Surprise Success
the on-line newsletter of the delaware valley alfa romeo owners' club
Surprise SuccessTour to Lehigh Concours Turns Out Great
Bob Brady
Text for anchor 1.It was looking like it was going to be a bust. As this year's Concours d'Elegance of the Eastern United States approached, few people expressed interest in touring to and attending this remarkable exhibition of automotive kinetic sculpture. The club's annual tour to the Concours was about to become a solo event. All that changed a few days before the show.
First, a few die hard members called to say they were interested in going. Then, two Alfa owners from the Bethlehem area called with news that they were making arrangements for the DVAROC to have reserved parking at the top of the hill. Instead of parking with the unwashed masses at the base of the hill, the club's Alfas would be among the show cars!
The tour started as usual, with a breakfast at Friendly's in Horsham. While Jack Stoll, Frank Gil, Bob Daniele and the Brady's fueled up on coffee and bagels inside, Bill Conway and Doug Krautheim arrived outside. Once the last bits of bacon were put away, the intrepid touristi gathered outside to receive their instructions, synchronize watches and swap cell phone numbers. The latter action would prove critically important.
Frank Gil navigated for Doug as he piloted his Spider into the lead position. Following behind were the Daniele's in their spider, Bill Conway in his GTV-6 time machine and Jack Stoll in his surrogate Alfa. The little red GTV of Bob Brady with eight year old Matthew navigating brought up the rear. Shortly after the convoy started off, it became clear that PennDOT has been busy since last year. As Frank read the directions, Doug noticed that the landscape no longer appeared as described. Somewhat confused, he took the next best looking turn. Watching from behind, Bob reached for his phone and dialed the errant lead Spider. Finally, after ignoring several attempts at reaching them, Frank answered. A route was quickly devised to get the group back on track. While that proved successful, the mileage figures on the instructions were now moot. Undaunted, the lead team masterfully drew upon their second grade studies to make the necessary corrections. The tour was back on track, at least for a while.
Unknown to the rest of the group, Bob Brady had made plans with Ned Parks, one of the Alfisti who arranged for the club parking, to meet him on the way. As the tour meandered its way to the rendezvous site in Springtown, Bob grew ever more nervous. The tour departed late, as usual. Worse, it was well behind schedule. Would Ned wait 45 minutes?
As the band of merry Alfisti snaked their way past the Springtown Inn, the distinctive sound of an Alfa Spider's horn was heard. Ned, in his immaculate '74 Spider slid in front of Bob and joined the parade. All was well, at least for the moment.
About a half mile beyond the Inn, the tour had to navigate some tricky turns in order to stay on course. Doug and Frank made the turn without a hitch and kept the cars behind together, except for Ned who went straight where he should have gone right. Once again, the cell phones were pulled out in an effort to coordinate the recovery. As the main tour group took the over-the-hill and through the school route, the errant Spider followed by the GTV continued on an around the hill detour. With luck, they would meet in the next town.
While it was close, the car show traffic prevented the two groups from rejoining in town. So, Bob and Ned decided to wait for the others in the main parking lot. As the minutes ticked away, lesser vehicles continued to pass by with no Alfas in sight. Finally, when patience had reached its ebb, Bob reached for his phone one last time. "Where are you guys?" he asked. "On top of the hill, in the Alfa parking lot," Frank responded, "We've been waiting for you." Minutes later, everyone was back together, on top of the hill.
In the lot, which included club parking for Ferraris, BMWs and the English types, the Alfisti examined Ned's Spider. Like Bill Conway's GTV-6, the Spider was a time machine. A one-owner car, it was showroom perfect. The odometer indicated that it had been barely broken-in! While the parking lot exhibition was a treat, it was only an appetizer. The main course was a short walk away.
