Hi,

I’ve bought a 74 Alfa Spider which is in great nik having only 52k and only 10k in the last 16 yrs.

I’m thinking this plus could also be a neg as i indend to use it as my summer car so i’m worried about gaskets etc having deteriated and they’ll blow if i push the car and be very pricey to fix.

I was thinking about a rebuild as a preventative measure, depending on cost of course.

It’s a 2 ltr twin oh cam with twin webers

ta

http://www.ianellisalfas.co.uk/
http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/the-classic-alfa-romeos/148516-classic-spider-restoration-video.html

Probably depends on where you live, labour rates etc.

We have a very good engine restorer/machine shop in town although more of a parts restore than whole engine strip/rebuild place

thanks, for some reason just the alfa wheeler dealers clips have been removed from youtube?

You won’t need a rebuild unless it has been oil starved (alfa’s do need topping up) and run lots of short trips.

Just do a compression test and look for any obvious oil leaks. If compression is fine in each cyclinder and its not losing oil badly, just service it and enjoy!

It’s an old alfa.

It’s going to break down in a number of crazy ways that you cannot yet even imagine. Unless you go for a total full rebuild of the whole car, then “preventative” maintanace is not really worth it.

To be honest, those old engines are pretty bulletproof, unless like the 2l lump fitted to my 83 GTV, you throw a conrod at 120mph……
Just use the car, and often, and reckon on making friends with the AA. They do love fixing old cars – seriosuly, you will find any decent AA man goes the extra to get you going, when if you were in a modern Kia/Hianddry they would just tow you away.

Fact, unless metal fatige has sheared a part, theres not much on an Alfa that cant be bodged into a get you home fix.

Just enjoy the car, but please, do budget for ongoing repairs – I found that the higher up the range Alfas go, the higher the cost of repairs.

If its not in great order, salt away £250 a month for repairs, and save any surplus towards mot/welding time.

As the owner of a 33, then a Sud Sprint, then a Gtv2000 and then a 75 3l v6 (the head gaskets/cambelt and valve stem seals cost over £1200 back in 2000 !

thanks, i’m no stranger to classics or alfa’s having also got a gtv but i do think any preventative work is a good idea.

I’ll give it a full service and replace all the filters and fluids then i might take it to a specialist for a look over.

have a word with these blokes:

http://www.simplyalfas.co.uk/

the ownere is a very straight forward and honest man!

My brother managed to snap the crank on this;

He’s bought a GTA now.

thanks,

great pic, i’d love a gta though

here’s my new one

when I was an apprentice one of our garages used to sell them. They were delivered to us and we had to drive them the 16mls over to the other branch 😆
I also did some work on a customers GT6 race car. He had an Alfa and I had to pick it up from his farm one day. I took my wife for the run. On the way back home she looked over to see what speed we were doing, clocked the rev counter at 6k and said I was going too fast… 😆
Engines usually outlast the bodies if I remember correctly 💡
Vaguely remember sealing rings/mounting for carbs could cause problems? Keeping antifreeze topped up to stop internal corrosion/head gasket failure.
Friend has one similar to add to go with his old `68ish Porsche