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New toy, Spider V6

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2K views 11 replies 6 participants last post by  nelo1110 
#1 ·
I did introduce myself on someone else's thread, about a Rosso Spider, but I don't want to hijack that any more :cheeky:

I'm Nick, live near Harlow Essex, and have had a few Alfas over the years. I sold an S4 automatic Spider recently (I still have a manual S4 ) and wanted something more lively and V6 for a bit of fun. So, after searching for a few weeks, and having the benefit of the helpful comments of folk on this forum I went down to Sussex Alfa this morning.

After an hour and half of inspection and test driving I have bought this Silver Spider.

Kevin Dermott who runs Sussex Alfa is well regarded by people who take cars to him for service and I spoke to one very satisfied customer whilst I was down there. Kevin was very open about the good points and less good points about the car.

It is what I would call a very honest car. It hasn't been tarted up for sale (so a good valet will be done when I get it back home). Kevin put it on a ramp for me and I had a good root around underneath. Hardly any rust and certainly nothing to worry about, apart from a couple of oil cooler unions which were corroded and will need doing in the next year or two I think. The rear has been polybushed and it all feels taut when driving. Paintwork has the stone chips expected on the bonnet but is otherwise fine. Wheels are all good, as are the tyres.
Exhaust is a sportier one with fewer silencer boxes than standard. Sounds good at low revs, great at high revs.

The gear lever movement was not as fluent as it should be but this is apparently due to top hat bushings in the linkage and will be sorted before I pick it up.

All the electrics worked, bar the remote boot release which will also be sorted before I get it which will hopefully be in 10 days or so.

I'm all excited now; it appears to be a great base for me to do some tinkering, fettling and enhancing - uprated ARBs, chip it etc.

Oh, and I might drive it too :thumbup:
 
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#2 ·
Sounds good - it must be the longest 10 days wait ever.

One thing - sort the oil cooler soonest as they are a weak point once the car gets to this age. The cooler and pipes for mine were about £250 from Autolusso.

I bought mine 4 1/2 years ago and still go for a drive just for the hell of it a few times a week.
 
#4 ·
One thing - sort the oil cooler soonest as they are a weak point once the car gets to this age. The cooler and pipes for mine were about £250 from Autolusso.
OK, thanks for the tip. I had assumed the pipes could be replaced separately from the cooler. Is it a reasonably straightforward job?

Well done on your purchase, looks a fab bit of kit
Thanks, I'm sure I will be on here a fair bit to start with as there are bound to be things to sort out.
 
#5 ·
OK, thanks for the tip. I had assumed the pipes could be replaced separately from the cooler. Is it a reasonably straightforward job?
It is possible but usually the unions are too far gone. It really is recommended to replace the lot but for the price it is certainly worth it.
It is very much DIY but I am lazy and had it done for an hours labour at my local indie.
 
#7 ·
No It isnt. Pipes go all the way to the back. Almost impossible to remove the old pipe without taking the engine out. IIRC with the autolusso kit you cut the pipe and and splice in the new pipe that comes with the kit
That could be a pain then! I downloaded the workshop manuals in pdf but I can't find a schematic of instructions to do this job. Can anyone point me in the right direction here?
 
#9 ·
Thanks finbarnone.

That appears to get round the problem by not replacing pipes behind the engine but cutting into them below the engine if I'm interpreting it correctly, and then plumbing in new pipe sections. I assume that is because the pipes behind the engine aren't exposed and don't corrode as much?
 
#10 ·
I picked up the car today and had a good drive 80 mile back from hassocks (near Brighton) via Hever castle in Kent, having taken my wife out for the day too. She likes castles - brownie points galore :happy:

I'm very pleased so far, it was very stable and sorted on the motorway and handled nicely on the country roads across Sussex and Kent. Those roads are in a shocking state so it tested the suspension fairly rigorously! Tested the ABS too when a couple of huge lorries appeared round a bend on one of the lanes :yikes:

The engine sounds great although I didn't redline it as the roads were a bit damp and greasy. I will have to keep an eye on the speedo, though, it was effortless at 85mph and it would be easy to go a lot faster :biglaugh:

Kevin at Sussex Alfa had changed the oil cooler and pipes with the Autolusso kit, and also did a few other other bits and pieces we had identified when I looked at it.

I will give it a thorough look over tomorrow and start on some of the fettling - the plastic rear window will benefit from some Renovo polish for a start.
 
#11 ·
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I was re-reading this thread and I must have had rose tinted specs on when I bought the car, as it turned out to have a lot more issues to sort than I had thought. Oh well, all part of the learning!
 
#12 ·
I have learnt a lot about cars since getting my gtv in 2008.

Looking back I think the purchase went well considering I brought it with the only checks being; no flat spots when accelerating, cambelt changed recently and it drove well.

For it's first service just needed a new radiator and tyre.

Now the costs for the later years...that will be a thread in itself.

No regrets, still smile when I start the engine after the garage has pillaged my credit card.
 
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