Every year, the Concours d'Elegance of the Eastern United States draws an exceptional collection of automobiles. This year, the show featured Pierce-Arrows and BMWs, though the field included everything from Dureyeas to Cistalias. In addition to the classics, Mercedes Benz, BMW and Lotus had tents with their latest offerings. Comparing the BMW 507 to the 507-derrived Z8, one could appreciate the influences of fifty years of automotive development. What had once been a trim, elegant spider has been transformed into a massive, potent luxo-cruiser. Chalk it up to changes in regulations, consumer demands for more comfort, features and crash protection, or just a change in mission but the Z8 is really nothing like its ancestor. At least it was attractive, which could not be said for the lime green Mercedes C hatchback which was in the nearby tent. There's not much that needs to be said about it except that like BMW, the new Mercedes offerings on display had none of the elegance of their forefathers parked next to them. Elegance however, was not in short supply on the lawn below. There, beautifully sculpted Pierce Arrows, Packards, Cadillacs and their ilk represented some of the finest achievements in pre-war automotive design. Vehicles such as a Cistalia formula car, a Lancia Auralia spider a BMW sports spider displayed new directions in automotive design after World War II. These vehicles were low, light and delicate looking. The achievements in luxury and craftsmanship of the pre-war sedans gave way to a new focus on efficiency and agility which was clearly realized. The evolution away from nimble, light sports cars towards potent performance was displayed by vehicles such as the Mary-Kay pink Lamborghini. All in all, the organizers did a fine job of providing a timeline of automotive achievement and design. In addition to road-going cars, BMW brought out their collection of race vehicles for the spectators to view and hear.
BMW of North America had several race cars on display, representing over forty years of development. Everything from sports racers of the fifties to sedans of the seventies to recently produced McLarens were there. When it was time for these cars to parade past the spectators and judges, the serenity of the mountain top campus was torn by the crack of un-muffled exhaust. Even though it wasn't Italian, the music from a V-12 ripping through rev band brought smiles to all. Particularly entertaining was watching the drivers attempt to inch their way up the hill to the viewing tent without stalling these beasts. A few laid black bands on the stone driveways to everyone's delight.
Perhaps it was their exhaust thunder that opened up the clouds because shortly after their parade, drops began to fall. With that, many of the Alfisti walked back to their cars, with fine memories and a torrential downpour to look forward to.
A 1936 Stout Scarab, the grandfather of mini -vans.
A beautiful Cistalia Grand Prix racer
A lovely and rare Alfa Romeo cousin, a Lancia Aurelia Spider. Like many Alfas, it uses a de-Dion transaxle. This car was recently featured in Autoweek. Its beautiful condition is the result of a near six-figure restoration.
Rain, What Rain?
Local
Alfisti Shine at New Hope Auto Show
Bob Brady
It seems like rain is becoming a tradition for the New Hope Auto Show. But, like every year, the local Alfisti remained undeterred, turning out in droves for this annual celebration of internal combustion. More than 25 Alfas packed the Alfa Romeo paddock. As usual, the NJAROC made a strong showing with a 2000 spider, a Giulia Sprint Veloce and a bunch of later spiders and V6 coupes and sedans. The DVAROC was not to be outdone, however, as Arthur Jones and Charlie Crothers brought the only Giulia spiders. Charlie even drove in with the top down and umbrella up. Bill Conway chose his GTV-6 from among his vast collection of low mileage Alfas to share with us. Bob Daniele drove his pretty silver spider. As usual, I stuffed (literally!) the kiddies into the back of my GTV and helped flank the line-up along with another red, '74 GTV from New Jersey that just gets better looking each year.
The most impressive Alfa among the luminaries was likely Jim Itin's Giulia Sprint. It was great to see it back on the road after a hiatus for some transmission repairs needed after the drive back from the Kansas City AROC convention with a torn donut. As usual, Jim went all out, going as far as replacing his blue silicone plug wires with the correct CAVIS green ones upon arrival.
Jim Itin's beautiful Giulia Sprint was one of the best.
Even though the Alfas were clearly the highlight of the show, there were other cars to enjoy. Among the best was a voluptuous Ferrari 250 Lusso that looked like it was ready to pounce. The field of Loti, Panteras and Lamborghinis was a bit thin, however, probably due to the threatening skies. And, in an apparent effort to move the show upscale, there was no flea market this year. Nonetheless, like every year, the New Hope Auto Show was a great opportunity to socialize among like minded Italian car fanatics, take a walk into town for a bite to eat or a ride on a steam engine, and just bask in the radiance of hundreds of classic, antique and exotic automobiles.
