S.O.S. 71 alfa spider

[KilHannah@domain.elided]

S.O.S. 71 alfa spider

the car in question is a racing green '71 spider with SPICA fuel injection 
(though a manual choke which says "throttle" on it, even though i can't even 
pull it out..hmm) with 50k miles on it.. the thing looks 
great, and until now, ran very well. now it wont even start.

for the past month, i noticed a strange behavior in the vehicle. once it 
started (which sometimes took a little nursing), it ran very well until it 
heated up (10 minutes or so), then it'd get extremely weak. it would then 
start lurching like a bucking horse through the gears to a point where i was 
lucky if it kept rolling.... usually if i got it up to highway speed, it 
could maintain the speed.... i would feel extremely relieved each time i 
parked it.. 
then after it'd cool down, it would run fine again until the same problem 
occured. also, i noticed it was only getting 10 miles to the gallon.

i took it to a mechanic who showed me that 2 of the 4 bosche spark plugs were 
wet, and who then proceeded to tell me that i needed a new engine, and that 
they 
couldn't help me.

i don't know if the air or fuel filters have ever been replaced... the 
mechanic had two weeks earlier recommended a new 'carborator kit' which he 
said would be around $300 IF he could find one.. he never cound.. but later 
told me my fuel injection is weird.. (contradiction)

what the fuck do i do? have you EVER heard of this malfunction before? should 
i sell the car? i'd hate to, but if so? to whom?

thanks
matthew (chicago)

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End of alfa-digest V7 #967
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