[Steve Semenzato]

OK. New Year! New car! New project....... it's going to be fun!

This time around I have gone for the "pretty sister"! I managed to find a great 73 Spider 2000, Spica car, 115.02 down in LA. I now know the car was originally bought new in Dallas 10-12-73 and was there for the first 10 years of its life and covered 44,344 being serviced every 3,000 miles!!!! At some point in the 90's it became a Californian car and had 2 more owners who between them have covered a further 33k-50k miles! The odometer seems to have stopped working in 2007!! I know this because in the wad of paperwork I received there are two non-Alfa service records and a tire replacement invoice that have the same odometer reading....all being within 6 months of each other. The odometer reads the same today, but those tires albeit now are very old, but are the same tires bought back in 2007 and have about 1/3 to 1/2 the tread left. Due to the good weather, the apparent light use, and miraculously no previous owner who thought they were a handy amateur mechanic or electrician, I am delighted to say this car is the real deal! It seems to have had a paint refresh (more than 10 years ago), there are records of a new hood being fitted in 2008, and new seat covers, but there are no signs of damage and minimal old overspray on the underside of the tank and inner wheel arches. The only area that has to be rectified is the dash and center console which I suspect have seen a little too much sun and look like a wrinkly old Ozzy beach bum!

My goal will be to keep this car as original as possible, as it seems that it is a car that time forgot. I will invest all my time and energy in making this a reliable weekend back-road runner just like it was designed to do in the 1970's I'm sure there will be bumps in the road, perished rubber in critical places, and earth points that give up the ghost along the way. I'll keep you all posted on progress, as I have found this forum a mine of wealthy information, tips and techniques that helped me so much in my last project, and hopefully some of you may find my journey useful for your own discoveries

Happy New Year to one and all and may the Alfisiti in you live a prosperous and happy life in 2023!

 

[Steve Semenzato]

Here are the “discovery day” pictures!

 

[Gary SC]

Congrats! Very nice looking '73!

 

[rusty mayes]

Fun project, Look forward to following the progress. Enjoy!

 

[Spiderhubarb]

Congratulations! I also have a 73, but a "Junior". Your's looks so familiar....but really is so different. Anyway, enjoy!

 

[msmith10]

Great find. Looks like a good car for anything you want to do with it.

 

[Steve Semenzato]

Day 1. List of parts ordered to get this show back on the road. I am using a $5k budget. Looking through recent service parts additions, the center prop bearing and guibio are recent as is the rear fuel filter and new fuel pump. So, taking the advice here on AlfaBB I will be focusing on changing anything that is perishable/consumable ie:- hoses, seals, filters, all lubricants, coolants, alternator, fan belt spark plugs, thermostat, radiator cap, brakes pads, discs, flex hoses clutch slave cylinder and flex pipe and OVS. Then go for a complete suspension overhaul (Alfaholics stage 1) incl new springs all bushes, joints, roll bar, and shocks) as well as new discs and pads, and overhaul the calipers and master cylinder with new seals if necessary.

 

[Steve Semenzato]

I have been very impressed so far with this little car. Although it didn’t come with a fully documented maintenance history, it seems to have been very well maintained and rust free. The oil in the diff was green(?!?) but clean with little sludge on the magnet. Gearbox oil looked good too. Engine oil needed a change, but again with no major metallic build up on the magnet. Brakes are good with little wear in discs or pads but the fluid was looking old. Waiting on parts delivery to service the calipers seals, change pads and flex hoses and then should be good to go. New CN36 look classic 70’s. Great!

 

[Spider73]

Great starting point. Looking forward to following your progress.

- Drew

 

[Steve Semenzato]

Whilst waiting for parts and other bits to arrive I took a look at all the bulbs and lights today as I figure I'll change them all to LED whilst cleaning up the connections. The white rubber inner gaskets that seal the lens to the housing have turned to what basically looks like chewing gum dust! Does anyone know where I can get replacements or do I just run a bead of silicon sealant into the groove wait for it to dry and then replace the lens? Also, anyone know where to get the aluminum screws that fix the rear lens' to the cover?

 

[Gary SC]

Classic Alfa has the aluminum "nuts" and I'm pretty sure the gaskets

 

[radojko]

Larry at APE has the aluminum finger nuts.

 

[radojko]

What’s the gold-colored thing mounted in front of the ignition coil?

 

[Steve Semenzato]

What’s the gold-colored thing mounted in front of the ignition coil?

Good question….Dunno! Haven’t got to it yet!

 

[Steve Semenzato]

So all lights and peripheral bright work is off the car for cleaning polishing and connection checking. Amazing that no nuts or screws were seized! I have decided that when refitting the front and rear bumpers that I will refit them a lot closer to the car, giving it a euro look rather than the large gap US look!

 

[radojko]

Good question….Dunno! Haven’t got to it yet! View attachment 1764589

Maybe electronic ignition? What’s inside the distributor?

 

[Steve Semenzato]

Got to grips with cleaning today! Lots of parts came good. Refilled all the oils. Waiting on new hoses and calliper rebuild kits for water and brakes then we’ll on the way to getting her back on the road! Still a ways to go…. But the new spark plugs look good 😂👍

 

[CountryAlfa]

Maybe electronic ignition? What’s inside the distributor?

To me this looks like a small amplifier for the aftermarket radio/speaker setup.

 

[Ranz]

It’s a Polarizer !!
(OZ joke)

 

[becko]

Thinking it’s a CDI early version, drops the voltage at the points to save wear and therefore better ignition timing control. I think??