Re: 164 alternatives

[dsedon@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

hi jason,

ask anyone who has owned both varieties of 164 which is more reliable.  ask alfa-bill, too, while yure at it.  the electrics on the '94 & later 164's are a *lot* more of a pita...  

re: a/c, try r12a in the system - much better than 12, let alone 134a...

agreed on having more than one car, tho!  :>)

regards,

doug s.
'95 buell s2, 90rwhp/ft-lbs torque, 33k
'92 alfa 164L, 203K
'88 alfa milano werde, 105k
'86 alfa gtwe6 3.0, 185k
'78 ducati darmah, 23k
'72 de tomaso pantera, 80k

"Jason Hagen" <hagen_jason1@domain.elided> wrote:

>Alright, I am finally going to enter this thread...
>
>I am completely astonished to hear someone suggest going from a '94 LS to a 
>lesser 164 12-valve.  Where's the logic there?!  A little savings on a 
>timing belt change?  Come on, the rest of the car would be older, and 
>inferior (no offense), including electical, HVAC (R12), stepper, etc.
>
>My solution to putting high miles on my Alfas: have another cheap car you 
>don't mind putting miles on.  For me, this has been an old BMW 7 series.  
>E32 chassis (1988-1994).  This car is reliable, cheap to obtain ($3K to 
>$5K), and will take the miles like a champ. Or take the 5-series for that 
>matter at about the same vintage and prices...
>
>Keep the Alfas, but buy sensible back-ups.  But don't downgrade Alfas...
>
>- Jason Hagen
>'73 Spider
>'95 164Q
>'88 BMW 735i
>'98 Land Rover Discovery (not a sensible back-up, but the wife needs 
>something to drive!)
>
>
>>From: dsedon@domain.elided
>>Reply-To: dsedon@domain.elided
>>To: mike_nakamura@domain.elided, alfa-digest@domain.elided
>>Subject: 164 alternatives
>>Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2003 10:57:26 -0400
>>
>>hi mike,
>>
>>i couldn't see spendiing $15k-$20k on a car, unless it was at least 250hp, 
>>rwd, good handling...  dunno what fits that category in the new/relatively 
>>new category.
>>
>>all the suggestions i've seen would require *at least* as much $$$ for 
>>maintenance, imo, than what i would suggest getting:  a 91-93 164.  *much* 
>>cheaper to keep running than yer 94 ls, imo...
>>
>>we bought our '92 in 97, w/117k on the ticker.  it now has ~203k, & is 
>>still going strong.  since we've had it, it's had stepper motor gears 
>>replaced w/bronze gears, new heater core, new hvac fan, new tranny input 
>>shaft bearing replaced.  these were the spendy items.  (still awaiting the 
>>a/c compressor to fail!)  i saved a few $$$ by doing all but the tranny 
>>bearing myself.  the fambly yust returned from a week at the carolina outer 
>>banks, and ~1k more miles, & the car performed quite nicely.  it's hard to 
>>keep the hi-way speeds under 90, tho...  ;~)
>>
>>doug s.
>>
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