.



Prep.



Sprayed.



Guide.



Drilling second round.



Emblem spec check.



Marking holes for rear panel pass.



Drilling first round in rear panel.



Sprayed both panels and re-mocked into place.



After comparing contrasts, I'll be adding a duplicate panel on the ends to stretch the body lines which will get painted the same color as the trumpets. Here's a draft explaining. Compare from the above and you'll see the width of the car widen. Remember, the car's bumper along with everything else is not lined up or secured. It's not as low as it appears.



Driver's side. Emblem has to go up a tad. I had to run and didn't have enough time for this correction. I also moved the car to a larger and much brighter unit. So some of my time was lost today during the move.



Passenger side.
Note** The green tape you see, was to hold the panel where I want it and to bow it accordingly to replicate the nose of the car.



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[street]

DEMON Upper Front Port Panel Mock - Correction Draft

Correction draft with shortened central section and raised emblem.



street

[DutchStance]

Still looking awesome, but IMO you should put the original chrome grill back in, it would look great on black...

[Slinger]

I'd make love to this Spider

[styler2002i]

the pipe leading to the intake needs to be changed as it really cheapens up the quality of the car.. why not try using some black samco type hoses..

other then that loving this build...

[street]

Replys.

Still looking awesome, but IMO you should put the original chrome grill back in, it would look great on black...

the pipe leading to the intake needs to be changed as it really cheapens up the quality of the car.. why not try using some black samco type hoses..
other then that loving this build...

Thanks DutchStance and styler2002i!I What I like to do is fabricate a design and see if it still hit the next day. The latest didn't survive this morning and I worked on another I had drafted up.

street

I'd make love to this Spider

Thanks Slinger!!

street

[street]

Concept Re-Up.

I couldn't get to sleep last night and kept thinking about the build. There was something bothering me, but I just could not put my finger on it. I went through some of my drafts and found a couple that I did awhile ago that were a bit cleaner. Then I looked at what I did, and knew it had to change.

Anyway, here is the breakdown on today's changes. This first shot was where I stated. I pulled out all the panels and racked my brain to see if there would be any major complications before attempting the work.



This first concept had a small flaw. But I wanted to see it live anyway. The problem was the curved upper panel that had nowhere to go and I didn't want to drag it back all the way to the rad.



Nice curvature in it. But again, nowhere to finish strong



Easier to see the fault in the 3/4 view.



Then I stated to combine it with the next concept and marked out the opening rad line.



With that upper panel failing, I decided to jump into the other concept by cutting the rad's opening and fine-tuning the main panel's curvature.



Spec check on curvature.



After I got the curve that I was after, I slotted it back on the car.



Then I tossed the upper panel out and replicated the other side for spec check against the draft.



Higher view of curvature with both main pieces.



Side top.



Overhead view showing replication of nose, bumper and splitter curvature.



Time to fabricate the side panels by tracing the bumper.



Both side panels roughly replicated, fitted and applied with tape to see exterior lines.



Then I put everything back together and was very pleased. Now there's a couple key elements going on here:

1 - The main panels exterior lines replicate the center triangle,

2 - The rad protection bars serve two-fold - function and form. They protect the rad and also line up the "heart" with stock Alfa slates. As a note on this concept, the slates could remain all brushed silver or painted black outside the heart's lines when viewed head-on. Lastly, the height of the main panels at the bottom also acts as the lower slates lines for the heart. All these key lines and careful placement then gives the illusion of the slates sitting inside the heart.



Here is a shot (without flash) showing the slates if they remained a constant silver from left to right. Note - the slates are currently held with tape and the ends are partially covered and hindering their true length. in a final situation, their full length would extend from one side of the rad tunnel to the other.



Now with the emblem. Much cleaner. All panels are roughed in, but I feel that I'm ahead of yesterday. In the end, the main curved panel would be fabricated as a single unit.



street

[Jersh]

great work man, definitely one of the most epic builds i've seen. the attention to detail is amazing.

[jakkerd]

New bumper design looks much better.
Love this build.