You betcha (Alaska talk) I’d trade all my cars for THAT 8C.
<<<<<<<<<<From: “Shell Yoelin” syoelin@triton.edu
Subject: Re: [E-Type] Alfa-Romeo Returning To The US?
In reply to a message from Wiggles sent Wed 21 Jan 2009:
The SPICA was a brilliant piece of engineering, and one of
few early attempts to meet US emissions laws that didn’t
result in less power. However, as the laws got tougher,
tuning became more critical and Alfa decided to make it
virtually impossible for a non-dealer mechanic to work on
the system. In 1980, they brought out the Monofarfalla
SPICA, literally a ‘one butterfly’ system. Instead of a
butterfly for each cylinder, there was a cast aluminum
plenum that fed all four cylinders, and had one butterfly
to control air. It was impossible to adjust without a
special tool, and believe me, there was no work-around. I
bought a 1980 Spider, which ran very poorly (real cheap)
and as part of getting it to go I took the air box off,
made several adjustments on the SPICA, and started the
engine. The car had been a hard start since I got it, but
that time it started on the second crank.
BRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAA!!! From dead to 5000 RPM in two seconds.
JEEZ! Turned the key off. What the hell was that? Checked
the throttle. Linkage is free. How about the throttle
plates?
And then it struck me. The air box really is a plenum, and
that rod on top is the short throttle rod. That’s why Alfa
put this fancy piece of cast aluminum on here - to do away
with three throttle plates. And I had just started an
engine at full throttle - in fact, more than full throttle,
as there was nothing between the intake valves and all the
air in the world except a spray of fuel. It was an
interesting experience.–
The original message included these comments:
As for the SPICA, it was only really dreaded if it wasn’t serviced
properly, i.e., the wee l’il oil filter in it was changed regularly.
–
1969 4.2 Series 2 E Type
Brentwood Bay, B.C., Canada
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
