With the little car up on jackstands and drained of its bodily fluids I could begin taking pieces off. I learned my first lesson about these sweet old cars when it came to removing the wheels on the left side of the car. As it turns out, the lugnuts are reverse thread on the left side to prevent them from possibly coming loose under acceleration. It may seem like a triviality but it goes to show you the lengths to which the Italians went in building these cars. It didn't take me a terribly long time to realize what was going on before I figured it out and disaster was averted. The size of the lugnuts alone (22mm) was another sign of the quality of this car. As I got underneath it and began removing the exhaust system and driveline I noted the stoutness with which this car was designed. Everything from the size of the rotors, to the swaybar and suspension components, to the quality of the fasteners was impressive. It illustrates the philosophy behind Alfa Romeo; cars that are built to be driven hard and to put up with a high level of abuse. The body itself may appear delicate and elegant but underneath that light body is a robust running gear and engine.
I got the driveshaft and exhaust system out and quickly threw the latter in the garbage. It was completely rusted and full of holes. It was probably the orignal exhaust. As I looked around underneath the car I surmised that this car has not been tampered with too much during its long life. I don't think it's ever been taken apart, certainly not to the extent that I'm going to.
This ended the work for the evening and I cleaned up to get ready to head inside for dinner. Before I turned the lights off in the garage I turned once more to look at the car. Sitting up on jackstands with its wheels off I knew there was a lot of work ahead before it would ever run again. After dinner that night I sat in my chair with a few Alfa books dreaming of the day when Shakespeare would once again sing her sweet and sexy song.
Until the next time.
TJ
TJ