The last Alfa

The last Alfa Romeo imported to the US market was the 164 model, which was imported from 1991 to 1995, in 3 levels of trim...base, L(luxury) ans S(sport).

This was a V6 model, available in single cam (12 valve) and twin cam (24 valve) versions. These cars were intended to do battle with BMW, Mercedes, Saab, Volvo, etc. in the higher end of the sport/luxury market.

The 164L and and 164S models were quite luxurious, with power EVERYTHING, moonroofs, full Italian leather upholstery and just a host of niceties to make them desirable automobiles to own.

Ramble on....

I had a good, productive day today. I got up and got a haircut before 8 this a.m. After that I washed the Alfa Romeo Spider and glossed up all her black bits with Armor All.

Following that I helped my neighbor Jerry install electronic cruise control in his keen Smart Car. Jerry has had some health problems and a few days ago had a minor heart attack while undergoing a stress test at the doctor's office. He was pretty tired and weak from being in the hospital for 3 days so we tacked the cruise control together. It was a bit of a project involving having to mess with quite a few wires in the wiring harness but we got her done in a couple hours. Works like a charm and Jerry is jazzed about it!

Following that project I headed to Home Depot for some mulch and some sod to tend to some crummy looking parts of my yard. I got all the mulch and sod laid down and then went about trimming back some overgrown bushes.

Finally I walked a couple blocks to the local coffee house that opened a couple weeks ago and rewarded myself with a mango smoothie...mmm mmm good!

Now it's time to relax and get ready to watch Penn State football on one tv and the Cornhuskers on the other!

Haircut pic:



Mango smoothie:

Purring like a kitten

Tonight the new rear exhaust/muffler and assorted hardware for the Alfa Romeo Spider arrived from the big brown truck.

Off to the garage I went, with Cap'n Jim providing some consultation, and I shimmied under the Alfa to install the new bits.

'Twas not a bad job at all....and less than an hour total I emerged covered in black grime but successful! The Spider Graduate is purring like a kitten now!

Grind grind grind.......

I climbed into the Alfa Spider as I was leaving work today after some massive rains throughout the day. Luckily all my efforts to abate rain infiltration have paid off and I had just a smattering of water dropelts greet me in the passenger cabin.

However, my good fortune would not last for long. A few minutes later as I was tooling about in the parking lot I heard an ominous GRINDING noise :( This is NOT GOOD, methinks.

So I tooled a bit more and noticed it was coming from the rear of the vehicle. I thought maybe something was amiss with the rear differential. So I came to a halt and left the car to investigate.

Here's what I found.....the pipe entering the muffler had finally given in and the muffler tip was dragging upon terra firma. Whew, what a relief. A rather cheap and easy repair :=) Cap'n Jim lent me a sturdy bungee and I made it home, safe n sound.

Adios mighty Soob!

The mighty Subaru Legacy wagon, with 170 prancing ponies from its 2.5 liter Subaru flat four motor, is going back to Nebraska.

My brother Luke is buying the Soob. Enjoy the beauty of Subaru all-wheel drive Luke. It shall come in handy in those Nebraska winters.

Adios mighty Soob, ye shall be missed!

Mighty Soob Pics!

Alfa Club Meetup

Tonight I attended my first Mid Florida Alfa Romeo club meeting. We met for dinner at a seafood restaurant in Apopka, Fl called the Catfish House.

I would guess there were 35-40 folks on hand. Very nice group of people. Good food and fun conversation. Looking forward to more of these in the future. Here are a few pics. It was dark when I took them though...so not such great pics.

In order they are:

Green Alfa Spider Veloce
Red Alfa 164
Red Alfa GTV6
Orange Fiat Spider

Attack of the Smart Shark!!!

My neighbor Jerry had a little custom paintwork done on his Smart Car...pretty creative and rather humorous.....

Breakfast ride tomorrow

I am getting together with a few work mates Saturday a.m. for a motorbike ride. We are going to head to Tavares, FL to have breakfast at a place called the Soup to Nuts Diner.

Mmmm, VERY GOOD breakfast for not too many $$.

The Guzzi Breva is cleaned up and ready to roll!

The Soob is back

Well, I thought I had made a deal to sell the Soob to a friend of mine. Let's just say it didn't work out and leave it at that.

6 weeks later the Subaru Legacy is back in my garage. It needed a good cleaning inside and out and the right front tire is not holding air pressure for very long but at least she's back home where she'll get taken care of properly.

Know anybody that wants to buy a low mileage (32.5k) 2005 Subaru Legacy wagon? :=)

A package from the Orient

Today I received a package from Chun Kau Chow, a fella from Hong Kong whom I bought something from on eBay.

The item took about 2.5 weeks to arrive but it was quite nice, especially considering the price of $2.50 (plus $8 shipping from Hong Kong).

They are keen seat belt pads for the Alfa Spider. They slip over the seat belt and are secured with Velcro. The have a cushiony feel to them and I am sure my shoulder will appreciate them whilst I tool about in the Alfa.

Thanks Chun....you're A#1 in my book pal :)

Tuesday travels

Today I left work early in order to take the Alfa Spider to Daytona Beach for a wheel alignment. Since I had the front suspension taken care of (new ball joint), I wanted to finally get the wheels aligned to ensure even tire wear and good, straight tracking.

I took the car to Steven's Tires in Daytona Beach for the alignment. Whilst waiting I killed the time by walking the few blocks east to the ocean. It was a fairly windy day and the waves were crashing in. I stopped at the Daytona Boardwalk/Pier area for a hot dog...been so long since I had one. So I got a footlong with cheese and I was shocked when i saw the elderly fella there drop that big wiener into a deep fat fryer! But man was it ever GOOD! Chased it with a cherry Coke...

The fellas at Steven's Tire (just across the bridge from AlfaMeister Ric Lovecchio of RML Automotive) got the Spider tracking straight and true. It's nice to have the steering wheel perfectly centered now and to have the Alfa roll on down the road without drifting :)

This (hopefully) completes the mechanical repairs to the Graduate. Someday I would like to replace the vinyl top with a nice padded/insulated cloth top and I'd also like to get the car repainted, but those are just niceties and not in the near future.

She's running well and shifting well and handling just fine now.

After the alignment I met Cap'n Jim for a couple fine ales and some smoked chicken wings. He showed up in his BMW Z3 convertible. A nice car no doubt, but it's no Alfa :)

Go south old man

I have been working in Miami, Florida all this week at a bank which uses our software. Kinda long days. Boy they sure do speak alot of spanish here. Quite amazing actually how fluent they are in both english and spanish here. I am jealous of the multilingualism :)

I will head back home (5 hr drive) tomorrow afternoon and then am scheduled to be back here all next week...unless Hurricane Ike changes my plans.....

It's looking like a really good chance Ike is going to wreak some havoc on Florida.

CLICK HERE TO SEE IKE's FORECAST PATH

A little Alfa Spider vid

I took a brief cruise in the Alfa Spider this morning. Here is a little vid as I run the Alfa through gears 1-4. Sorry about the camera angle but I had to set the camera on the dash so I could drive unfettered. But if you turn up the volume you can hear the motor running, etc. She sounds oh so GOOOOOOOOD... :=)