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| The original starter that started all this originally, mounted on The Alfatross' anomalous engine. |
If you are a car, no matter how good you look, how much horsepower you have, or how many bells and whistles you can claim, you’re not going anywhere without starting the engine first.
Funny how “high tech” continues to further separate the driver from any understanding of how cars actually work. Starters. We take them for granted. You turn the key and the car comes to life. Or these days all you have to do is have the “key” (a low frequency radio ID transmitter) in your pocket and press a button. No more need to hold the key in a certain position, listen for the sounds of the Bendix drive engaging the teeth on the flywheel, then the starter motor turning over the engine, then recognizing when the engine is running on its own, and knowing when to let go so you don’t grind the gears.
In my great-grandfather’s day a motorist had to literally “fire up” the boiler for the engine in his Stanley Steamer before he could hit the road. Ever wonder where the word “chauffeur” came from? It’s French for “stoker”, which is what you had to do to get your steam powered car going in 1896. If you are interested in watching a video of how this is done, have a look at this:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=how+to+start+a+steam+powered+car+video&docid=608040561039247140&mid=FDE6C800930549E9C7D7FDE6C800930549E9C7D7&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
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| Typical Model T engine crank and "holster" on left. |
Given the simple, but essential role the starter plays in the life of any car, it is hard to explain how The Alfatross ended up with one that was “not right”—in more ways than one!
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| The problem that put the Bosch starter in the trunk. |
When I acquired The Alfatross, 51 years ago, it came with two starters, one on the engine and another used one relegated to a box in the trunk. The reason was easy to see: the collar holding the solenoid to the starter case was broken. Even though it was inoperable and made by Bosch instead of Marelli or Scintilla and I was suspicious it did not even belong to The Alfatross, I kept it anyway, just in case.
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| The Bosch starter. Note brackets 85 and 86, upper left. |
Decades later after I acquired a copy of the official
Alfa parts catalog I discovered that 1900 engines were fitted with no less than
4 different starters made by Magneti Marelli, Scintilla, and Bosch. But the
Bosch unit was distinctly different from the others. It was designed to
be attached to two studs on a special boss cast into the side of the engine block in addition to the normal two studs in the bell housing. Because The
Alfatross’ engine has that boss, I inferred that the Bosch starter in the trunk
was probably original equipment. Throughout the restoration I have tried to
restore old parts whenever possible, even when replacing them would be cheaper
and easier, so I asked DeWayne Samuels to repair and install it.
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| The holes in these brackets match the studs on the block. |
The repaired starter was good enough to let The Alfatross participate in a couple of concours, but “not right”. Sometimes it would work just fine and other times it would spin, but not engage the flywheel. Other times it would engage but not disengage! I hoped it just needed “breaking in” but instead it got progressively worse.
My “go to” guy for arcane problems with The Alfatross is Dan Allen. With decades of experience, a warehouse full of parts, and encyclopedic knowledge of Alfa 1900s, he is one of a handful of true “hands on” (as opposed to “textbook”) authorities. When I described the Bosch starter and my supposition about its originality, he came back with some good news and some shockingly bad news: The starter is “right” for your engine, but your engine is "not right" for your car!
Dan's conclusion was based on the conventional wisdom that 1900C SS Zagatos were fitted with high performance "1308" engines that have a specific set of distinct physical characteristics like various attachment points cast into the engine block for attaching the generator and starter. But these cars were produced over a 3-year period during which they were constantly evolving. The Alfatross' engine's serial number seemed to be later than would be expected for the year the car was produced, leading to the conclusion that it was not the original engine but a later replacement.
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| 1981 letter from Raimondo Corsi verifying matching numbers. |
How could this be? The Alfatross' chassis, engine, and Zagato serial numbers were verified decades ago by the Secretary of the Registro Italiano Alfa Romeo. In the collector car world those that have their original engines are usually more valuable and sought-after than those that don’t. Consequently, there can be an incentive to “misrepresent”—or even forge—serial numbers, so they receive a great deal of scrutiny.
Following the evidence trail, Dan worked out a logical explanation for how The Alfatross could have come in possession of its seemingly anachronistic engine:
"We usually associate chassis numbers with engine numbers but not production dates as much. BUT sometimes a chassis was produced but not completed right away, sometimes months later. At first glance the timeline on your car appears to be mixed up, but it's not taking that into account. Your chassis was produced, along with its sister Zagato (*02014*) in the summer. The two sit in the corner [of the Alfa factory] for maybe 6 months! In November the cars get an engine and are sent to Zagato for completion. There are no Zagato records to compare to but the cars have nearly consecutive Zagato body numbers! By November, the first of the new engines are available, although not widely used until the post-10000 serial number cars [1956-57]. The two Zagatos were side by side until sold, the chassis serial numbers (*02014* and *02016*), engine numbers (*01536* and *01541*) and body numbers (1207 and 1209) are all very close indicating all steps being done on the same day!! I am now of the opinion your car is indisputably a matching number car."
After all that the end of the story is anticlimactic. Rather than trying to re-restore the original Bosch starter I went on ebay and, much to my astonishment, found an exact match from BNR Parts within 5 minutes! It arrived, I replaced the original, it ran perfectly, and The Alfatross lived happily ever-after.
The takeaways from this experience are:
1. Sometimes it IS better to replace old parts rather than restore original ones.
2. Mechanical things that are “not right” usually do not get better on their own.
3. Conventional Wisdom is not always “right” and can become “not right” when new information emerges.
