Jalpa "barn" find

I may have a possible find, and will find out soon if this car is for real.

 

This is what I know so far (and all this could be b.s. and so far none of this is based on what I have seen personally):

 

White on white 1984 Jalpa

Never been titled with one "owner"

possible non running

 

I will be in contact with the owner (hopefully) this week and will be able to check out the car in person

 

Any interest in a 1984 white on white Jalpa?

 

Let me know

 

(for all those that think its a April fools joke, it is not)

I may have a possible find, and will find out soon if this car is for real.

 

This is what I know so far (and all this could be b.s. and so far none of this is based on what I have seen personally):

 

White on white 1984 Jalpa

Never been titled with one "owner"

possible non running

 

I will be in contact with the owner (hopefully) this week and will be able to check out the car in person

 

Any interest in a 1984 white on white Jalpa?

 

Let me know

 

(for all those that think its a April fools joke, it is not)

 

 

im not too crazy about the interior color but i may be interested if the price is right.

 

 

garage space is aready tight for my hobby cars and may have to move a couple out.

 

if you do check it out, please take some detail pics of the interior and engine compartment for us.

 

arent there 2 non running jalpas for sale in arizona already?

 

 

cheers and thanks for the heads up

 

RS

 

 

 

Will be nice to see what this one is all about.

 

BUT, one owner, never titled, AND not running? Amazes me when a non-titled car is not running. Dealer plate and possibly low miles and blew the motor? I hope it's a repair less then that though.

arent there 2 non running jalpas for sale in arizona already?

Really, any links?

Really, any links?

 

I'd love to find a project car Jalpa. As long as it wasn't totally rusted or had frame damage. If anyone runs across one, be it a barn find or in general, please let me know.

These cars are not cheap to fix.

These cars are not cheap to fix.

 

exactly

 

at today's value MUCH safer to get a show conditions one (IMO)

+1

Some who restores at a loss is someone who loves the car and plans on keeping it forever. If in the future you sell it, maybe enough years will go by that the $ lost is a non issue.

 

These cars are not cheap to fix.

 

With a V-8 engine what makes their repair so expense...besides the the fact it's a Lamborghini ??

With a V-8 engine what makes their repair so expense...besides the the fact it's a Lamborghini ??

 

You answered your own question.

 

The problem is, its not just a Lamborghini. Its a VINTAGE Lamborghini, and as such, parts are not readily available or easy to come by. A broken brake line or a fuel injector for a Gallardo is available at any Lamborghini dealer. A component for an older Lambo will not only have to be ordered, but will most likely be 10x the price as they are not needed often.

 

 

You answered your own question.

 

The problem is, its not just a Lamborghini. Its a VINTAGE Lamborghini, and as such, parts are not readily available or easy to come by. A broken brake line or a fuel injector for a Gallardo is available at any Lamborghini dealer. A component for an older Lambo will not only have to be ordered, but will most likely be 10x the price as they are not needed often.

 

My hope would be to find one that needs more labor work (that I can do) than it needs parts. Of course I don't expect to find one like that anytime soon, but you never know, so it doesn't hurt to ask people to keep an eye out. If one needs a ton of new parts, instead of just needing a lot of love, it's certainly not what I'm looking for.

With a V-8 engine what makes their repair so expense...besides the the fact it's a Lamborghini ??

 

In my case.

 

The Jalpa engine has some issues that should be reworked. Parts are hard to come by and special tools are needed to get the engine apart (which makes it hard to do at home). The part that makes it such a bad "investment" is that the car is worth about 30,000 to 35,000 restored. Take the engine out, tear it appart, replace the engine brackets, valves with fabricated stainless, valve guides, rework the heads, replace the gaskets, rebuild the water pump, rebuild and tune the carburetors, add an after market ignition, clean it all up and put it back together. You are out about 25,000 to 35,000 depending on how things go and what you do yourself. Each of those projects is a few hundred bucks. If it takes more than a year, you possibly need to rebuild the brake master cylinder and maybe replace the tires.

 

The math is.... buy great example for 30,000 to 35,000 or buy a project for maybe 20,000 and spend at least 25,000 to 35,000 to restore it for 45,000 to 55,000 total. This is conservative. If you get into suspension, brakes, electrical, the interior, or body work, the price just goes up.

 

I love my car for all of its unique features and never plan to sell it. I am enjoying the project. I would not be able to make my money back until Jalpa values hit around 60,000 to 65,000.

 

Most car restorations are money losing ventures. The low value of the V8s, the age of the cars, and the cost and difficulty with parts makes them particularly bad "investments".

