After 15 years without an Alpine, I once again have a Series V, B395017314.
The car is in very good shape, only one spot of rust, and apparently no putty
(at least none I could find with the ol' magnet test). The door sills are
straight. Only 53,044 miles, original engine, although it appears that the
valve guides need to be replaced from running unleaded gas. Compression check
is down slightly.
Now the not so good news. The car was not owned by an Alpine lover, some kind
of Triumph guy. The paint is a Lincoln Burgandy and the interior has burgendy
carpet, black seats, door panels etc, but with burgendy trim. Looks kind of
like a mini rolling whorehouse! The car was BRG and white at one time. The
white paint appeared to be latex house paint (at least according to the
previous owner). I have five wire wheels, one of which has stripped splines.
The wheels have been painted silver. The front valance is missing, although
the nose section appears to be ok? A few things under the bonnet are
jury-rigged (plug wires, CVR valve, etc.) The air cleaners and valve cover
look to be carnival red (was this original?). Also need a trun signal switch
if anybody has an extra. Softop is shot. The previous owner had not driven,
or moved the car in over a year. He claims it was running the day before I got
it.
I plan to drive the car this summer, and start major restoration over next
winter. I was thinking of painting it signal red with a tan interior (Is the
car late enough in the production run for signal red to be an option?), any
thoughts?
Finally, I have to relate the trip from North Carolina to Ohio. Myself and two
friends (Mike B and Uncle Charlie) left last Friday, about 2:30 p.m. from
Columbus. The Alpine was in New Bern, NC. I had checked the weather all week
to ensure we did not hit any major storms. Well, sure enough, the weather
guessers missed a big one in the mountains of West Virginia and North Carolina.
We were down to about 20 mph in the mountains near Beckley, WV. Stopped to
eat dinner in Beckley. What was the name of that waitress at the Texas
Steakhouse? I can't remember, but she sure thought Uncle Charlie was all
right. Saw nothing but ice in Raleigh, NC. We passed five different accidents
in Raleigh, each with a minimum of 5 cars. One had 10 cars. (We were driving
a 90 Chevy Blazer). We finally stopped about 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning, about
70 miles from New Bern.
Got to New Bern about 10:00 Saturday morning. Checked out the car, and of
course couldn't turn it down. Went to U-Haul, where the tow dolly was
reserved, and waited 45 minutes for the dolly to show up. Finally got back on
the road about 12:00.
Everything went fine until the mountains of WV (snow again). Stopped for
dinner in Beckley again, (sorry Charlie, not at the Texas Steakhouse :-( ).
Got back on the road about 8:00 p.m., made the descent to Charleston without
any trouble.
Now things go to $%^&. Just outside of Charleston, on US 35, the roads turn
really bad. I was driving. Put the Blazer in 4WD, and immediately hear a
flapping noise. Sure sounds like a flat. Look back at the Alpine but
everything looks ok. Can't find a place to stop, mountains (well hills anyway)
to the left and river to the right. After about a mile, find a turn-off to the
left (with a light!) and pull in. Sure enough, the right rear tyre on the Pine
is GONE. Even though we have five rims, only four tyres! Spend an hour
jacking up the car (oh yeah, no jack in the Sunbeam) and putting the extra
wheel on the right front, supported by a block of wood, and moving that tyre to
the right rear. Get back on the road about 11:00 p.m.
Everything is going fine (but slow, roads were still pretty bad) until we get
just north of Jackson, OH. Uncle Charlie is driving, Mike B is in the front
and I am asleep on the bench seat in the back (no seat belt). I wake up to
hear Mike B yelling, Blazer sliding around and Uncle Charlie saying, very
calmly, "Hold on boys." Well Balzer, tow dolly and Alpine do a 180 and end up
in the median, pointing south. Everybody is ok, although I did the Mexican
jumping bean in the back seat. We get out of the truck and start looking
around, Mike B and Uncle Charlie at the truck, me looking for the Alpine.
Believe it or not, the dolly was still hitched to the truck and the Alpine is
still sitting, quite peacefully, on the dolly. The truck lost a running board,
has a few dents, maybe a bent rim, but nothing major. Mr. Alpine is just fine!
Mike B puts the truck in 4WD, we pull out of the median, just as fine as you
please, and head on back to Columbus. Finally got home about 2:30 Sunday
morning.
Near as we can tell, Uncle Charlie hit a patch of black ice. He was only doing
about 40, taking it very easy. By all rights, the Blazer should have rolled
when we went into the median. I think it was the tow dolly, and the Alpine,
that saved us that night. The extra weight and moment arm prevented the Blazer
from going over. Any way we are home safe and the Alpine is now in my garage,
enjoying the fine Ohio winter from indoors! Hope to have it running by April.
-- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mike Fisher
fisher(at)tomahawk.dst.battelle.org "The leader has a sense of humor. He is not a stuffed shirt. He can laugh at 614/424-3620 himself. He has a humble spirit." 614/424-3918 (FAX) If I knew what I was doing, it wouldn't Battelle be research. 505 King Avenue Columbus, OH 43201-2693 "In science we can't let some guy from Podunk have the same vote as Fermi." I.I. Rabi --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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