[alfa] Help - Stuck in Houston - Spider for sale

[Bob Smith <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I left my home in Waco this morning and headed to Houston to visit my 
seriously ill mother.  I encountered some difficulty on the return trip 
just outside of Houston near Hempstead.  I left the car there while I'm 
trying to find transportation home.  I simply don't have time to mess 
with this car at the moment and had been considering selling it anyway. 
 I'll gladly part with this for an even semi reasonable offer.  I have 
the capability to return with a trailer and haul it home if I have to 
but circumstances are such that I just don't want to deal with that at 
the moment.  If you want a great deal on a red 76 Spider, now's your  
chance.

I've owned this car since about '95.  It was purchased from Basically 
Italian in Dallas.  It was essentially a car assembled from various 
spares around the shop.  The engine was completely rebuilt and has 
always run reliably, strong and smooth.  It has a weber conversion.  
The body is straight, the top is a bit ragged on the inside but looks 
fine on the outside and has no major leaks.  New door panels were 
installed about three years ago.  The seats are from an Alfetta and a 
bit ragged, but covered with cheap fake sheepskins.  It has an almost 
new set of 15" Panosport wheels with Toyo tires.  The car looks sharp 
on the outside.  It's biggest weak points are that it needs interior 
work and the floor pans are serviceable but rusty.  I have an original 
set of 14" turbina wheels to go with it.  They don't look all that 
great, but they ran true and smooth.  I think they have an old set of 
Michelin's mounted on them.

I think the current problem with the car is a failed rear wheel 
bearing... maybe something else in the rear end but most likely the 
wheel bearing.  The driver side rear wheel is not spinning freely.  
When I exited the freeway for a routine stop, the brakes didn't work as 
well as normal (probably because one wheel was VERY hot).  By the time 
I slowed I was hearing all sorts of awful noises from that area and the 
drivers side rear wheel was seriously smoking.  At highway speed 
nothing seemed unusual. I assumed that the parking brake (which I know 
from being in there a while back) might have failed and locked up.  I 
removed the disk and all of the parking brake gear.  It did appear 
overly worn and one of the shoe hold down pieces was missing.  The main 
brake caliper and pads looked normal and seemed to be in good 
condition. I reassembled that wheel without any of the parking brake 
gear thinking I'd solved the problem.  As I tried to drive away I heard 
the same unusual mechanical noises from the area of that wheel.  When 
both rear wheels are jacked up off the ground and the car is in 
neutral, the passenger side wheel spins freely and the drivers side is 
extremely difficult to turn.  I'm fairly certain but not positive that 
this isn't a brake issue.

The car has current Texas registration.  The inspection sticker is 
expired (the horn needs to be rewired).  I have a clean title.

If interested email me at bob@domain.elided or call my cell at 
254-722-8810  I'll tell you where you can look at it.  At this point, 
I'd rather part with this car for a very low price than deal with 
hauling it back to Waco.

Thanks

Bob Smith
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