The Beginning of another adventure...
So I sold the MGB and decided to replace her with a new project: 1977 Alfa Romeo Spider.
I bought her off of Bring a Trailer, had her shipped from California to Maine, and started immediately tending to her multiple needs this past weekend (Nov. 23, 2019).
I was first able to take her for a quick spin in the misty rain (top down of course) once the deliver person backed her out of the delivery truck.
After driving the old girl, there were many obvious areas that will need attention:
1. She would not really maintain an idle once warmed up.
2. The handling was pretty poor turning left (felt loose)- turning right felt o.k. Could be tire pressures
3. Most electrical did not work (tail lights, hazards, heater fan, interior lights, etc.)
4. The center console is worn out from use. Will need a replacement or repair if possible.
5. The carpet needs replacement.
6. Needs tires.
7. Needs most rubber in the engine bay replaced (air, vapor, coolant, fuel etc.)
8. Needs new top someday
Some good things:
1. Brakes great
2 Shifts great
3 Sounds good until it got warmed up
4 Most importantly- looks rust free (California car)
So the next day- it was time to get stuck in.
I wanted to look into the poor running first- so I removed the air-box from the engine (in needs to be restored back to it's original gray color instead of red). This gives access to the Spica (pronounced SPEAK-UH) mechanical fuel injection, intake, front fuel filter, etc underneath the air box(second photo). I wanted to make sure everything was hooked up. I found one wire disconnected to the Spica's fuel cut-off switch. That should not make a difference to the running, but I tried it anyway with the same poor results.
I confirmed that the vapor system was open and not strangling the engine- it was fine. I also ran her again until it started to act poorly and then opened the fuel filler cap to see if the tank was under pressure- no problem there.
So after a little online research, I decided that I would replace the spark plugs and both fuel filters.
Alfa was not completely consistent with the parts in installed, so it's best to confirm what you actually have on the car so you can order the correct parts (filters, fuel lines, plugs, etc)
I put the rear of the car up on jack stands to verify hose sizes and fuel filter. I also removed the front filter which is a canister-type (see photo). In the lower left of the photo above, it's basically located under the yellow and red wires.
Here is the filter assembly removed from the car after a little exterior cleaning:
Here is the canister removed from the car and taken apart for cleaning and filter element replacement.
Here is the rear filter and electric fuel pump. I already ordered a new filter for this location as well.
The large white cylinder is the filter and the black thing with all of the fuel lines is the pump that supplies the fuel from the tank to the mechanical fuel injection system,
I also replaced the spark plugs. I have never found a set of plus to be installed so tight- especially in an aluminum head. One of the ceramic parts of an original plug cracked as it broke free! A little anti-sieze on the new ones and that was all set. I gapped the new ones to .025"- typical for this car.
I decided to clean up any visible electrical ground connections to see if it helped with any of the inop electrical. It did not.
Lastly, I removed the thermostatic actuator from the fuel injection pump to check on its condition. It's a very delicate and expensive piece of the injection system, and unfortunately I found mine to have failed. When cold, the flush pin in the photo below of my actuator is supposed to protrude above it's surrounding surface about 5mm. That would certainly explain some of the poor running.
Here is what it is supposed to look like when cold: The left part of this contraption shows the pin protruding.
I bought her off of Bring a Trailer, had her shipped from California to Maine, and started immediately tending to her multiple needs this past weekend (Nov. 23, 2019).
I was first able to take her for a quick spin in the misty rain (top down of course) once the deliver person backed her out of the delivery truck.
After driving the old girl, there were many obvious areas that will need attention:
1. She would not really maintain an idle once warmed up.
2. The handling was pretty poor turning left (felt loose)- turning right felt o.k. Could be tire pressures
3. Most electrical did not work (tail lights, hazards, heater fan, interior lights, etc.)
4. The center console is worn out from use. Will need a replacement or repair if possible.
5. The carpet needs replacement.
6. Needs tires.
7. Needs most rubber in the engine bay replaced (air, vapor, coolant, fuel etc.)
8. Needs new top someday
Some good things:
1. Brakes great
2 Shifts great
3 Sounds good until it got warmed up
4 Most importantly- looks rust free (California car)
So the next day- it was time to get stuck in.
I wanted to look into the poor running first- so I removed the air-box from the engine (in needs to be restored back to it's original gray color instead of red). This gives access to the Spica (pronounced SPEAK-UH) mechanical fuel injection, intake, front fuel filter, etc underneath the air box(second photo). I wanted to make sure everything was hooked up. I found one wire disconnected to the Spica's fuel cut-off switch. That should not make a difference to the running, but I tried it anyway with the same poor results.
I confirmed that the vapor system was open and not strangling the engine- it was fine. I also ran her again until it started to act poorly and then opened the fuel filler cap to see if the tank was under pressure- no problem there.
So after a little online research, I decided that I would replace the spark plugs and both fuel filters.
Alfa was not completely consistent with the parts in installed, so it's best to confirm what you actually have on the car so you can order the correct parts (filters, fuel lines, plugs, etc)
I put the rear of the car up on jack stands to verify hose sizes and fuel filter. I also removed the front filter which is a canister-type (see photo). In the lower left of the photo above, it's basically located under the yellow and red wires.
Here is the filter assembly removed from the car after a little exterior cleaning:
Here is the canister removed from the car and taken apart for cleaning and filter element replacement.
Here is the rear filter and electric fuel pump. I already ordered a new filter for this location as well.
The large white cylinder is the filter and the black thing with all of the fuel lines is the pump that supplies the fuel from the tank to the mechanical fuel injection system,
I also replaced the spark plugs. I have never found a set of plus to be installed so tight- especially in an aluminum head. One of the ceramic parts of an original plug cracked as it broke free! A little anti-sieze on the new ones and that was all set. I gapped the new ones to .025"- typical for this car.
I decided to clean up any visible electrical ground connections to see if it helped with any of the inop electrical. It did not.
Lastly, I removed the thermostatic actuator from the fuel injection pump to check on its condition. It's a very delicate and expensive piece of the injection system, and unfortunately I found mine to have failed. When cold, the flush pin in the photo below of my actuator is supposed to protrude above it's surrounding surface about 5mm. That would certainly explain some of the poor running.
Here is what it is supposed to look like when cold: The left part of this contraption shows the pin protruding.
So that's it for now- hopefully the next post will have her running like a top!
Smells like progress!
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