webers vs. spica & Alfetta mea culpa

["James Tyson" <jftyson@domain.elided>]

I'm no mechanic(just ask my friends) but I've been an Alfisti for 30 years 
and a brief history lesson may shed some light on this subject.When Spica 
equipped cars came out,there was much hue and cry among Alfa owners at the 
demise of their beloved Webers.The thermostatic actuators(am I the only one 
who thinks that was the title of one of Tom Swift's adventures..Tom Swift 
and his thermostatic actuator..or was it undersea hydrodome?)were fragile 
and very expensive(I recall $150 in 1973 dollars).Only the dealers seemed to 
have a handle on how to tune and maintain Spica.The real problems emerged in 
the late 70's when Spica pumps began to die of old age.At that time ,there 
was no such thing as a rebuilt pump-you had to buy a new one from Alfa for 
$1200-1500.Conversely,the Shankle Weber conversion in the late 70's cost 
about half that.Lots of spica cars got converted due to the high cost of 
Spica pumps.As time went on,rebuilt pumps(thank you Wes!) and TA's became 
available at reasonable cost and the cost of the Shankle conversion 
escalated.
   Another factor that caused people to convert to Webers was the 
limitation Spica placed on performance.I recall reading a Joe Benson article 
where he said that 10548 cams were the highest lift/duration cams you could 
run with Spica.Anyone seeking to avail themselves of 11mm/long duration cams 
had to use Webers.Again,thanks to Mr. Ingram,Spica pumps can now be tailored 
for any performance level.
   I own 2 Weber equipped GTVs and 2 Spica equipped Spiders.Viva la 
difference!
   It appears that my rather woeful attempt at inside humor has launched a 
new thread...I really like Alfettas and it's distressing what's happened to 
them.Besides the undeniable rust problems,the 116 cars are burdened with the 
fact that driveable GTV6's and Milanos have become so affordable that it's 
hard to justify sinking dollars into a similar car with an anemic 2 liter 
engine.That said ,Alfettas remain beautifully balanced cars that are fun to 
drive.Ben Higgins used to drive a Euro Alfetta coupe that had 10548 
cams,sidedraft Solexes and significantly more power than the US 
counterpart(I won't say how much cause that'll revive 
another...#@%!!*!!).His car was also 300 pounds lighter than the US 
version.According to Ben the Euro version was a revelation.I'm not 
suggesting that it's necessary for all US Alfetta owners to convert their 
cars to Euro specs,just that we never got to experience the real 
McCoy.PS-Ben is parting out 3 Alfetta coupes-anyone need any parts?

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