[alfa] DIY Network Rebuilding a Duetto

[George Graves <gmgraves@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Was watching DIY channel last night and they are restoring a 1969 
Duetto on their classic car rebuild show. The show last night dealt, in 
part,  with the fuel system and they were replacing the S.P.I.C.A, FI 
with dual Webers. I found the reasoning behind this move hilarious. 
They said that since the European version of this car had Webers, it 
was more in keeping with originality. The guy (who pronounced it 
Spy-Ka) also said that since the Webers have "more adjustments" on them 
than does the SPICA setup, you could "tune it better" and get more 
horsepower. He also stated that the SPICA setup is too difficult to 
adjust. AFAIK, this is not true. I went to a tech session once at which 
"Dr. SPICA" himself, Wes Ingram talked about the system. Not only does 
the SPICA system work better than Webers, he asserted, but you can get 
lots more horsepower out of an engine equipped with one. He rebuilds 
SPICA pumps and will sell you one (exchange) that will get as much as 
160 BHP at the flywheel from a 1750 or 2000 engine (Stock or with 
Webers is 130). Wes also sells a book about adjusting the SPICA system 
that anybody can follow and get the thing right. I wonder if the rest 
of this guy's restoration instructions are as faulty?

Oh, and good luck getting a Weber carburettor equipped Duetto past a CA 
smog inspection. Starting with the 1966 model year, it is against CA 
law to alter the fuel or exhaust system from stock even though cars 
made before 1974 don't need a bi-annual smog smog check.


George Graves
'86 GTV-6 3.0 'S'
--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided