I spent the last few evenings clearing out the donor body and taking inventory of the parts available and those still needed. Second time now that I've done this, if you count the grey Giulia as the first, and so I'm getting the hang of things albeit this front end had a lot more of the hoses/electrical to consider when compared to the other.

*** side note, Giulia 1 = G1 = grey car and G2 = white car

After getting it cleared out and looking over the body seams, I plotted a course for adapting the G2 parts to the G1 body. I found using painters tape to identify which seams were required was very helpful as was as having both bodies side by side. I kept referencing the G1 vs G2 to see which side of the seam I was using and if I should use the spot-weld cutter, drill, or sander to get me the parts in the best condition I could. All in all, it went how I envisioned it and I lobbed off the driver-side corner of the G1 body. The only location that gave me a bit of a pain was two hidden spot-welds down hidden within the main rail (see second image below) which caused me to have to cut-up the rail to gain access.

I had purchased some spot-weld cutters from a company called Blair and was initially pretty pleased with them. However, after going through a few dozen spot welds I was a bit disappointed with how quickly they seemed to dull.

>> Have you guys ever sharpened these type of cutters or have other options to try?

Going forward, here's my plan of attack:
1 - Remove passenger G1 body in similar fashion - probably using the same set of seams as done already on the driver side.
2 - Clean up all interfaces (remove paint, clean off seam sealer, etc.)
3 - Mark out corresponding seams on G2 body and begin removal of donor parts. I believe this will be relatively straight forward as well though the spot-weld/drill/sanding will be the opposite as I'll want the mirrored surface (hole vs flat metal).
4 - Position G2 body in place and prepare for welding. I'll be getting weld-thru primer for the various seams, cavity wax, seam-sealer and structural adhesive (see green areas on the top rib of the cut apron). My plan is to move the entire front end of the G2 body, still bolted together with core support, bumper bracket, and engine cradle onto the G1 body so that the alignment and fit is held fixed. We'll see how it goes!

Any suggestions or tips to keep in mind as I go forward?

 

I spent the last few evenings clearing out the donor body and taking inventory of the parts available and those still needed. Second time now that I've done this, if you count the grey Giulia as the first, and so I'm getting the hang of things albeit this front end had a lot more of the hoses/electrical to consider when compared to the other.

*** side note, Giulia 1 = G1 = grey car and G2 = white car

View attachment 119248

View attachment 119249

After getting it cleared out and looking over the body seams, I plotted a course for adapting the G2 parts to the G1 body. I found using painters tape to identify which seams were required was very helpful as was as having both bodies side by side. I kept referencing the G1 vs G2 to see which side of the seam I was using and if I should use the spot-weld cutter, drill, or sander to get me the parts in the best condition I could. All in all, it went how I envisioned it and I lobbed off the driver-side corner of the G1 body. The only location that gave me a bit of a pain was two hidden spot-welds down hidden within the main rail (see second image below) which caused me to have to cut-up the rail to gain access.

View attachment 119250

View attachment 119251

View attachment 119252

I had purchased some spot-weld cutters from a company called Blair and was initially pretty pleased with them. However, after going through a few dozen spot welds I was a bit disappointed with how quickly they seemed to dull.



Going forward, here's my plan of attack:
1 - Remove passenger G1 body in similar fashion - probably using the same set of seams as done already on the driver side.
2 - Clean up all interfaces (remove paint, clean off seam sealer, etc.)
3 - Mark out corresponding seams on G2 body and begin removal of donor parts. I believe this will be relatively straight forward as well though the spot-weld/drill/sanding will be the opposite as I'll want the mirrored surface (hole vs flat metal).
4 - Position G2 body in place and prepare for welding. I'll be getting weld-thru primer for the various seams, cavity wax, seam-sealer and structural adhesive (see green areas on the top rib of the cut apron). My plan is to move the entire front end of the G2 body, still bolted together with core support, bumper bracket, and engine cradle onto the G1 body so that the alignment and fit is held fixed. We'll see how it goes!

Any suggestions or tips to keep in mind as I go forward?

