Rants

["Sidney L. Trest" <sltrest@domain.elided>]

I think that we tend to be a bit Alfa-centric. We moan alot about the
price of maintaining the older cars, price of the parts, availability of
the parts and on and on. I have had only 2 Alfas in my life, a '91 164L
that I dearly loved and feel that I parted with too soon and the '86
Spider Veloce that I own today.

In addition to the Alfas, I have had a continuous string of Toyotas since
1971. Recently I had the realization that if I could work on an Alfa,
hell I could work on a Toyota. All I want to say is that the rice burners
really make you appreciate the thought, design and engineering that goes
into our fine Italian machines. I have torn down the front of the 164 to
the water pump and replaced it along with the timing belt and the rest of
the associated stuff up there. I have done the much feared stepper motor
replacement and lived to tell the tale. The Spider is a joy to work on.
Even electrical challenges, although tough, are rewarding when you fix
them.

The Toyota on the other hand is the most frustrating car that I have ever
worked on (this side of a Mazda). My son drives this car, a '93 Corolla
with 88,000 miles. In the past 3 months it has had a new alternator, CV
boot, timing belt and starter. My son did the alternator so I won't speak
for him. I decided to tackle the starter. Maybe there is an easier way to
do it, but the only way I could figure to get it out was to totally
dismantle the injection system from the air cleaner to the head. It took
2 of us 4 hours to do the job and I swore after that to become a
checkbook mechanic for that car.

Discourage newbies against Alfas - I think not. When you look at the
parts prices and the cost of repairs, they are no worse than any other
car. When you consider working on them, they are better than most. When
you consider driving them, few cars can compare, especially for the
money.

Sid
'86 Spider Veloce - Pandora
Houston 

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