[alfa] 89 Spider Followup

["Christopher Boles" <alfadoctor@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I want to thank all of you that have responded to my inquiry about the
problems with the 89 Spider Veloce. There is a lot of good advice and I am
taking it all in.

The trailing arms will get the Performatek bushings as will the centering
bushing on the center section. That will definitely tighten up the rear end.

The rear axle will get swapped out for the 4:55 and that will make the car
much more drivable for trips.

The speedometer calibrations have helped alot. I calculated those out this
morning and found that I have been driving around at 70-75 in 65 zones. Car
wants to run at 3500, but pulling rpms above 4500 the engine seems to flatten
out. The pedal goes down farther but there is little given back. It might be
just perceptions.

The head was replaced when I bought the car. So it has new valves, guides and
seals. I don't know much about the head other than I have been the one to put
the miles on it since it came here on the hook.

I will check the VVT cam and see if the pin is dropping in when I rev it up.

The VVT cam I was told is off a mark or two I will go back in and see if I can
rectify that problem. Finding a wrench to fit that HUGE nut must be hard to
find, especially one that is thin.
Can I put a 10548 cam with the VVT timing gear on it? Might be a stupid
question but I haven't dealt with VVT before so this is all new ground for me.
I am thinking that the VVT will just slip on the end of the cam in place of
the stock sprocket? The article on tuning up the spider suggests putting in
just the intake cam. That would be a cinch to do.

The car has been given a full tune up for smog and it runs just fine. New
filters. The replacement AFM has a cone K&N filter on it.

The car got the early exhaust manifolds from another spider and had them
welded to the exhaust pipe and a new catalytic. So that should help some.

What has been hard has been to compare this spider to my former CRX Si that I
had all tricked out...oh, excuse me...faux paux...Japanese Jr. Z. That ran out
real good but it was a bear to drive on a trip.

I have forgotten how nice it is to drive an Alfa spider as I have been tooling
around in my Giulia Super. The spider and I just feel like a great
combination. When I get the car to handle and not feel as anemic as I think it
does, then I will go dashing around the back roads.

Not sure how to diagnose the speedo transducer in the engine compartment. Any
suggestions are appreciated on how this weird device turns mechanical in to
electrical impulses for the speedometer.

Thanks again. This could be a good thread as I sort through all of this.

Christopher Boles
Veloce/SS/SV Register
http://www.veloceregister.net
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