Great progress man, keep at it. Good work!
Erdem

 

Some of the metal on these new Giulias is high tech steel. McGeek posted a link with cool images showing all the different kinds/types of metals the unibody is constructed with. Some of them are probably as hard as the Blair cutter. I can cut 100 or more spot welds on old Giulias (60s-90's) with one double sided Blair cutter. Amazon has several brands to choose from. One came with 10 cutters for $18. Probably China, but it might work better...

 

Some of the metal on these new Giulias is high tech steel. McGeek posted a link with cool images showing all the different kinds/types of metals the unibody is constructed with.

If you come across the link, would you mind sharing it? I did a brief search of the forum, but was unable to locate it. Thanks!

 

I googled blair spot weld cutter, and found ads for many others, some on amazon. Or search amazon for spot weld cutters. Many listed.

 

Not to derail the thread, but is the idea here that rebuilds like the are fun to do in someone's spare time, or are they actually meant to save money (because they doesn't save time, and time is money) vs. buying a used car

 

Great question! For me, personally, this is intended only to be a learning experience. From what I've spent for the G1/G2 cars and misc. parts I think that a conservative estimate (assuming all turns out alright) will cover the costs of the tools that I purchased. Some ways that I've learned to save costs (for the next build) will be transporting my own vehicles (I had to have the G1 shipped) and the other would be to be more patient. Had I waited for the front clip to be purchased, I would have saved costs on the interior parts which I already purchased. Now, instead, I have two sets of red/black interior dash hardware which I need to store and sell - shameless plug to go check out my ebay listings...

As a side note, apparently eBay won't let you sell air bags as an individual seller. So if anyone is looking, I've got both passenger and driver side knee air bags as well as a steering wheel bag and can send pictures if interested.

 

I’m mocking up the new, G2 pieces on the G1. While the welds appear to align pretty well across the multiple seams, I was wondering if anyone had available some dimensional data that I can cross-reference my setup with. I know that a pretty compressive list is available for OEMs, but I only wanted a handful of point-to-point data that I could use.

 

I think you know how to read these drawings , but let me know if you have any questions

 

when in doubt or no measurements you can always watch how sensei does it

 

Status update:

Over the past week(s) I’ve been preparing the G2 parts for mounting on the G1 body. This involved spot-weld removal, seam sealer cleanup, metal cleaning, and prep for weld/adhesive. With the help of folks on the forumI was able to locate the oem adhesive requirements and compounds as well as proper oem repair techniques. The forum has been a great resource and I’ve learned a lot - thank you!

Fitting up the G2 parts to the G1 body went relatively well and as I had been expecting. The most difficult part is working by yourself and wishing you had at least one more hand. Nevertheless the overlapping seams, bolt holes, and bracket locations were a great help in getting the new and old structure rough-aligned.

I believe I reassembled the front end three times. First to get a rough alignment. Second time after I had applied weld-thru primer to interfacing weld surfaces. Third time after removing weld-thru primer from spot weld locations. At first a bit counter intuitive but this is done to ensure a good weld - see 3M application guidance.

After reassembling the final time, I loosely clamped all interfaces. Using the oem dimensional data that was shared to me I was able to fine tune the position of parts to meet oem spec (+\- 2mm). This was achieved using ratchet straps and the original brackets to pull parts into position according to the spec. With the structure aligned, my brother and I did plug welds at all of the cut spot-weld locations to secure the body and injected 3M structural adhesive at the prescribed locations.

 

The welding at some locations was very tricky due to the minor thickness of some of the overlapping panels, but we quickly came to a rhythm that worked well.

Today then has been the cleanup and finishing of the structural part of this project. I’m fast forwarding a bit here, but I applied 3M seam sealer to the oem locations and have applied a PG1 paint with clear coat to the frame to cover the G2 white. I know that the frame color of the Giulia is a bit more “primer” than a metallic finish coat, but I decided to go with the metallic coat to get some experience with it in a less critical/visible area. I’m pretty pleased with it and am looking forward to reassembling things once the paint had a few days to cure.

 

Over the past week I’ve been slowly putting together the hoses and wiring bundles throughout the engine bay. Going well in most cases as I get to select the best part from two cars to reassemble to the body. However there are two things that I could use some help with.

1) What is the part number and where can I find the small plastic clip that secures the brake pedal to the brake booster (master cylinder) push rod?

