Howdy & my first Alfa

Roscoe · #1 (**permalink**) 03-15-2008, 08:33 PM

Picked her up last weekend and finally got to spend the day with her today. She's a 1971 that's been in storage for 8-10 years.No bad rust that i could find today. A couple of small holes in the front of the floorboards. I pulled the plugs and put some marvel mystery oil in the cylinders. She's got spica fuel injection, Any tips on prepping the system before i try to start her? She came with all the parts to put her back together including an exta motor and an extra set of chrome wire wheels, a beautiful new canvas top and new factory rubber for the inside

**soccersimon** · #2 (**permalink**) 03-15-2008, 08:51 PM

cool find...please show in detail your wire wheels and the other set you spoke of.

**Dragline** · #3 (**permalink**) 03-15-2008, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roscoe

. . . . . She's got spica fuel injection, Any tips on prepping the system before i try to start her? . . . . . .

**eight-o-one** · #4 (**permalink**) 03-15-2008, 09:13 PM

Roscoe, Welcome aboard,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ed K.

peglegtom · #5 (**permalink**) 03-15-2008, 09:20 PM

Enjoy working on getting your spider back on the road. Always remember, they are not building them anymore, and every Alfa kept on the road is a good thing. Don't see many with wire wheels. Be sure to post photos of these wheels and the replacements you have. Also keep us informed as to your progress, and be sure to post any questions or problems you are having. With the expertise available on this board, you don't have to "re-invent the wheel" whenever you run into a stumbling block. Just ask, or better yet, first use the "search" function to see if if this problem has been addressed before.

**velocedoc** · #6 (**permalink**) 03-15-2008, 09:46 PM

Roscoe, welcome aboard. The car you describe sounds just like my wifes' spider (same color and condition) but she came with new paint and a pot load of new parts. Enjoy the process of putting her back together and don't hesitate to ask alot of questions...we will help you learn.

**ghnl** · #7 (**permalink**) 03-16-2008, 08:45 AM

Welcome! No rust is a good starting point (except for that hood! - what happened there?)

Take (& post) lots of photos of your progress. We likes photos.

**Peter** · #8 (**permalink**) 03-16-2008, 08:57 AM

Welcome to the board, and congrats on your first Alfa!

**lgbalfa** · #9 (**permalink**) 03-16-2008, 09:29 AM

congratulations.

remember what pegeltom has stated - "Always remember, they are not building them anymore, and every Alfa kept on the road is a good thing."

just keep telling yourself that.

Roscoe · #10 (**permalink**) 03-16-2008, 09:47 AM

Thanks for the great welcome guys! Here are some pictures of my wheels. I'm thinking about powder coating the ones on the car. The hood and trunk lid had the paint removed and that's were the last resto stopped.. they rusted but not too bad just surface rust. I feel so lucky to have only found the small amount of rust that i have so far. I had only seen the car for a few minutes back in june and it was covered up. Bought it over the phone a few weeks ago after promising three times that i would put her back together and drive her.Bought her from the original owner.

**soccersimon** · #11 (**permalink**) 03-16-2008, 09:54 AM

I am thinking you will appreciate some dough for restoration costs and an extra set of wheels sold to me should be the ticket

no one needs TWO sets of wires!

I'd be happy with the beat up set!

**Zunige** · #12 (**permalink**) 03-16-2008, 12:02 PM

Welcome to the BB, Roscoe!

I'll be looking forward to reading about your restoration. The '71 Spiders are certainly very cool...

Best regards,

Alfajay · #13 (**permalink**) 03-16-2008, 04:42 PM

1971 represented a good year for Alfas. Last of the 1750's, first of the squaretails. Few emissions/safety systems. Great find!

Those wire wheels could be a blessing or a curse. Don't know if you have owned a British car, or other vehicle with wires before - if not, be prepared to put a lot of maintenance into them. Yours look like some sort of bolt-ons, rather than the splined hub with knock-off used on MGB's and Austin Healeys. That's good - it eliminates one trouble-prone area - the splined hubs. Still, the wheels need to be trued every so often, which involves tightening/loosening the spokes. This is a job for a pro. I'm guessing that if you intend to powder coat them, you should do it with the wheels totally disassembled, to ensure that the threads on each spoke don't seize - can any wire wheel experts chime in here?

And, no, I'm not trying to scare you into selling them to me. Frankly, after owning a big Healey with ww's many many years ago, I swore off wire wheels AND British cars!

I saw at least one conventional steel Alfa wheel in one of your photos. If you have a full set, you might want to get the car on the road with them, and deal with the wires down the road.