• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!

    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

On the merits of "hoarding":

DrEntropy

Great Pumpkin
Platinum
Country flag
Offline
Went out this AM to go to the local "QuikRip" for Sunday sundries. Hit th' starter in the Alfa and it chimed right up... accompany'd by a HORRIBLE grinding/jangling sound. gah! shut it down, thought pr'aps one of the neighborhood urchins had shoved something up under the fan shroud. No such. Hit starter again and had good starter spin without gear engagement. feh. Yank starter (step one). Starter gear is no longer attached to the solenoid...

Walk to back of the garage, start prospecting (step two). Find Alfa starter in parts pile, check and install (step three).

"You should get RID of all this JUNK!" -- yeah, right. In under two hours with "free" parts the Alfa is up and running.

Shop price would have been $400.00 (exchange!) for the starter, a week to wait while it travels, $200.00 labor...

I ~love~ my "junk"! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/devilgrin.gif
 
Did the same thing with one of the Spridgets earlier this year, Doc. The biggest problem was deciding which starter to use.
I love my "junk", too.
Jeff
 
hehehehehe.....happens all the time around my place!
 
I knew you guys would like that.
On further investigation, here's what I found: The gear and bearing are "of a piece" (or s'posed to be). The first pic is how it "should" look. The second is how it appeared on disassembly. Any familiarity there? It's a Bosch unit, "8 toother". I suspect it fits more than just 105 series Alfa Romeos.
 
It <u>PAYS</u> to recycle!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif
 
'specially with thirty year old cars, LBC or not. I have another starter for it ~someplace~... haven't checked the Shed yet. I'd like to have another spare ready to go for the NEXT surprise.

At least the Alfa is as considerate as the LBC's have been: Failure in the driveway beats breakdown outside the yard by a ton. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif
 
DrEntropy said:
'Failure in the driveway beats breakdown outside the yard by a ton. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif

Unless your driveway is up hill and the Beast dies
on the downhill end! Been there a few times. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/driving.gif
 
I have the largest collection of Ford Cortina parts
in Humboldt County!I don't know if I'd risk my life to
save them,though.
However......there is my used Band-Aid collection.

- Doug
 
DrEntropy said:
"You should get RID of all this JUNK!" -- yeah, right.

And when you die it'll end up on e-bay as "rare, hard to find" exotica.... /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
It ~is~ well-and-truly in there. But actually no too fiddly to do. It was a leasurely two hour task, including the coffee breaks and hunting the other starter. In a pinch/panic I could likely do it in between half an hour & forty-five minutes in this car. It actually all was accessed from the top, it came out from t'wixt rear carb and bulkhead. I think there's less room in a GTV for the task.

Donn said:
Yeah, "Touched by the hand of Doc"

Funny. I have some "stickers" as joke labels:"Dr Entropy's Hand Made Goods" with "Chaos & Mayhem PTY. LTD." under that. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif
 
Then there's this:
 
I guess it's good that I have been hoarding parts for the past ten years or so. When the time came to have my carbs rebuilt, I was able to trade in a few of my spare sets to offset most of the cost of the rebuild. Worth it in my book.

Nothing better than finding the part you need, and not realizing that you even had it.
 
One mans junk is ALWAYS another mans treasure (if not his own!!!!) /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/devilgrin.gif
(PS: Just noticed the "semper fi", Ron, now I have to get together with you and buy you a beer...pick a bar and PM me /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cheers.gif !!)
 
Back
Top