Re: New Alpha (Alfa) Owner

[Dick Stachowiak <stachowiak@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I once flooded one of my Alfa's as I was putting it away for the winter, so I ended up pushing it along the side of my house.  When I went to start it in the spring the engine would not budge.  I poured oil down the spark plug holes and let it sit for a few
days.  I tried to turn it over, but it still wouldn't budge.  I tried towing it but when I let out the clutch, the tires would just slide.  I figured that the oil got washed off the cylinders when I flooded it, and the rings rusted to the liners.  At this point I
figured that I had nothing to lose, so I removed the starter and pried on the flywheel with a big crowbar.  I worked it back and forth  and finally got it to turn over.  I reinstalled the starter and plugs and it started up.  I took it for a test drive and it ran
very well.  On my return home I noticed some smoke in the rear view mirror.  A few minuets later it looked like the space shuttle taking off.  I think I killed every mosquito for miles.  I turned out that all the oil I poured into the cylinders collected in the
exhaust system and once the system got to temperature it began to burn.  Once it burned off, I drove the car for several years without any engine problems.  Hopefully you will have a similar experience.

Dick Stachowiak
East Syracuse, NY

71 Spider
71 GTV

Original Message

> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 12 May 2003 10:13:04 -0500
> From: "A. J. Durrani" <durrani@domain.elided>
> Subject: New Alpha Owner
>
> 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?
>
>
>
> A. J. Durrani
>
> ------------------------------
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