Alfa Spider dilema question. To fix or not to fix.
 

I'm trying to unload my collection of vehicles that have grown over the years.

One is a 1982 Alfa Spider Veloce.

It is in need of a paint job because the drip who conned me into painting it two years ago must have used 1/2 pint of paint thinned out with 2 gallons of thinner.

After two years sitting outside the paint is blistering and the nose that he 'fixed' has cracked badly.

The car runs fine and apart from the brake job and alignment I 'was' going to do
it needs nothing....well, all right, second gear syncro...but that's all.

Everything works, new tyres, upholstery, a/c fully operational, 48k miles and a new vinyl top.

I think I have a picture...I'll put it on Putfile with a link at bottom of this page.

Anyweather..Question is.Do I paint it and sell it, or sell it as is?

I have a 92 Mercedes 300e, '99 Audi A4 Turbo Quattro,'97 Miata,'84 VW Westy all to fix and sell too.....so I have plenty of work ahead.

Would I be better off selling as is or take some time to prep' and paint this Alfa....I will paint it myself this time.:mad:?

Would appreciate all and any input no matter how crytical.

Many thanks folks..Pictures here....including the '67 T3 Wagen....another project.

http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7255824

PS..Sorry about the picture #'s...#1 pic is full pic of Alfa......That's Dingo my dog fixing to water the Audi....he gets in everywhere.

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It sounds like a nice car. It is pretty hard to tell anything from the pics with the ice and all.....(Hey, it looks shiney!).....

It may well be worth making it a no excuses car. It looks and sounds as if it is already close to that.

Tom W

Thanx Tom.

The #1 picture in that album was the whole car.
It realy needs only the calipers rebuilt, alignment, 2 gear syncro and paint.

Drives real nice apart from brake pull to left and second gear crunches with a quick 1 2 shift...although I have driven dozens of Alfa's and Fiats with the same 1 2 gear problem.

Last one on eBay like it, a '84 ? went for 6 grand or so.

BTW...those ice pic's where last years ice storm.( 2006.)


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sometimes you can help a weak synchro by putting in thicker oil.

Tom W

It is running the special oil Alfa specified for this gearbox..GL-5 .I got it from Vic's Autosports in Dallas.

They tell me thicker oil will wear out the syncros .

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Does that one have EFI? If the paint is the weak link then paint it. You can still get a lot of parts from Bayless and some other places AFAIK. Is that a 2L?

2.0 twin cam. Bosch EFI.

Engine is tight and rev's quickly....I don't need to do anything except what I mentioned.

It worked for me when the synchros were already worn. I drained out the atf that was specified in one of my 240ds and put in rotella 15w40 motor oil. The car shifts without crunching now.

Tom W

Most gear oils are made for hypoid rears and have anti-friction additives that are not suited to the Porsche type synchromesh found in an Alfa trans. GM sells a "friction modified" gear oil, RedLine sells an "NS" - non slip- gear oil; both are made to enhance synchronizer function.

I believe I am correct in saying the mb tranny has porsche type synchronizers too. Although it is not recommended by folks more expert in oils than I am I just did it because I remembered having done similar things in the past and it worked for me.

Tom W

I like the T3

What would you take for her now?
 

Let me know what you would want for her in the state she is in...

If you were to paint herand do the brakes, what would you want then?

I always loved those little alfas!

Cool car... looks naked with no rear spoiler, though!

Digg the Audi, too. What does it need?

My Brava had a 2L twin cam w/ Bosch EFI L-Jetronic. That was a nice torquey (sp?) engine. Was still running great when I sold it. Not huge power though but good for a light weight car. All I had to do was clean the dist cap every once in a while. The rest of the car fell apart...

All the Benz trans I have had apart used the Borg-Warner type synchromesh. I have not taken a later model (124 and newer) apart, they could very well have Porsche type synchros. Early Benz trans used ATF, but I would not recommend it for an Alfa. The gears in a Benz trans run on needle bearings, in the Alfa, other than first gear, they run on bushings.