Even though umbrellas were plentiful at New Hope, the Alfas, undeterred by the weather, were even more plentiful.
Arthur Jones and Charlie Crothers provided the only Giulia Spiders. Both were looking great.
Bob Daniele's Spider in front of the Ferraris.
Something old, something... not so old.
A rare 2000 Spider next to a not so rare, '74 GTV.
Bob's BabblingsBob Brady
Summer Comes to A Close I can't believe September is already coming to a close. Back in May, I had such grand plans including: time trials in Summit Point, Watkins Glen, Rausch Creek, Pocono and Lime Rock, a Sprint to get back on the road, a GTV race car to build, a couple of newsletters to publish, a bunch of Alfa events to attend and finally a trip to Watkins Glen for the vintage Grand Prix. Well, it just wasn't meant to be. A torn knee kept me from driving the Glen as well as delayed many of my car projects. A bad case of writer's block coupled with more time spent at work than I would have liked kept La Voce on the back burner until now. Some poor drainage kept Rausch Creek from opening. And, a whole host of things kept the garage stagnant. It's only been in the last few weeks that the Sprint has finally made it back on the road, though it still needs to be inspected.
On the bright side, I did manage to make it to a few events such as a COMSCC time trial at Summit Point, our tour to the Concours d'Elegance at Lehigh, the Tri-Chapter Swap Meet in York, and the New Hope Auto Show. So, I did manage to give the GTV a little exercise. At the same time, I managed to drive it through more rain than it's seen in many years. Some say we had a drought this summer, I say bunk. At every one of the aforementioned events, I drove through a torrential downpour, for at least part of the time. In the end, I'd much rather drive it in the rain than not drive it at all, even though the routine of cleaning it up afterwards has become old. Just remember, even Alfas are just cars and as such were meant to be DRIVEN. My real regret is that I didn't get to drive it enough during the past few months.
I hope your summer has been better, although it seems like everyone I've talked to has had a tough one as well. Not to fret, it's almost over. And, as far as I'm concerned, fall is THE season for Alfas, particularly in the Delaware Valley. In addition to the ideal weather to enjoy our cars, fall brings with it our premier event of the season, the fall picnic.
Fall Picnic For many years now, the DVAROC holds its fall picnic at Brookside farm in Paoli. This year will be no exception. In addition to providing ample grounds to display our cars, a wonderfully picturesque backdrop of colorful trees, and warm hospitality, the site is also home to some of the finest examples of Alfa Romeos. As usual, we'll be offering gourmet bag lunches for you to picnic on the lawn, among the cars. We'll also be holding our annual elections.
Elections Every year at the fall picnic, we hold elections for president of the club. I'd like to try to fill our officer ranks out a bit. We (I) could use a vice-president or an events coordinator to help plan and execute events. It's really a pretty minor commitment of time, a couple of hours per month, max. So, if you have even an inkling of interest in serving your car club, please consider running.
What's Next? Another topic that should be covered at the fall picnic is events. Our schedule is becoming pretty standard: fall picnic, fall tour, winter lunch, spring tech session, tri-chapter swap meet, tour to Lehigh Concours, New Hope and back to the picnic. Is there something you'd like to do that we're currently not doing? As always, I rely on you to feed event ideas to me. If you have an idea, an interest, a suggestion, please let me know either in person, by phone (610)925-1837 or by email: bbrady@rodel.com.
I hope to see you at the picnic. In the mean time, the weather is perfect, go out for a drive! -bob .
Letters to La Voce[I periodically request input to La Voce via email. Once in a while, someone sends back a contribution. Here's a recent one - Ed.]
