Re: Tops

[Scott Fisher <sfisher71@domain.elided>]

--- MAdams6172@domain.elided wrote:
> I probably over paid for my "new" 1967 Duetto. But
> the smile is priceless. 

Don't worry about it.  Is it worth it to you?  Mine is
to me, and that's all that matters.

> Odd thing, when I brought it home, on the drive it
> ran just fine on the highway, but it was a little?
> constipated?? when at partial throttle. As soon as I

> opened it up it came to life. I checked the plugs, 
> they were black. OK to rich?

Get a copy of Pat Braden's "Alfa Bible" and read the
section titled "He's right, you're wrong."

Alfa Romeos were engineered to be driven absolutely
flat out for either 1000 miles over the roads between
Brescia and Rome, or for 24 hours about 100 miles
southwest of Paris, or their equivalent.  Don't screw
up the Webers -- put in new plugs and then go out and
drive it like you're mad at it.

Take proper precautions, of course.  Make absolutely
sure you've got enough (and new) oil in the crankcase,
let it warm up fully before giving it the full boot,
and then take a long, fast drive in it, running it up
to the red band on the tach before shifting *hard*
into the next-higher gear.  

I remain convinced that the very best thing you can do
for your Alfa -- perhaps every bit as important as
regular oil and filter changes -- is to run two or
three tanks of gas through the car over the course of
eight to ten hours, on a fairly regular basis.  Your
Alfa was not meant to sit in the garage looking cute,
it was meant to go out and scream.  A long, fast trip
cleans things out, removes gum and gunk from
carburettors and valves, gets everything up to
operating temperature for long enough to make sure
it's all meshing properly, and coincidentally is about
as good for the driver as it is for the car. :-)

You'll know you got your money's worth.

--Scott Fisher
  Tualatin, Oregon
.
Yahoo! Sports - live college hoops coverage
http://sports.yahoo.com/

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