Another Cross Country Trip in A 1971 Alfa!

Good Luck with your trip.

I looked at the Wikipedia page for the 1971 GTV. They claim that the US market for that year was fitted with a SPICA fuel injection system and not a carburetor. The Webers may be an aftermarket modification or the car was not built for the US market. Wikipedia may also be wrong, that's always a possibility.

Still, have fun on your trip.

That's 100% correct! In 1969, Alfa fitted their US cars with a modified diesel fuel injection system from SPICA. It's a mechanical FI system with four small pistons (driven by a belt off the crank) that shoot fuel into fuel lines and into the intake in front of the valve (no DI). The cool thing is on the left side of the pump, there's an analog computer which takes input readings (barometric pressure, throttle position, engine temperature) and uses mechanical linkages, levers, etc to adjust the output of the four fuel pistons. As you can imagine, once someone "monkeys" with the system, it's very difficult to get it back to normal. So, when the SPICA system acts up, the easiest fix is to pull the intake manifold, SPICA pump/belt and air cleaner and replace it with a dual Weber set up.

Personally, I think the SPICA system is very cool technology and the motor does get better fuel economy, but the snap of the throttle from idle is a little delayed. I like the feel of dual Webers much better - and the sound of air rushing through four barrels is pretty exhilarating!

I almost forgot. The reason Alfa went with SPICA in the US is due to emissions. With dual Webers, it wouldn't pass EPA standards. In the rest of the world, Alfa stuck with dual Webers.

http://girlsdrivefasttoo.com/2016/05/03/1971-alfa-romeo-gtv-1750/

That's the car!

Sounds like great fun. When we were kids, my father would often take us to the Bay of Fundy - Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia - to escape the summer heat. We don't like heat up here in the Great White North. Visited Portland and environs again when I was 19, on my Suzuki X-6 Hustler. Vermont, New Hampshire are lovely States - especially this time of year. A bit of a jog off your route, but the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit is worth visiting. Much, much more in the collection than cars. Chicago? Reflects my interest, but I would visit any Frank Lloyd Wright designed residence open to the public. Visited Falling Water in Pennsylvania twenty years ago. What a pleasure, but maybe too far south from your route. Bon voyage!

Now that’s pretty dam interesting… not to spoil it…fill us in when you get back…

Back in the 70's, with nothing else to do and a little money saved up from my last job, my wife and I loaded up our VW buss and just started driving from New Hampshire west with no particular destination. All the way to California.

My advise from this wonderfull experience is that if your are in no particular rush to get home, avoid the interstate highways. Take the back roads. Thats where you will see the real United States.

For example, from Portland ME take US Rt. 202. This will take you through centeral N.H., western Mass and into NY. Where it goes from there I don't know, but getting lost is the most fun part of traveling this way. You don't know what you will find.

I should be a fan of them, but I'm not. To me, they look okay until you really take a good look at the body lines. Much too busy!

Though the performance improvement over a C7 is very impressive! Chevy should've done the mid-engine change many generations ago!

I lost a lot of enthusiasm of a vette from what they did to it in the 80’s and 90’s.

For me, 1974 was the enthusiasm killer. I did like the 1984 for both the newness and performance - it felt like it was on rails and it was much quicker than the 1982, but the styling got old fast.

I come across a lot of older Corvettes (1990's and 80's) but there are so few buyers, I just let them go. Prices are pretty low.

FYI, the 1980 Corvette came with a special California edition - required due to emissions. The CA car had a 305 V8 with an automatic - no manual option.

That's at the Famoso drag strip in McFarland, CA. It's in the middle of nowhere on Hwy 99. There was a movie about McFarland's running team - it's a true story, really a good movie to watch!

Earlier this year I was coming back from Fresno. My sister was helping me bring a car back - we decided to eat in McFarland and wanted to give some business to a local restaurant. The Mexican food place was closed for sit down - only take out! We walked a couple blocks and found a Chinese food place. Chinese people running it and one of the workers (Chinese) was eating there too! It's a rough place - pretty run down, but we're not living there, so we tried it. The food was terrible. The worst Chinese food I've ever had. Service was really great though and the portions were generous. My sister and I commented (to ourselves) that Panda Express would've been much, much better.

A little trivia. Pre-Panda Express, the family owned a sit down restaurant called Panda Inn. It's actually pretty good, but somewhat Americanized Chinese food. They make a fantastic Walnut Shrimp dish - it's really good!