I don't really have anything for La Voce, however, I did have an interesting "Alfa" experience last Friday. I have wanted an Alfa Romeo Montreal since I became aware of their existence when I first started working on Alfa's (1987). I have watched the Alfa classifieds and Hemmings for Montreals through the years and every once in a while I would see one adverstised for sale but it would invariably be too much money or too far away. Something about that body by Bertone and the V-8 engine from the Tipo 33 sports racer really appealed to me, although I was not enamored by the
idea of dealing with the Spica fuel injection. The more I saw these cars on the various Alfa web-sites, the more I wanted one. Last year, someone named Chris had one for sale in central NJ for $10K, an original example, black in color and apparently a daily driver. I'm still kicking myself for not
pursuing that opportunity. Anyway, week before last I spot a Montreal for sale in Hemmings for $5500. I had seen a couple of others that very day on the internet for $14,000 and $28,000, so I just had to see this car even though I knew it would probably be toasted based on the asking price alone.
I called the gentlemen selling the car and arranged to drive to his location in North Jersey last Friday. I arrived at the appointed hour and sure enough, there in the driveway sat an orange 1974 Montreal. After exchanging pleasantries with the seller, I began to inspect the car. The exterior was in very poor condition with large patches of rust everywhere and holes in the sheetmetal, holes at the top of the front fenders where they meet the cowl and holes at the rear where the
upper and lower rear quarter panels meet the tail light. Now I've chopped out rot and welded in new metal on my 78' Spider (rocker panels and front/rear quarter panels), but this was way beyond my abilities. I crawled around under the car at all four corners with a flashlight and everything seemed to be in order, even the oil cooler hanging off the rear differential. The interior and headliner were mildewed and the carpets were removed, but all the glass was intact and all the guages worked, albeit in Italian as the car was never marketed in the US. I sat in the car for a few minutes and, even in its deteriorated state, I knew it was special and so much larger inside than my other Alfa's (Spider/GTV-6). I started the motor and let it idle for a few minutes before I revved it a few times. The motor ran very roughly. I had already inspected under the hood and found that beautiful alloy V-8 with four overhead cams right where they're supposed to be. While I had the motor running I stuck my head back under the hood and heard a very deep engine knock which I presumed to be either main or rod bearings. I pulled the coolant cap and didn't find any "mayonaisse", however, the bearing knock and generally filthy state of the engine compartment would have mitigated in favor of removal and total rebuild. The car was not driveable attributable to dodgey hydraulics so a test drive was out of the question. The seller had excused himself so that I might inspect the vehicle undistiurbed but reappeared when I started the engine. We discussed the history of the car and how it came in to his possession, but as we talked I was asking myself one question: If I buy the car and get it home, will I regret it? The answer was yes as it was too far gone sheetmetal wise in comparison to my rudimentary skills and tools. As Clint Eastwood is fond of saying, "A man's gotta know his limitations." Ultimately, I did not make an offer for the car but did remark to the seller that the car would be
very appealing to an individual with bodyworking skills, especially at that price, and that the Montreal was the featured vehicle for the Alfa clubs attending the east coast italian car concours 6/29-72 in the Poconos. I thought about that car all the way home and think I made the right decision,
but it was worth the trip to see and touch a piece of Alfa Romeo history. Thanks. Ed Hidalgo
On The track...Bob Brady
Unfortunately, since the last edition of La Voce, Scuderia Veloce, the four GTVs of Bill Shields, Eliot Shanabrook, Stephan DePenasse, both of the NEAROC, and myself, haven't managed to get much track time this summer. Both Bill and myself only made it to Summit Point. Stephan had to postpone his racing career while he changed his daytime career. Eliot, on the other hand, started vintage racing and has made quite a go at it. His blue GTV could be seen during many a racing weekend dicing with other Alfas, Datsuns, BMWs and other seasoned cars.
Next year, with some luck, Bill will join him on the vintage circuit. Me, I still have to build a suitable race car from the shell of a GTV that sits in my garage. I've decided that I don't want to go fender to fender with my red GTV. For now, that car will be limited to time trials. Maybe in 2003 I'll be able to hit the vintage scene. For this year, there's still some hope to make it to Lime Rock before the snow hits. EMRA has a time trial in early November and COMSCC has a two day event there during Thanksgiving week.
