Spider status report and CarDisk

[Godfrey DiGiorgi <ramarren@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I mentioned a couple of  weeks ago that my '78 Spider was hit, badly, and
would likely be totalled. A couple of people were kind enough to write and
express their condolences and support. Thank you to all.

In the ensuing weeks, I've been very busy. I negotiated an equitable
settlement with the insurance company for the damage. To my amazement,
they didn't total the car, even though it was obvious that $4000+ worth of
damage had been wrought including some frame bending. The settlement gave
me the wreck (which had all brand new and undamaged suspension components
in it, as well as a very good motor/trans/brakes, etc etc) and a $4000
cash settlement. 

I had in storage two other Spiders: an '82 parts car which had low mileage
but had severe body damage, plus a complete '79 car which hadn't been run
in several years and sat in the weather for a year, but was otherwise
nearly pristine with regard to body and chassis. 

After considering the body/chassis repair costs and the possible quality
of the results to the '78, I then sketched out the possibilities of using
all three cars to pull the best possible pieces and assemble a replacement
using the '79 roller. I wanted the lo-mileage Bosch EFI
motor/trans/differential, all the new suspension of the '78, and lots of
other sundry bits as applicable. I discussed this project with the service
manager at the Alfa shop I use, he thought about it for a moment, and
figured that it could be done within the budget I could afford. 

Last Thursday, I had a transporter pick up all three cars and ship them to
the shop. I faxed a system by system breakdown and task list approximating
what doing the mix'n'match would entail, 9 pages in length. I called later
that day and was told "The Alfa Train Has Landed" and that I was buying a
solid week of the shop's time... 

On Tuesday, I visited the shop to check on the progress. Mayhem! All three
cars were up on lifts, engine/transmission units from the '79 and '82 were
on the floor, the '82 was all cleaned up, the entire suspension of the '78
was dismantled and on the floor, the rear axle of the '82 was going into
the '79, etc etc etc... It's a huge job and they've just about dedicated
the shop to this project for the past week. 

I called today again ... and the progress is just amazing. The '78 and '82
are now just rolling hulks. The '79 has all its suspension installed now,
the taller rear axle, and the engine transmission in. All the wheels and
tires are on the wider, 5 spoke rims now, mounted and balanced, the brake
system is all set up, and the entire EFI electrical system is now being
transferred from the '82 into the '79. I expect it will be running by the
end of today or Monday.

They're doing a bang-up job of fitting just the very best pieces of all
three cars into the '79, replacing only the essential bits that need
replacing with new bits, and upgrading/retrofitting the improved '82
electricals and such from one to the other. I'm thoroughly amazed at the
enthusiasm, quality and speed of the work being accomplished. I may well
be driving the car again next week, a scant two weeks from when the
project was delivered to the shop! 

I'm very jazzed. This should be a great Spider, better by far than the one
that was wrecked. When we're done with the assembly, there will doubtless
be some leftover parts and such, although the two hulks will be mostly
gutted and of little value other than as scrap. I'll post a note with what
might be of interest to other Spider owners when the time comes.

Regards the CarDisk CDs:
I have two of them to cover the '76-81 and the '82-86 Spiders. Their
software is abysmal and the organization is basically non-existant. I read
them on the Macintosh using Virtual PC and they're just barely usable
that way. I did copy all the files over to the Mac and used
GraphicConverter to batch convert them all to compressed formats in GIF
and JPEG. The next stage I've not gotten to yet ... the right thing to do
is to create a DHTML application to replace the awful software provided.
This would minimize the number of different pages required and also
minimize the amount of space consumed by the system, and it could be read
on any system which supports a browser capable of DHTML. One of these
days, in my copious free time, I'll get to it and get it done. 

Then, with no infringement of copyright, I could post the DHTML pages and
instructions for converting and organizing the CarDisk files
appropriately for use with them. Users would still have to buy the CarDisk
CDs, they could then use improved web-browser based tools to access the
data correctly. 

That's about the best solution to the problem I can think of. I also wish
they'd included the parts books listings for the various cars on the CD as
the parts book information is often the most useful of all. 

Godfrey

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