We have a lot of Chinese restaurants just south of us. Places where they only speak very broken English. The food is phenomenal! Better than any Chinese food I've ever eaten. And the cool thing is that you can choose a spot and most likely the food will be top notch. And prices are reasonable too!

The long range forecasts make route 66 look like great weather the whole way.

Now an obsession with this '68 Alfa 33 Stradale, I could understand....

Still probably need a mechanic on hand to start it...haha

Neighbor of ours has a ‘63 vette.

he was telling me, it’s a rare car, because a lot of people had work done on the car to make it look like a ‘64 vette. Which didn’t have a split window.

picture below, only difference is that his was red.

what’s hard for me to understand, he also grew up on a dairy farm like myself is how he could afford it. All though, they also had a side business (like a lot of farmers) of moving houses….

I guess it depends on how long you've had it, I bought a '66 ragtop vette for $1800 and sold it several years later for $1600...also bought a new CB750 Honda for $1200 the year before....The bike was stolen several years later(25k miles) and I got an insurance check for $1200...this was early '70's....I don't know when the prices went up but if you bought before they did, then you got a good deal...

I'm on the same page as you are.

Here's something I was told years ago - I try to follow the best I can: The money is made on the buy. If you buy right, you can also sell right - give the buyer a good deal. He'll not only thank you, but he'll come back for more business.

How do you buy right? Either anticipate the market or have cash on hand when things go south. I like the second strategy - sitting on cash and waiting for the market to come to me.

I don't buy Alfa's for an investment - I don't plan to sell anytime soon - they're for enjoyment!

I wonder why he changed the rear window. The Split Window 'Vette was a one year 1963 only car. The 1964 looks like a 1965-67 Corvette - definitely not as rare, nor desirable.

I think he damaged the value of his car. Either that, or it's really a 1964 that came with a story - it happens a lot in the classic car business.

That motor sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing!

Does anyone have recommendations for Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. We've never been to any of those states and other than Maine Lobster and the trees changing color, what else should we make sure we don't miss!

We had planned to leave early tomorrow morning (29th), but I got a call from the seller. He was checking the car and he noticed a noise in the rear end. Yup, a bad wheel bearing! For the Alfa rear end, the bearing is press fit and a sleeve is put in to make sure the bearing doesn't move - since it's press fit, I wouldn't think it would move, but they did it that way for a reason.

The machine shop won't finish until Monday, so I put off our trip until early Monday morning. We won't get into Portland, ME until the evening, so we'll stay in a hotel room, then drive up to pick up the car Tuesday - then start our trip!

The plan has changed a little, due to the weather and timing.

We'll drive west through New Hampshire and Vermont. We're going to meet a friend in southern New Hampshire for lunch. From Vermont, we'll head west through New York and stop at Niagra Falls - we're definitely going there! Then down to Buffalo and west to Cleveland. We'll continue through Ohio, then we'll visit a sister school in Toledo. Chicago is still part of the plan - a couple days visiting, then off we go down I55 through the state. We'll try to drive Rte 66 as much as we can until Albuquerque, where we'll head south to avoid the cold. We'll visit the Arch in St Louis, then follow I44 all the way to Oklahoma City where we'll take I40 west. In New Mexico, we may take a little detour and head to Santa Fe. I've wanted to go to Bandelier since our last trip, so we'll try to get there this time. I also want to see Tent Rocks if we go to Santa Fe. And I'd like to see Los Alamos while we're there. In Albuquerque, we'll take I25 south to I 10 and head to Tucson, then Phoenix. Spend a couple days in Phoenix visiting and then back home!

We didn't make it home with the car! We drove from Portland Maine to Lake George NY - our first stop. The car was making a bad noise, so we limped into Lake George. The next day, I decided to call it quits and have the car shipped home. I set up the transport, then made plane reservations and the rest is history.

Here's an update on what we did.

I called a transport company and they scheduled a pick up the next day. We spent the next day at Lake George - we walked to a really nice park. There's a nature trail at the park that's very well maintained - we loved it. We're walking back to the hotel, when I get a phone call from the trucking company - they're at the hotel an hour early! We were in the Walgreens, so we checked out and my better half told me to rush ahead and she'd catch up. I got to the hotel and the truck driver was waiting for me. I handed him the keys, he asked if there was anything special he needed to know about the car, then he drove the car onto the trailer. I asked him if he could give us a ride back to Albany and he reluctantly agreed. I called my better half and she was just around the corner. He secured the car and we jumped in and set off for Albany!

