Spider Newbie Questions

[Don Banfield <banfield@domain.elided>]

Hi Folks,  I just bought an 88 Spider Veloce.  It has some (small) issues
that I need to attend to, and I thought I'd ask the collective advice of
the alfa tribe.

The trim piece that holds the latches for the fuel lid and the trunk is
broken in several places, with the latches fallen to the floor.  I gather
IAP sells a new one of these for >$100.  Does anyone know of a good used
(or other new) source for these trim parts?  $100 seems a bit high.  Has
anyone fabbed their own (e.g., from sheet metal)?

My trip odometer seems to be broken.  It turns the tenths, but the miles
never accumulate.  The reset stick does nothing.  The odometer is fine and
the speedometer seems accurate (if a bit jumpy).  Any advice?  Can I fix
it myself, or should I try to find a new odometer? (If I bought a new one,
how would I set the mileage correctly on the odometer?)

My fuel gauge is usually non-functional, but occasionally it bounces up
and down from empty.  I am strongly suspecting that this is just the
sender, right?  That's an easy $40 replacement that I can easily do
myself, right?

The wipers work, but are a bit sluggish.  Is this normal, or is there some
remedy I should try?  e.g., Rain-X, or lubricating something in the
armatures/linkages...?

My heater valve seems functional, but it only blows heated air up through
the defrost vents, not the side or center dashboard vents, and any that
might be in the footwell (Are there any there?).  Am I doing something
wrong?

Is there supposed to be lighing on the center console near the heater
controls?  Mine has none.

What do the push-button switches closest to the driver (near the power
window switches) do?  They look like a fog light symbol, and it lights the
same symbol on the instrument cluster... but I have no fog lights.  Did I
once, and they were removed?  Or is it doing something else that I'm just
not noticing?

My clutch pedal is a bit stiff, and very creaky.  For the creakiness, can
I lube it with WD-40 or bicycle grease or something?  For the stiffness,
can I change the return spring or something?

My brakes are weaker than I'd expect and the pedal is a bit soft.  I
suspect that this simply means bleeding the brakes, but is there anything
else I should be looking out for?

The door panels are poorly attached to the door.  Where can I get new
fasteners to hold them on?

Perhaps this is best done privately... What mail-order suppliers do you
all use and trust?  Does anyone buy stuff from local parts shops?

Finally, the car has no rust, seems to run fine.  It has 66,000 miles on
it.  88 veloce.  I paid $5700.  Reasonable?  I'm guessing I over paid by
~$700....


Thanks for any and all advice!
Don Banfield


Don Banfield					Senior Research Associate
banfield@domain.elided                   Cornell University Astronomy

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