A Little Humour

1st Spring Drive

After dusting off the cob-webs, I gave the Alfa a short run. The car felt great, but there is a list of little issues I'd like to address. The clutch pedal does not feel right; and I'd love to find a short-shifter kit for the car.

I also fixed the clogged idle jet on cylinder number 3. A sewing needle helped me clear the old gas varnish out; and the engine ran much smoother afterwards.

Winter update

The Canadian winter has blocked the Alfa project. It's too cold to work in the garage, so my work has been limited to Internet research.

One of the problems I'm trying to solve is the messy canister oil filters. They are difficult to change, and every one I've tried (so far) has leaked oil. The best option seems to be switching to a standard spin-on filter.

The first solution, and probably the best, is to find a new casting that changes the mounting & mating surface. These have been designed and sold by individuals on the AlfaBB, but I could not track one down!

Alfaholics offers a remote oil filter kit that looks interesting. But there is no obvious place for mounting it and I'm not crazy about running the lines, etc.

The final option is to use an adapter from Flexolite (https://www.flexolite.co.uk/cat.asp?cID=4&page=OIL_FILTER_ADAPTORS). This is a machined piece that fits the oil canister flange and allows you to use a spin-on filter. 

The Flexolite Alfa Romeo kit is relatively cheap, so I ordered one...

The Story of the Dropped Alfa

Interesting / tragic story of a 1974 2000 GTV: ColumnM & Instagram

Carb issue research

Thinking about the idle issue (too lean) on cylinder 3... it looks like this may be a clogged idle jet.

Driving impressions

I drove the car about 30 miles yesterday. Several laps around the block and a few runs on the highway. It ran better after each outing.

For city driving,  the car feels great - powerful and nimble - and you can appreciate the brakes.

It's good on the highway too. No strange rattles or squeaks. It's nice having a 5th gear - 70mph @ 3,500 rpm.

Looking forward to posting more driving impressions.

Adjusting the carbs

If you own a classic car with a carburetor, you will be interested in a Gunson Colortune kit (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9t8XhFlKbk&t=3s). This little device, a clear spark plug, helps you see the combustion in the cylinder and adjust the air-fuel mixture.

The Alfa's did not require much tuning, but we did find cylinder 3 was running too lean; and turning the  mixture screw had no effect. My hunch is the idle jet is clogged, but putting some miles on the car might clear the problem. 

Overall, the engine feels great - it revs easily and feels very powerful.