Well, THAT was rewarding

[Scott Fisher <sfisher71@domain.elided>]

So yesterday, while my wife was demonstrating
paper-pieced quilting for the "shop hop" at our
friend's fabric store, I backed the Spider out of her
bay in the garage and rolled the old StilAuto wheels
out of the corner where they'd been stacked.  For a
photo of one of these wheels, take a look at my
Webshots album called "Alfas," located here:

http://community.webshots.com/album/36129790pVCBqg

They were filthy, stained from being outside for some
time before the move, still encrusted with leaves,
dirt and spiderwebs.  I rolled them out into the
driveway, brought out the wheel cleaner spray, and had
at them.

Two applications of wheel cleaning spray (aided by the
little brush I bought some time ago) helped, but it
wasn't quite right.  About this time, Charlie wandered
back from playing with our neighbor's grandson and
asked if he could help.

I got us a stack of red rags and the chrome polish
(couldn't lay hands on the Simichrome), and we set
about to remove the stains from the aluminum.  That
took out the black stains, but left some of the fluffy
white deposits.  So I took the Scotchbrite pad and
they brushed away easily, leaving the wheels bright
enough to put on a car (though they could still use
some work in the corners).

Then we set about the hard task for the day: swapping
wheels.  After the StilAutos cleaned up, we decided
that they would look best on the Spider, and the
Spider's turbinas (with good, fairly new Pirelli Sport
Veloce tires) would go on the Berlina.

Charlie, bless his heart, was a real help this time
round.  He'll be 5 1/2 exactly on Wednesday, so for
most of his life he's taken more energy to manage than
he's offered in real assistance (but we always have a
great time anyway).  Today was a real milestone: when
he went off to help Kim with some gardening, it was
clear that he was doing real work that I missed when
he was gone.  He did about half of the lug nuts, and
jacked up one corner of the Spider with my only
intervention being placing the jack carefully -- he
pumped the handle and then took the (already loosened)
lug nuts off the wheel.  I swapped the wheels (he
isn't yet strong enough to lift even the light
alloys), started the lug nuts, and he spun them all
tight, learning the neat trick about going around the
nuts to center the wheel.  And more important, we had
a really great time.

We then put the turbinas on the Berlina, and then of
course it was road-test time.  We popped Charlie's
booster seat into the Spider first and tooled around
the neighborhood.  The car feels noticeably higher on
the 185-70 tires that are mounted on those wheels (I
could tell getting in and out of the car, for
example); this can't be a bad thing given the trouble
I've had scraping the sump guard.  And the extra width
of the StilAuto wheels (14 x 6, compared to the
Turbina's 5.5") fills the wheel wells very nicely. 
I'll have to see if this helps any on the "stud ruts"
(grooves worn in the pavement of I-5 by people with
studded snow tires), as the Spider was always more
susceptible than either the Berlina or Jeff's Junior.

It was a notable come-down, though, to drive the
Spider with the old tires that had been on those
StilAuto rims.  The Spider, which has always felt
solid and alive, seemed to be much more loose over
bumps and corners, though not as bad as the Berlina. 
Could old tires alone make this much difference even
in straight-line driving?  Or were the 6" rims
exaggerating some other problem that the turbinas were
masking?

Then we went out in the Berlina.  Charlie carried his
seat into the Berlina, I strapped him in place, and
off we went.  Charlie's favorite motoring experience
is what he calls "waterfalls" -- sudden drops in the
roadway that leave your stomach up in the air a few
carlengths back.  So we went out into the country near
here, where there are some good "waterfalls" and also
some great curvy spots, ideal for detecting changes in
the car's handling characteristics.

Remember how I have been badmouthing the shocks on
this car?  I was wrong.  The shocks are fine -- oh,
they're still a little worn and a little soft, but
they're not completely toast as I'd suspected.  More
to the point, I don't HAVE to buy Konis for that car
right away.  While we were out buzzing the hills near
Wilsonville, I told Charlie he'd saved me four hundred
dollars.  (I should have taken him out for ice
cream...:-)

Simply changing to the turbinas and new Pirellis made
an ABSOLUTE transformation in that car.  Over
Charlie's "waterfalls," on the twisty bits, on the
freeway, everywhere I went, this car was solid yet
supple, vibrant and alive.  Body roll in the rear
(which had made me very nervous on the old tires) was
reduced significantly.  This is now a car I'd drive on
AROO tours or just about anywhere.  

It also suggests the answer to the Spider question:
replace the old tires ASAP.  The tires on those
StilAuto alloys were on the Junior when I bought it in
1995; the rears were half-bald then and almost as
cracked as the ones on the Berlina, though the fronts
were okay.  (The rears are Michelin XZX.  No, really. 
I have no idea how old they must be, but I don't think
it's even been possible to BUY MIchelin XZX tires for
at least 10-12 years.)

Next up for the Berlina: following the advice I gave
Zach, I need to pull the radiator and take it in to a
shop.  I had to top it up yesterday morning; the car
runs very cool (indicated 175 on the gauge), but the
green trickle out the header tank hasn't "healed." 
But I do think I'll take Jon's advice and haul the
radiator to the shop in my air-cooled car, just for
fun.  

--Scott Fisher
  Tualatin, Oregon
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