Spider Hunter bags limit (NO TECH content-BBR)

[Colin Cobb <cobmeister@domain.elided>]

"Wannabee" no more...

Hey Guys,

Napoleon Buonabark (my furry and spotted bodyguard), Janet (my lovely
bride of 34 years), and I (bewhiskered Koi farmer and wall builder)
returned yesterday from Lubbock, TX where we picked up Janet's "new"
1989 Alfa Romeo Spider Graduate.

The car, which sold new in St. Louis, is white with tan interior and was
purchased from the third owner with 45,090 miles on it. This is the
first used sports car I've purchased that came with the original tool
roll and operator's manual. It even has the original Rand McNalley
pocket size Road Atlas with "Alfa Romeo" printed large on the front...

I found the car on the internet and, after the exchange of many lengthy
e-mails, agreed to purchase it if my inspection indicated it to be "as
represented." Although the PO lives in Oklahoma City, he agreed (for a
modest sprinkling of Dead Presidents) to drive the car to Lubbock for us
to pick up, Lubbock being almost exactly half-way between Oklahoma City
and Las Cruces, NM, where Janet, Napoleon, the Koi, and I all reside.

In our haste to pack up and head for Lubbock on Thursday morning I
neglected to pack a decent cap and, an even more ominous oversight,
forgot to grab a magnet, so a quick trip to the Lubbock WallyWorld was
called for on Friday morning. I picked up a decent black cap for $8 and
eventually located a magnet in the shape of a miniature Texas license
plate for $1.27.

Promptly at 2 PM the PO drove up and I began my inspection...

Wearing my new black cap, I used the magnet extensively on the Alfa's
body panels, concentrating on the areas several of you Alfisti so kindly
pointed out to me, and was pleased to find no indications of bondo or
rot. Another $1.27 down the tubes....

Of course, the PO had somewhat overstated the car's many virtues but
that was as expected...

The Alfa's interior and exterior are both very, very good with some wear
showing in the carpets, mainly under the driver's right foot. The glove
box door appears to my eye to be warped though my bride says its all in
my mind and Napoleon refuses to offer an opinion. The DPO has replaced
the original steering wheel and shift knob with nice wooden ones and did
provide the originals (in good condition) to me.

The dash board is very nice, completely free of cracking.

The map light which is supposed to reside in the glove box (if, indeed,
the Grads actually came with them) is missing it's light bulb. The trunk
light does not work unless you are clever enough to turn on the car's
lights first... Duuuuhhhh.....

And that is about it on the down side...

The original white paint is in very good condition. There is no fading
or oxidation very, very few small scratches and chips.

The stereo is a Yamaha which I suspect was a dealer installed option and
has four speakers (two installed by the DPO, I think). It works well so
I will diligently fight the urge to update it.

The engine compartment is clean, though certainly not spotless. All the
fluids are very clean and topped up. The brakes, based on a panic stop
from about 45 mph, are downright impressive. All the suspension elements
appear to be in very good condition. The manual windows run up and down
effortlessly. The air conditioning, one of the things I required the PO
to fix, works well though, in my opinion, it is in need of a
"supercharger" on the blower. It puts out a lot of very cold air, just
not enough to cope adequately with ambient temps around 106.

The Alfa's engine runs at 180 degrees F at 70 mph in ambient 106 and
drops back to 175 whenever Old Sol slips behind the smallest scrap of
cloud. The electric fan does not, apparently, come on while the car is
running up the road but comes on immediately when the engine is shut
down and sounds like a 747 on take off. Surely an indication it is
wearing out? I also note that the electric fan runs a long time after
the engine is shut off, like half an hour or more, but that may be a
function of the beastly air temps I have exposed it to.

The tires are Michelins--don't remember which ones at the moment--with,
ostensibly, 10,000 miles on them though they do not appear to be worn
that much, looking more like a few thousand miles. Anyway, they are in
very good condition though I think a trifle over inflated at 32 pounds.
Surely 26 to 28 pounds is more like it?

The car sometimes has a rattle from the exhaust system and I note that
the tail pipe jumps around a bit when the engine is revved. Presumably a
rubber mount going bad back in there somewhere?

All the lights work, even those so-called "fog lights" at the rear. Has
anybody tried adding a set of more conventional (i.e., front mounted)
fog lights to the same switch?

The top goes up and down with ease. The "top boot" is present though I
have not yet fitted it. The top is somewhat faded and has a couple of
pinholes which I will repair this afternoon. Did these convertible tops
not come with a headliner? Perhaps a nicety reserved for the
Quadrifoglios? Anyway, the black canvas top fits well and I expect to
get some years of service out of it.

I hope to fit a hardtop as well since a hardtop will make the Alfa a
very comfortable year-round car in my patch of desert wilderness.

With the financial details taken care of, I drove the DPO to the Lubbock
International Airport and, at around 3:30 PM Janet, Napoleon and I
headed west. To determine which of us should drive the Alfa, Janet and I
engaged in a long, complicated discussion about the risks inherent in
just heading out across the semi-arid Texas/New Mexico landscape in a
used car about which one, after all, really knows very little... Janet
was still willing to take the leap until I questioned her sharply about
her ability to determine by sound alone if the Johnson Rods (heh, heh,
heh...) were about to let loose, stranding her lovely new car along US
380.

My argument must have been quite cogent because Janet soon took Napoleon
and headed for the trusty SooBaaRoo while I eased back behind the Alfa's
non-stock but very nice wood rim steering wheel. Janet had her back to
me so I can't really report on what she was saying as she walked away
but it sounded like something about what I could do with my Johnson Rods
and precisely where I could do it...

At any rate, I shouldered the heavy burden, cracked open a six-pack of
icy Vernors Ginger Soda, and drove all the way back to Las Cruces, some
348.8 miles, pausing only every hour or so to let Napoleon anoint
certain specific bushes dotting the countryside.

Whilst the ambient air temp was consistently above 100 I rode in the
relative cool of the Alfa's cabin, sipping my Vern and dwelling on
thoughts of what the trip would have been like had I been behind the
wheel of my '65 Tiger... Talk about your barbecued cobmeister!

For the most part I held the speed down to about 70 mph but for one
stretch of a mile or so I did kick it up to an indicated 100 and was
pleased to note that there was plenty of throttle left.

Even running the AC constantly and climbing as much as 7000 feet above
mean sea level the Alfa turned in a very respectable 29 miles per
gallon.

Allinall, a very nice little car that I am very pleased with.

I'd like to pick up a couple of catalogs of spare parts, glove box
doors, light bulbs, and hardtop hardware if anyone can recommend
sources. Are there any online catalogs?

Many thanks to all of you who helped inmy hunt! I'll post some photos
somewhere tomorrow... If you could help one more time, I need to try to
stifle my urge to mount some nice alloy wheels...

Cheers & Ciao,

- --Colin Cobb, Las Cruces, NM, USA
'89 Alfa Spider, '67 Sunbeam Alpine, '66 Morgan Plus 4, '65 Sunbeam
Tiger, & '98 SooBaaRoo

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End of alfa-digest V7 #835
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