2) The last wire cable I needed to repair was the passenger headlight. All other connectors and wire colors have aligned between the G1 and G2 wire bundles. However, the G2 (being a 2019) uses one additional pin and a few different wire colors when compared to the original G1 (2017) cable. Can someone provide any guidance and a wire diagram of this section for both model years?

Thanks folks!

 

Let me see what I can dig up

 

I did a little comparison between the (good) G2 wiring bundle versus the damaged G1 bundle. I found that for the headlights I had and the G1 bundle the car is plumbed for, that I could interpolate the wires needed. There must have been some wiring color changes on a few of the signal lines or there is some difference between passenger and driver sides, but without a wiring diagram it’s hard to be sure. Nevertheless, the differences I saw were:

Pin / G1 Driver Side / G2 Driver Side / G2 Passenger Side
1 / Grey-Green / Grey-Green / Grey-Black
12 / Grey-Black / Purple-Black /
13 / Unused / Black-Purple / Changed to Unused

The rest of the wiring harness has been repaired and routed through the chassis as well as any hoses/tubes that would go in prior to engine installation. I’m getting close!

 

Time for another status update!

I believe where I left off last was with the inspection and repair of wiring bundle issues. A lot of work has been done since this last post and here are a few images to accompany the latest state of the rebuild.( I've used a lot of blue painters tape to help me identify connections and make notes to myself regarding routing of cables/hoses )

• Completed wire routing and repair using G2 engine bay wiring bundle adapted to G1 car.
• Reinstalled brake booster and brake lines
• Reinstalled the engine / transmission and torqued/spec'd all interfaces
• Reinstalled steering gear and suspension/wheel hardware
• Installed G2 radiators/condenser/intercooler
• Installed G2 coolant system and related hardware
• Installed G2 airbox cleaner and related ducting
• Test fit fenders/hood/lights prior to painting
• Repaired/repainted 2x wheels
• Reinstalled driver airbags, seat, and trim

 

Once complete with the mechanics of the assembly, I've done the following maintenance - partially because its consistent with a 50k mile service and partially because I didn't have any history on the vehicle and wanted to establish a clean "dataset".

• Oil Change / Filter
• Transmission Fluid / Filter
• Engine / Turbo coolant fill and bleed
• Brake fluid fill / bleed
• Engine air filter
• Cabin air filter***

*** Man, generally I have enjoyed working on this car. I've been pleased with the mechanical fit in the assembly and the overall design of the car. HOWEVER, when it came to the cabin air filter I have to say that this was one of the most frustrating items to service - IMO an afterthought in the design process. The old filter was quite deteriorated and the removal of it resulted in a torn filter which needed to be extracted with long needle-nose pliers and a good deal of cursing. Installing the new filter was about the same... The acordian style filter crumbles when being slide from an odd-angle into a channel hidden behind a mess of cables/ductwork/dash panel frame/etc. A total PITA... rant over.

With a clean set of filters/fluids, I started her up! All in all, a little anti-climatic. It powered on and started humming. I heard a bit of rattle in the engine-bay that appeared to be located at the wastegate solenoid control arm. After running the MultiECUScan I found that I had a wastegate position sensor failure that I traced back to a broken wire between the wastegate solenoid and the PCM - once fixed the solenoid position registered and the rattle went away.

The normal fault clearing needed to occur including the ABS System / Power Steering / Parking Brake / dynamic struts / etc. and proxy scan, but once cleared, they remain off. The only two that I've got currently since driving the car on the backroads for a little test-ride are some low-pressure lights on the tires and the parking sense system (front bumper not installed yet). The car tracks well down the road at 50~60mph though I haven't gunned it with the front-end still not yet fully assembled - just a slight shake at 45-50mph which I believe is due to the wheel balance. Neverthless, I'm pretty pleased!

Next steps for this build:
1 - Line up paint of bumper / fenders / hood
2 - Repair and touch-up left/right rockers
3 - Reinstall splash guards and engine-bay trim
4 - May need a new battery (TBD)
5 - Will need an alignment
5 - DONE

Potential upgrades:

• I've got a 2019 Radio unit and display so I'm considering undertaking the CarPlay update for this 2017
• Custom paint overlay to the base Vesuvio paint on repair parts
• Suggestions?

