[alfa] RE: Rotary Alfa

["eric h" <ejham@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Years ago, Guy Hamilton and I began looking at various Alfas with the idea
of installing a spare 13B rotary he had 'lying around.' (Some of you might
remember Guy, he was a Merchant Marine and part-time Alfa mechanic in
Clearwater, FL.) The cross-member in the 105-series was a deal-breaker and
we couldn't find older models cheap/rough enough to perform the conversion
and still sleep at night.

I was always curious if anyone had successfully done it. Looks like you
almost made it, Dave.

The RX8 is brilliant but takes some getting used to. Clutching needs to be
really smooth and gradual or it jerks around a lot due, I've decided, to the
carbon-fiber driveshaft. I haven't taken a close look yet as I've only had
the car since Saturday but I'm pretty sure there are no universal joints in
the system. The rear end uses CV joints just like the transaxle Alfas.

Speaking of transaxle cars...I was amused when I was given to understand
that my girlfriend's '98 Corvette has a transaxle-type layout. Since it sits
about 3" off the pavement, I've not had a chance to visually verify this -- 
but I find it satisfying to think that it took GM 20 years to follow Alfa
into even weight distribution!

This weekend I commence installation of the Delortos with Euro intake setup
into my Spider. When complete, the setup will be as true to the period as
possible since all the parts are vintage '70s. This is not at all like the
kits from IAP, et al.

There will be a couple deviations: I'll be moving to an electric cooling fan
installed on the outside of the radiator and I'm planning on ditching the
points in favor of a Crane electronic ignition. Anyone had problems with
their implementation on the Marreli distributor?

- Eric Hambleton, Marietta, GA

1976 Spider (hangar queen receiving upgrades)
1998 Corvette (part-time)
2004 RX8
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