The truck driver had to drop the car at a central location, then we jumped in a small SUV and he and his buddy took us to the Albany airport. Super nice guys!

We rented a car (Kia Soul) and spend the days doing the following:

We found this Shaker museum/history center. It was closed, but we roamed the grounds. I don't know why, but we didn't get a good feeling from the place. There's this old building that was some sort of old folks home, but it was pretty run down and I got bad feelings there - same feeling I got when I rode my bike to the Camarillo Mental Hospital soon after they closed. It's now Channel Islands (I think it's a UC school) now. We went to our hotel, then went to grab dinner.

The next day, we packed our bags and drove to Howe Caverns. We've been to Carlsbad, so we weren't expecting anything like it. No, it isn't Carlsbad, but it's a worth the visit if you're near. Then we went to Woodstock. We wanted to go to the farm, but our GPS took us to the town of Woodstock to some tire shop. We re entered the info into our GPS and it took us to a parking lot. The town of Woodstock is a tourist trap and there were a lot of people walking around, so we did a Google search and found that the real Woodstock was in Bethel Woods, about an hour away. It was a little late, but off we went! We arrived just before 5 pm and we thought the museum was closed, so we walked the grounds. We were able to stand on the spot the stage was at - you can see the difference in the ground - yes, over 50 years ago! Then we did a little more walking and we went into the main building and used the restroom. We got to see the huge speakers from the concert and pictures of the bands that played. We went back to the car and drove to get a bite at this rustic place called Anne's Ruff Cut. What a great burger! It's called Ruff Cut, because the wood used in the building is all rough cut. We stayed at a hotel about 1/2 hour away in a town called Liberty. There was some sort of party in the ballroom, so we went to the pub/restaurant in the hotel and had something to drink. We met some great folks there and the bartender (Ray) is an awesome guy. They told us stories about the area and that the Catskills are no longer the tourist/kids camp destination it once was. In fact, they told us that many of the homes/ farms are run down.

We woke up to rain, so I figured that we'd do something indoors that day. We packed our stuff and headed back to Bethel Woods - why not go to the Woodstock museum? What an awesome experience! If you haven't been, I highly recommend it. It's a small museum. The building is large, but the museum part is small. We learned a lot about the festival! We spent the entire day there! Then we headed off to Massachusetts - I found this cool hotel from the late 1800's, called the 1896 Inn - or something like that. On the way there, we decided to go to the tourist trap Woodstock for dinner. We had seen this place called the Mud Club on our drive through town the other day, so off we went. When we checked the food, we found out it's mostly pizza, with some other things that are more health food sounding meals. We're not into that, so we walked across the street to a nicer place. We sat down and looked at the menu - then we looked at each other and said no thank you and we excused ourselves. We went back to the Mud Club - she ordered a hummus/pita platter and I ordered a pizza (wood fired oven). I had a Coke and she had some sort of honey cocktail ($17). We sat outside and ate our meal - it was good - not great, but good. I went to get her a glass of wine and I saw someone eating a lobster tail (actually two). They told me that it's the house special - mac and cheese with lobster tail. Bummer, I would've loved to have it instead of the pizza! We sat at the fire pit (they have an awesome outdoor area) and talked to a couple who was visiting from New York City. Then we left and headed to our hotel. I believe it's truly a place from 1896!

The next day, we walked the grounds of the hotel - very neat place! After, we packed our bags and headed off to the Bennington Battlefield! On the way, we stopped by a breakfast place. Good food, nice friendly service and full of locals! I was able to get french toast with real maple syrup! Oh my, much better than the junk we buy at the store! We finished our meal, then headed to the battlefield. It's nothing like the Bull Run Battlefield. It almost felt like a state park. We walked the site, got to play with a replica cannon and I went on a nice, short hike through the woods. We spent a few hours there, then headed off to the Bennington Museum in Vermont. It's a historical/art museum - we had to rush to see the entire museum - it was okay. They had a big display on Grandma Moses - she's from the area. Then we walked the grounds outside. There's a really cool outdoor art area, which ends up at the top of a small hill. It was windy and chilly, but we walked the entire grounds. Then we visited the cemetery next door (the museum is on the grounds of an old church). For some odd reason, we find ourselves walking old cemeteries when we're on vacation! There were graves from the mid 1800's there. After we had our fill, we went to the Bennington Memorial (I think that's what they call it). It's like a smaller Washington Memorial made of brown stone. After, we headed to the town of Hudson for dinner - the couple we met the other night told us about it. They said it was an up and coming antiques place with a nice walking area. The drive took us a little longer than expected and we wound up eating at a place that looks like an old train car. The food was so-so and the prices were high. A lot of big talk - farm to table, grass fed and grass finished beef, etc. Maybe it's me, but I've had better. And their alcohol is infused (sounds special), but I told her that big name brand companies are now infusing their liquor, so $60/bottle is expensive. We drove back to Albany and checked into a terrible hotel. Smelled like pot in the lobby. Check in wasn't professional. We drove to the side entrance, went in and again, it stunk like pot. We got into our room and got to bed, so we could get up early to catch our 5:03 AM flight!

