Spider motor mounts

[Eugene Yoo <eyoo@xxxxxxx>]

Hi all,

I'm happy to say that as a new (again, after a hiatus of several years) 
Alfa owner with a new (to me) 91 Spider, the recent thread on failing 
motor mounts was fortunately timed and helpful. I'm sending this out as 
a sanity check of sorts, and also soliciting some advice. I had a very 
thorough inspection of the car once I got it up to NYC, and was told 
the driver's side mount was weak, which squeaked by unnoticed in the 
initial pre-buy inspect in Atlanta.

Since then, I've driven the car has followed me to the LA area, and 
along the way the car bottomed out pretty hard on a pretty dippy 
section of Rt. 66 in Arizona. Surprisingly the oil pan guard looked 
unbent (they really are sturdy, aren't they?), but in the past week 
I've also bottomed out on 3-4 more minor dips. There's also noticeably 
increased vibration overall and a definite shudder and sometimes thunk 
on takeoff from a complete stop.

My question is about the sturdiness of the mounts, as my guy back in NY 
thought it a bit odd since the driver's side mount looked new. Could 
something else be causing premature wear on the mount? Is it fine to 
replace that mount by itself, or should I take care of both mounts at 
the same time? Are the Spruell reinforced mounts worth the extra money? 
How much of a vibration penalty will the Spruell mounts incur?

Also, and probably best left to off-line correspondence, any 
experiences and recommendations for LA-area Alfa shops? I'd say primary 
concern might be cost, I'm a poor grad student now, plus I've never had 
the luxury of a choice of shops in the same area...

Thanks in advance!

Eugene
91 Spider
Venice, CA
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