1998 spider things (first time alfa owner)

[LordShade]

am I in the right section? I think I am in the right section

So I'm a first time alfa owner, I bought it off a person that just wanted to get rid of it (she wanted her garage back more then anything.. long story short I got it for basically nothing) Its a 1998 Alfa Romeo Spider T.spark V6 - we think, the sticker is very faded, hard to tell. ( pic : http://puu.sh/h9q0Q/f6d0bede0b.JPG )

Now the poor thing has been horribly neglected (while it was in the sellers garage) for the past 16months so apart from its battery being flat (which I replaced and the thing turned on right away) I was able to drive it to a mechanic to try and get a blue slip since the car definitely sounded fine... and it was in basically perfect condition, though he failed it anyway citing that I needed to replace the rear window (horribly opaque and you can't see through it) and a Broken hood release hatch (previous owner appears to have snapped it off - its just dangling there with the wire attached to it, so its a hazard).

Unfortunately with my limited knowledge I've gone around and asked how much that rear window will cost to replace, its plastic so I didn't think too much until I heard it'd be 1200 dollars... which is more then what I spent for the car in the first place  Not sure if i'm being played for or that is actually a legitimate price. So I'm up for decisions on how I can work with the rear window if its still "saveable"

Now another issue has cropped up almost like it felt like it, I managed to get the convertible roof to go down and go up a few times ( pic : http://puu.sh/hq1Nz/605b11033f.jpg ), now it just gets stuck on raising the rear window and I hear a "whirring" noise followed by nothing, like something is stuck somewhere? I read that it could be the gear inside the roof motor, but I am not too sure. I'd rather not replace the roof motor, I heard it was unbelievably expensive.

So what I've done currently is basically cleaned it, gave it a nice wax and cleaned out all the leaves and spiders (haha, a spider full of spiders) but i'd really like some advice on what I can do about the rear window, along with the roof motor.

oh yeah I'd rather not have my first Alfa turn out to be a sour decision, its also my first car and its not very often you can tell somebody your first car was an Alfa. Though the faces people pull when you do tell them. Priceless really.

anyway, hope somebody can assist me! Not too sure if this is the correct section, but I'm sure mods can move it if it isn't.

[colcol]

Hello Lord Shade and welcome to the forum,
These subjects have been covered in the past, so just look up the titles of subjects you want to find out about.
With regard to the back window, the Genuine window was always going to be expensive, try getting a quote from a trimmer that does hoods for Mazda MX-5's and MG's and such, they would have worked out a cheaper alternate by now.
The gears strip on the power hood as they are made of plastic, there are alternates about, just jump on ebay and see what you find, there are companies that supply new parts to replace broken plastic parts for power windows, power hoods and the like.
Also if my memory is correct, there is an oil supply that needs to be topped up for the power hood???, is that correct???, google it and see what you can find, hope this helps, Colin.

[Cool Jesus]

Hey, Shady. If $1200 was more than you paid for the car, hell you really got yourself a bargain there. Fantastic colour combo too, not a big fan of the usual black leather, love the red/beige. Evenso, as a newbie to car ownership, if you have little mechanical nauce, she may be a bit of a mystery bag as far as repairs. I say this,as from your post it sounds like the previous onwer wasn't exactly concerned about the Alfas health. I'd see if you can find out when the timing belts were last changed? (3yrs/60K kms) That's a min. $1200 fix for a mechanic to do.

Now, I'd be having some terse words with the mechanic knocking you back on the rear window. I stand to be corrected (and I'll do some legislative research after posting this) but, The spider has 2 side mirrors which exempts vehicles from requiring rear windows. Do semi's and trucks have rear windows?

Your pricing isnt too far of the mark, but I'm fairly sure the window section can be had for around $300. Theres an Oz company that makes them and I'm fairly certain its been posted about on this forum.

The broken cog isn't your issue here. That cog's purpose is to lock down the plastic hard cover for the roof. Cols right about the hydraulic oil, its a reservoir on the passenger side accessed via the stow area behind the seats.

OH, if the badging is correct, its not a V6, but a 2 litre twin spark alfa pocket rocket. Awesome first car dude. Keep it healthy and you'll were a grin every time you drive her.

[LordShade]

Hey, Shady. If $1200 was more than you paid for the car, hell you really got yourself a bargain there. Fantastic colour combo too, not a big fan of the usual black leather, love the red/beige. Evenso, as a newbie to car ownership, if you have little mechanical nauce, she may be a bit of a mystery bag as far as repairs. I say this,as from your post it sounds like the previous onwer wasn't exactly concerned about the Alfas health. I'd see if you can find out when the timing belts were last changed? (3yrs/60K kms) That's a min. $1200 fix for a mechanic to do.

Now, I'd be having some terse words with the mechanic knocking you back on the rear window. I stand to be corrected (and I'll do some legislative research after posting this) but, The spider has 2 side mirrors which exempts vehicles from requiring rear windows. Do semi's and trucks have rear windows?

