NOR-CAL General Chat.

[ohthejosh]

Never liked the passport; bikes of that vintage should be two-stroke.

I have two "mopeds", but since neither of them are for sale:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/mcy/3720550635.html

50cc but take them to 70-80 and they wake up okay. My red one is almost as fast as a Ninja 250 but handles better (as you'd expect when the bike weighs 100lb less).

GF has a Honda Met, we get grins and thumbs-up when we ride together.

Do you and the gf wear the retro bowling ball helmets too? lol Id give the thumbs up too hahah

[BlackbirdM3]

oh shit. i dont usually read sigs.
Will, that was a beauty too bad shes gone.

Yeah, here are some better pics of the GTV. The paint made a pretty awesome recovery considering.


Interior...
From this:

To this:



Engine shot (Dec 2006) Those are the original plug wires and coil.


few random ones.

Yes, those are real Talbot Mirrors, and the inner headlights are original Marchal driving lights that I'd love to somehow install on the M3 as they are stunningly bright, way brighter than any other set of lights I've ever used. The beam pattern is epic.



And how it met its demise:











I miss that car.

Will

[canakami]

My goodness, she was absolutely gorgeous. Her passing is truly a crying shame.

[BlackbirdM3]

My goodness, she was absolutely gorgeous. Her passing is truly a crying shame.

My car specifically was kind of special. There used to be a very well known Italian car tuning and race prep place in Berkeley called "Griswolds" The story goes, my car was the first fuel injected Alfa to come into Griswolds. All the mechanics stood and looked at it with no clue how to tune it. This story comes from Jon Norman who now owns Alfa Parts on 4th street, off Gilman (or perhaps its Gilman off 4th.) He remembered the car from when it was brand new. He worked with the brother of the guy I got the car from. He had always wondered what happened to the car. To make it more special, when I was in 8th grade we went to visit the former owner who grew up with my dad (Multi- generational family friends.) I found it sitting down in one of the barns on the vineyard. I was instantly in love with the car and wanted it. Years later, my Datsun got smeared in a hit and run, and my dad brought his Miata up for me to drive while the fate of the roadster was being determined (obviously they fixed it.) We went up to see his friend who was sad to hear about the accident. As we were getting ready to leave he says something along the lines of "I've got an old Alfa up at the ranch. Its pretty rough, and hasn't moved in 30 years. Come check it out, its yours if you want it." He thought it was a '74. When I came back up there the following weekend, the first thing I found was the black plates instantly making it not a '74. What I didn't know was just how special the car was. As it turns out, there were 640 US spec '69 1750 GTVs built. From my research, there are less than 200 known cars left, most of which are rusted out total restoration projects. Original cars like mine are exceptionally rare and to this day I've never seen another one in the rust free original condition like mine was. I brought the car home Oct 15th, it was fully functional and reliable by December 1st. The car just wanted to run. Even after it got mangled, it still started and ran perfectly. It was not ready to die. I sold the remains to a guy who said he was going to put it back together, but I haven't heard what happened to it after that.

The worst part about it is that I have to look at that ditch twice a day on my way to work. The scar is still in the ditch nearly two years after the fact. On top of that, I've had two or three other close calls with the guy who hit me in the same location. How do I know? He still hasn't fixed his truck, there is a bright red smudge on the passenger fender and bumper. I get nervous every time I see the truck. It was a bright sunny morning, I was waiting for traffic to clear so I could make a left turn. The guy had a good quarter mile to stop. His excuse, "I don't know why I didn't stop." Hello, the car is F-ing bright red. How do you miss a bright red car with its turn signal on, stopped in the middle of the lane? :hitler:

Still, after getting punted by the Nissan Frontier, I can say old cars are safe. I walked away with no injuries whatsoever. No tweaked back, no whiplash, nothing. I'm pretty sure I would have suffered more injuries if the car had airbags. I even had original seat belts in the car.

Don't even get me started on how the insurance mess went. :letitout: I'm still pissed about it.


Will

[Pantless Spency]

man im hungry.


saw bowers drive a little bit today for the first time, then i got about 6 or so runs in with travis on the track! tonight infineon opened up turn 4-7 for le dorifto-ers.
it was super fun, 65mph entries are pretty scary ahahha.

[kronus]

met cankami and ohthejosh! and also they met each other.

[canakami]

Indeed, haha. Thanks again, and nice meeting you both.

[kronus]

Indeed, haha. Thanks again, and nice meeting you both.

likewise! and it was 30 after all. sometimes i don't numbers good.

tonight infineon opened up turn 4-7 for le dorifto-ers.
it was super fun, 65mph entries are pretty scary ahahha.

they let you guys dori-dori the carousel? that's a fun turn!

[YosemiteSam]

Do any of you guys live up in Santa Rosa? My dad is looking at an E24 on Craigslist up there, but the guy refuses to send us any pictures; there are a couple in the ad, but they are tiny and of terrible quality. If somebody lives up there and would be willing to go check out the car and send me some more pictures I would greatly appreciate it.

[Pantless Spency]

likewise! and it was 30 after all. sometimes i don't numbers good.



they let you guys dori-dori the carousel? that's a fun turn!

mad dori dori's

3-4 pack tandems! it was a blast.


and not around the carousel, sorry my racetrack info is newbie. starting at turn 2, then drifting turn 3,3a,4, and 5, then cutting back to turn 2 at the top of the carousel through the dirt path.



it was still mad fun.

[ohthejosh]

met cankami and ohthejosh! and also they met each other.

Indeed, haha. Thanks again, and nice meeting you both.

Nice meeting ya both! I envy both of your cars lol

As was driving there and driving to work afterwards I keep hearing this clacking sound coming from my front left wheel well. It like a series of "tuktuktuktuk" sounds when Im either accelerating or just coasting. I have no clue as to what it might be, idk if even in that wheel well. Kinda started to think if it was my tranny, but it shifts fine and smooth, IDK GUISE IDK!

[BlackbirdM3]

mad dori dori's

3-4 pack tandems! it was a blast.


and not around the carousel, sorry my racetrack info is newbie. starting at turn 2, then drifting turn 3,3a,4, and 5, then cutting back to turn 2 at the top of the carousel through the dirt path.



it was still mad fun.

Sounds like you were using the NASCRAP bypass rather than the real track. Turn 5 is the carousel.

Sears is a fun track, maybe I can get the roadster out there for a track dayt this year.

Will

[ohthejosh]

I have a set of Sumitomo HRTZ II 205/50/17. Brand New still have the sticker on em. 4 for 300 picked up.

Someone help me out and get these a proper home please :(

EDIT; also have a set of steelies just sitting in the garage, needs new tires, 1 is completely blown. DEY FO DUH FREE!! just swing by and grab em.

[Cabriolet]

curing the aids on the M3. onther $55 reason to not buy an outa state car.

[Pantless Spency]

Just dropped these puppies off with Erics wife.