Re: alfa-digest V7 #1294 - pre-purchase of 1990 Spider

[Hal Taylor <taylor@domain.elided>]

Russ,

Excellent reminder that with Alfa, one should be careful no to speak in
absolutes.  Come to think of it, I remember seeing the electric cooling fan in
an '89 or '90, as well.  And my '86 had the soft, '83-'95-type rear spoiler, as
opposed to the proper '86 hard spoiler (but does have the '86 interior).

So Ken, be advised that all of the changes I mentioned are associated with the
evolution of the late '80's spiders to the early '90's spiders, and didn't
necessarily happen simultaneously.

Russ, the literature on the '94 is pretty amazing.  Yes, you'd think they'd
figure out the compression ratio of engine tune they'd been seeling for (at
least) 3 years (who knows what might've been in some of the 1990 cars...)

Hal

AlfaNeely@domain.elided wrote:

> Hal,
>     The Motronic engine came along mid 1989, as near as I can determine
> (Opinion?).  Knowing Alfa, 1989 spiders probably came with both engines
> mixed.  During every prior transition, Alfa seems to have build what ever
> they had parts for on any given day.  1959 to 1960 seems to have been the
> worse for that with tunnel case transmissions, 750 vs 101 engines, chrome and
> stainless trim all mixed together in either the short or long wheel base
> Giulietta chassis.
>     By the way, I was just looking at some dealer literature for the last
> spider, the 1994 CE.  The literature says the compression was 9:1.  That
> should be 10:1 and the dealers should have known that by 1994.  If nothing
> else, they should have noted the increase in octane requirements.  Or maybe
> Alfa had some old engines to get rid of in 1994!
> Ciao,
> Russ Neely
> Oklahoma City
> Caution, the above is full of personal opinions!

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