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Left the Alfa sitting for a while during a month of downpour, when I started it to go to a client's pitch one AM the thing had noises coming out of the gearbox like it was gonna tear itself apart.
Up on stands, a loose bunch of pals callin' themselves The Car Munglers show'd up on a Saturday morning and the box came out with their help. I sat the gearbox on the bench, stared at it sternly for a couple days before splitting the case to find the mangled part(s) and make my list of stuff to order from my Alfa parts pusher. Once I split the case and started hunting bad bearings an' such, NOTHING I inspected came up to the: "Ah-HA!" standard. Couldn't find a mangled or worn bit.
Now it was the Jacques Cousteau moment: "Once more we dive-ed below Calypso". Pulled the pressure plate off and the driven plate was in my hand, when shaken it sounded like a marimba band. All the springs were loose in the center.
This stuff was new in 2000, and 80K miles ago.... can't count on nuthin' lastin' anymore.
Rummaged thru th' pile o' Alfa bits, found a plate, stuffed it in and crammed the box back up, mated to the engine.
I'm MOBILE again. And no money spent! Life is almost good.
Up on stands, a loose bunch of pals callin' themselves The Car Munglers show'd up on a Saturday morning and the box came out with their help. I sat the gearbox on the bench, stared at it sternly for a couple days before splitting the case to find the mangled part(s) and make my list of stuff to order from my Alfa parts pusher. Once I split the case and started hunting bad bearings an' such, NOTHING I inspected came up to the: "Ah-HA!" standard. Couldn't find a mangled or worn bit.
Now it was the Jacques Cousteau moment: "Once more we dive-ed below Calypso". Pulled the pressure plate off and the driven plate was in my hand, when shaken it sounded like a marimba band. All the springs were loose in the center.
This stuff was new in 2000, and 80K miles ago.... can't count on nuthin' lastin' anymore.
Rummaged thru th' pile o' Alfa bits, found a plate, stuffed it in and crammed the box back up, mated to the engine.
I'm MOBILE again. And no money spent! Life is almost good.