$500 Alfa - how masochistic?

A buddy and I are planning to run the BABE Rally this June. We're looking for suitable cars, and I just stumbled across an ad for a $500 1984 Spider, which seems like such an obviously poor choice I can't resist investigating it. No reverse, needs body work but rockers are included, so I assume they're the primary problem. I can weld the rockers and anything else, as long as it doesn't have to be pretty. However, I know next to nothing about Alfas except that I feel a vague unease about driving one purchased for $500 3000 miles. What do I need to look for? Other than the body work, what fails regularly and/or expensively? Should I up my meds? Help me, O wise GRM collective...

Plastic radiator fans fail and depart through the radiator. They are cheap to replace. I used to sell quite a few U joints. The engines are pretty sturdy but can leak oil. I've sold diffs, but they usually get noisy far in advance of any real catastrophic failure. The trans is usually the weakest link mechanically. The bodies are junk, but they tend to rust where you can see it (rockers, floors, behind the rear bumper). If you can keep it cool and maintain some sembelence of oil level, I'd say it will probably make it provided the electrics keep working.

How masochistic? Somewhere between butting your junk in a vice and a hot poker in the backside.

pinchvalve wrote: How masochistic? Somewhere between butting your junk in a vice and a hot poker in the backside.

I would say a combination of the 2.

Welcome to the BABE rally, be sure to check in over on the boards there as well.

Something to remember when selecting a vehicle for BABE. As you pass through the southern states finding parts for them "furrin" cars gets very difficult. Even getting parts for our VW bug in 07 was a challenge.

FWIW though there are a few of us on the rally with some i-car experience if you decide to go for it.

But seriously, the only thing worse than a 500 alfa is a free porsche

I think an '84 will have the more reliable Bosch fuel injection system, as opposed to Alfa's own SPICA system.

For $500, it'll probably be riddled with all sorts of little problems, but really they're not as fickle as many people make them out to be. With a bit of on-the-fly fettling, you should be able to keep an old Spider running for the duration of the rally.

Luke wrote: I think an '84 will have the more reliable Bosch fuel injection system, as opposed to Alfa's own SPICA system. For $500, it'll probably be riddled with all sorts of little problems, but really they're not as fickle as many people make them out to be. With a bit of on-the-fly fettling, you should be able to keep an old Spider running for the duration of the rally.

Yeah, it wont be a SPICA car, if it was I'd up his masochism quotient. I had one of those nightmares :)

Truth is is you are playing in the spirit of the event (not rebuilding the whole thing before the rally) then any car can take you the whole way or fail on the way to the starting line, thats 1/2 the fun. If you arent afraid of your car and your chances of making it to the next stop then you probably arent doing it right.

That said I still wouldnt take an alfa ;)

Thanks for the info. We're not planning on rebuilding the whole thing, whatever we end up with, but we're not planning on hitching home from West Virginia, either. The idea is to get something sooner rather than later and at least have a chance to drive it for a couple months to work out the worst of the problems. The parts issue scares me more than anything, really; we're both pretty handy with tools, so fixing it isn't a problem, but if we can't get a part we're sunk.

I've also been thinking about an Alfa for BABE, but even though I'm looking for something a bit scary this year, a $500 italian car might be too scary without doing some serious work ahead of the event.

Upside is the Alfa community will come to your aid. If you need a list of contacts for a safety net, or donations of spare parts to carry, the Alfisti will likely fall over themselves trying to help. You just need to get the word out.

ddavidv wrote: Upside is the Alfa community will come to your aid. If you need a list of contacts for a safety net, or donations of spare parts to carry, the Alfisti will likely fall over themselves trying to help. You just need to get the word out.

That, I can confirm. It happened to me on our GRM effort. Pretty sweet.

Get on alfabb.com, and be nice- you'll get lot's of help.

BTW, couple of comments- if you have a fan problem (and it is common, too), get some engine mounts. That's normally the cause.

And I'm a huge fan of SPICA. It's all a matter of setting it up right, and LEAVING IT ALONE. Just like EFI. The big problem you'll have with the Bosch are bad grounds, so check them all over a few times to make sure there aren't serious wiring problems- they are easy to fix with rudementary tools.

