Re: To SPICA or not

["Paul Irvine" <pi@xxxxxxx>]

Shucks, I'd hoped there would be a little more enthusiasm over this
subject . While I didn't originate the question, "To SPICA or not", I
personally think it's considerably more interesting than block heaters.
And yes, I'll be the first to admit if I didn't live in (generally)
sunny California, I'd be hanging onto every word of that subject.

Paul Irvine considers them to be "an elegant piece of machinery". An
e-mail I received off-line from a well known Alfisti suggested I might
be well be lacking in brain power regarding my somewhat lack of
enthusiasm for Spicas. He might have a point there. Guess I'll have to
save my limited mental resources for Webers as a means of fuel delivery
for Alfas. However, I really liked the suggestion of using EFI
(electronic fuel injection). Has anyone out there installed one on an
Alfa engine?

I really should check my facts here, but did Alfa ever use the Spica
unit on 4-cylinder, gasoline engines in Europe? It's my belief they
didn't. If that being the case and if they're such wonderful units, why
didn't they? Cost? Perhaps. My daily driver (actually my only driver at
the moment) is a '75 Alfetta GT. I bought it used in '78 with 13,000
miles on it. It was my first Alfa and most everyone I talked to
suggested I go to Dave Vegher's shop. Most of the trouble I experienced
stemmed from the Spica. Please note, to the best of my knowledge Wes
Ingram was not rebuilding them at that time and the units were null and
void if you broke the "safety wire". It took forever to get the car
started even with fresh plugs, points, etc. Dave checked it out and said
I pretty much had to live with it. I went through several starters and a
ring gear. The car backfired badly. After changing the rubber
seal/gasket several times on the micro switch, he gave up and asked if I
wanted him to install a rebuilt unit.

I opted not to. I was almost relieved when at around 60,000 miles the
gas leaked past the delivery valves (?) into the oil. The choice at the
time was a rebuilt unit for $600 or the Shankle Weber conversion for
$650, including the carbs. It's had Webers ever since and I'm convinced
I would have given up on Alfas if I had to live with a Spica. I'd like
to point out oil was changed every 3,000 miles and the pump filter
changed frequently.

The Alfetta now has the European inlet manifold and air cleaner, Bosch
distributer, European exhaust, lowered front end, etc. In my opinion, it
looks the way an engine bay of that vintage should look - visually
exciting in it's elegant simplicity.

Biba
Irwindale CA

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