We made the flight - Albany to National (DC) to Dulles and then to Ontario. We took a Lyft to the APC train station, then took the Gold Line train to our station and drove home.

More to come!

Sorry, I skipped a post.

We picked up our lovely new 1971 Alfa GTV in Maine. We drove back to Portland to drop off the rental car, then headed out for the New York/Vermont boarder - our goal for the day.

We stopped in New Hampshire to grab dinner. Very nice people in New Hampshire and the food was good. I reserved a hotel in Glens Falls area - actually in Lake George, NY.

Okay, on to Vermont. It was cold in Vermont (it was early evening) and we were in higher altitude. The car drove fantastic and the difference between a convertible and coupe is a stiffer chassis (roof is a structural part of the car). She handled great on the twisties and the punch from the 1750 motor sure felt good. We were about 15 minutes away from the boarder, when I started hearing some noise in the transmission. As we went down hill, the noise went away. On the flats and up hill, the noise was there. Not a terrible noise, but a definite noise. Oh yeah, it got down to 32 degrees - the heater on that little car doesn't work very well. The oil pan has a large number of fins, which keeps the motor oil cool and with the radiator, the motor keeps very cool.

We passed the Vermont/New York boarder! The noise was a little louder and when we reached Glens Falls, we stopped for gas and the noise was louder. We let the car cool down a bit, then started off and the noise was worse! I found that the noise went away in 1st gear, but all other gears made noise. We were 14 miles or so away from the hotel. I wanted to have the car towed, but my better half asked me to try driving in 1st gear! Well, I did and soon realized that someone was going to ram us from behind, so I put up with the noise and we were soon at cruising speed in 5th gear. As we crested the hill, I noticed that the noise went away as we went down hill. We got into Lake George, pulled into our hotel and called it a night!

The next morning, I started here up - she started pretty easily! Then I put her in reverse and the noise was there. I drove around the parking lot - no noise in 1st, but as soon as I hit 2nd, the noise came back. Same all the way to 5th. Bummer!

I had my better half make a video of the noise. I sent it to the Alfa Gods and they were all puzzled. How can a transmission make noise in all gears except 1st. If it's a clutch throw out bearing, or a pilot bushing, it would make noise based on the position of the clutch pedal. Cross that off the list. What about a warped pressure plate or clutch? Nope, it wouldn't make a difference if it was 1st or any other gear. Maybe an intake shaft bearing? Again, it wouldn't be dependent on being in 1st gear. Or maybe the bearing(s) on the counter shaft, but only 4th gear doesn't put a load on the counter shaft, so it can't be that. So, what could it be?

The noise was bad enough that I didn't want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere, so I made a decision - I'm going to go to Plan B - we'll have the car put on a truck and send it home. We'll catch a flight back home and be there before the car arrives. I called one of my contacts and a short time later, she had a truck set up for pick up the next day. Yes, in Lake George, NY!

I reserved a new flight and I reserved a rental car in Albany, NY - the closest big town with a large airport. Plan B in action!

More to follow.

Here's the video we made of the transmission noise in Reverse - you can hear that terrible noise pretty clearly.

As I pass by, I shifted to 2nd and that terrible noise again!

However in 1st, she sounded soooo good!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RMXimTj8hs

Here's a video of me driving by in 3rd - again, the terrible noise! I got her back into 1st and she was quiet. As I came back to my camera lady, I shifted to 2nd and that noise! When I parked, I pushed the clutch in and revved the motor - noise still there. I moved her to N and with the clutch out, same noise. I shifted to 1st and the noise went away. Then shifter to N and still no noise. Then to 2nd and the noise came back.

