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AROC Tech Session Was a Resounding Success!

Alfa Romeo Owners Club Tech Session at the Ypsi Yacht Club

May 7, 2005

 

David Hammond, new President of the Detroit Chapter of the oldest chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROC) in the U.S. (the Chicago Chapter was 2nd to request a year later but 1st to be sanctioned by the factory, that’s Italian isn’t it?), said its high time we dust off an old tradition and organize a new annual tech session series for members and wannabees. In about two months we had the venue and speakers lined up. The afternoon already looked too short for the range of topics and quality of experts who volunteered their time and knowledge. Little did we know we’d also host a gathering of rare post-war Alfas that would make any concours proud.

Our Mission

Our mission ― schedule a smorgasbord of discussion topics, demonstrations, and individual project reviews, then gauge the interest to focus our next effort. The session was scheduled for the afternoon of our monthly 1st Saturday morning open house at the Ypsilanti Yacht Club (Y2C).

AROC Tech Session at the Ypsi Yacht Club

Major Topics

Major topics included:

Background and tour of the Y2C facility including a discussion about the Y2C facility and resident cars, and a review of resident and visitor Alfas and Alfa projects with the primary focus on 1955 through 1974 Alfas.

Philosophical approaches to restoring an Alfa including a review of various approaches to a restoration, organizing and managing a restoration project, and the economic perspective  cost of restoring to drive versus show versus buy a finished or original Alfa. The discussion concluded with an overview of the recent and current market values ― going up fast, some Alfas are hot ― sometimes what is published is already old data, and information about private sales gets missed.

Design and maintenance of a Spica fuel injection pump ― think of it as a four piston pump and a computer designed by a machinist ― with reference to several examples on a bench top, an x-ray image, and fine tuning the linkages on one in a freshly rebuilt 1750 GTV, owned and built by Ed Argalas.

Overview of four cylinder head design ― its preparation and optimization leading to an excellent presentation by Jim Steck on modern twin spark cylinder head conversions and building four cylinder Alfa engines to capture world land speed records in various classes. Jim even brought one of the engines he built for “Bonnie” which got a record by exceeding 200 mph!

One-on-one discussions with Alfa owners seeking advice or diagnosis including the use of our hoist when necessary.

An outstanding collection of Giuliettas

Over 50 Alfa enthusiasts in attendance

In attendance were over fifty owners and almost twenty Alfas, with Giuliettas for once outnumbering the later models including three Sprint Speciales ― two being early production low nose examples ― and the most perfectly restored Berlina in the world with 25,000 new miles on it! We also had a 2600SZ, also a real road warrior.  Some attendees came from as far away as New Jersey (also in an Alfa) and the far side of Toronto.  At around 6 p.m. we locked up and about half of us adjourned for dinner at the Track Side restaurant in Ypsilanti for a wonderful dinner on the patio entertained by the occasional 40 mph train passing by within 20 yards.

Special Thanks

This tech session would not have been possible without David Hammonds vision and the contributions of:

Joe Benson, out-of-control collector, author of the Illustrated Alfa Romeo Buyer’s Guide, and retired AROC technical editor.

Randy Cox, president of Northland Collision in Ferndale and a founder of the Concorso d’Italia at Meadow Brook (248-542-9707)

Dean Russell, owner and chief mechanic of Trail Auto, an Alfa-only factory certified repair facility for over 20 years (www.trailalfa.com)

Jim Steck from Ohio, former chief engineer at Dayton Wire Wheel, now a wheelwright for vintage race cars, Alfa collector, and super performance engine builder (www.autocomponenti.com). 

Peter Pleitner

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