Re: Spica pistons and bores idea?

["John Hertzman" <johnhertzman@domain.elided>]

Paul Witek's idea in AD8-0057 of possibly chrome plating the bores, then
re-honing them to original specs, is interesting and might hold the germ of
further development, but economic practicality is another question. Both the
bores and the plungers would be subject to wear; precision machining followed
by precision plating might restore uniform concentricity and precise
clearances, but I can't see any way it would be easier or less expensive than
restoring the engine's pistons and liners the same way; in that case we just
throw them away and spend $400 for a fresh set. Could a set of Spica plungers
and bores be redone for a few thousand dollars? Perhaps.

 Another question suggested by the discussion of the viability of two or more
Spica overhaul facilities is that of the number of Spica cars still running
now or likely to be run in the near future. There were fewer than 36,000 Alfas
sold in the USA during the Spica period, plus a thousand or so Sport Sedans
returned unsold and sold in Italy, plus nearly four thousand Montreals. The
newest are twenty-two years old, others as much as a decade older, all well
past the normal useful life-expectancy of a car. Without counting heads my
impression is that Spica owners are a distinct minority among the 1,400 or so
list members and a much smaller portion among the 4,000 or so AROC members,
with a lot of overlap between the two groups, and probably none outside one or
the other. Any guess would be a wild one, but I would guess (with my standard
pessimism) under five hundred are running now. Five or ten years out?
Undoubtedly a few preserved by curators who have been meticulous about oil
changes and filter changes, but they will be about as rare as fountain pens
and manually-wound wrist-watches and similar relics of the lost age of the
mechanical machine. Progress (if it is progress) exacts its price.

 Enjoy what you have while you have it,

 John H.

--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided