3 into 2, tranny oil, shocks, Stebro

[Robert Clauss <beckyco@domain.elided>]

	The only time I've seen 3 into 2 was driving into Maranello in a
rented 156, when my wife and I witnessed the cars ahead of us all moving
over in a wave like pattern, likewise on the other side of the road, only
to see a Ferrari come blasting down the middle between the lanes. I'd
imagine it's a common courtesy extended to Ferrari drivers in that part of
the world. Sure put a big grin on our faces.
	Dave's mechanic changed the oil in his tranny, now it crunches when
cold. Reminds me of when my Spider was new. I changed the oil to Valvoline
synthetic gear lube at about 20k, and pretty much eliminated that cold
weather problem. Of course, the car only has about 35k on it, and I shift
relatively slowly.
	The Bilsteins are gas shocks, the Koni reds are hydraulic (I
believe) like the Boge/Sachs. The 105 chassis, and derivative 115, were
designed with hydraulic shocks in mind. Even Series 4 Spiders had
hydraulics. Putting gas shocks on a 105 or 115 makes the ride very hard,
and can compromise the shock mounts. A friend who was a service writer at
the largest Alfa dealer in Chicago saw broken shock mounts many times. The
116 and later chassis seem more tolerant of gas shocks. Bilstein gas shocks
on my TI had so little give that the car was airborne over the slightest
bumps. Switched to hydraulic Spica shocks after less than 200 miles, and
sold the Bilsteins to someone for their race car. The stock shocks are
underrated. They certainly are of higher quality than most OEM shocks. My
Ford van's shocks required replacement at 40k, two being totally dead. The
shocks on the Hyundai and Infiniti that my kids took over from my wife & I
are still very good at 100k and 150k respectively.
	My son ordered and installed a Stebro system on his '74 Spider. I
had no experience with their customer service, but the product he received
is absolutely beautiful in its construction. They made up a custom rear
section without a muffler for him (just the straight pipe), and the car
sounds fantastic. After going through many exhaust system pieces over the
years, I'd rate Ansa as the lowest quality and shortest life, Faza better
then OEM (but you have to deal with Cosentino), and the OEM systems the
best overall quality/value choice. I run OEM centers with Faza rear
sections (he used to call them "stingers" - no muffler) on both my Alfas.
Without a rear muffler, I get a resonation in the TI if cruising at over 70
mph, and a resonation at 2500 rpm in the Grad (not above or below, but
that's right at 50 mph in 5th- a common speed on clogged freeways),
otherwise the result is very pleasing to me.

Robert Clauss
Mt. Prospect, IL  USA

'65 Giulia TI
'86 Graduate
'67 Vespa 150

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