Comments on: Picking up an Alfa

By: Swade

Swade — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:30:23 +0000

Don’t worry about the ‘oops’. There was no way of knowing it’d need to be done. I just wish I’d had that knowledge, that’s all.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:17:58 +0000

Oops, sorry

(Glad to see you still on deck here. Been away and haven’t caught up yet.)

By: Swade

Swade — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:25:40 +0000

Hmmmm. I wish I’d known that battery thing a few days ago, Anthony. Will check it out. I think it’ll be a few weeks/months before i’ve got it to spec for CMI events, but I definitely want to get to a few in the near term just to check them out. They have one at Symmons in a few weeks time that I’d love to do, but I’ll be tied up for the day, unfortunately.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:05:50 +0000

Hi Swade,

Congrats on the 33. I must pop along to a CMI day sometime and have a look.

You missed out on the Recaros then? The good news is that the mounts in a 33 have Recaro spacing, so it’s easy to fit decent seats.

I hope you got the right battery – one that has a tube to vent outside the double firewall compartment thing. Otherwise your electrics are toast. The other thing to do is get some after market tie rods so you can get the toe in right (the factory ones can only be adjusted by a whole turn at a time) and obviously fit some decent struts (Koni yellows dialled up stiff help keep the front down).

Have fun with it, I certainly enjoyed mine when I had it and had 5 trouble-free years with it.

cheers,
Anthony

By: NineTwoX

NineTwoX — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 04:58:34 +0000

Maybe you need to replace your brake lines with some stainless steel braided brake lines? Might take the squishyness out of them. Also, when you do that upgrade, you can change out the pads/fluid to some performance ones.

By: Swade

Swade — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 03:25:13 +0000

The brakes are terrible, Robin. It’s strange that make something the goes so well and stops so poorly. Hopefully there’s a simple enough solution for getting a better feel.

By: Robin Capper

Robin Capper — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 00:03:36 +0000

The only Alfa boxer I’ve ever driven was an elderly AlfaSud. Athough the car was a bit of a rust ravaged wreck the engine was a gem.

Are the brakes weak, worn or just the usual Italian over-servoed feel? When I jump from my old Uno to the newer Bravo the first few stops are rather abrupt as the newer car has much less pedal travel!

Have fun with your new Italian mistress!

By: eggsngrits

eggsngrits — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 12:19:25 +0000

Swade: You’re right. The Euro red only lasts about 20 minutes in either the southern US or Oz. Easy call.

By: swade

swade — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 02:05:24 +0000

Cwilson – you’re right. Any parts that fall off were just excess weight.

Eggs – red italian paint fading? You were shooting fish in a barrel with that one cobber, but you were dead-on. The rear spoiler and the side mirrors are about three shades darker than around 90% of the rest of the car. It’s a mish-mash of reds, kinda like a lipstick color chart.

By: eggsngrits

eggsngrits — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 19:26:32 +0000

Well, I'm feeling pretty good about myself because I called it! If you see my comments on the earlier post, you'll notice that I commented that the paint was uneven and needed some work.