RE: prospective owner

["Michael & Carmen Keith" <mikeandcarmen@domain.elided>]

IMHO, $1500 for a '79 with substantial front end damage is not cheap unless
the car is in mint condition otherwise.  Even then, it's marginally fair,
but not cheap.  Personally, I wouldn't pay more than $500 to $800 for such a
car.  Some may disagree with me, but if you shop around, I think you can do
better.  Also, I think you'd be better off getting a '71 to '74 to begin
with if you want a pre-emissions car.  In the long run, this is a much more
financially viable proposition than converting a later car to earlier specs.

Then again, if you're set on converting a later car to earlier specs, the
one you're looking at would make a more viable candidate than most.  The
reason is that you can't simply hang an early style front bumper on a later
car.  You have to replace the entire front clip.  In the rear, installing an
early stainless bumper on a later car is a bolt-on proposition.  If you
decide to go this route, you'd do well to seek out a '71 to '74 parts car
with a good front clip.

Of course, I'm sitting here telling you all this from sunny, relatively
rust-free, Houston, TX.  If you live in an area of the country where rust is
a bigger issue, you live under a set of circumstances about which I am
woefully unqualified to advise you.  On that point, if you can share with
the Digest your general location, your level of knowledge about Alfas, & a
bit more detail as to what you're looking for, we maybe able to better
advise you, especially those of us who know Spiders better than I do.

Good luck,

Michael Keith
Houston, TX
'87 Milano Gold

Date: Tue, 03 Dec 2002 12:10:57 -0500
From: Tom <m0bius@domain.elided>
Subject: prospective owner

Hello everyone,

I just joined the list last night and am looking for a Spider to
restore. Any advice on what to buy would be greatly appreciated. I have
found a cheap ($1500 neg) 79 spider 2000 with front end damage. I did
see some good panel pricing around the net for these so I think it would
be financially viable to go this route. Also, I wanted to stay with the
SPICA setup but basically make it a "hybrid" Spider, taking off all the
annoying emissions stuff, basically bringing it up to 74ish spec maybe a
little better than 74 factory...hopefully swapping bumpers and seats.
I'm sure you guys know how to setup these engines right.

Is this the right route to go? Should I pick this spider up for
1000-1500...it's claimed to have 45k miles but we all know how
trustworthy that sounds. It will need a new LH fender and a new front
clip bodywise...

thank you in advance for all the help --

regards,

Tom
1989 Turbo Trans Am #718
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