Your pricing isnt too far of the mark, but I'm fairly sure the window section can be had for around $300. Theres an Oz company that makes them and I'm fairly certain its been posted about on this forum.

The broken cog isn't your issue here. That cog's purpose is to lock down the plastic hard cover for the roof. Cols right about the hydraulic oil, its a reservoir on the passenger side accessed via the stow area behind the seats.

OH, if the badging is correct, its not a V6, but a 2 litre twin spark alfa pocket rocket. Awesome first car dude. Keep it healthy and you'll were a grin every time you drive her.

I should probably clarify, the roof issue is when the roof successfully unhooks itself from the back of the car, raises all the way up, and when the roof should fold back neatly into its little recess, the hatch for the recess does not raise up, like its locked shut. This is where I hear the whirring noise and nothing happens. I'll try looking for the hydraulic oil reservoir, though without the roof down workspace is extremely limited (not to mention also very annoying) if i can't find it, i'll try uploading a picture of the rear compartment (its where it is right? - where the battery is also located?) and maybe someone with some experience can point it out with a big red circle or something.

[colcol]

You could always go and get the roadworthy with the roof down or off, because you are getting it fixed, but seriously for your own safety, its good to see out of the back window.
On the twin sparks, the timing belts are 3 yeas or 60,000 klms, as the belt starts to dry out and become brittle, even if it has only done 10,000 klms, but is more than 3 years old, have it changed, as they are an interference motor, the belt malfunctions and the pistons hit the valves and bend them, Colin.

[Cool Jesus]

Use the search function for the roof pump and oil issue. Alternatively search my posts, I'm sure I've added photos with directions and all. The whirring noise is your pump trying work the oil which must be low. The cover is manoeuvred by hydraulic rams which are either faulty or more likely the system is low on oil.

[shay1000]

I am surprised the mechanic refused the blue slip, my rear window is also opaque but my local guy maintained that as I had 2 working side mirrors the rear window was no problem. The rear cover for the bonnet stowage is down to the drive motor, probably a stripped gear. You can get both metal and teflon replacements and they are easy to fit, and if that is all that is wrong with the hood mechanism then you are lucky indeed.

I found the teflon gears courtesy of a pommy shop on eBay. The metal replacements are available from The Italian Job but they are more expensive and I am reluctant to fit metal because it may cause another part to stuff up.

Rear windows can be had via eBay for about $500, but you can buy a complete replacement hood on eBay for the same price. As my local motor trimmer is an utter f**kwit I will be importing mine.

I have to say this, and it may raise the ire of others on this page, so be it...I too bought a spider fairly cheaply and it is clearly a moneypit. I regard them as wonderful to drive but with the reliability of a 1970s Ducati (and man they were woeful). I could never recoup my outlay ($2000 as soon as I bought it) so I am stuck with it, if I could I would divest myself of it pronto. They are most certainly not a car for the home mechanic, no matter how capable he (or she) may be.

However, you may be lucky.   

[Potsie]

Lord Shady,

Great buy mate - I'm pleased to see that an Alfa has a home in the Shire. I was up in Sydney last week (Cronulla) and noticed that there is much fewer Alfa's around than in Melbourne.. Great first car.  Potsie.

[colcol]

Stick with it Shady, just about every time i have a problem with a car, you begin to think its the end of the world, but with the help from much more cleverer people like me on Forums, you work through the problems and solve them and think, what was all the fuss about?
Every time i have purchased another car, it is a bit tricky learning how to fix it and service it, but you get there in the end and it all works out, with a stupid smirk of self achievement.
Anything that is easy to do, is not worth the effort, if things were easy, anyone could do it.
Sometimes when things are not going well, i just change direction and clean up the shed and buy some new tools to attack the car again with vigour, Colin.

[Cool Jesus]

Well, sorted out young Shady's roof issues today, the plastic cog in the cover motor is falling apart on him. Easy enough to turn the cog around to get it back on line, but will require replacement sooner than later. The bonnet lever was also another easy fix, damn lever just needed to be snapped into its pivot mounting, fixed. He's not doing too bad on the rear window either, the mechanic they went to really does need a kick up the backside.

So, he's certainly stumbled upon a bargain of an Alfa though. But its got its issues, and sitting around unused for so long, rubbers, seals, fluids and plastics don't like the idleness. As today it was highlighted when sure enough, it looks like the clutch master cylinder seals have given up on him today, when there was no problem yesterday.

Anyhow Shady good luck with it, slowly change out the fluids and replace rubbers such as brake lines, coolant hoses, etc (or at least keep a very close eye on them) as time goes by. Do get the timing belt done as a priority though.

PS, forgot to mention, the thermostat sounds like its faulty from speaking with your dad, not a cheap item as its encased in the housing. So your looking at $100 for the thermostat and again until you get yourself sorted with some tools, your going to be hard pressed working on any car without some basic tools. May have to add that to the list for Brian Foley to look at, the bill just seems to keep adding up here