2019-06-01 Classic Cars

111

our cars

T

he Spider hasn’t appeared in

these pages for around six months

because for once there has been

nothing of note to write about. Just

regular trips of no consequence

until the winter salt finally went

down, though I was still able to go out

for a blast on New Year’s Day to see 2019

in with a little style. That was a glorious

run – bright sun and dry, empty roads. I

almost put the top down.

I did as ever have good intentions to go

out and start the engine regularly, but we

all know about those. So it was with much

relief when I finally got round to it at the

end of March, that the twink actually fired

at the second attempt without the need to

charge the battery or glug in some fresh

fuel. That really was unusual; I should

have read the runes.

Anyway, an exploratory run to Anglesey

Abbey, our favourite local

National Trust haunt, went

without incident and returned

the Alfa-sized grin to my

face. A few days later I had a

photo shoot not too far away

fr om home on a rather special

Volkswagen Beetle that youwillbeableto

read about in the next issue,sousedthe

Spider for that too. Well, there’snopoint

in wasting good weather, and it’s always

a good ice-breaker when meeting other

classic owners.

Oddly, I was followed almost all the

way there by a spiritedly driven dark-red

Triumph Stag. Definitely not the usual

Wednesday morning traffic you see around

Cambridge; maybe I’m being tailed by the

classic car mafia.

All I noted for attention on the Alfa was

that a past problem with a too-high idle

speed had returned – it sits around 1400-

1500rpm when warm – so I resolved to

check that out the following Saturday.

Before I got into that and warmed the

engine up, it seemed a good idea to check

the fluids. Oil was fine, coolant was...

missing. At least from the sticky-out

section of the radiator top where the cap

fits. Further inspection revealed a trail of

Losing my coolant

coolanttracking downtheedge oftherad

onthe passenger side,andanexpensive

poolofantifreezeinoneofthedriptrays

under the car. I have three of those – it’s an

Alfa and I do like a clean garage floor.

The volume of pretty blue coolant in

the tray made it clear that just topping the

radiator up for now wasn’t going to be an

option. I’m surprised – though relieved –

that there had been no indication on the

temperature gauge that the engine was

running hot. I’m really not in the mood for

doing another cylinder head gasket change.

So sorting out the idle speed will have to

wait for now. All I can do for the moment

is wait until Classic Alfa delivers me £235-

worth of new radiator. That was a kick in

the wallet I could have done without.

Once again the Spider proves that

just when everything seems to be going

swimmingly, it is time to worry about what

it’s actually up to. Then again, even after

eight years, I still forgive it every time.

1972 Alfa Romeo Spider 2000 S2

Owned by russ smith [email protected]

TimeownedEightyears

Milesthismonth 17

Costs£0

PreviouslyJust drivingit

Looks like

time for a

new radiator

Alfa doubles as

calling card. More on

the Beetle next month