A K20 swapped Alfa Romeo Spyder would be amazing.

It would be able to attend the import/ tuner car shows too (though that car scene is full of chuckleheads now unfortunately) and it would be one of the most interesting vehicles there.

History of that car?
Other, identical models for spare parts?
Can you have/afford a parts car and can you store it?
Garage locally that will work on it when you come to something you can’t handle? Their labor rate?
Parts suppliers here in the states?
Your skills? Previous projects of similar scale?
Shop Manuals available, in English, for this car?

If your skills as a shade tree mechanic are limited, an American car or truck from the 1960’s would be much easier to work on. Availability of parts would be a breeze.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
A K20 swapped Alfa Romeo Spyder would be amazing.

It would be able to attend the import/ tuner car shows too (though that car scene is full of chuckleheads now unfortunately) and it would be one of the most interesting vehicles there.

K20 swap one of the hoarde of MGBs you have

I haven’t seen those MGs in decades. The last two that I saw were total basket cases and then some and that was many years ago. My uncle has an ok MGB (at least it looked worthy of a restoration in the early 2000’s) but he won’t sell it and even if he did it would need a LOT more work than this Alfa.

I believe those cars are probably a lost cause although my father and uncle would never admit it. Neither my uncle or father will ever part with any of their beloved rusty MGs.

This Alfa is a much more realistic project. The MGs would require I learn how to weld.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
This Alfa is a much more realistic project. The MGs would require I learn how to weld.

Any excuse to buy new tools

It'll be a cool project, certainly. But it will be expensive, IF you're think to make the car as close to showroom condition as possible. If you're only thinking about making it into a nice, relatively clean daily runner, a lot of the following can be ignored or at least marginalized (definitely not the part about existing rust, though):

These Series 3 cars weren't exactly imported and sold in huge numbers here in North America, so good condition takeoff parts will be rather tough to source. NOS parts...probably non-existent, unless in some collector's hidden-away collection of parts. Any existing rust will be a serious impediment, especially if you want to rebuild it to be as close of a match to what Alfa made in the mid 1980s. Also, what's the car's history? Where did this car spend most of its life? Any time in the Salt Belt? For instance, if this car spent ANY serious length of time in the NE US, do inspect its underside LIKE MAD. Look over the wheel well arches, rockers and all of the usual frame components carefully, as well as suspension parts. In truth Alfas from this period don't really rust any worse than cars from other manufacturers in the same time period, but the environment that this or any other car you're considering existed and was used in DOES INDEED matter.

And don't be surprised if you wind up needing to source parts from Europe rather than here. THAT'S when it can really get stupid expensive thanks to freight costs, US Customs/EPA/DOT red tape, etc., etc., where you begin to wonder if you'll any chance of recouping a reasonable amount of the cash you'll wind up spending (still a loss, just not as bad of a loss). Even though the parts are for a car that's over the magical 25-year old threshold for "approved" importation into the US, the Feds still don't make the task particularly easy. 'Hassle-free' is not in the Fed vocabulary.

Just so you know, I just logged into my Hagerty account to look up the car's current valuations here in the US: a decent (good) condition '85 Spider Veloce (runner with no major repair work needed, clean from a distance but far from perfect cosmetically) should sell for around $12k to $13k. Whereas the value of a concours-quality, near flawless condition '85 is something just under $29k. And according to Hagerty, those values for the car are currently trending gradually downward. Any price boom that occurred during COVID is most assuredly over, though it appears that the Spider Veloce really didn't have that much of a 'boom' to begin with. With either of those values, there's not a lot of wiggle room to work within even if you got the actual chassis for next to nothing, and definitely no room for any unexpected major expenses that can easily derail the finances of the project.

Of course in the worst(best quality)-case scenario, building a perfect, best-of-show level example of a nearly 40-yr old car will cost a not-so small fortune (think six figures and you really won't be overestimating), even if the starting point has good bones and you provide most if not all of the elbow grease. I don't know much if any of the nuances with the car from year-to-year, but if there's any parts or components that were bespoke to the 1985 model you'll have to do the research and decide if that's something you need to adhere to, or if sourcing parts from different surrounding Series 3 model years of the Veloce is "good enough". Ultimately it's up to you to decide if this important bonding time with your son is worth the cost to your wallet, but first blush and strictly from an investment cost/benefit standpoint a project based upon this otherwise pretty little droptop is not looking like a financial winner.