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Classic Cars Spider Hunting - Alfa Romeos and the fools who want one
25 messages, Last post on Oct 22, 2009 at 1:17 PM
You are in the Classic Cars Forum. Your Host is mr_shiftright
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Replying to: lokki (Oct 07, 2009 7:00 am) It's good that the top end was done, as this can be a weak spot in the Alfa. They have soft valve seats as I recall and the valve stems will stretch out. Also they can leak oil *externally* from the head gasket, in the back area of the head. Parts are readily available for these cars, including upholstery kits, little bits and pieces, you name it, so that's good. What's not good is finding someone who can work on them competently. This is *not* the person who works on Mercedes, Audi, Saab, MG, Skoda, Peugeot "and Alfa Romeo". You need to find someone who knows and loves Italian cars---preferably an Italian, who was no doubt trained as an apprentice. THEN of course you have to find one who isn't too *clever" an Italian, and watch 'im closely---LOL! I miss, and think about, only a very few of the many many cars I've owned. I miss my: '71 MGB roadster (BRG, tan interior, lite mods) Renault R8 Gordini '86 "breathed upon" Alfa Spider 66 Olds Toronado (awesome!) Jaguar XK140 Roadster (banana yellow, black wires) My brother's Fitch Corvair Porsche 928 (but I don't miss the repair bills). 63 Buick Riviera (what a ride but what a pain) I'd kill for: A clean 60s Alfa Spider or Sprint that I could yet afford (daily driver---no trailer queen!!) |
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The nose looks OK in the pictures, and being an S2a with the 5 mph bumpers, I think it will be.... my second Spider (back in the late 70's was a 74 with a much prettier nose, but well, can't find one ....) He says it was painted last year, so I am curious about what minor dents means... I like to think that you'd fix anything that wasn't really 'minor' when you painted it. Yeah, the engine work, the new top and the new alternator are kind of pluses in this case, I think.... Still, you can never tell till you see it in person. I am not expecting great performance from this puppy; but I do like winding a dohc through the gears.... I really enjoyed my Spider years- although I have to confess when I bought my first Integra 10 years later, it had every feature that the Alfa had possessed - quick dohc; 5 speed; 4 wheel discs; decent handling; and then threw in Japanese reliability.... sigh... and I hope that eventually I can dump the cats, change the header, and maybe even bump the compresion with some new pistons. As for " Finding a Tony", I've found an interesting guy outside of Dallas who is Fiat/Alfa fixated and has a shop specializing in them... Even has a Fiat transporter truck, for rescue missions... I've talked to him and -0ver the phone- and he seems about right. Romantic enough to have fallen in love with Italian low-end sports cars, and worn by experience enough to be pretty pragmatic. I talked to him about the costs of resurrecting the 'sleeping beauty' that I'll look at Saturday. What he said matched up with my fuzzy memories of the 70's.
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Replying to: lokki (Oct 07, 2009 9:10 am)
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Oct 07, 2009 9:49 am)  let alone rusted. The seat are shot of course, and none of the gauges are working.. The speedo sort of works, but the tach is dead. Not unusual as I understand things. The other gauges I suspect got disconnected during the engine pull that was done for the timing chain. Minor dents were really what we call "hail dings" - minor stuff under the Maico respray but at least in the original (same paint code) red. Top is vinyl but new exhaust is a nice dual tip ansa. The bad - 64K miles.... on the original clutch I'm certain. The release point has my knee up around my throat. New clutch needed 64K miles on the original ball joints and bushings. My 74 Spider tracked nice and tight. This one has 1/4 mile of slop in the steering Not only the 2nd gear synchros are shot.... it was hard to get into first and reverse without grinding sometimes.... Maybe the clutch? The Ugly maybe. Fresh oil on the drivers side of the cam cover... but it we found that the OLIO cap was loose..... Hope that's the reason for the spray. Engine was clean but not "Cleaned up" so the loose cap seems likely as the reason. The rest of the stuff. is minor or cosmetics (needs new tires) sticky door handle etc. Oh here's a question - on the driver's side of the engine is something under the alternator that he says (and he doesn't know much but he hasn't had the car long) is an air conditioning compressor but there's no A/C in the car? My friend's guess is a smog pump of some sort... I don't know, but my 74 sure didn't have it. The owner also claims power steering "that doesn't work well at low speed". I don't remember power steering on 70's spiders.. He's asking $5400, I'm thinking $4600 or $4800? I have another Spider to look at this weekend, but it's a 'sleeper' that hasn't been out of the widow's garage in 5 years...... If it's just as clean but a lot cheaper, maybe..... but 2 sellers and one buyer is always nice....
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Replying to: lokki (Oct 08, 2009 10:55 am) |
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Oct 04, 2009 8:08 am) Thanks
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Replying to: rickyb5 (Oct 08, 2009 1:54 pm) check these out: much better cars: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/1412639025.html http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/1411649845.html http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/1408864617.html As you can see, you can still get a lot of Alfa Romeo in your garage in the $4000---$6000 range without having to work on it the minute you get home. |
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http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/cto/1413509358.html This one looks pretty, I think... IF I can get the guy to call me back. Interestingly enough, it's the color of my original 74 spider. The only two spiders in the world that weren't red, black, or silver.
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Replying to: lokki (Oct 22, 2009 5:32 am)
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Oct 22, 2009 8:34 am)  Still hunting  1 |
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