While, Scudderia Veloce never made it on the track this summer, some other members from our local chapter did get a chance to get some track time. Can you recognize the driver ? For more photos of this event, point your browser to: www.kappasolutions.co.uk/arocgoodwood/news.htm There, you will find an album of photographs of many rare and beautiful Alfas.
In The Garage..."Just a couple of minor things to fix"
Bob Brady
I can hear myself rationalizing to my lovely and patient wife, Marie. "It only needs a couple of minor things and it'll be on the road in no time, " I said of the 1960 Sprint I was about to purchase. Well, in my passion for that lovely design I violated one of the cardinal rules, never buy an Alfa that has been sitting.
For many reasons, Alfas seem to be have particular trouble with sitting. Items that are especially prone to having problems when left unused include: brake calipers and cylinders, fuel lines and tanks, electrical bits, and even thermostatic actuators, for those of us with SPICA cars. What all the mechanical components have in common is that they rely on periodic use to keep corrosion in check. I've said it many times, but the best thing you can do to keep your Alfa in good running order is to drive it. Unfortunately, the previous owner of the Sprint left it sit for about three years before I acquired it.
While a '60 Sprint appears to have much in common with the 105/115 series cars, like my GTV, further inspection reveals there is really very little interchangeable. I'm perfectly comfortable tearing into just about every part on the GTV. The Sprint, on the other hand, has several components that I haven't toyed with since High School: drum brakes, a carburetor, and ignition points. Disc brakes, fuel injection and electronic ignitions are automotive advances that I've taken for granted. Now it was time to relearn the joys of their predecessors. Brakes were first.
While the car had some ability to stop when I first brought it home, it was pretty clear that those much-touted big, beautiful Alfin drum brakes weren't living up to their reputation. Upon inspection, the front brake cylinders appeared to be new as the owner stated. The rears, however, needed some work.
I knew I was in for a longer than anticipated job when the hard brake line I was removing twisted in half. After some wrangling, I finally managed to remove the brake cylinders for inspection. While one appeared salvageable, the other's bore was sufficiently scored to make it a write-off. My list of parts to buy was increasing.
By coincidence, the last time I had to replace a hard line was also in my last drum brake equipped vehicle, a '71 Toyota Landcruiser. By coincidence, or not, I also spent many hours with that beast freeing frozen brake cylinders and adjusters. Come to think of it, when I bought that one, it also had marginal braking ability; needing two pumps of the pedal for every stop. Replacing the hard line in the 'Cruiser involved a quick stop at the dealer and five minutes of wrenching. I had hoped for the same on the Alfa, but was quickly introduced to the challenges of finding parts for a forty year old Italian car with no dealer presence in the U.S.
After trying all the usual sources for lines, Centerline, Alfa Stop, AFRA, etcetras with no luck, I turned next to my local NAPA who also offered little help. All I wanted was for someone to bend and flare new lines for me. Perhaps it is liability concerns that make people shy away from making brake lines because I could find no one willing to do so. It looked like my only alternative was to buy a flaring tool and do them myself. On the bright side, it gave me an excuse to add another tool to my collection, as if I needed an excuse.
Flaring brake lines is very simple. Flaring brake lines so they seal properly is MUCH more difficult. After several practice attempts I finally felt confident to flare the lines I needed. While they initially looked okay, I could never get them to seal properly into the brake cylinder. In desperation, I took off from work to visit Falcones and get some advice from Vince. I was hoping to find that I had the wrong tool or some other obvious, simple problem. (Continued on Page 8)
Unfortunately, I found that it just takes practice and patience. I was now weeks into my "fifteen minute" job. On the bright side, there's always a bright side, the brake line ordeal was giving me time to receive the new brake cylinders, master cylinder rebuild kit and miscellaneous other odds and ends I ordered from Centerline. On the less than bright side, I learned from Ruth that my $75 brake cylinders were identical to Triumph TR-6 cylinders which can be readily obtained for half that price. Hopefully, someone can benefit from that little tidbit of information. So, after several more attempts at making the "perfect" flare, I finally succeeded and now had new hard lines installed, along with shiny new brake cylinders.
