No Applause Necessary

["Rex Carz" <rexcarz@domain.elided>]

As no one else has taken personal credit for the impending return of Alfa to
the North American market, let me be the first to do so.  How did I pull off
this amazing feat, you may ask?  Well, it was really quite simple.  For the
last year or so, I have been nursing along my wife's former VW Jetta GLI as
a winter beater (bought new in December of 1995 as a 1996 model, well over
200k miles by now), so that the Italian cars are not exposed to salty New
York winters.  But this car has steadily been getting worse looking, and I
just don't want to put money into it even though it isn't a bad drive.  I've
been ignoring ugly paint, rust and a worsening wheel bearing for some time,
and the rear brakes just crapped out, so I decided it was time for a clean
break.

I have always wanted a 164 to go with the spider and gtv-6, and I found a
nice white 1991 S at what I thought was a reasonable price given its
fundamentally sound condition.  The car, as found, needed both front motor
mounts, new rotors and pads for all wheels, one new front shock absorber, a
new lock solenoid for the buzzing right front door, a new CV boot (hopefully
the joint is OK) and a new tensioner and belt.  Tensioner and belt were
replaced only 15,000 miles ago, along with 12 valves, head gaskets, and
water pump, but the mechanic who put the tensioner on (and who will go
nameless) apparently torqued the tensioner to the max, waaaay beyond where
the pointer says.  This car has already eaten its motor twice in 91,000
miles (in addition to the new parts noted above the current motor is reputed
to have only about 60 k miles on its bottom end).  So I didn't feel much
like running an experiment to find out what an overtorqued tensioner might
do to timing belt reliability or what will happen if you ignore Alfa's
advice to replace the tensioner after its torque is released for the first
time.

What does all this have to do with Alfa's impending return?  Well now that I
have filled the niche in my stable of vehicles that a new 156 TS would fill
(worlds best Jetta substitute), I doubt I will be able to convince my wife
that I need yet another Italian four door sedan.  So this would of course be
the prime time for Alfa to reenter the US market.  Oh well, I like my new
car, and maybe Alfa will still be here when it comes time to replace it.  I
haven't bought a new car for myself since 1979, it I think by then I'll just
about be due.

Rex

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End of alfa-digest V7 #1445
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