Where in PA? I'm near York.
Are those PA inspection stickers?

 

Where in PA? I'm near York.
Are those PA inspection stickers?

Looks like the car was in PA. If I read it correctly, theMechEng is located elsewhere.

 

That should buff right out....

 

Good morning brother,
Quite a challenge you set yourself up with this Giulia. I commend you for that. I am on my third rebuild, all from Copart. First one was a Nissan Sentra, my son’s first car.. the other two were Giulia’s. Just completed a 2019 TI Sport, my second Giulia project is a 2017 QV witch I am still workin on. I personally don’t go for cars with front end damage, I look for side or rear collision cars with airbags intact but it all depends on the overall condition of the car of course.
Some people in here will tell you that you are an idiot to try to rebuild a crashed car because they don’t believe a car can be made safe again once it crashed, and they are all entitled to their opinions, but I am in the mindset that anything and everything can be rebuilt. You just need to look at the over all cost vs the value of the car after you completed the project to see if it would be worth your time and effort.
We know that the car came from PA, where are you located? I can probably point you in the right direction to source out some of the body parts you will need to replace. Also, did you buy a crashed car from Copart before or is this the first one?
Shoot my a PM with questions of post here, we are here to help you along your journey. Good luck. 👍🏼
Erdem

 

wow i always wanted to buy a rebuild from copart. Is the ownership branded salvage?

 

Yes, when you finish the build and re-register the car in your state, or country, it will be a Salvage titled, or branded vehicle.

 

Not all cars purchased at salvage yards have the titled branded. In 1989 I purchased an 86 Alfa Spider at a salvage yard in PA. It had 19k miles, looked like it had been nosed under the rear bumper of a pickup truck. Nose panel, hood, radiator and broken valve cover. Paid $2100. and came with a clear title. Me and my body shop buddy fixed her. Still have it.

 

Definitely Andy, I was referring to majority of the cars on Copart today. There is actually a section on there where you can filter and only search Clean Titled vehicles.
One fact about Copart is that it’s a business. They are there to make money, therefore there are a ton of cars listed in there that have been previously bought, half ass fixed to make it look a little better then re-listed for sale. It is up to the buyer to do their due diligence to prevent getting stuck with one of those cars.
Awesome story on your Alfa Spider though, great deal.
Erdem

 

Thanks for the feedback and support guys!

I got a few hours this weekend, between family commitments and field chores to turn up some jams and tinker on the car. I admit it’s slow progress as I try to take special note of how things went together and inspect parts for damage, but it’s enjoyable nonetheless - there is just something about wrenching on warm afternoon, beer in hand, that gives ya the feels.

I’m still digging through the wreckage and studying the service manual so that I can put together a parts list to be on the hunt for. I focused mainly on exposing and cleaning up the engine bay and removing the damaged fenders to get an understanding of what lies beneath. Rails, aprons, and the front subframe/crossmember are the eye-catchers.

For those who have done this, do you lean towards welding in new frame rail ends or working with a frame-straightener to get things true again? I’ve read good/bad things about both and was curious what your experience tells you.

 

I clean cut and welded everything in one of my builds. Worked great. I think welding a new piece helps restore integrity of the structure vs bending damaged metal back in shape.

 

John Difatta (shop in Baltimore) repaired a similarly damaged Stelvio. He purchased many chassis and body parts directly from Italy for what sounded like very reasonable prices compared to US Dealer pricing. He is away on vacation for the next week or two. If you email him, I'm sure that he will reply when he returns.

 

Thanks for the contact info! As I tear further into the damage, I'll see what all needs to be replaced. I've seen some guys around selling rail/apron cutoffs from the firewall forward. Have you guys used these for welding in in lieu of rebuilding all of the formed-metal pieces?

 

The past days focus was primarily on exposing the engine and removing items in the way of engine removal. My current approach/thought is that the most correct method of repair is to weld in new rail ends, aprons, and strut towers from a donor. With that in mind, to expose the work area, I’ve got to remove the broken subframe then work towards pulling the engine. To date I’ve pulled the steering rack, sway bar, and both half axles. If anyone has got a pair of front L/R frame assemblies, bumper supports, and radiator support let me know! 😁

 

 

I would send this to ur local frame shop to pull and repair the rails. Dont replace the rail or strut tower unless absolutely needed. The welds that u put in for replacement of rails or any parts will not b as strong as factory welds. Not to mention rust protection from ur new welds. As for the metal welded parts that sits on top of the rails, ( baffle/ upper tie bar etc) ya u can replace them if u wish..

 

Thank you for the opinion! The strut tower on the passenger side is definitely cracked and I’m concerned about the strength of the straightened rails after being crumpled.

I know other OEMs make the preferred repair methods readily available for their vehicles. Has anyone come across something similar for Alfa Romeo? I did find a good catalog on one of Mopar’s sites listing the various primers, waxes, and pre-finishes to use, but nothing regarding straightening vs welding.

 

While it should be possible to get the rail back to close to the right shape, I expect that doing so will result in substantially compromised rail strength.

