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| Master welder Chris Felix carefully makes the 10 TIG welds mating the exhaust sections and hanger tabs together. |
The exhaust system is finally finished--welded, aligned, scuffed, painted, polished, and insulated. Finished, but not installed yet.
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| I decided to insulate the top of the last set of mufflers with "lava shield", a thin sheet of material made from crushed volcanic rock, in order to protect the Zagato paint and body work inside the confined space in the rear muffler recess. |
There are a couple of reasons for this. The main one is because I need to complete work on the brake system first, and that is more easily done while the exhaust is out of the way. But, in the form of a comment from Gigi (Luigi Ventura) affter the last post, another reason presented itself: the opportunity to add a rare element of both improved functionality and authenticity!
Gigi informed me that he knew someone who actually had more than one original example of the coperatura (heat shield) Alfa originally fitted on top of the first set of mufflers on 1900 SS models--and that he was willing to make a reproduction for The Alfatross! I knew these heat shields existed because they are illustrated in the Alfa parts catalog for the 1900 SS model, but The Alfatross did not have one when I got it in 1969 and I had never seen one on an actual vehicle. I assumed they were the automotive equivalent of a unicorn's horn. But thanks to Gigi, and in keeping with my intention to restore The Alfatross as faithfully as possible, we ordered one!
Gigi's friend, Paolo Galafassi, has a shop specializing in classic Alfas https://www.classicvintagecar.it/ If you have an Alfa 1900, you need to know about Paolo and the services he can provide. He has a lot of original parts and also makes reproductions to a very high standard, all at very reasonable cost. While I was putting together my order for the exhaust heat shield and a shield for the brake master cylinder (more about that in the next post), I also added 4 "rondellas", the "lock washers" for the lug nuts holding the brake drums to the wheels. The Alfatross' originals have seen a lot of use!
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| The finished Quicksilver exhaust system. |
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| The insulating aluminum cover (yellow circle) over the first pair of mufflers is clearly illustrated in this drawing from the Alfa Romeo 1900 parts catalog. Easy to find the picture, very hard to find the part! |
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| Examples of original heat shields attached directly above the first muffler set on a 1900 SS chassis. The function and location of the heat shield put it squarely in harm's way and most did not survive into the present day. Paolo Galafassi, Classic Vintage Car. https://www.classicvintagecar.it/chi-siamo/ |
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| Paolo Galafassi's reproduction muffler heat shield compared with a well-used original. https://www.classicvintagecar.it/ |
All the parts were in my hands less than a month after placing the order and the whole process could not have been more satisfactory. So now the exhaust system is ready for installation. None of the 1900 SSZ Alfas I have seen in person have this heat shield, but at least some owners have complained about excessive heat coming from the floorboards. Perhaps the heat shield is an essential part of the exhaust system, not just a garnish. We will know soon enough, but I still have to solve the brake problem before it can all go back together.
