Newbie questions...

[AlfaNeely@xxxxxxx]

       Can't help with the keys.  
       Front can be hard to raise, depending on how low the car sits.  Put a 
floor jack under the lower A Arm and raise, add wood blocks, do the other 
side, and repeat back and forth until the car is high enough to get a floor 
jack under the center of the crossmember just behind the oil pan drain plug.  
Or buy some ramps and drive the front end up.  Jack under the center of the 
rear axle with a floor jack.  Put jack stands under the four jacking points 
on each side of the car - assuming your jacking points are solid with no 
rust.  Other wise put stands under the rear axle tubes and on the front frame 
rails near the front suspension.
       On my spider race car, I jack under the rocker panel about 1/3 way 
back from the front of the door.  Put stands under the jacking points and 
repeat on the other side.  That is a bit hard on the paint under the rocker, 
but a bit of thin plywood will protect that.  Of course, you also need lots 
of room on each side of the car for this to work.
       Gunk is good.  I like clean engines.  Remove the distributor cap and 
cover the distributor with plastic.  Cover any openings in the intake system 
as well.  I like to remove the air cleaner and such.  In fact, pull the 
radiator and all hoses and take the car to a car wash on a trailer.  For the 
most fun, take a creeper and a face shield and wash the transmission, 
driveshaft and everything.  I like clean.  And that last trick will get all 
the dirt off the car and on to you underneath.  Take protection for the seats 
of the tow vehicle.
       The street height roll bars are worthless.  A roll bar tall enough to 
offer any real protection will not fit under your top - or not easily.

Ciao,
Russ Neely
Oklahoma City


In a message dated 5/6/2003 4:39:25 PM Central Daylight Time, 
owner-alfa-digest@domain.elided writes:

> Date: Tue, 6 May 2003 13:26:54 -0700
> From: Benjamin Kaupp <bkaupp@domain.elided>
> Subject: Newbie questions...
> 
> Now that I actually have the Spider in my possession, I have a few 
> wonderful newbie questions. Luckily (depending on how you look at it) 
> she will be parked for a while and I will be driving a washing machine 
> on wheels (white 1990 Isuzu Trooper). I highly recommend NEVER trading 
> your safe, reliable Audi for a Spider without first mentioning 
> something to your parents. It can rankle them something fierce. 
> Anyway...
> 
> 1) I seem to have three keys, but only one even fits in any locks, and 
> none of them lock or unlock the doors/trunk. The two that don't work 
> are the ones with the clover like the manual shows, while the one that 
> works (only in the ignition, tho) is quite small and looks kinda like a 
> housekey. Is any of this extremely unusual? I don't really care about 
> locking anything, I still have horror images of my Mustang convertible 
> with the slashed top, but it'd be nice to know.
> 
> 2) There seems to be a clunk and loose suspension. I plan on getting it 
> up on jackstands at some point and checking it out, but any hints (such 
> as where to jack it so i can put the stands on) would be much 
> appreciated. (I can't wait until I can afford the bible and the shop 
> man.)
> 
> 3) I know certain Audis self destruct upon being sprayed with Gunk 
> Engine Brite. Any similar cautions for cleaning my engine compartment?
> 
> 4) Roll bars and seatbelts - does anybody have pix of the bar from IAP 
> installed in a Spider? and has anybody successfully installed Schroth 
> Rallye 3s in one of these cars? Any suggestions/comments?
> 
> I think that's about it for now. As soon as my parents let me drive it 
> again, I'm sure I'll have more questions for all y'all.
> 
> Oh, and on a driving impressions note, I really love this car. I need 
> to tighten up the steering and learn to deal with rear wheel drive 
> again, but I put 170 miles on it in the first day (most of them with 
> the top down) and another 40 the next day with top up, windshield 
> wipers spinning, and water dripping on my leather jacket. I LOVE IT! 
> And it costs less to insure, gets better milage, and smells better than 
> my Audi. Okay, sorry to waste bandwidth with my gushing. I'm gonna go 
> sit in her with the top down for a while. I'll get pics up for y'all 
> soon, I promise.
> 
> - -Ben Kaupp
> '78 Spider (dubbed the Steel Intestine by my friend who misread 
> Iniezione)
> '90 Isuzu Trooper (It isn't even a very good washing machine... no 
> water gets in)
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