What about cutting the rail and using a butt weld in order to avoid welding on the outside of the passenger compartment? Heat treatment of the affected area could be tricky--since some steel alloys are only harden-able by the cold work involved in forming the piece. Even so, my guess is that it would not be worse than the loss of strength associated with straightening the rail.

 

All of these suggestions of various repair procedures does bring back memories of going to different training and having discussions with various industry experts. So its nice its kind of like a refreshing course for me!!
Lets examine a little bit on these procedures:

So, a bent and straightened HSS, which being repaired by using minimal heat, is still HSS, is it structurally weaken and by how much? Yes, its probably weakened, by how much i got no idea. But is it to a point where its 50% weaker? Probably not. The area which the rail collapse is becoz it s the crumple zone, which it is designed to collapse there at that specific point. So u dont want that part strong anyways.

Which now as we examine the replacement of the whole rail, which technically we have a whole rail of HSS, and wherever we plug welded it became mild steel becoz of the heat of welding, so technically and theoretically the whole rail can be tear off from the welds, but in reality since oem also welded the same number of welds so i say the tearing off from the welds is not going to happen. The hard part is having the same structural tensile strength on the welds. Oem applied the welds by compressing the metals together with sth like 100k lbs/ sq inch, ( i dont really rmb the number there but it is compressed) and running a electrical current through the metal to weld it. Some collision repair shops have that machine now, but its more for brand new parts, since the DS already stated its a used parts that is putting on the car, that means the rail has to b taken off by drilling the welds out, which means it is being welded back by conventional plug welds. Which in no way would be as strong as oem welds, but u can still do so, and u can drill more holes in between the welds andhave the welds closer, like an inch apart each weld to add a few more welds, thus the strength.

The replacement of partial rail, i must admit i almost forgot abt this as an option, and actually like this option better than replacing the whole rail, Since it does not have the oem welds tensile strength to replicate, and this is actually a lot easier to measure, weld and so on. We refer this method as spicing. The only problem here is finding the right area to spice, becoz u dont want to do it at the crumple zone,
becoz u want the rail to collapse at the right area thw next time in collision, some oem allow spicing, some dont, i doubt alfa recommends spicing. But personally i dont think it will cause problems if its done right. In terms of the type of weld, we do a plug and butt weld with insert, becoz butt weld is weak, so we put an insert with the same tensile strength inside the rail, plug weld both sides and butt weld the middle, the pro here is as the HSS being weld is changed to mild steel, but with the insert u double the mild steel, which matches the HSS tensile strength. Btw, the spice of the rail should be at an offset, so even though its easier than replacement of whole rail, it still requires some delicacy.

 

U dont have to use the exact glue or primer or whatever, u just have to use what can match and exceeds the oem procedures. Just imagine if they use some type of italian no man land sealer and theres no point in using the exact same stuff. So in these repairs including the structural and stuff u have to know whats right stuff to do and where its not necessary to follow. Oem have a bias tendency to not allow spicing of parts so they can weed out wreckers selling used parts.

 

It’s been a bit and I hadn’t gotten a chance to wrench on the Giulia until this last weekend. At this point I’ve removed both front wheel suspension systems, auxiliary tubing, electrical interfaces, front brakes and lines, cabin air filter box, fuse box, etc. to clean up the engine bay and disconnect the engine/transmission from the body.

With a bit of back and forth shuffling (using only standard DIY tools) I was able to lower the powertrain and remove it from the car. This really helps me inspect the damage to the structure, mounts, and anything else I may have missed while the engine was still installed.

My ongoing and next steps are to fully document the parts-needed list and line up the chassis repair pieces. From what I see, it would appear the driver side frame could be straightened (need to confirm) with only a few apron pieces needing replacement or repair. The passenger side is a different story in my opinion and due to the amount of damage is a better candidate for replacement. With the bay cleaned up I can more easily see the factory body seams (aided by Crosshairs’ references) and can visualize the replacement body adaptation.

I’ve started another post for WTB parts in case you grease monkeys have any parts laying around your garage your looking to get rid of

More pictures to come…

 

A few more pictures with things cleaned up. I’ve been looking over metal pieces and labeling what I believe I can repair and what must be replaced.

Now I’m on the hunt for donor pieces…

 

Good job so far brother. Coming along perfectly. Keep at it. 👍🏼

 

Get a new battery and it will be fine…

But for real… loved reading through this thread. Please keep updating us! This is cool.

 

While I hunt for chassis/body pieces I’m thinking I’ll turn my attention to the interior airbags and windshield. Does anyone have experience with windshield replacement? Anything to watch out for (other than then the broken glass ) or recommend any services/suppliers in particular? Same question for the airbags.

My thought is to replace the passenger airbag while the window is out so that I can remove the dash pabel with a bit more ease - I just hate trying to work in tight corners, especially in this 90F weather we’re having.

 

passenger airbag is removed from other side of dash. so you need to remove dash first to remove passenger airbag.

as for the windshield - just get right one. they are different depending if you have front camera near rear view mirror or not.

 

I just want to say what your doing is so cool. Wish I had the skills and patience to do something like that. I very much admire those of you who take on such a challenge just for the fun of it. I'm enjoying reading about your progress. Thanks for sharing.

