Alignment and more

Yesterday (Saturday) I took the Alfa in to Drury Tyres to get the wheels aligned. They sorted out the toe-in problem and as I was driving away, I discovered it was now pulling to the right. So I took it back and the nice chappy was very obliging, and offered to double-check it. The front end came up fine, but after further inspection, we discovered that the rear suspension bushes were seriously worn, allowing for some serious rear end movement. As serious as this sounds, it just means that you'll come out of a right-hand corner to find the steering pulls right, and then through a left-hand corner, to find it pulling to the left. This can be resolved without too much drama - I'll just need to price up some new suspension bushes and spend some Saturday-hours.

In the process of getting the wheels aligned, I discovered the the inside of the left rear tire is wearing - indicating perhaps a bent rear axle. I may just replace the suspension bushes for now, and see if that isn't the cause of the problem, before I panic too much.

I was chatting to Eion Burns at church this morning. He mentioned that there's a shop on Wood St in Papakura that specialises in tuning Italian cars - apparently its not uncommon for him to have a Ferrari in for a tweak. I should investigate. Eion also recommended European Autospares (I think thats the name) on Ryan Place in Manukau City (just up the road). Eion knows Richard Glasson - one of the co-owners. By-the-way, Eion is into Mercedes Benz's. He has great collection of models, and some good tales as well.

Gave the Alfa a vacumn-clean and a wash. It really does make all the difference.

It got regular use over the weekend, and I'm becoming more familiar with it - discovering that it can corner with much more stability than the Skyline can. When I don't slow down coming up to a corner, passengers prepare themselves to be scared, but are pleasantly surprised when the scariness never comes - the Alfa just blasts round corners without the hanging-on-to-the-handles and sliding-around-on-the-seat that yo'd get in a lot of other vehicles. It will be great when the suspension is fully sorted, and the engine is running smoother.

Well, she's nice and clean and ready to face the rest of the week - as will I be in about eight hours. Goodnight all.