Excited by my new achievement I took a short drive to see how those famous brakes pulled down my Sprint with aplomb. As I went to stop at the end of the driveway, it became crystal clear that there was more work to be done. Pushing the brake pedal with all my strength stopped the car about as well as dragging my foot out the door. The new brake cylinders were definitely working, but something else wasn't doing its part. I gingerly drove back into the garage and went after the master cylinder.
Over the years, I've had several master cylinders fail on me. Recently, the brake pedal on my GTV went to the floor. That is the way they always failed for me. On the Sprint, the brake pedal was firm, so initially I thought the MC was fine. After pulling it out for inspection, however, it was pretty clear that it was not.
Once off the car and on the bench, I could see the problem. The MC would move and pump some fluid, but it was hanging up when the pedal was released which reduced the total amount of fluid it could displace. Fortunately, I had a new MC rebuild kit in my box of new parts goodies.
Vince's tech session on brakes a couple of years ago came in handy. Once again, I had an excuse to buy another tool, this time a set of brake cylinder hones. After disassembling, cleaning, honing, re-cleaning and installing the new internals I had a fully-functional MC. I took the opportunity to drain the system of its silicone brake fluid and replace it with Castrol LMA when I reinstalled the cylinder. At this point, I thought I was done. The brake pedal now felt fine. There appeared to be no air in the lines. The shoes were adjusted. All systems were go. Back out on the road, the brakes felt and worked much better, but there was still a strong pull to the right under hard braking. Worse, it still didn't stop as well as I thought it should. Engaging the parking brake partially made great improvements, indicating that either the shoes needed further adjustment or that there was still air in the system. After more adjusting and more bleeding, the brakes still didn't live up to my expectations. At this point, however, they were functional and I needed to move on to other pressing matters if it was ever going to get inspected.
Having a Ball with Ball Joints The next item on the hit list of things to fix was tie rod ends and upper ball joints. When I inspected the front suspension, I found excessive play in the wheels which turned out to be worn tie rod ends and upper ball joints. While the tie rod ends were readily available and reasonably priced, upper ball joints were a different matter. Centerline had them in their catalog, but were on backorder. Alfa Stop claimed they were to be offered shortly, as soon as they worked out a minor manufacturing problem they were having with them. Only AFRA had them in stock. All of them were priced around $300 for the pair. Yikes! I was going through sticker shock. As I patiently but nervously waited for Alfa Stop to work out their supplier problems, I did some further investigation. According to the exploded view in the shop manual, it looked as if they were fully adjustable. Perhaps all I needed to do was adjust them. After talking over my plight with Vince and Ruth, they confirmed that indeed they were adjustable. They also noted that they have never had to replace them. So, armed with new information, I began the removal process.
When I was first talking with the previous owner about the Sprint, he proudly pointed out that he coated the entire underside of the car with "some stuff my parents had around the house in a 55 gal. drum that they used to coat military equipment being shipped across the Atlantic during World War II." While that sticky goo may have helped preserve the car over the years, it also made any repairs to it a big mess. Working on the suspension was no exception.
After experimenting a bit, I found the best goo removal technique to involve first scraping the bulk of it off and then cleaning the rest of it off with kerosene. This was no fun, I can assure you. I felt like an archeologist digging to find the remnants of the elegant upper control arm castings under-neath years of accumulated gunk. Hours later, I looked upon my clean front suspension and started removing the ball joint.
It is amazing how automotive technology has advanced from the 50's to the 70's and beyond. Nearly every component on the Sprint is designed to be repaired instead of replaced. All the suspension pieces have grease fittings. Most of them can be disassembled and rebuilt. Of course, all those rebuildable pieces require more maintenance than modern units. But, when you are faced with replacing parts that haven't been made in forty years, it is comforting to know you have the option to rebuild instead.
The ball joints were perfect examples of that. Once they were removed from the car, I cleaned off the forty year old crust that was once grease and found perfectly serviceable components underneath. Just as my research indicated, the ball joints could be made to operate as designed with the addition of a shim and some adjustment of the caps. Pretty soon, I had ball joints that moved properly and had no unwanted play. The tie rods were even easier.
