Re: newbie

["Dean W. Cains" <dwc@domain.elided>]

Hi Howard:

Be careful about calling your Alfa a Spyder.  There's an "i" in there 
instead of the "y", and some on the Alfa Digest will give you some grief 
over that.  It's all part of the initiation rites.

Anyway, ride height of a Spider can vary by great degrees.  A brand-new 
bone-stock early/mid  70's US-market Spider should have measured 5.8 - 6.0" 
to the bottom of the sump.  Subtract another inch or so if you have the 
sump guard.  The OEM rear springs weaken over time, without exception, 
which actually raises the front end by a few inches.  With aftermarket 
springs, all bets are off, but on my '74 Spider, the sump guard is just 
barely over 4" from the road.  It rarely scrapes anything, but the 
aftermarket springs and shocks are much stiffer than stock.  Another 
variable would be the shims that are factory installed under the springs to 
fine-tune the height, or the rubber spring seats might be gone.  And, look 
at the front spring pans (no torsion bars).  They're different, and you'll 
see the right side one is deeper than the left, raising the left to 
compensate for the weight of the driver.  Tire size matters, too, and the 
stock size on a '77 was 165HR-14, which would be tall by today's standards, 
being a 78 or 80 series tire.  A new 185/70-14 is close enough, as is a 
195/65-14.  My Spider has 195/60-14's which along with the springs lowers 
the car more than some would prefer, but I'm in Florida and can get away 
with it as the roads are flat.

Finally, a '77 Spider sold new in the US would have had the 2-liter 
engine.  Some actually prefer the 1750, which might account for the 
transplant, or maybe that's all that was available to the previous 
owner.  There weren't any Spider 1750's in any market in '77, but in some 
of the European markets there were two Spider Junior models.  The Juniors 
could be had with either a 1300 or 1600 engine, and are most easily 
identified by their metal dashboard, as used in the older Duetto's.

Remember, the Spider isn't British, so there's not much any iron on the 
engine or elsewhere.  Learn to love your torque wrench.  Good luck with the 
new car.

Regards,

Dean


At 05:02 PM 11/9/2002, you wrote:

> Date: Sat, 9 Nov 2002 10:46:43 -0800 (PST)
> From: Howard gentry <zymmer4@domain.elided>
> Subject: newbie
>
> greetings,
>      I am Howard. I live in rural Wv.(Newton), and
> will be asking and donating info etc. to this group.
> My long time affilation with the MG and Morris lists
> have proven to me the value of these lists. I have my
> second Alfa now..to the tune of a 1977 flat tail
> Spider. My inspection of the cylinder head suggests
> that it is a 1750 cc model(engine at least).
>      This car is a rust free Ca. unit, silver in
> color. The only major fault with it, early on in the
> valuation, is a ruined driveshaft carrier bering. The
> rubber has detached from the steel mount.
>      My first question to the group is..What is the
> typical road clearance at the engine protection bars.
> Mine has less than 4 inches..Is my ride height too
> low/(have my torsion bars gone out of adjustment?
>      Thanks in advance for info.
> Cheers, Howard
> 1977 Alfa Spyder
> U2 on LAUNCH - Exclusive greatest hits videos
> http://launch.yahoo.com/u2
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