Spider cuts out

["Jeffery Francom" <jfrancom@domain.elided>]

Hello all.

I purchased a 78 Spider about a year ago, drove it maybe three times then it
died.  After sitting for almost a year, it turned out that the fuel
injection belt was broken.  Once that was replaced (by a local "non-alfa"
but otherwise skilled mechanic) it still would not start.  This turned out
to be a faulty Fuel Pump.  I installed a fuel pump from my parts car and now
the Alfa runs! However, I am still having a few problems.

The problem I am most concerned about is that the car runs well... then cuts
out or stumbles for a second.  It seems especially noticeable when I try to
sustain a consistent RPM.  Sometimes if I "floor it" it will still loose
power for another second - and then "kick in". That is the problem I was
hoping someone could give me some insight on... I am hoping that somehow
this will turn out to be an Alfa bugaboo that is typically caused by some
simple problem ;-)

The car does have a few other problems that I would like to mention incase
they might be related to the cutting out.  First the Alternator light stays
solidly on.  I will look into fixing that one but I rather doubt that it is
related to the cutting out problem since my battery is strong and has a good
charge.  Secondly, on deceleration the Spider pops and backfires a bit.  My
owners manual (from a 74 Spider) stated that is often caused by the Fuel
Cutoff Solenoid not functioning properly which can be caused by the #6 fuse
being blown.  Sure enough... blown fuse... So I put a new one in, try to
start the car and "poof!" New fuse blown too... So I need to find a short I
suppose.  I will track that one down too... I wonder if maybe the fuel
cutoff solenoid not working (since I know it is not getting electricity) may
cause the stumbling.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks,
Jeffery Francom
Malad Idaho

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