So I finally put my money where my mouth is and bought an Alfa

My 9-5 was developing a clutch slip, it needed an axle, and it was displaying the dreaded ACC stepper motor fault, so I unloaded it for $2650 and started the hunt for a summer driver. Found this Alfa on AlfaBB on the other side of town; bought it after driving it.

'89 Spider Quadrifoglio, the PO upgraded it with Koni yellows & springs (couldn't remember what brand), sway bars, and all new poly bushings all the way around. He had the seats professionally reupholstered in grey leather for an exorbitant cost, replaced the ENTIRE cooling system from the heater core to the radiator. He began to restore the interior with some POR-15 and Dynamat, but bought a '99 Miata and lost interest.

It has some rust on the outer rockers and a few other spots here and there, but it's a driver, who cares?

I paid $2000 on the nose. http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v126/SlickDizzy/Alfa/

SWEET! I would love an Alfa Spider like that.

<<< Jealous!!!

Sweet find.

Assuming he went the normal routes- there are very limited spring sources- International Auto Parts has multiple sets, Ceterline has multiple sets, and Ward and Deane has one. MOST of the ones I see get lowered, they are an IAP street set. It's possible that they are from Ricambi, but they stopped selling stuff about a decade ago.

If you want it to work well with R tires, you need to get the Ward & Deane set, although it's a well known secret that you can use circle track part, brand new, for about 1/4 of the cost.

Outside of rust, I'm trying to think of weak points. The rust is fixed.

I guess keep an eye out for electrical issues- it's an '80's car afterall.

Just good maintenence- you'll be fine.

A major note- DO NOT RUN OVERHEATED. It will warp the head.

Have a blast. I guess you won't be Challenging with it, eh?

It looks really good compared to the Spiders I've looked at in that price range.

I just noticed that's a Quadrifoglio. Which is the fully loaded Spider of the time. even better find.

Very nice!

I only have one word for that... "Sweet!"

very

nice

you stole that

Great find! Congrats

Awesome!

After digging through the paperwork, it looks like it has Vick springs. Unfortunately Vick's website doesn't list any rate data or anything like that. I also peeked into the phone dials to find some pretty serious drilled rotors. Hot damn! It's always nice to find a car that has all the E36 M3 done that you would probably do to it...I think a chassis brace is next on the list.

And I thought I stole MY Spider...

Nice Score!

Do you know about Classic Alfa ? I stumbled across them on the web a while back, and played hooky on their site for quite a while when I should have been productively working. No affiliation whatsoever, nor any experience as a customer, but you have to like a place that boasts of having 100+ years of practical Alfa experience within their team. They seem to have at least one of everything you could possibly need, and offer 2-day shipping to the US.

Miss me 88 Spider Veloce. Was so nice to reach up, flip a couple of latches and toss thew top back on a sunny day. Enjoy. Much jealousy.

SlickDizzy wrote: After digging through the paperwork, it looks like it has Vick springs. Unfortunately Vick's website doesn't list any rate data or anything like that. I also peeked into the phone dials to find some pretty serious drilled rotors. Hot damn! It's always nice to find a car that has all the E36 M3 done that you would probably do to it...I think a chassis brace is next on the list.

Forgot about Vick...

Yea, nobody lists spring rates for some reason- probably thanks to the HUGE rate in the front (my car is 1200lb/in) and more normal in the rear (300 or so)- it's due to the front geometry that the spring location is way inboard on the arm- so providing rates may be confusing.

Chassis brace works well, from what I hear.

(drilled rotors are for looks.... both my racer and my autocrosser still run the original solids just fine- it's not as if the car is heavy)

Osterkraut wrote: And I thought I stole MY Spider...

Yeah, but wait till he has to replace the intake gaskets, do a valve job, god forbid a tranny...

You inspired me to check Craigslist. You did pretty well.

$6500, OBO, but "NADA value is $11K-18K".

http://neworleans.craigslist.org/ctd/2978738780.html

That's the steal of the century for 2K!!! Good score!!!

So I've always wanted to ask, what's the deal with the position of the shifter?

Seating Position?

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: So I've always wanted to ask, what's the deal with the position of the shifter? Seating Position?

Closer to the steering wheel.

Sweet car!

I've never dealt with this guy ( http://www.alfarex.com/about/index.html ) but I always wanted to stop by his shop and drool on his stuff. And I've never owned an Alfa!

Well purchased. $2k is quite the bargain!

Nice !