RE: New Alpha Owner

["Brian Shorey" <bshorey@xxxxxxxxx>]

> I recently inherited a 74 Alfa Spider which was garaged for the last
> twenty years and has 41k miles on it. The body is deep blue with
maroon
> interior. This car doesn't even have a ding in its body. Having sat
> unattended without much attention to storage conditions, the engine
> obviously is in need of some work. I got in touch with the Houston
Alfa
> Club for help and went to their first event yesterday, where I got to
> meet a number of very passionate and friendly Alfa owners. I now have
a
> general idea about the car and know that all the fluids, hoses, and
> ignition wires would need to be replaced first. I also need to assess
> the gas tank, brake master cylinder, SPICA fuel injection pump,
> radiator, etc. The tough part is that there are no auto shops that
would
> want to work on Alfas and it's not easy to find an experienced Alfa
> mechanic either. I did some self-help work on cars while I was a
student
> at the U of Michigan in the late seventies and that is about it.
Rocking
> the car in gear didn't budge the engine. Many of you must have
> experienced a situation similar to mine. Is there a previous digest
> article that describes the dos and don'ts of bringing life to an old
> Alfa? My desire is to get it to run first and then progressively make
it
> pretty.  Can anyone point me in the right direction?

I'd forget changing belts and hoses until you figure out why the engine
is seized.

Pull the plugs, pour some mystery oil into each cylinder.  Let that sit
for a few days, then see if you can free up the motor.

If you can get it to turn over comfortably, then I'd throw in some dry
gas, put on a set of jumper cables, and see if you can get it to fire
up.

Once you've got it running, then you can determine what's wrong with it,
and start changing fluids, belts, etc.

I've had Alfas sit as long as 17 years and start up and run for me.  But
yours sounds like the engine might be seized, if you can't get it free
then you're looking at a rebuild.

bs
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