New daily Italian turd - brave !

[capri_rob]

Yes NGK Platinums - cheapest I could get was £65 for the set from Ebay Plus another £12 from the motor factors for the one I broke

Car is now on 135k and I can see no record in the service book of when they were last changed - they definately needed it

Also done the rear wiper motor

Brakes all round this weekend and stainless exhaust in the next couple of months

[Pud237]

Good stuff - you still enjoying it then?

[capri_rob]

Good stuff - you still enjoying it then?

Strangely I bloody love it even though I have to keep buying stuff for it

Doing the disks and pads all round tomorrow.

I do like the way every time I spend on it it feels better to drive - it actually feels like progress - I am kind of looking forward to it being 100% sorted though

[capri_rob]

Nearly 6 months since my last post and I still have this turd

After doing the disks and pads I didnt need to touch it again until a couple of months ago when the exhaust was really getting past its best and had holed at one of the brackets and was hanging low and knocking on the body.

£150 later a cat-back system fitted and order restored

It is however showing signs of tin-worm underneath on the drivers side - discovered last weekend when I thought it looked a bit crunchy and put a screwdriver through the floor
Strangely its only on the drivers side, passenger side is absolutely solid. The upper body panels/arches etc are all spotless though.

My knee jerk reaction was to try and offload it so I halfheartedly went and looked at an E46 Coupe which brought me back to reality with a bump - it was horrible and in far worse condition than the Alfa despite its new MOT.

So I've decided to stick with the 156 for now - all it should need for the MOT is a patch about 4" x 2" welding on the floor which I've already had a quote for ( £25 ! ) so I'll get it done and try and get another year out of it.

Still love the way it drives - the engine loves a good thrashing and the handling in particular the steering is superb.
Its worth foooook all so if I can get it through the MOT for less than a couple of hundred quid thats infinitely preferable to starting with something new and with a whole new range of problems.

Aside from the patch underneath the only other things I know it needs are a pair of front fogs ( cracked ) and an A/C re-gas.

[Andyboy]

They're decent cars and dare I say it, more robust than the E46. They don't rot as badly, same amount of electrical niggles/bushes and the engines are good as long as they have plenty of oil and the cambelt changed.

159's are coming down in price as well - they must be £2500 soon?

[capri_rob]

159's are still fairly strong money in estate form they have a way to go yet. Drove to Manchester on Saturday to see a £1500 Mitsubishi galant 2.5v6 sport. Quite nice looking and the engine was good but the clutch was near the floor, the front tyres were nearly bare and although it looked great on the photos one of the rear arches was hanging. All faults that my alfa which is seemingly worthless doesn't have. I don't want another project.

[capri_rob]

It's been emotional but the alfa is going tomorrow. Had a bit of welding done underneath but I'm not confident enough to MOT it in view of the creaking from the front suspension that has developed over the last couple of weeks which is enough to effectively write it off if it needs new wishbones etc.

Couple that with a slight coolant leak, a persistent oil leak and non working A/C with the weather warming up and it's time for us to part ways.

P/ex d it for some rice.

Tried to sell it privately but had 1 call from a guy who viewed it, made out he was desperate to buy it but had turned up without any money for a deposit and who then disappeared of the face of the earth. Tw@t.

[DanThe]

Whats the new banger whip Rob?

[capri_rob]

Honda accord 2.0 vtec in SE Executive trim picking it up in the morning

Nice car, feels very well screwed together and has heated leather, cruise and all the other shizzle, 72k on the clock with full dealer history, new MOT and all for under a grand. Happy days

[ImysE30]

Jap reliability, good turds the Accords

[darkchild]

Honda accord 2.0 vtec in SE Executive trim picking it up in the morning

Nice car, feels very well screwed together and has heated leather, cruise and all the other shizzle, 72k on the clock with full dealer history, new MOT and all for under a grand. Happy days

Sounds a good-un Rob. Sensible bangernomics! You can't argue with that for less than £1K.

I had to laugh when I drove past the BMW dealership in Ipswich last week. Horrid looking 116i "Sport" (???) flid chariot for £300 per month over 4 years with a final payment in excess of £8K. Feck off!

[kam-325i]

Looks like i'm billy no-mates again then !!!

[DanThe]

Jap reliability, good TAXIS the Accords

Just a bit

[capri_rob]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... ?logcode=p

Trader I part ex-d the alfa with now trying it at £300 more than I wanted for it - and I would have included the 2 months tax I cashed in ! Gotta love a tryer. It's a good car but I'll be amazed if he gets anywhere near that for it.

[Andyboy]

Honda accord 2.0 vtec in SE Executive trim picking it up in the morning

Nice car, feels very well screwed together and has heated leather, cruise and all the other shizzle, 72k on the clock with full dealer history, new MOT and all for under a grand. Happy days

Sounds a good-un Rob. Sensible bangernomics! You can't argue with that for less than £1K.

I had to laugh when I drove past the BMW dealership in Ipswich last week. Horrid looking 116i "Sport" (???) flid chariot for £300 per month over 4 years with a final payment in excess of £8K. Feck off!

Lots of idiots will fall for it though. They think having a new 1 Series will somehow impress others whereas the likes of you and I will just laugh and shake our heads, knowing that a two year old Astra will do the same job and without the 8 grand kick in the balls.