Here's the video.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkwPOM2Hkt4&t=4s

I have a WAG about your noise. The noise sounds like sheet metal resonating. Possibly it's a rattling heat shield.

I wish it were! The noise was definitely coming from the transmission. I could feel the vibration in the shift handle.

For the life of me, I couldn't figure out how a transmission makes noise in all gears but 1st. And it's quiet in N, only if it comes out of 1st.

I know it's probably not, but it sounds like your muffler is dragging....I've never heard a transmission make that noise....need to put it on the lift and see if anything is interfering with the drive train, maybe the driveshaft is rubbing against something loose...

It sure sounds like it, but it's not a dragging noise.

The noise was coming from the transmission. It's a terrible noise - sounded like a bearing exploded or parts are rattling inside the transmission.

But, it's fixed for now. I don't know how much damage occurred, but it's nice and quiet. And it's still driving well - it sure is a fun car to carve corners.

One of the experts in my Alfa group recommended that I check the transmission oil level. On every Alfa transmission I've touched, the bolt is a reverse square - a tool that's not easy to find in Lake George, NY.

So, I did the most logical thing and had the car transported home.

Fast forward to two weekends ago. My car arrived here at my house on a Thursday, I believe. I made a home for her in the driveway (no room in the garage). I backed her up and that noise again! On Saturday, I lifted her up and lo and behold, there are bolts on the drain and fill holes! I removed the top bolt and stuck my finger in the hole - nothing. I did get some oil residue on my finger, so there was oil in there, splashing around. I stuck a zip tie down the hole and there's definitely oil down there. For the heck of it, I rigged up a fill system with a long piece of vacuum hose and a latex glove around it for a seal. One quart and still needs more. Another 1/2 quart and it's full! For a 2 quart system, that's not good. I lowered her down and crossed my fingers as I turned the key. She fired right up! I put her in 5th, then R (no synchros in R) and I let out the clutch. QUIET! I backed her out of the driveway and she's quiet! I drove her down the street - no noise and shifts great. Around the corner - working perfectly. Around a fast 45 degree right turn and down shift to 3rd - no noise and shifts just like she should. I did some rev matched downshifts - no noise! Up shifts - no noise.

I drove her home and ran in the house - "Come out and put some shoes on!" We went for a drive and we were both grinning ear to ear! I said that I have no idea how this happened. She asked me if first gear is bigger and it was able to touch the oil, where the others couldn't. And of course it is - just a tiny bit bigger and that must've been enough to get it to pull oil! Amazing!

So she's good now! I'm super happy ... but I drove her to work the next week and after stopping for lunch, she wouldn't re-start! No click from the solenoid, so I walked to the office and after work, I called my better half for some running shoes and a sweatshirt. I was ready to push start her - I walked to the car and just for the heck of it, I turned the key and she started! I drove her home - no problems. After parking in the driveway, I shut her off, then turned the key and she started!

Great! Any idea how the oil left the transmission?

There's a leak at the rear of the transmission. Not a terrible leak, but it's damp and it leaves a mark on the driveway. In the future, I'm going to have to pull it apart, but for the time being, I'm going to enjoy driving her!

I buffed the paint - well, first washed her - the first time I've washed her. Then I felt the paint and I had to clay her. Then I pulled out the DA and tried a medium pad with M205 (medium cut). Nope, not enough - darn! I pulled out the hard pad with M101 and wow! A gorgeous cut - then I did stage two with M205. Wow, a super nice finish. I almost did a third cut with a very mild polish, but I decided to just wax her.

I used some Graphene wax, but it was a little cold. The was didn't fully cure, so when I took it off, there was still some ridges. Shoot, I knew I should've used the Hybrid Solutions wax - this stuff is phenomenal and cures in cool weather - and if it doesn't, don't worry, it's cure the next day in the sun! Fantastic stuff, but I wanted to use the really good stuff - the Graphene!

Then I took her on a nice drive. Hwy 39 goes up into the mountains above Azusa. She felt good, but the tires are sort of cheap - Kumho or Hankook - not the good racing tires. I had an absolute blast! A little squeal from the tires, but that's okay! About 30-40 minutes of fun, then back on the freeway and home!

Here's a video of the car, now that it's been "fixed"!

1 1/2 quarts of Redline NS gear oil in the tranny. I should add some Lucas for added protection.

Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yMzFPxLj0Z0