Fixing anything is expensive. There is some advantages though. If you can turn your own wrench, and you don't mind doing it, you can end up with a car built the way you want to do it with the upgrades you want. Many have bought a car that they thought was nice, and it ended up being lipstick on a pig. As Clint Eastwood said, "A man needs to know his limitations". LOL

My hope would be to find one that needs more labor work (that I can do) than it needs parts. Of course I don't expect to find one like that anytime soon, but you never know, so it doesn't hurt to ask people to keep an eye out. If one needs a ton of new parts, instead of just needing a lot of love, it's certainly not what I'm looking for.

 

 

You are talking about a car, that had an approximate worldwide production of 400 units.

 

You are not going to find too many fixer-uppers, with a good mechanical drivetrain.

 

It is not like finding a Chevelle with a good original drivetrain, that needs some body, paint, and interior work.

 

 

 

Ohlgren in Post # 12, gave excellent advice from his personal experience with the car.

Here's yer fixer upper........GOOD LUCK

and if you do restore, as I always say...you're doing God's work.

 

http://gullwingmotorcars.com/inv.php?actio...amp;autoID=1132

Jalpas are not cars to buy cheap and fix. buy the best car you can find, have a very through PPI done, and drive the car.

 

you will be frustrated beyond belief at the lack of parts, and the few people you "have" to deal with to get parts.

 

after 2 jalpas and an urracco, i would get another Uracco first.

 

ps wheel bearings alone will set you back $1600.00 for 4.

 

good luck with " a cheap one ".

 

i would rather be on the road, driving something else.

 

my latest :

Nice! Old sckool.

Those Porsche's are the elder statesmen of the exotic world!!.................VERY nice!!

If you want to fix up a tired old Lamborghini, buy a 350GT or P400 Miura.

 

 

At least at the end of the day, you will have an expensive car for the personal labor you put into the project.

In my case.

 

...Parts are hard to come by and special tools are needed to get the engine apart (which makes it hard to do at home)...

 

 

Hi Ohlgren, great to hear from you again.

Just curious, what makes it so hard to work on the engine basically at home? That would be part of the project is to do as much as possible at home. The one that Peter K found, it doesn't say why it isn't running. I guess it could be either the parts are all good but just needs new fluids, new gas and to be cranked for a while. Or it could be something is mechanically wrong that will require taking the engine apart. Not being able to do that second part in one's garage takes it out of the realm of project and puts it in the realm of professional.

Hi Ohlgren, great to hear from you again.

Just curious, what makes it so hard to work on the engine basically at home? That would be part of the project is to do as much as possible at home. The one that Peter K found, it doesn't say why it isn't running. I guess it could be either the parts are all good but just needs new fluids, new gas and to be cranked for a while. Or it could be something is mechanically wrong that will require taking the engine apart. Not being able to do that second part in one's garage takes it out of the realm of project and puts it in the realm of professional.

 

The first thing to overcome is getting the engine out the bottom of the car. I have seen a few contraptions on various threads on how owners overcome this. Tilting or lifting the car off the engine seems to be the most popular. Not a huge hurtle, but requires space and creativity.

 

I have been told that there are a few tools that are specific to the V8. Evan's Auto told me they are one of the only shops that has several odd tools specific to the V8. I am not sure what the tools are, but I heard from multiple places there are a couple special things you need to get the engine apart. I met a Jalpa owner at the Italian Concorso 2003 who had just finished rebuilding a Jalpa V8 himself. He talked quite a bit about how unnecessarily hard it was. He attributed a lot of his headache to poor engineering. I don't know exactly what the tools are, or where the problems are. Evan's told my the Jalpa engine is the most difficult engine they rebuild.

 

A couple issues to watch out for and motivation for the rebuild are weak engine mounts and sodium filled valves. These thin valve walls can crack and break the valve head off in the cylinder. This break is a relatively common issue. Really trashes the engine. Engine mounts are readily available and not to hard to replace once the engine is out and lifted off the subframe.

 

The guides are cast iron and wear quickly, which leads to burning of oil. Not a big deal if everything else is OK and you keep an eye on oil levels. These are issues that a perfectly maintained and cared for un-restored Jalpa is going to have. This requires special tools.

 

Then you get into the little things. There are Webers. They will most likely need tuning if nothing else. each of the 8 throats are individually tuned. I had mine rebuilt and tuned by an expert with a flow bench. Probably not a huge deal for someone with experience, but I am a novice and wanted it done right.

