My Alfa Life: Part 11

The last episode finished with an emergency repair to the electrical connection to the fan on the Spider. That lasted about a week and then the fan stopped, again whilst fannying around with the roof, and once again coolant bubbled out and onto the floor. Checking the fuse it had burnt out. I put the dodgy wire back in place as a temporary fix whilst looking for a more permanent solution.

Reading the manual the draw on the fan is quite high, 30A or so, and the 20A fuse that was fitted was never going to work for long. As we were heading into a spot of warm weather I needed to find better solution. In the end I got some 35A mini blade fuses and put one of those in place. It seemed to do the job, is unlikely to shake loose, and looks much tidier than the dangling wire that I had in place.

The new exhaust was still proving problematic to get fitted. After multiple attempts I still didn't have the adaptor to connect it to my system. Luckily the existing system was working pretty well, albeit still prone to dumping a bit of "old lady's hair" out of the back from time to time.

That's not a tether…

That's not a tether…

After a week of driving around without any issues, including a couple of evening drives along Blakey Ridge, we started to consider heading off to Spring Alfa Day at Duxford. The weather forecast was great the only problem was confidence in the Spider. On our last attempt to get to a AROC event cylinder two suffered from a dropped valve resulting in an expensive bill and some time off the road. The trip to Duxford would be 3-4 hours each way, dare we risk it?

We paid for tickets, packed a picnic into the boot, and headed off early on the Sunday morning with the roof as there was a chill in the air. As we headed nervously to the A1(M) I kept checking the temperature. It was holding steady at around 90C. So far so good.

We got onto the road south and pressed on keeping up with the traffic and generally driving normally. Just north of Newark we pulled into a petrol station to top up with fuel and drop the roof. At the pump I parked next to a nice blue Maserati Ghibli and had a chat with the passenger whilst filling. They were going to Duxford as well. The Maserati thundered off onto the dual carriageway with the valves open making a lovely sound as I lowered the roof on the Spider. We exited at a more sedate pace and approached the spot were it all went wrong the last time.

As we approached Grantham we picked up a blue GTV behind us and were escorted past the previous breakdown but he soon sped off and we were alone again. The skies cleared the further south we got and I stopped checking the temperature gauge. The Spider was running well and before long we were heading down the A14. An hour later we pulled into Duxford and, after being complemented on the colour combination of blue with red interior, parked up between a GTV6 and a series 3 Spider from the 1980s.

After a lovely day talking rubbish about cars and wandering around the exhibition it was time to leave. Not before talking to a chap with the same exhaust I'm trying to fit on it. It had it fitted when he bought it, which was only a few weeks before. Checking under his car it was a CF2 so fit straight away. Oh well, at least I know what it looks, and sounds, like when fitted now. Its a big improvement on the existing one. There were a lot of people with Ragazzon exhausts on their 916s. They all looked a little too shouty to me.

The trip back was fairly uneventful. One brief excursion in the A14 roadworks to pull over and put the roof up when it started raining. Then another stop to put it down again. It did start raining as we got back into Yorkshire but we managed to maintain a steady 60+ mph and it flew over our heads. It would have been quite a sight I imagine though, two people in an Alfa Spider, in the rain, with the windscreen wipers going but the roof down.

When we got home the roof decided that it would jam again. All of the fettling I'd done hasn't solved the underlying issue and I'm at a little bit of a loss as to what to do next. Time to talk to an expert I think.

After a little more chasing the adaptor for the exhaust finally arrived. It needed the pipe cutting between the post-cat lambda sensor and the first silencer, but its all fitted and shiny now. I think it suits the car and is the first of a few things to spruce it up without any drastic appearance changes.

New exhaust fitted ... no more "Old Lady's Hair" coming out of it

New exhaust fitted ... no more "Old Lady's Hair" coming out of it

PS. I've discovered another problem with the car. The seating position doesn't do my achilles tendons any good. After a sustained period of driving the Spider daily they are tender and sore to the touch. It appears that the car is slowly crippling me. The things we put ourselves through for fun.