[alfa] 93 spider valve noise & Valve Job

["Fetsch, Ralph" <Ralph.Fetsch@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Church, Marc wrote:

"My 92 spider had noisy valves for quite a while. Clearances were always
within spec. Recently, at about ~120K miles, I had a valve job done.
It required new valve seats, valve guides, and valves.  Now it is much
Quieter, uses quite a bit less oil, and has a bit more power."

Why do I see so many 91 and newer Spider on this list and on eBay that needed
a valve job at early mileage? My 91 Spider has close to 210,000 miles on it
and the only part on it that was changed was the water pump at approximately
190,000 miles. And the only reason I changes it was because I had a spare and
removed the radiator to have the AC compressor rebuilt and figured I'd do it
while it was easy to get to. The old one is on the shelf for a spare. The only
wear I see is hairline cracks where the impellor attaches to the shaft. The
only other part that's been removed is the valve cover when I adjust the
valves, it still has the original gasket on it and it doesn't leak.

When I was putting a lot of miles on it when I lived in Houston I changed the
oil and the filter every 3,000 to 4,000 miles. One time I forgot and it went
to 5,000 miles. This meant an oil change about every two months. Now that I
only live 10 miles from the office and don't put the miles on it I did I
change the every 5-6 months if it needs it or not. It burns about 1-2 quarts
between oil changes. have used nothing but Valvoline 20W 50 since new. I
switched to Valvoline high mileage oil about a year ago at around 200,000
miles.

I don't know about anyone else but I wouldn't buy a 91 to 94 Spider that had
to have valve or other engine work at low mileage. When you see them on eBay
and they say that they been maintained by the book 99% of them have black
brake fluid in the reservoir. To me maintained by the book means flushing the
radiator and brake fluid ever year.

Now I'm sounding like Fred and I'm 20+ years younger then him, but he was a
good teacher.

Off my soap box.

Cordova Ralph
1991 Spider Veloce W/Automatic Transmission 206,000+ (S)miles and a few
frowns.
1964 Giulia 1600 Spider
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