Trans problems are almost always due to syncros. Usually, other problems are due to OTHER problems. What's up with the reverse? You may have trans mount problems which could prevent the lever from going into reverse. Otherwise, if you don't have reverse, you won't have 5th, either.

Don't be afraid. Take the effort to learn about another car, even if you don't end up liking it in the end, you will learn something.

Eric

I drove an '84 Spider for years as a daily, of course mine was new when I started. It is Bosch injected, so you can get parts from a number of places. I had a problem with the injectors once and purchased the exact same part through a VW dealer at the time, for a fourth of the price wanted at the Alfa dealer. There are also a number of Alfa supply houses, and I'm sure one that might want to "sponsor" you with a little help.

In addition to all the things that can go wrong with a car that old, you probably want to check the head gasket. That to me is the single biggest issue facing these cars. Pull the oil cap off and look for a frothy mixture under the cap. If it has it, it more than likely needs a gasket replacement. Oil dripping down the side of the block is common, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

The driveline can also pick up vibrations as the joints age, but it's cheap to fix and easy. Electrics can also fail, but the later ones like this are much better. Really though, it's just an old car at this point and probably has a lot of old car issues. Put it on a lift, inspect it, and determine if you want to fix what's wrong before you drive it that kind of distance.

Having said that, you REALLY need to sit in and drive it around a bit to determine if you WANT to drive that kind of distance. The seating position is typical Italian, and a lot of people find it uncomfortable. It's not like say driving a Civic or well, anything else from a different country. Try it first before you spend the money.

I've had more Italian cars than I can count, and was only stranded once during probably hundreds of thousands of miles, and that was when an oil pump failed. They are no worse than any other marque, and were so much more reliable than any Porsche I've ever owned, and alot cheaper too! :D

I've got a feeler out to the owner, so we'll see how it looks. If (and it's a big set of ifs) it isn't too big a pile and I can live with the ergonomics (I come out of BMWs, which fit me well, so I'm not really sure what to expect), then we'll see about going forward. I don't mind doing a bunch of work before the rally, but I'd rather not sink it into a car that is just going to kick me when I'm down. I've already found a few BMWs that I know I can live with and fix more easily, so the Alfa option really needs to be compelling in some respect to make it work.

If we settle on the Alfa, I will certainly reach out to the community to make sure I've got contacts and parts sources lined up.

ddavidv wrote: Plastic radiator fans fail and depart through the radiator. They are cheap to replace. I used to sell quite a few U joints. The engines are pretty sturdy but can leak oil. I've sold diffs, but they usually get noisy far in advance of any real catastrophic failure. The trans is usually the weakest link mechanically. The bodies are junk, but they tend to rust where you can see it (rockers, floors, behind the rear bumper). If you can keep it cool and maintain some sembelence of oil level, I'd say it will probably make it provided the electrics keep working.

I see intermittent electrical problems with groundwires disconnecting from the rusted chassis. But that's not just an Alfa problem.

On the flip side........ if you buy this $500 Alfa and complete the trip, songs will be written about you and statues bearing your likeness will be erected.

Jerry From LA wrote: On the flip side........ if you buy this $500 Alfa and complete the trip, songs will be written about you and statues bearing your likeness will be erected.

Hmmm, sounds promising. I have always been quite narcissistic...

Oh yeah, forgot about the motor mounts. Sold lots of those, too.

The ergonomics are a joke, so you may want to test-fit the car to yourself before you commit. Long arms/short legs is the name of the game with I-cars. However, headroom with the top up isn't a problem like it is with some of the GB cars.

ddavidv wrote: The ergonomics are a joke, so you may want to test-fit the car to yourself before you commit. Long arms/short legs is the name of the game with I-cars. However, headroom with the top up isn't a problem like it is with some of the GB cars.

That doesn't bode well. I'm 6ft, most of it leg. It doesn't sound like a good fit for an endurance event.

Won't know until you try. I drove Fiats for years, they are the same way. Apparently I just sit dorky in these cars as I've never had a problem driving an X1/9 but tall guys complain about those constantly. I'm 5' 11".

All that aside, given the choice between the Alfa and pretty much any BMW I think I'd be taking the latter for this project.