Alfetta Trans-Continental Recover

[Cintos]

Greetings: After buying a 1976 Alfetta GTV on eBay, we decided to "recover" it from Seattle back to our home in Connecticut and make a mini-vacation out of the trans-continental trip.

OK, we are probably a little bit looney. Nevertheless, we are underway. After buying the GTV in Feburary, I had it picked up by the fine folk at Group 2 in Seattle to have them do a quick once-over and help me judge the practicality of the trip, vs just shipping it back east on a truck.

Well, they ended up doing a bit of work prior to our picking it up Friday June 6th, after our flight from NYC. So far, so good. Thankfully the brakes were done over, as was the steering rack and front end ball joints. Our trip off the Cascades and off the Columbia Plateau put both of them to heavy use!

I am a bit embarrassed by the amount of blue smoke at times, but I quickly learned to forgo all engine braking to keep the pump action to a minimum. Surprisingly, the actual oil consumption has been minimal over the first 463 miles, probably less than a quart. My first task at home will to be to pull the twin-cam and give it a well-deserved overhaul.

The trip will allow us to do some great sightseeing across the northwest - an area we have not yet visited. We visited snowy and cloudy Mt. Rainier, crossed over the Cascade divide at the Chinook Pass, passed down onto the central Washington plateau, and visited pretty downtown Walla Walla. Next up is the Snake River (we are currently in Lewiston, ID), then on to Big Sky Montana (yes, there is such a town), Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, then hightail back to Connecticut. There is a possibility we might hook up with the Pre-AROC Convention tour in Wisconsin, but I have made no plans since the timing is too loose.

Fuel consumption has been about 20 Gal so far - 23 MPG, with much of the timing running at 35 up and down the Cascades.

I have a set of pics at .Mac Web Gallery which I will update should we have the pleasure of continuing this odyssey successfully.

Here are a few teasers:

[ossodiseppia]

Wow, what great fun. I bought a sedan in Bellinghamm in the early nineties. I drove it to Dallas. It was a great trip. Best of luck on the trip.

[Ford Fairlane]

consider me jealous

PS your Duetto is beautiful. I really love the boat tail cars. I'm new to Alfa but I am gaining a real appreciation

[Cintos]

Greetings:

Another day of fun running across Idaho into Montana. We took the long road, down US 95 across the rolling plains of the Nez Perce Reservation, then back north on marvelous Rt 13 as it drops down a few thousand feet into Kooskia. US 25 runs east from there for 100 miles along the Clearwater and Lochas Rivers. And I do mean ALONG. What a kick. This is listed as a "Wild and Scenic River Corridor". For 70 of those miles there is nothing but road, river, rapids and mountains. I didn't mention guardrail, as there is precious little of that. Thanks to the fine handling of the Alfetta, the twisties were dwelt with easily. US 25 leaves Idaho as it crests the Lolo pass at 5300 ft, and then drops down to Missoula.

The Alfetta continues to run strong when pulling. The GoTech EFI seems to dislike a neutral throttle, creating a bit of a drivability issue when fethering the throttle as often required in these mountainous roads.

Here are a few more pics:

[alfapocolypse]

you guys are very fortunate to have such an adventure! My associate HEAVY METAL (postname) and myself had the EXTREME pleasure of piloting two GORGEOUS alfetta gtv6 coupes across this beautiful country in february of 2002, and it remains second only to the birth of my beautiful son as the DEFINING MOMENT of my twenties. We started in los angeles, where we purchased the cars, rust free second gen models, from a gentleman who used to play percussion for stevie wonder and war, and who is still a cat on the scene. After making the scene in venice beach, hollywood and an extended day in long beach, we rested up in san diego, then started our move east, which included:seeing the grand canyon, first time for both of us;some VERY hairy driving over the continental divide, an odyssey on its own;and a visit with the rare and elusive TOM ZAT,alfaguru and legend at his almost-canadian compound;did anybody buy that one-off 164 wagon of his? Anyway, we drove thru chicago at 85 mph in the middle of rush hour,blew an engine in upstate new york, and towed that one from there. In other words, everything went EXACTLY according to "plan", right? We made last call at the alehouse that night, and the power trio on stage was gracious enough to let me rip some hendrix, LITERALLY; i broke the bridge on a '69 fender mustang. As i said, its been a number of years now, but the little details still come floating to the surface every time I think of how amazing an experience that was...enjoy it!

