Alfa's 33's

[Keith Walker <100662.3423@domain.elided>]

>>I know it is no Spider but we are currently looking at a 33 Boxer, 1.5
>twin carbed, unleaded version (1987). Are there any typical weak spots
>to look out for before I test drive it on Saturday?<<

Hi

The 33 is fairly good. All the flat 4's from the early 80's onwards will
run
unleaded if the octane rating is correct or the timing is adjusted to sui=
t.

Timing belts are meant to be changed every 60000km, and this was
revised up to 80000km on the later cars but only if you have excessive
trust in elastic bands. The oil should be changed every 10000km as
standard, and if well looked after oil consumption is negligable. My ol
1.7 Sportwagon was sold on to a friend and we lost track of it at
about 200000km, at which point it still used no oil at all between
services.

Front tyres tend to wear on the inside edge. This is made worse by
worn front suspension bushes and ball joints, along with the front
suspension strut towers pulling inwards and giving loads of negative
camber. Rear suspension bushes can also be short lived, but are
quite soft anyway.

Second gear synchro tends to wear out quickly. The rest of the gearbox
is fairly tuff. The drive shafts do not cause problems unless the gaitors=

are split.

The brakes are not particularly good as standard. The fuel tanks can
rust, but not anywhere near as badly as on an Alfa 75. The speedo can
be short lived, so check it has not been changed and the lower mileage
'forgotten'.

The drivers seat can be a bit uncomfortable. This is commenly improved
by swapping the seat spacers round to tip the seat up slightly.

Take a look at the following:-

http://www.oufti.com/alfa/

All the best

Keith

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