Holes (other than rust) in the floor

[JHertzman@domain.elided]

In AD7-747 Marko Mataija asks about the big holes in the floor of the Spider 
he is dismantling; he doesn't think they are drain holes, because the rubber 
plugs are firm and tight- and he mentions also that they are not located at 
the lowest points.

When confronted with such anomalies, look first to the manufacturing process, 
and only second to post-manufacture use. (A good place to look for an 
overview of Alfa's operation at Arese is issue 33 of the quarterly "Style 
Auto- Architettura della Carrozzeria" which is probably still available from 
the Libreria dell'Automobile, and which covers the development and 
construction of the first series Alfetta saloons.) After the bodies leave the 
welding stations, and before they enter the finish painting stations they go 
through a series of dip-tanks, with drip-stations between them. Photo #17 in 
the "Style Auto" sequence shows the overhead-conveyor doing a dipsy-doodle so 
the bodies will progress from level to nose-up and then nose-down for full 
drainage. In all Alfa sedans I am familiar with there will be at least seven 
of these 6 cm holes- two in front footwells, two below front seats, two below 
rear seats, and one in the spare tire well. Some have two more on the 
firewall and more than one in the spare well.

Some people who have seen the photos but didn't read the captions think that 
this is how the cars are painted. Not so; the finish is still sprayed the 
old-fashioned way, with spray-guns operated by robots.

Marko also asks about repairing a crack in his tank filler rubber boot which 
is
in a good condition, but has one little crack on it? "I don't want to buy a
new one just because of one crack, but this way I feel the smell of gas. Is
there such a thing as a 'liquid rubber'?"

Rubber is certainly liquid when it comes from trees, and there are contact 
cements and caulks which are rubber-based, whether natural rubber or (more 
likely) synthetic. Infiltrating the crack with a rubber-based adhesive would 
probably do the trick, but if not some of his elders may remember the patches 
which were used on punctured inner-tubes, and he might be able to track down 
some patches even today which would do the trick.

John H.
Raleigh, N.C. 

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