[rcess]

Michael,

Forget my earlier e-mail to you, I'll follow your progress reports here on the BB. Be sure to attend the AROC-CT Sunday brunch next month so we can have a verbal description of your experiences.

[Cintos]

Greetings:

It was snowing in Missoula when we stepped out this morning! The roadbeds are above freezing, so the snow falling during the day did not present a traction issue for us. We travelled uneventfully today from Missoula to Big Sky Montana, a distance of 240 miles. I popped in the 2nd quart of oil during our gas stop in Belgrade. Gas consumption remains good, as do the brakes, steering and heater. Yes, we needed the heater as the temperature was in the 30's all day. Glad I had that fixed. A PO had bypassed the heater because of leaks, and I found a replacement at DiFatta Brothers and had Group 2 install it.

This was our first run across a 75MPH interstate, and the Alfetta represented itself well. The limiting factor in our velocity today was when flutter began to appear across the top of both door frames. The spedo doesn't work (Group 2 couldn't locate a cable on short notice), and neither does the Tach (GoTech converter required), so I don't really know how fast we were going. This evening I attempted to get a new 12V feed wired for our GPS, but no luck yet (cigarette lighter was not connected). These things fall under the term "sorted out", which the Alfetta is a bit light on.

The forecast for Yellowstone is for 1-3 " of additional snow tomorrow, with temperatures in the 30s. Guess we need to find some of those hot springs.

Photo here is from Historic Uptown Butte, MT. In the background looms the Berkeley Pit, a former open pit copper mine which is now a Superfund site.

[jrclem]

OK... YOU ARE OFFICIALLY NUTS! Welcome to the club!
If you happen into Rock Creek WY... look up Pam's BBQ. (Pam is from Memphis... so you will experience an out of region fabulous experience! THE BEST!!!

[don hodgdon]

Looks like a great time, thanks for sharing the trip with us.

[Alfons180]

I think I have to do something like this to get my 116 car.
nice trip so far!!!

[Cintos]

Greetings: Our Alfetta Recovery has brought us safely to Grant's Village in Yellowstone. Today's excursion was relatively short, from Big Sky (highly recommend Buck's T-4 Lodge), continuing on 191 winding along the Gallatin River, through the village of West Yellowstone (nice shops - needed gloves) and headed into Yellowstone at the Western Gate. The snow was really falling and accumulating, but the road was mostly wet. Surrealistic scene in mid June...

We took in some of the geyser areas, and were pelted with wind, snow and fog. I do believe we saw some blue water under the fog. Lunch at Old Faithful Lodge was followed by an exhibition of the main attraction - right on schedule, as expected.

Kathy got some nice pics of the Buffalo wandering across the roads. Would not want to collect one of those in the Alfetta! (or would it be the buffalo collecting the Alfetta?) Speaking of Buffalo, Ted Turner is widely known for his serious "collection" of American Bison. He has a 113,000 acre ranch in Gallatin Gateway, which we drove through yesterday on our scenic ride up the Gallatin River gorge to Big Sky.

Tomorrow is expected to be warmer and drier, and each following day improving. After a tour of the eastern areas of Yellowstone tomorrow, we are off to Cody, WY. Not named after Bill Cody - named BY him. I had planed to travel the Beartooth Highway, know as one of the most scenic roads in America, but an avalanche June 1 closed it at the Montana border.

[jrclem]

YOU GO!!! Way COOL!!!

[Alfons180]

Keep on feeding US those Pics........Love it

homer

[alfapocolypse]

man, those pictures of a snow covered alfetta REALLY takes me back; My trip was with heavy metal, so of course we drove the cars OVER the continental divide IN FEBRUARY, love a challenge, right? Well, i must say that these are mighty impressive pix...think i'll have to dig up some of mine...

[GrandPrix]

Great trip reports!

Snow in June?

Global warming is a trip.

Keep it coming, please.


SD