Unlike the ball joints, new tie rods were relatively inexpensive. So, instead of rebuilding the units I had, I opted to replace them. The only downside of this was that the replacements didn't have the grease fittings like the original units. No matter, I want to drive this car, not show it. The last item on the front suspension refurbishment list was to give it a much overdue lube.
Another change in automotive technology that I forgot to mention earlier was the move away from grease fittings. Most of the cars I've owned have come from the 70's, a period in which grease fittings progressively disappeared. The Sprint, on the other hand, has fittings aplenty. I stopped counting at 15, on the front suspension alone! With my grease gun empty, I finally had a refurbished front suspension. Now, there were only "a couple of other minor things" to fix.
Donuts and a Shake One of the other off-hand comments the previous owner made to me during the purchase was that the car has had a driveline vibration for some time. Soon after I brought the car home, I discovered that it had a donut with a segment missing. So, along with the brake and suspension work I had to do I needed to replace that torn donut. That job, unlike nearly every other job I've tackled in the past year actually went better than planned. Literally, it was a fifteen minute affair.
The next morning when I took it for a test drive, the former shake was gone. Oddly, though, a metallic scraping sound began a few miles down the road. Concerned, I pulled over and looked underneath. Seeing nothing, I then checked the engine bay. Nothing. Gingerly, I pulled back on the road and headed for home. The noise grew louder, then suddenly stopped. In the mirror I could see something bouncing across the road. Then, it hit me. In my 2am rush to finish the donut, I neglected to cut off the metal shipping strap on the donut. At least now it was gone. (Continued on page 9)
Exhausted The last major "minor" item that needed to be fixed on the Sprint was the exhaust. Years ago, the original 1300 was swapped out with the 1600 that had been in the Spider that also came along with the package deal. In typical used Alfa fashion, the Sprint came along with a matching Spider, or at least the remnants of what was once a Spider. The engine from the Spider now resided in the Sprint. The Sprint's 1300 was converted over to a 1400, which sat on a crate. Got that? Anyway, when the 1600 was put in the Sprint, the original exhaust manifolds along with the electrics stayed in the car. That would have been fine, except that one of the 1300 manifolds had a poorly repaired crack in it. While it didn't appear to leak, it didn't look very promising. So, since I needed to replace the rusted out exhaust system, I took the opportunity to replace the manifolds with a 105 series set which seem to be multiplying in my garage. The newer manifolds offered several advantages. First, they were correct for the 1600. Second, they appeared to have larger passages and therefore should offer a bit more power. They did cause one complication however. Now my Giulietta was definitely not as Luigi intended. Therefore, buying an exhaust for it from one of the usual sources would not be so simple. On the bright side, remember, there's always a bright side, this gave me an excuse to go into the exhaust fabrication business.
In retrospect, building my own exhaust system was neither cost-effective nor time-effective. On the other hand, you just can't put a price on experience. I can hear the Visa commercial now: "Exhaust bends, $100, tubing, $50, MiG welder, $350, glass pack mufflers, $40, the satisfaction of doing it yourself, priceless."
Instead of either buying a pipe bender or having sections bent at an exhaust shop, I opted to buy an assortment of J bends from a header supply vendor. I chose Stahl headers in York both because they had a convenient online catalog and because they were close enough to home to be able to pick up the parts.
From the exhaust manifolds, I started with 1.5" dia. tubing. Shortly thereafter, I ran 1 5/8" tubing. I played pipe fitter, cutting sections of the J bends with a metal cutting blade on a circular saw. I tack-welded each subsequent section until the exhaust was routed to just in front of the transmission. Unfortunately, because Stahl didn't have two-into-one collectors, I had to build my own from larger diameter exhaust tubing, some sheet metal, and lots of weld bead. After many hours of fun-filled cutting, fitting and welding, the down-pipes were complete. The rest was all downhill.
From the collector, I ran 2 _" pipe through two glass-pack mufflers, per Pat Braden's recommendations. At the rear axle, I had to once again do some pipe fitting to get the proper routing under it. Thinking that I wanted a more aggressive sound, I opted to run the tail pipe without a muffler, something I would live to regret.
