Always Looking For Another

It is the 104th anniversary of the founding of A.L.F.A. and "Drive Your Alfa Day" . I took Margherita out with some of her cousins from Maranello on one of my favorite drives here in San Diego County. The driving group was composed of about 7 Ferraris (including a pristine F40), a couple of Corvettes and a couple of Infinitis.  The route was eastbound on SR76 to Palomar mountain, then a 5000' ascent on the South Grade road where my little Alfa kept pace with the 308 QV ahead of me all the way to the top. We went down the East Grade back to 76 and then a stop at Lake Henshaw for a breather. We then headed for more twisty bits on the Mesa Grande.  Came back down through Ramona and down the hill on the famous Highland Valley Rd. for lunch and debrief at BJ's. The sun was out all day, the roads were relatively clear of slow traffic and it was just the most fun I have ever had in my GTV6. When we pulled into the parking lot of BJ's I called my wrench, Erik, and than

I needed to put some miles on Margherita's new engine, courtesy of Erik at Rathmann Auto Works in Poway.  It's almost time to take it in for the followup to the rebuild.  So I got up by myself and headed out to Irvine and got there early enough to park right next to Craig McIntosh's nice Spider Veloce.  There was a nice mix of cars with the typical number of Mustangs, Corvettes and Porsches.  There were also a mix of "special" cars in the show area.  There were TWO Iso Grifo parked in there.  The yellow one has a 7L Corvette engine, (that's 427 cubic inch), very rare.  Italian coachwork and design and American muscle.

Margherita has got a new heart!  Erik Rathmann completed the semi-overhaul of the engine and it's running very smoothly, although I haven't had a real chance to run it very hard or for very long.  I'm hoping to make a speed run up to Cars and Coffee in Irvine this Saturday morning.  Need to put some miles on the engine for break-in. Hope to see some friends on the road!!!!  Ciao!

I got Margherita back home last night after the extensive maintenance that she desperately needed, thanks to Erik at Rathmann Auto Works in Poway.  He had to replace the old 3 liter cams since one of the exhaust lobes was severely worn.  I had found two sets of cams through the AlfaBB.com site; one came with a set of heads, which I did not need but Erik said that he could use them.  The cams were re-profiled and re-ground to spec. She now has a rebuilt clutch, all new rubber seals, drive shaft flex joints (commonly referred to as doughnuts in America, giubos in Italian), new braided stainless steel brake lines, brake pads, suspension tweaks, and so much more the invoice is literally 5 pages long; BUT I am not complaining.  Margherita is now the car that she once was.  Nice crisp handling and the distinctive exhaust note has returned.  She gets right up on the cams and scoots.  I can hardly wait for this weekend to shoot up to Cars and Coffee on the early morning speed run. A grea

My GTV6 is undergoing a much needed mechanical rehabilitation.  Rathmann Auto Works is going from front to back and fixing, repairing and replacing things that probably should have been replaced years ago, meanwhile upgrading some of the safety features (like brake lines).  Erik is also repairing old worn out seals and plugging those nagging little leaks, and fixing things done by other mechanics in the past.  I can hardly wait to get her back on the road.  It will be like getting a new Alfa, almost. Braided Stainless steel brake lines for better brake pedal response, front and rear. New rear CV Joints Trans-axle seals. Camshafts are worn and in need of replacement Gunk caused by condensation.  Probably from a clogged oil breather.