re: S.O.S. 71 alfa spider

["Ian Lomax" <ilomax@domain.elided>]

Matthew,

When I bought my 71 spider it came with the Shankle Sure Start mechanism
installed.  The Sure Start is a manual choke that replaces the automatic choke
(in this case called a thermostatic actuator).  The sure start is activated by
pulling out on the throttle knob.  As the car warms up, you push it back in to
lean out the mixture.  Once the car is fully warm, you push it all the way in
and leave it alone.

One trick is that the knob has to be twisted to unlock it.  You twist, pull,
then twist it back to lock it in place.

Now, to check if your spider has this, look for the fuel injection pump under
the air cleaner.  If there is a small 1-2mm tube runningf from the head to the
fuel injection pump, then that is the stock Thermostatic Actuator, and you
don't have a Sure Start.  The Sure Start will have a cable about the size of a
speedometer cable coming out of the top, which should lead into the passanger
compartment near the throttle pedal.

I don't know how familiar you are with the car, or how much work your willing
to do, so in case you're more comfortable taking it to a mechanic I think
there are plenty of Chcago ALfisti on this list who could recommend a
competent Alfa mechanic, who knows how to diagnose and repair the Spica
equipped cars.

Good luck, and keep us posted....

Ian Lomax
71 Spider - 205k, and back in storage for the school year... sniff...
88 75 3.0 - still with sagging Recaro, but now with upgraded stereo which
sounds great!
Pittsburgh, PA
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/ilomax/index.html

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