Any Alfa fans amongst us?

[CLAY]

Many years ago I had a 2000 Spider. I was very impressed by the build quality. I also learned to torque spark plugs into aluminum heads. I had the bonnet off, reved the engine, and off like a rocket one spark plug blew up held only by the plug wire.

When I bought the car, it didn't have a windshield. After my Dad and I got it going I took it to our near by Texaco service station to get inspected. Inspection stickers are placed on the windshild but I still didn't have a windshield, so he calls up Texas DOT, and they tell him that as long as the windshield wipers work the book didn't say anything about a windshield. So it passed inspection. How I miss the good old days!

Really miss that car, although if I were looking again I'd search out a 2600 Spider.

Clay

[Fred Talmadge]

Why do so many Italian cars lay the steering wheel down? My arms are stretched out the max and my knees are up in the air. Could never get use to it, so I just look at Alfas from afar. They are pretty.

[archigator]

I had an Afetta GT which caught on fire and burned to the ground... so I bought another one. Fun cars to drive, but lacking in horsepower. I had to hit the starter solenoid with a tire iron every time just to get it started. Very rust-prone. Made my current Elan look super reliable... and fast.


Gary
'71 Sporint FHC
Miami, Florida

[Roy Gillett]

I have been infected with Alfa-itis for longer than Lotus ownership, over 22 years now. Two 'Suds, a TI 1500 and a 105bhp Gold Cloverleaf 5-door (I want another one!) , a very quick 33 Sportwagon, a 164 (very reliable, didn't rust and I kept it 8 years and 110000 miles- lovely car), two 156's one saloon and one Sportwagon, and currently a 159 Sportwagon. Over the decades they have got steadily more reliable, more durable and only slightly less wonderful to drive. The 'Suds crumbled round me (two sets of front wing replacements under warranty on the Gold Cloverleaf!) but such fun, the 33 Sportwagon was also nearly as bad and had some fuel consumption problems from the off until they found out it had no thermostat fitted from new!, the 164 was sublime and an easy car to own, the first 156 used to flash up dire warnings of impending doom every time you went over a speed hump which took an age to track down to a poor electrical connection in a connector after they had changed just about every electrical component in the car (they only solve problems by substitution these days don't they), and the 159 is fine but not quite as sporty as its predecessors.

They really are almost as addictive as Lotuses and pretty bullet-proof these days.

Must get back to sorting out the +2 brakes - hanging on once the pedal is released since I changed the front pads. Any ideas?

Roy

[twincamman]

did you reattach the return spring on your pedal ???

[Roy Gillett]

did you reattach the return spring on your pedal ???

Didn't touch the pedal end but the pedal comes back up just fine but retardation continues for quarter to half a second once pedal has returned. Sorry to usurp the thread.

Thanks for your suggestion.

Roy

[AlfaLofa]

Had my S1 Elan for over 39 years and had the S1 1750 Spyder Veloce for nearly 35 years.

[nigelrbfurness]

FWIW I had a 147 1600 Twin-spark which went to over 90,000 with just a few minor electrical glitches. It was superb to drive, lovely responsive engine and quite economical. I replaced it with a brand new 159JTDm 1.9 Sportwagon as I had enjoyed the 147 so much and fancied something with a bit of room and the economy of a diesel. It is pretty economical, I can get 50+ mpg on a long run, but in all other respects it is a complete pile of crap and I'm getting rid of it at the first opportunity. Its handling is poor, worse than the 1970s Vauxhalls I ran for many years. Even my '62 Sprite corners better, before it runs out of puff. Performance is "adequate", brakes also no more than adequate. Every right hand turn across a busy road is a nightmare as is turning out of difficult side roads unless you rev the b****cks off it to pull away and then it drops dead when you change into second. The only time it demonstrates anything akin to acceleration is when you are doing about 60 in fourth when the torque seems to match the gear ratios just right! It wore out a complete set of Pirelli P7s in 11,000 miles, (too many right turns?) I swapped the rears to the front at around 8000 as I could see they were wearing fast. Its on Michelin XAS now in the hope they might last a bit longer and they are looking a lot better after another 11K compared with the P7s. Its been back to the dealers three times under warranty to try to cure oil leaks and deadly turbo lag. It's back there again this week for another new EGR valve. It currently has 23000 on the clock. I like the shape, but that's about it! So it looks like even Alfa make Leyland-style Friday afternoon cars!

Nigel Furness