The morning after finishing the exhaust, I fired up my now road-worthy Sprint. When it fired up, I was a bit surprised. The two glass-packs sounded like they were doing nothing to muffle the sound. The Harley guys still had a few dBs on me, but I could now clearly hang proud with the flatulent, slammed Honda home boys. While the 2 _" diameter tail pipe wasn't quite coffee can sized, it was close. After about 30 seconds on the road, the volume started to wear on me. Sure, the sound of that Italian twin cam at full throttle pumped my adrenaline as it wound up towards 7000 rpms. But, it was clearly not going to be tolerable as a daily driver. Marie informed me that she could hear me coming from a mile away. Apparently, Pat Braden was no expert on exhaust systems.
Beep Beep The last hurdle standing between me and having the Sprint pass state inspection was the lack of a horn. The dangling wires that hung underneath the horn were a pretty good indication of what was wrong with it. Unfortunately, they hung in a virtually inaccessible place, between the radiator and the front grill. On the bright side, it gave me an excuse to flush the cooling system.
As with the donut replacement, fixing the horn was remarkably easy. It appeared as though the horn was installed backwards which prevented the wiring from being able to be connected to it. This may have occurred many years ago when the front sheet metal was replaced in an accident repair. Two bolts later, I connected the wires to the horn and Viola! I had an Alfa ready for inspection.
Now What? The Sprint is closer than ever to being on the road. It's not yet inspected, but it's essentially ready. The brakes still need some attention and during some recent road tests I discovered that the clutch slips. I also found a cracked main jet fitting in the carburetor. On the bright side, I looked underneath one of my work benches the other night and discovered a nearly new looking Weber 32 DGA carb that will make a perfect replacement for the broken Solex. So, it seems as though I still have "a couple of minor things to fix." Meanwhile, I continue to accumulate goodies to install on the GTV. The future race car GTV languishes and my hopes of having it ready to paint before the weather turns cold are fading fast. And then, there's the Spider shell that sits in the back of the garage. I'm thinking that's not going to see the light of day until at least 2004. Both that one and the white GTV have slightly more than "a couple of minor things to fix."
On The Road...Driving the new toy
Bob Brady
Nearly all my driving experience with Alfas has been in cars of '70s vintage and newer. So, when I finally got the Sprint roadworthy, I was pretty excited to tool down the rural roads of southern Chester county with it.
Just sitting in the Sprint forces my mouth to smile. The elegant interior with svelte but sturdy switches is something unknown in newer vehicles. From the beautifully designed gages to the 50's chic upholstery it just exudes sophistication. On the road, my smiles turn to giggles of excitement.
Steering is light, probably mostly due to those bicycle sized 155 tires. It seems to have just the right ratio, not go-kart quick but not American iron slow, just right. The gear shift is typical Alfa, precise with just the right feedback to what it's connected to. The mechanical clutch however, is not particularly good. It is slightly stiffer than the later hydraulic units and feels somewhat vague. Perhaps that's mainly due to worn linkage, something that will be added to the "fix it" list. If the clutch is not good, the brakes are worse. Those huge, sexy Alfin drums were largely responsible for me buying the car. They have a reputation for being powerful and precise. Mine, still in need of some work, are somewhat scary. Pedal feel is much harder than the boosted brakes I've become accustomed to. Worse though, is that their stopping ability is marginal and requires quite a bit of steering input to keep the car going straight. Again, I really don't think it is typical. Mine just need some more work. At least I hope so.
Those few minor glitches are completely forgotten on the road. Handling is light, nimble, though not particularly sticky. The Sprint has MUCH more body roll than I'm used to, but doesn't appear to suffer from it. It takes some getting used to, but soon you realize that even though the car feels like a boat healing over, it is still one with the road. It is also very softly sprung, at least compared to the GTV. After a few miles of bumpy back roads, the spring rate feels perfect. Finally, there is the sound. Yes, the exhaust is loud, maybe even obnoxious for daily use, but there's nothing like blasting down a sunken tree-lined lane with the throttle wide open. It feels like piloting a WWII fighter. Soon, this should become a daily pleasure.