93 Spider Veloce 2nd Gear Blues

["Robert J. Favali" <rfavali@domain.elided>]

Friends,
Two months (and long overdue) into my first affair with an
Alfa and I remain smitten. Yet I have one concern.
Apparently second gear synchros have not seen the same level
of engineering attention that other elements of the
transmission have. So, a winter project is to pull the
transmission and have it rebuilt so that I can downshift
into second gear (sans the fancy footwork) and not fear that
I might leave a pound of ground metal behind me (primarily
for acceleration purposes ... not deceleration though with
the ANSA tail section it sure sounds nice!)

Point: I am looking for information, articles, kind advice,
personal experiences, and the like on this matter. Are
second gear synchros really the problem that some have led
me to believe they are? I was popping out of 2nd during
acceleration but seem to have resolved it by adjusting the
leather boot. Plus I have a erratic vibration in 2nd during
acceleration so I am prone to pull the box and fix it.

Is there a company that sells rebuilts ... true rebuilts not
dime store phonies ... in trade for my core? I thought I saw
an add for a company in Oregon but cannot seem to locate it.
By the way, the motor mounts and tranny mount are new, all
fluids are new, suspension is good (Koni, etc.), wheels are
balanced, etc. etc. etc.

Thanks for the help.

Rob Favali
Connecticut
93 Spider Veloce
97 Infiniti J30t
98 Pathfinder SE

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