 

Great progress in just 6 months. Albeit I don't know much but I thought it would take longer.

 

Impressive!! The way u keep ur garage floor so clean. For ur next project u dont have to test fit the hood and fenders, just get a tram gauge and it could measure the dimensions. From there u can chdck with the specs so no need to test fit.

 

Thank you! Yes, I've found cleaning the area after each "milestone" is my method for ensuring I've not missed a leak, all fasteners are accounted for, makes it more "pleasant" to work on a cold floor, and generally just to stay sane

I haven't yet decided if rebuilding cars is a new hobby of mine - my wife would plead not, but I've gotten a real kick out of this one. I'll definitely be considering a tram gauge for future builds if that's the path I go down. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

Status update:

The G2 parts are at the paint shop getting worked-up this week. Sanding down / primer / paint / clear coat done to match the G1 body.

We had some trouble at first getting an exact match after taking the VIN's "PG1" (Vesuvio Gray) or when using a paint scanner - the PG1 ordered from two different suppliers was more "pink-ish" than desired whereas the paint scan resulted in a more "black-ish" paint. Eventually we came to a mix of both the PG1 and paint scan colors which really looks great. Hoping to get the parts back late this week so that I can reassemble (for the last time!?) the front end of this car.

For those interested - I've started a second thread listing the left-over parts I have from this build. Have a look and if you see something that you need, send me a note!

Side question - has anyone come across a good set of mud flaps for the Giulia (front/back)? I have a bit of gravel on my daily commute and would hate to start sending rocks up over the rockers if possible. I know that there are many options for a clear protective film, but intially am not a fan of that approach. I'm curious what options you guys have come across.

 

Status update:

The G2 parts are at the paint shop getting worked-up this week. Sanding down / primer / paint / clear coat done to match the G1 body.

We had some trouble at first getting an exact match after taking the VIN's "PG1" (Vesuvio Gray) or when using a paint scanner - the PG1 ordered from two different suppliers was more "pink-ish" than desired whereas the paint scan resulted in a more "black-ish" paint. Eventually we came to a mix of both the PG1 and paint scan colors which really looks great. Hoping to get the parts back late this week so that I can reassemble (for the last time!?) the front end of this car.

For those interested - I've started a second thread listing the left-over parts I have from this build. Have a look and if you see something that you need, send me a note!

Side question - has anyone come across a good set of mud flaps for the Giulia (front/back)? I have a bit of gravel on my daily commute and would hate to start sending rocks up over the rockers if possible. I know that there are many options for a clear protective film, but intially am not a fan of that approach. I'm curious what options you guys have come across.

Autofanatic sells some but I don't know if it's qv only

 

The mudguard will make the car look like a corolla. So no, i dont use mud guard...

 

do you want me to ask this guy? He seems to know what’s going on with mud guards. 🤣🤣

 

Hahahaha! Yes - exactly what I wanted to do. I wonder if I can find some rubber entry-rugs that I can cut up?!

 

Make sure to cut them wide for extra protection. 🤣🤣

 

Great read thanks for posting 👌
I'm too putting a salvaged Giulia back on the road yours seems like alot of work though,
I bet you needed those frame rails bent like a hole in the head,

 

It's been a while (a couple of months) since I made a status update and I honestly needed to read over my previous posts to see where I had left off - executive summary: She's done!

It took a couple of weeks in February/March to get the front bumper, fender, and hood painted and matched to the original body color. Nonetheless, one sunny afternoon I got a call that they were done so I took the truck down to pick them up. I was quite pleased upon first inspection with the work that the paint shop had done. I cautiously rushed (acting like a newborn was in the vehicle) home and started buttoning things up for the final (?) time.

