It's great that we're getting so many new Alfa owners on the BB. Many of these owners probably bought their new cars based upon the Alfa Romeo mystic and styling and without too critical assessment of the cars themselves.
Being a relatively rare automobile and no longer sold in the U.S., ownership will probably be very frustrating unless there is a competent mechanic nearby or the owner acquires a detailed knowledge of Alfa mechanical systems. In my personal opinion, owning an Alfa is probably not appropriate unless the owner wants learn quite a bit about the mechanicals of his car.
The first and best tool that a new owner can get is knowledge of their car's systems, interchangeability of parts, and common weaknesses.
To that end, it's important that the new owner make an intellectual investment in their ownership of an Alfa Romeo. The following publications are what I consider to be essential for ownership This BB is an excellent forum to seek technical advice. While I'm happy to spend the time to help other owners out, it saves a lot of time and repetition and it helps tremendously if the asker has the basic knowledge of systems and nomenclature that those pubs will give them.
So, to that end, I would advice new owners or prospective owners to get these books and read them well:
For the new Alfa owner with a SPICA injected Alfa I highly recommend some standard reference materials:
1. The Alfa Romeo Owner's Bible, by Pat Braden. A "must have" for every Alfa owner. ISBN: 0-8376-0707-8 $29.95
2. Alfa Romeo Giulia-Spider Owner's Workshop Manual. Brooklands Books.
3. Original Alfa Romeo Spider, by Chris Rees Stunningly nice "coffee table" book with tons of full color plates in extreme detail (hence the high price) of the various Alfa Spiders, all fully restored. Gives you a great idea of how good your car could look if you do a nice restoration. ISBN 0-7603-1162-5 Motorbooks International $34.95
4. Manual for Alfa Romeo SPICA Fuel Injection, by Wes Ingram, the acknowledged guru of SPICA fuel injection. about $20
5. CarDisc CD. Has parts of the old Alfa shop manuals on CD including some late 70s Owners Manuals as well as the injection pump manuals. However, it's 75-81 models only, but almost everything in there is applicable as well to early 70s models.
6. Alfa Romeo Owner's Club, Owner's Technical Notes Series, The SPICA Injection System, by Fred Di Matteo and John Hertzman. Available from the Alfa Romeo Owner's Club web site for about $25.
www.aroc-usa.org Well worth the money considering the wealth of info. Pretty technical on the SPICA fuel injection system, so might be a little intimidating to the new owner.
Some parts sources/catalogs:
Centerline Alfa
www.centerlinealfa.com
International Auto Parts
www.international-auto.com
Vick's Auto
www.vickauto.com
Bruce's Parts Bin
www.fiatparts.com
Wes Ingram Enterprises
www.wesingram.com
Re-Originals
www.reoriginals.com
Duetto Motors (Tops)
www.duettomotors.com
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