Buying a GTA Advice

One small critism of your great web site is that there is not much technical and buying advice for potential new owners to read?
I am considering buying a GTA Turbo I have seen but its history is suspect. Some of you may have seen it on ebay before repaired a few years back?
Its a very tidy looking red car which has been repaired following going through a hedge (Claimed) and being regarded as too expensive to repair and sold on ebay. A Chap bought it and repaired with parts from Stephen Dell presumebly for profit. Its had new front and back lights plus one front wing and a re-spray so it looks cosmetically good now. The Body and interior are now excellent but the bloke has never driven it just repaired the body so I am suspicious about the chassis, engine and box really as no shakedown could be done. I did drive it around the block slowly but no tax or insurance to do a proper drive. One front Plug hole near the Turbo cover had oil in it from somewhere is this a common problem with the engines? Could it be stripped thread on the head? Could see where the oil could have come from as dry above it?
Sadly no history at all and around 100k miles on clock so still debating what to do. Its a big gamble really but several grand cheaper than most guaranteed good ones with history but my funds are not great to spend a fortune on a minter sadly? Would it cost 3k to put it right though I wonder? What costs serious money on these cars?
The Clutch felt very heavy and brakes were crap is that normal? Suspect seized callipers from lack of use on the road but more worried about a clutch job? Are most brake parts reasonable to recon them? Also had a slight misfire as if one cylinder out but could be due to the oil in plug hole which we cleaned out? Electrics seems ok and rad fan came on at 90 degres ok. One door electric lock was bust.
I have restored several cars and don’t mind doing most work myself so the history doesn’t worry me too much but I am more worried about the parts costs for these rare machines if the mechanics are shot? I'd guess a full service and new cam chain would be wise to start with but very expensive. Would it be an engine out job for most jobs and if so how big a job is that to remove the sub frame under the car? The drivers side rear chassis susp strut has rusted at its base and will need repair (Passed MOT though?) but does that mean the rest of the chassis could be rotten?
I don’t suppose many of you have restored these cars or even taken them apart yet but if any of you have, I'd like to chat with you about this mota and their mechanics and costs in general. Please feel free to send me a private message and contact details?
Harvey
H

The clutch, if its in good working order isnt too heavy. They get heavy with age. Replacing the clutch itself is engine and gearbox out, the clutch also has a slave and mastger cylinder and its these that can make the pedal feel heavy. The slave is under the turbo and will take a couple of hours to change on a standard car...the slaves are about £50 (not from Renault!), the master is under the front of the car and is a fuel tank out job (or cut the shield as someone has done to mine....which makes it a half hour job). Not sure on the price of master cylinders but should be similar. The slave going is a common problem.
The brakes arent great when compared to a modern car but they should still stop the car ok. Rears are notorious for seizing....recon callipers are about £100. Pads and discs are easily available.
Whats slightly worrying is that the car youre looking at has quite a few problems and they are only the ones you know about. GTAs can be very high maintenance and some parts are very expensive (Alpine only parts that come from Dieppe...may take a week may take months!).....go in with your eyes open!
Mechanical parts are generally shared with lots of other cars so arent too hard to find or replace. Electrics are a nightmare on most peoples cars I think.....both my electric door releases gave up a while ago and the speedo works when it fancies!

http://www.renaultalpineownersclub.com/ ... %20GTA.zip

Thanks so far as I say quite a few known GTA problems and faults are ok such as electrics and speedo. Computer looked very dim but not sure if that worked or not?
I expect that the body and interior parts are more of and expense to mechanically stuff and again these are pretty good.
quite worried about if the car has any suspension or chassis damage from its shunt. Got the Atmo buyers guide but that will put most off I suspect!
H

If in doubt don't there will always be another one along soon.

I saw a red one in Southampton at the end of 2003, that had suffered a front end shunt. There was a bit of welding to the front sub frame, passengers side as well as the inner wing being rebuilt. the seller claimed that it was "ok" but the suspension mounts were a bit twinsted and maybe pushed back by a few mm. The engine was completely oxidided all over and it had been sitting for quite a while.

What really put me off was the standard of "safety". The car has proped up on a paint tin and a dozen Haynes manauls. This confirmed to me that the shoody and messy glassing probably was shoddy and it was definately messy to my eyes.

Some story about car being at Euro-tech and rear ended another car that had a tow hitch.

Sorry, I did not take the reg at the time.

Like others have said, but on technical merit as well as gut feel.

[Alpineandy]

Actually I think there's a lot of buying info on here if you use the search facility....

One small critism of your great web site is that there is not much technical and buying advice for potential new owners to read?
H

Check everything ! The thing with a GTA, is if it doesnt feel right, or look right, then it probably isnt right...

Anything that could go wrong, can go wrong, there is not one mechanical system on the car that doesnt have a common fault scenario, so just check everything twice.

Stay away from cars that look neglected, it will cost far more in the long run..

.the slaves are about £50 (not from Renault!),

Yikes!!! Where from? We've been getting them from Lucas where they're about £3 cheaper than Renault. You can buy 25 year old ones if you like from

http://www.delorean.com/dmcstore/ViewPage.asp?PageID=54

(number 3)

Personally I prefer the Lucas ones because they come with a bleed screw - we don't have your reall handy remote bleeder

Martin

The Turbo slave has a different thread to the atmo on the side where the bleeder comes out.....I got mine from Brakes Int.