 

Over the past week or so I've turned my attention to the interior of the Giulia. As you've seen from the earlier images, the windshield was pretty broken up, so the first order of business was to remove it and clean up opening. After reading through the tech manual and looking for hints online, the approach I used was the piano wire technique (or in my case, spare guitar wire). All-in-all, it wasn't terribly difficult for one person to do and I think that was the result of the window having a large enough hole in the center (which I opened further while working on it). This allowed me to reach inside the cab while working from the outside and "sawing" a string of guitar wire through the sealing bead around the perimeter of the windshield. Some things to note:

• Glass is sharp... duh... but even with double lined leather rancher gloves it still managed to cut through at times.
• Glass is sharp... part 2... I found my elbows had all kinds of cuts on them when I was done even without noticing it.
• Working the wire around the corners of the glass can be difficult and I found a flexible putty knife was helpful to guide it as you worked a sawing motion.
• The hand on the inside should only be focused on keeping the wire near to the interior glass surface. Doing this will prevent the wire from unintentionally catching on interior trim (front pillar covers and mirror hardware were already removed).

I know that this is something that would have been addressed by a glass replacement technician, but I wanted to do it myself for two reasons. A) I wanted to try it and learn. B) I wanted the windshield out for a number of days (weeks?) until I get a replacement dashboard. I am taking this approach because I've found that working through the windshield opening can be much easier for dash/trim work than trying to reach under the windshield from the front. If I have to replace the windshield anyways I might as well get it out of my way!

BEFORE

AFTER

 

Following the removal of the window, I opted to remove the front pair of seats so that I could gain easier access to the dashboard and, in effect, the airbags I need to replace. As I've tinkered on projects I've found its best to simply remove what's in your way rather than try to work around it. Working around it, at least in my experience, leads to more sweat, more headaches, more scuffs, and a worse outcome - its simply better to take the time up front to work smart, not hard.

Anyways, with as much is disconnected as it its, I couldn't obviously move the powered seats forward or backward conveniently enough to remove the 4x bolts securing them to the frame. I did find however, a bit of a work around that I recorded for a video I'll post later on. My hope is that as I come across tips/tricks I can get more videos recorded to share with other enthusiasts.

After removing the seats I had clear and easy access to remove the center console assembly thereby exposing the Airbag Module as well as the numerous fasteners hidden behind trim that secure the dash. Another benefit of removing the seats is that it provide not only the easy access to the dash, but I could work laying down in the car as well as remove the dash easily through the doorway without worry of tearing the seats.

At the same time, I removed the driver's seatbelt due to it being locked from the collision. It, along with the Airbag Module, are being sent out to SafetyRestore for resetting. In parallel, I have managed to locate a replacement dash panel and various airbags which I hope to receive over the next weeks, but for now the Giulia is torn down as far as I need to go before I get to start reassembling it ... probably a good thing too as my wife is getting a bit frustrated with the parts laying all around the garage

 

That looks so cool. I wish I was there helping and learning. I was wondering what the grill was on the top of my dash. I was not sure if it was a speaker or air vent. Now I know its an air vent.

 

I got around to posting my first YouTube video (call me late to the game…) Here I show the powered seat mechanism workaround that I was describing earlier.

If you have any other recommended / requested videos while I’m in the midst of this rebuild, let me know! Share the knowledge!

 

Good progress so far brother. Keep up the good work.

 

Amazing - 3 months since the last post. Busy with work and trying to find a cost-effective deal for replacing the missing parts to the Giulia.

I got lucky though! Over the past couple of weeks I found a front clip from a 2019 Giulia for sale through a salvage yard in Indiana. After about a week of questions and haggling I made the trip out there to pick up the part and its got me excited again to be working on this car! The donor car was a white car (will need touch-up and repainting to match), but came with a number of good interior dash parts. I've put a few of them up for sale on eBay as I've already repaired the interior of my car and no longer need them. Here's a taste - feel free to message me if you're looking for any repair parts!

2019 Alfa Romeo Giulia TI Sport Dash Panel | eBay

The trip out to Indiana was a good time - I con'd my brother into joining me and we ended up making a detour along the way to pick up a 13 x 36 engine lathe (some good ol' American iron!) to help him with a project he's working on. Nevertheless, we looked like a couple of hillbillies driving home with a half-car strapped on the trailer and a literal-ton of machinery to boot.

Here's a few snapshots of the front-clip I got. The intent is to strip this down to just the frame and rails and start mapping out the unibody seams I need to cut or leave for merging it with my existing car.

 

A "two-fer" for this evening - knowing that I was going to get the front-clip, I went ahead and scheduled a windshield+installation through Safelite. As with all online services I was a bit skeptical, but was very pleased with the technician they sent out and the work he did. Getting the windshield back allowed me to get the pillar moldings replaced along with the mirror and misc. sensors.

Slooowly, but surely it's starting to come together.

 

Nice job brother. Seeing your project reminds me of when I drove home with the rear half of a car on the trailer 🤣. Good times. Great progress. Keep on grinding.