[alfa] Time to say bye to the Spider? (for sale?)

[Spiros Angelopoulos <alfista164@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello again folks

Thanks to all who helped with the GTV problem from a few weeks ago.  It 
seems that the trick of pinching the hose was a very common trick, and 
now it is put away in my databank!  The fact that the GTV is now 
becoming available and a recent mishap with the Spider, means that I 
must lighten the load a bit.  So here is the story:

I took the '85 Spider Graduate to be smoged this morning and it passed 
all idle tests, and all but one of the 25mph CA tests (failed the CO 
test).  I had all along thought that if there were to be a smog issue, 
I would let the car go, pretty much "cutting my losses".  What losses?

I bought the car in 1997 with 65K mile and kept it in tip top shape 
along with the 164 I had then.  This was a very happy household indeed! 
 About a year later, the car "dropped a valve" and that meant paying a 
local mechanic to rebuild the head.  Although I paid over $2K for it 
(ouch! - big lesson learned), somehow the valve cover gasket started 
leaking traces of oil a few months later.  That persisted on and off, 
but the car was never ran with low oil. Two years ago, I bought an 
expired '87 Spider Veloce which I cannibalized for its five-spoke 
wheels, the good top, and a few miscellaneous parts, and transplanted 
to my Spider.  So here is the car's condition:

The bad: Had a 5mph fender bender that was repaired by a good metal 
"guy" and some bondo, and then covered with proper paint.  The car now 
needs a paint job though.  The driver's seat has a few tears, but the 
passenger one is in good shape.  The dashboard has a crack right 
between the two instrument binnacles.  Lastly the A/C compressor is 
gone, although all other components are still there.

The good:  The car is VERY STRONG.  No smoke, nice stable idle, and 
excellent sound from the new exhaust and newish (a year old) catalytic 
converter.  It pulls strong on any gear, and is a true pleasure on both 
freeways and twisties.  It has the best brakes I have seen on a Spider. 
 The transmission is also strong, with a bit of the 2nd gear syncro 
syndrome when downshifting into 2nd. Shocks, and springs are good, as 
are the differential (partially rebuilt), master brake cylinder and 
clutch cylinder (both new) , and the 15K miles-old clutch.  There is NO 
rust on the car.

Current mileage is 92,700.  The registration runs out in August and at 
that time I am planning to donate it getting the full blue book value 
of $5,710 according to Kelley Blue Book. This translates to $1,800 in 
my pocket come tax time.  However, I would rather see the car go to 
someone who can appreciate and fix it up than have it go to the auction 
block.  Any reasonable offers will be considered.  Reasonable to me 
means $1,500 or more.

The car is in Santa Clara, CA, just 45 miles south of San Francisco.

I would be happy to send photos and/or the smog report to anyone 
interested.  The car comes with the shop manual.
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