 

Lastly, finding and getting parts can be difficult and time consuming.

 

What worked best for me was to do the simple stuff and send the harder stuff out. Rebuilding electronics, brake master cylinders, carbs, and such I sent out. I quickly realized my shop was sending everything out and charging me for the tear down. I saved a lot of money taking everything apart and sending out myself. Now that I need a full tear down, I am in over my head. I had hoped to have it done at Lambo Portland, but Evan's warned me they would have major trouble without the right tools.

 

My car looked pretty good when I got it. It ran OK, was clean and advertised as mechanically perfect. It ended up needing about 35,000 worth of work. Just be careful and know what you are getting into. I think you can search this forum for some of my old posts to see how my experience unfolded.

I just finished fixing a sick Jalpa. It is not that big of a deal. These cars are very low tech. The parts cost are insane. I have had the motor out of my Jalpa 3 times at my house - Takes about 1 hour. Now I do have lift and a cart that I built to pull motors out of Porsches. Roll cart under car. 5 bolts drop entire drive train out after undoing lines and electrical connections. I like this set up - very easy.

 

Now before anyone asks why 3 times. Bought car with poor shifting transmission. - took 3 tries to get the transmisson right. When a "PRO SHOP" puts late shift forks in an early gear box it will not shift right!!!!!!! The transmission had a hodge podge of late and early parts in it from damage done at the port when imported to the US. I fixed that problem - Some of my biggest nightmares fixing old cars have been undoing the FU of crap "PRO" mechanics.

 

Did valves and headgaskets as well. Please check that your acorn nuts are not topping out on the studs!!!!!!!! The gasket will not last long. George Evans - Said he had only seen this one other time and me.

 

Sorry I did not take pics - but if anyone needs Jalpa/Urraco advice I have done a lot to these cars.

 

Joe Frazar

Here's yer fixer upper........GOOD LUCK

and if you do restore, as I always say...you're doing God's work.

 

http://gullwingmotorcars.com/inv.php?actio...amp;autoID=1132

 

 

What's the deal with Gullwing Motors??......I was looking thru their inventory and ALMOST EVERY car is stated as having been sitting for several years!!!????

And their prices seems high.....or is it just me??

I just finished fixing a sick Jalpa. It is not that big of a deal. These cars are very low tech. The parts cost are insane. I have had the motor out of my Jalpa 3 times at my house - Takes about 1 hour. Now I do have lift and a cart that I built to pull motors out of Porsches. Roll cart under car. 5 bolts drop entire drive train out after undoing lines and electrical connections. I like this set up - very easy.

 

Now before anyone asks why 3 times. Bought car with poor shifting transmission. - took 3 tries to get the transmisson right. When a "PRO SHOP" puts late shift forks in an early gear box it will not shift right!!!!!!! The transmission had a hodge podge of late and early parts in it from damage done at the port when imported to the US. I fixed that problem - Some of my biggest nightmares fixing old cars have been undoing the FU of crap "PRO" mechanics.

 

Did valves and headgaskets as well. Please check that your acorn nuts are not topping out on the studs!!!!!!!! The gasket will not last long. George Evans - Said he had only seen this one other time and me.

 

Sorry I did not take pics - but if anyone needs Jalpa/Urraco advice I have done a lot to these cars.

 

Joe Frazar

 

Joe,

 

Did you tear the engine apart yourself? George Evans told me on the phone it was impossible without special tools. Besides what is broken on my car, the valve issues are the one that concerns me the most, and it does not seem easy or simple to do. Did you do the valve job personally? Did it in fact require special tools? Did you do the guides as well? How is your car working now?

 

Sounds like you have a good system set up and are experienced working on cars. I don't have a lift and my garage door slides into position above my car, so a new garage would be needed for me to attempt engine removal.

 

Finding the right pro is crucial. I am very cautious about this. My car has many examples of pathetic workmanship.

The special tool is a very narrow socket to get the head bolt nuts off on the far ends of the head. Take a standard 17mm socket and grind it down. (see Pic) No special tools other than that. I loaded some pics for you of me putting the motor back together. (The Carreaper is in one of the shots) The heads I did have done by Mike @ evans. I did not know they would sell the stainless valves. Btw. The valve job is a pain. That does require special tools. (they can be made)

 

It sounds like you lost a rod bearing. Did the machine shop rework your rods? Did they ream the rod bushings or replace them. Did they regrind your crankshaft? Weld on it. Can you give a very detailed outline of what you hear and when? Hopefully you don't have to go back in to the motor.

 

Joe Frazar