Spica victim

["ed prytherch" <dixiedean@domain.elided>]

I looked at a 78 spider today. It was advertised as "needs work, $1500 new
parts, asking $700. The car was parked on dirt by the side of the driveway. It
looked like it had been there for a while. The tires were flat, the console
was removed and there were wires hanging all over the place. The air box and
air pump were in the trunk. The car had very little rust, but there were some
big dings on the nose (hail damage?) and the top was bad. The owners wife had
used it as a daily driver and preferred it to her Celica, but it was
unreliable. They had fitted a rebuilt spica pump, TA, crane cams ignition,
starter motor and exhaust system. It ran well for a short time with the new
spica, but then was difficult to start and didn't run well. It wouldn't crank.
I didn't have the heart to take it as a parts car as the body was solid. Then
another prospective buyer showed up with a big battery. He said that he had a
carb conversion that he would install, if he bought it. I felt sorry for the
guy that was selling it. If he had spent the bucks on carbs instead of spica,
his mechanic would have been able to make it run OK and there would be another
happy Alfa enthusiast, instead of a guy who thinks that Alfas are weird and
unreliable.
Ed Prytherch, Columbia SC
79 spider
73 GTV.
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