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taken a long trip in your Alfa recently?

2K views 18 replies 8 participants last post by  romroc 
#1 ·
I just got my 'ebay Milano,' an '89 rescue project ready for the plunge, what turned out to be a 1900 mile trip from North Carolina to the Catskills of New York, then out to Long Island for some further visiting and R& R, then the return trip. My back went out after arrival on Long Island, no fault of the car, just that I'm not in shape. [excercise before a long trip, hmmmm.] I still have the Thule rack that fits the car since I owned a Milano before and never got rid of the rack. Woodstock is still alive and well, happy to report that, alternative lifestyles still roaming free, a pleasure in this day of political correctness and drab existances. Throughout it all, the Milano performed well, used very little engine oil, the cruise control even came on for a spell to give the tired foot a break. In some heavy storm rains, naeer a wet carpet; fuel with a heavy load [a bike rack hangin' as well as the Thule] was 26 mpg USA gallons, blasting along at speeds in the 70-80 MPH range. Feeling tired now, but baby deserves and will get some TLC well deserved. If you have any long distance stories please send them along. One 'repair' was to pull the blower motor top hat to remove some leaves and debris. some more work is to be done down there. My wife was running through the gears quite vigorously as we were returning home; I think she was playing a role familiar to many an erstwhile challenger of days gone buy at a racetrack of your choice and imagination, all part of the fun and yes, it was all a lot of fun, ending too soon but maybe another trip soon? Yes, why not do it again.
 

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#2 ·
Sweet!
We flew to SF a few years ago to pick up a 164S. We toured the Northern Cal./Southern Or. coast for a few days and then went down to AZ to visit my family. Had to charge the AC in Lake Havasu City, as it was in August. I got the car up to 140 on the speedometer for about 20 min. while everyone was nodding out. Then the car developed a distinct miss through all ranges. Man, I had 1200 miles to think about all of the possible causes. When we got home, it turned out to be a disintegrated distributer cap. We still talk about that trip. My girl noted that only 5 cars passed us on the whole caper.
 
#3 ·
Nice Milano, Great story !!!
It makes me happy to hear of great roadtrips, where people get to enjoy, and share the adventures. Sounds like your wife had a good time too..
Cool to hear about Woodstock,, I tried to hitch hike there for the Festival[I was very young], but couldn't get out of Maine- no one would stop for a couple of young Hippie/Biker/Rock and Roller's with a geetar and backpacks...
As a lot of you might expect,, I'll add a story[stop me if you'd heard it before].
I've been lucky enough to drive across the USA 3 1/2 times this year in GTV6's. Call me crazy[and I'm sure a few of you will !!] , But I would rather spend $1,000 bucks driving a car back, than $1,500 having it shipped !! Better deal, and a "vacation" thrown in for good measure.. Assuming all goes well. Well, a good tool kit and a good attitude help!!
I bought a cool blue GTV6 pretty much site-unseen on Craigs list, In North Dakota- so I got a great deal, 'cause like Maine, its a long way from anywhere.. I flew out, the guy picked me up at the airport, saw the car--- thankfully better than I had thought. Seemed like a good guy, sad though,,, the wife was forcing him to sell it. I assured him it would have a good time and go to a good home, and drove off.
Great car !! A previous owner had spent some money on performance and suspension mods- just enough to give it a good feel, and put some cool wheels and tires on it. I had a great time driving from N Dakota, to Chicago,, Where , of course, The National AROC Convention was in full swing !!!
Met a lot of excellent members of the BB, had a heck of a good time, made lasting friendships !!!
And to top it all off, I drove back to Maine with no probs and promptly sold the car to a good customer !! Yee Haa !!! A good time was had by me !!
 

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#4 ·
Keep the great stories coming! Those last two were very very interesting. Alfas were meant to roll, and don't shirk an occasional rock now and then!
 
#5 ·
Glenn-
Somehow I knew you'd have a road trip story or two! Generally, it they can make 100 miles, they can make 1000 miles. Best to include some agricultural repair stuff as you know. Since I am 62, I know way more about haywiring than guys that are below 40 and so do you. God, those long trips are fun! I'm going to figure out how to post some pictures.
 
#8 · (Edited)


In early August we took the old Spider on a tour of Southern B. C.

Mainly good to hot weather, some narrow mountain roads and gorgeous scenery.:)

When cruising found that 3800 rpm in fifth was comfortable, which calculates to around 80 mph.:cool:

900 miles with no problems.:D
 
#12 ·
This '84 Spider Veloce loves to tour.

Two years in a row, drove from Brown Summit (Greensboro), North Carolina to the Grand Prix Vintage Festival at Watkins Glen, New York. Drove up in two days, with an overnight in Carlisle, PA for a 575 mile trip. Then drove in Knapp Vinyard rally tour almost 200 miles. Saw some great races at the Glen then decided to drive home in a single shot. 575 miles just under 10 hours including rest stops and lunch at Panera's. Seems to me like the car just likes to go between 65 and 75 for hours at a time. I'm not tired when I'm done and I'm a senior citizen to boot. :)
 
#14 ·
Speaking of 'boot', I drove over 50 miles today with my boot firmly planted on the accelerator of a customers Alfa, making sure it was ready for the Big World,, I mean road...
It is so true that Alfas love trips, many miles on end of spirited driving. Yeah, hiccups now and then, but if you know your car, you can avoid those for the most part.
 
#15 ·
Drove our '93 164 from NC to New Jersey, then on to eastern Long Island. Only problem, a makeshift seal at cat converter now a bit noisy, proper gasket has been ordered. Most fun so far, a trip through lower Manhattan to the Williamsburg Bridge. Car is running beautifully, belying its' 15 year vintage. A change to a new Bosch O2 sensor has led to change to mid grade fuel without knocking. Don't knock it.
 
#16 ·
A Trip of a Lifetime

Labor Day, this year I bid on and won a 1990 Graduate on Ebay. Good news was the price, bad news was I am in the Dallas area and the car was in Portland, OR! I had not inspected the car, of course, and arranged to do so before paying. This was OK with the owner so I flew out the next day with a walk-away approval agreement. My co-pilot was my wife, a true, non-auto enthusiast who decided at the last minute to go with me. The owner picked us up, even let us spend the night in his roomy home and sent us on the way the next morning. We decided to drive down through California and visit our daughter in San Diego. Discovered soon after we started that the speedo was not registering, water temp guage was intermittenly registering and the air conditioner was not working. Made for an exciting and uncomfortable trip to SD. Stopped a couple of times to be certain our engine was not overheating. No one could work on the air until we got to SD where we located Foreign Auto Menders (858-486-0350), an Alfa specialist located in Poway. Got the air fixed and after a couple of days, came into Dallas with no further trouble. About 2600 miles. I entitled this saga, "A Trip of a Lifetime". This was inspired by my wife's comments that "we had better never take another trip like this in our life time". What do you suppose she meant?
 
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