Alfa Romeo Forums banner

$500 S4 Spider: Before and After

4K views 27 replies 14 participants last post by  ocduff 
#1 ·
Thanks to Alfisto Steve I was able to acquire a nice '91 Spider in need of a lot of TLC. It still needs more than I've done. Fuel gauge, speedo and tach are inop. Rusty spare tire well. But the car hadn't run in 5 years and its running and driving great now. The VA seller had pulled the dash for heater blower repair but I buttoned it back up without completing that repair (AC is much more crucial down here in SC and that is disconnected.

Been having fun cleaning it up, going through it component by component. Cleaned all grounds, drained tank, fresh gas and tune up, new battery. Fired right up. Amazed.

Here are some before and after pics. For what it's worth, it smelled very moldy and spraying vinegar with a spray bottle killed that off.
 

Attachments

See less See more
1
#8 ·
The "noise" thing could be an air pump for a set of air horns.
 
#12 ·
Looks like you found a black swan under that ugly duckling going in. I bet you will need that blower motor to really make that a/c system blow air correctly.
 
#13 ·
Ok thanks all -- so I'll look for the air horns. The hose protruding from the pump is cut off so I will look to see where it goes. I think the pump will need restoration. But the possibility of Italian "peep peep" style air horns is appealing.

Vin - $500. But it wasn't running so it took that much to get it shipped to me. Also, I overpaid on my last Alfa so in a way this car was a chance to balance that out. ;)

Steve - the heater blower and AC blower are seperate functions in these weird Spiders of ours. Either way, the car wasn't even near prepared for a heater motor change. And the AC blower is inop as well, and the AC compressor has a noisy bearing and is not connected via the power steering belt.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Yea, I guess I should have been selfish and have bought it for myself but I hardly drive my 164s that much and didn't have any undedicated garage space.

That was reason I sold my pristine 81 Spider about 8 years ago for about 16 times that amount.
 
#18 ·
It was meant to be gone

Now, a lot of people passed this car up before me. Don't go thinking I stole it...Steve himself passed it up. There's also a rust spot beneath the passenger seat. None in the rockers as this is convertible water damage.
Yea that $500 was Mike's asking price as he wanted it gone almost as much as his wife who just had a new baby weeks before the sale.

Their Construction Contractor drove his work truck into their driveway hours after towing company removed the car from his driveway to start playing House and Garden series project..
 
#24 ·
After several hours going through the air horn wiring, cleaning tubing and disassembling compressor I couldn't get it to work. It was definitely not installed very well and was probably 20 years old. It had a push button installed by the cigar lighter.

I yanked it. Was sorry to do so but if I want it Ill start from scratch and wire to the horn button wiring.

Also removed and old car alarm and all the jumble of associated wiring these non functional items had. Much simpler under the hood and dash. I would've liked that air horn.
 
#26 ·
500.00 is a great price I am still using parts from the 82 I bought in New Bern to complete my 79 and 85 it was a great crossover buy for the series. If I had seen it I would of been tempted but I am going older to get out of the injection world.

Joe
 
#27 ·
Nice, glad the $500 gamble paid off. With a non-runner you never know, but looks like you found a good one. Spare tire repair is relatively easy as well, as far as bodywork goes.
 
#28 ·
Thanks all. I lucked out that it ran - not so much in cost, but in time, which is precious these days. And Steve, I know what you mean about too many cars - I have four in the driveway/garage now.

I'll probably sell my other Spider - which is totally sorted. I find that I just enjoy fixing them up, and once they are totally done I just get bored. It's a sickness.

Question is for those who responded about the rims (thanks for that incidentally) - do they have any value (the 205 tires have well over 50% tread left and feel soft, no rot)? I ask because I might want to swap with my phonedials on the other Spider (which has fresh tires). Or sell the TSW's with tires to get some other Alfa wheels and fresh rubber, if it will cover that cost.

I'm working on a budget, so not sure what to do...these TSW rims do look cool though. It's about getting the most out of what I have - if putting them on the nicer Spider would increase or keep its resale value the same, I'd do that.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top