The hood hinge adjustment WRT fender gaps had already been completed with the parts unpainted. I found this to be a good approach because it lets you handle the parts easier without fear of scratching them while you're adjusting the numerous fixture points to get the "right" look. With the hood positioned approximately where desired, I installed the left and right fenders loosely. Over a few different trails I got the fenders shifted to align nicely with the hood and then lower bumper support and bumper assembly. What a turd! I had never installed a bumper before on a Giulia and found this to be a very challenging step in the assembly - NOT because it was physically hard to the concept was difficult to understand, but because it was newly painted, going onto newly painted parts, and being handled by only one person. In addition, it'd been a while since I had taken the bumper off of the G2 car and it took my a while to conceive how to "wrap" the bumper back onto the body. I say "wrap" because the method that I used to get it reinstalled was this:

• Essentially place the top center of the bumper in approx. the right location on the center of the upper radiator core support.
• Then, I had to flex the bumper wider (vertically) to stretch it over the lower bumper support and radiator air vanes
• Working on the passenger side of the bumper I pulled and flexed the parts to stretch the plastic bumper over the headlights where I could insert the ever-fragile assembly tabs into the fender clips.
• Moving to the right side of the bumper, I wiggled and pulled the parts until I could get the driver side tabs around that headlight and into its corresponding fender clips.
• At the point that all of the mounting tabs were in place, I did a once over of the fit and checked that everything was properly placed prior to installing any screws to secure it in place.

After the bumper was locked down with the fasteners at the engine support and below at the engine cradle, I set to work fine-tuning my fender/hood/bumper alignment. I would say it took a few hours to get things aligned nicely and I did the work with the wheels off to allow for maximum access to the various panels insides and fasteners. I did find, after having the bumper installed, that I needed to adjust the hood closure a bit through the tightening/loosening of the rubber, black, closure stops. Once done though, I was pretty thrilled with the results - so much so that I completely forgot to take pictures of any of these steps and instead powered right into reinstalling all of the splash guards, engine covers, windshield wiper fluid reservoir, etc. By this point I had already done some test driving of the car with the unpainted parts so I had already worked through any error codes and the car was ready to drive!

My first legitimate drive into town was to the inspection office of the county sheriff. To be honest, there was quite a pucker factor on that drive. As anyone who's done their own mechanic work knows, after a job is done you are listening for every little creak, whine, and thud as you drive trying to determine if any are an issue due to your handwork. Likewise, any car passing by that smells of burning oil, immediately gets your head thinking that you screwed something up on you own car. I drove like I was a first timer and eventually made it up to the sheriff. While I'm sure everyone has different stories to tell, my experience with the inspection was pretty benign. I submitted my paperwork and receipts for used parts that I had purchased, sat for about half an hour, then was called out to give an overview of the car. About 10 minutes later I got a handshake and a "that's the most complete set of paperwork I've ever received" from the sheriff and was informed my new title could be picked up from the county admin building - done!

This time, I took the long way home to enjoy the drive a bit more.

 

At this point, I've taken the car to officially check the alignment and was pleased/disappointed by the results. I was pleased because the before alignment values were just fractions of degrees off from where they are spec'd to be (nice work for a first time rebuild!) and disappointed because I just paid someone $75 to do an alignment on a car that didn't need it. I suppose I paid for confirmation of the work quality I had done.

I still have not yet done a full wash and wax of the car so I don't have any great photos yet. From my understanding I need to wait about 60 days before doing a good polish of the new paintwork. Attached is the one photo I've taken so far - this being just after arriving home from the sheriff (previous post) as "proof of life" that I sent to my brother. I have driven the car to work the past month and a half and have put about 1500 miles on it so far. No issues to speak of aside from the infotainment reboot error that I've read about in other members' threads.

The only adjustment I needed to make was the passenger side door closure. After a few highway commutes I found that the door had a lot of wind noise. I looked over the assembly and found that it was not closing fully and so the top door seal was not being compressed. To address this, I was able to make a pretty minor adjustment to the door-side hinge fasteners (loosen, adjust and then retighten) to better compress the door seal. That done, the wind noise was gone.

The weather in my area has been rain one day, wind the next, and so on. I haven't found a good break yet in the forecast (or in my schedule), to do a full-up cleaning of the car. Hopefully over the next week or so I'll get my chance and I'll post up some photos.

Thanks for reading!

 

Congrats. Lots of hard work and looks great

 

This right here is motivation for others looking to attempt a similar task. Well done

 

Well done! I've enjoyed following along and what great results! Congrats!