Very nice Taylor.

Bringing it to Combe?

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So its been a little while so i thought I should update this again, I have been putting it off as i wanted to feature a new exhaust video, but I had a few technical issues to overcome first. but anyway!

 

So here was my new Ragazzon Centre silencer delete pipe:

 

 

Luckily this time it was the correct one, they first sent me a pipe for the Alfa 156/GT which is a later chassis, so it wouldnt fit, a weeks wait and I had my new one in my hands All GTV's use the same Cat back pipework, so its all interchangeable (hence 1.8, 2.0 and 3.0 V6 on the sticker)

 

 

 

Here are the two centre pipes side by side, Ragazzon do 3 centre pipes, 1 with a large silencer (see below), 1 with a small silencer, and then the straight through pipe. Alot of people say the straight through pipe is too loud. But i was after some more Decibels so i went for the centre silencer delete pipe. it was £130 inc shipping from Germany, which was £40 cheaper than any UK supplier I could find (UK prices excluded shipping too).

 

It went on really easily. With the old system (as BossFox can confirm) sometimes with brisk acceleration the exhaust tip would knock on the rear bumper inbetween a 1st/2nd gear change. I found this was because the exhaust hanger on the Right side of the photo below, wouldnt line up properly so the centre pipe and its weight was on the exhaust system and 2 out of 3 rear hangers. So going to the new pipe, being alot lighter, althought i still only have 2 hangers, it does feel more stable and secure, and doesnt knock anymore either.

 

 

and then as promised a Before/After video. I had some problems with my camera, constant 11kHz whistle, popping and a few other gremlins so i have tidied up the audio a little, but id say they sound 95% respective of the real deal.

 

So Enjoy

 

 

 

 

Back on Friday i also popped up to see Richard in London, 35 miles each way, just as i pulled off the A13... the Injector warning light came on! Initially i thought it wouldnt rev, but the fault was a 3 second delay. It was essentially lagging, you blip the throttle, nothing would happen then 3 seconds later it would blip it for the exact duration you requested.

 

Oh no I thought!. But it happened just as I hit a pot hole. Turned out to be a nice simple fix.... Throttle Pedal Position sensor connector had come slightly loose. Ok this is up underneath the dashboard and you need arms like a contortionist (after removing the fuse box) to get to it. but it was a nice cheap and easy fix

 

While briefly at the depot, Richard used his "Calibrated Decibel meter" (AKA Iphone 4 with an App) and claimed the GTV's exhaust was 98dB. So hopefully I can still go on track when I have planned winter mods done.

Sounds pretty good, could do with some pops and bangs to make it the real deal.. Lol

Sounds pretty good, could do with some pops and bangs to make it the real deal.. Lol

 

When on the move, if you boot it then let off you do get some pops n quiet bangs just not so when stationary. If i wanted more I'd de-cat. but thats very very naughty and certainly not MoT-able. But there is a De-Cat pipe available off the shelf

 

My biggest fuel guzzler technique is to boot it from 2000 to 3000rpm then just gently blip the throttle ever so slightly to keep it around 3000rpm, then let off, then do it again and repeat, the result is that you can hear it go "bom bom bommm" each time you let off. it sounds great, but drinks soooo much petrol doing it haha.

Brakes!

 

So Alfas from the Late 90's/ Into the 2000's, had a choice of 3 front brake setups

 

284mm Single Pot Calipers, fitted to the GTV/Spider 2.0 Twin Spark, then the later platform cars i.e. 147, 156 and GT's had these on all Twin spark engines and on the 2.5 V6 156.

 

305mm Brembo 4 Pots, Fitted to all V6 GTV/Spiders, and fitted to the 147/156 GTA (3.2 V6) and the GT 3.2 V6.

 

330mm Brembo 4 Pots, Fitted to all GTA models after a certain date (date escapes me atm)

 

 

Basically what happened was that when the 147/156 GTA's were first released they were supplied with 305mm discs, but these had a tendency of warping very easily, so Alfa went back to the Fiat parts bin and picked the next available set that would fit. These turned out to be the 330mm Brembos as seen on the Ferrari F360. Caliper carriers were designed to fit to the 3.0/3.2 V6 hubs (2.5 V6 in the 156 had the Twinspark Hubs) which mean that providing the Alloys were 17" or above, they would fit.

 

This makes it a common mod to the GTV, which is generally regarded as being "under braked" this is because the V6 GTV is a little bit of a porker as its based on the 155 Chassis of the 1990's where as the 147/156 chassis was a lot lighter. So they really do benefit from the 330mm upgrade, over their standard 305mm.

 

 

Had a price quote for 330mm GTA brakes today.... I was expecting a £1100 bill.... turned out to be quite a bit under

 

Making contacts is always a great way to make a saving! So come payday ill be buying the complete front brake setup, Calipers, Carriers, Pads and Discs, Shims, retaining pins, everything. All brand new

Never a dull moment!

 

Leaving work today i had a horrendous clutch pedal vibration. Went to my mums to get some tools and bled the clutch which appeared to help.

 

 

I popped to Halfords to pickup some new bulbs and on the way home this happened:

 

 

What you see here is the connecting rod for the Clutch slave cylinder. that and the clutch damper (round tin just up the picture from it) are the last two original parts left in the clutch system (17 years old) 

 

 

after persuading my mum to come out and drop my tools off which i had left in her garage, i fashioned a pry bar out of 3 1/2" extension bars, i moved the clutch fork out of the way and slipped the connecting bar back in, then as the boot was torn, fashioned a similar one out of cable ties.

 

 

 

£30 for a new one delivered to the door, bit of a pain as it means ill have to walk to work until it turns up, but hey ho it is the Life of an Alfa owner

Taylor took me out in this on Saturday and it goes like stink! Very surprised for a boy racer car

Exhaust is just a about right, not as peachy as an R32 until it gets to 5k rpm. Or was it 7k rpm nearing the round about?

I have been having a few issues lately, mainly a PAS fluid leak. its been getting worse and worse, and I spent yesterday afternoon going over bits on the car.

 

Took the AUX belt off and not only have i found the leak is from the PAS pump shaft (it has about 3mm of axial in/out play) the A/C pump has also been loosing alot of Lubricant (Green UV dye). I also removed the front bumper yesterday (2 big bolts, then 4 little screws, so much easier than any Fabia bumper might i add) to fix the Nearside sidelight cluster (it was loose).

 

That combined with a nasty knock on the near side suspension (no closer to finding what it is), broken radiator mounts and a number of other small jobs ive decided to take her off the road for winter.

 

The most annoying thing was after getting it in the garage, i went to lower it off of the trolley jack onto an axle stand and the screw which holds the jack handle together scratched the drivers door :( deep 50mm long scratch right down to primer! :( 

 

None the less my Winter Plans:

 

PAS Pump Fix

A/C Pump replacement

New Radiator

Fix Nearside sidelight

New exhaust gaskets (blasted leaks!)

Fix Exhaust heat shield rattles

fettle other little bits (Air filter, maybe polish up intake runners and fit new gaskets)

 

then if funds permit, I will be fitting a Quaife diff.

So its been a while yet again an I have finally got around to sorting a few bits out on the Alfa recently, over the past few months I have slowly sorted bits and pieces on my October to do list and a few more on top. I wanted to get more photos of what ive done, but as with a lot of the jobs, it was simple or a matter of just getting it done so there weren't many photos.

 

I took her off of the road back in October the sort the PAS pump. turned out all it needed was a new end seal, at £20 from a local PAS recon firm as Alfa dont stock the repair kit any more. Despite the Pump being German Designed & Made, the fault seal was a normal Sprung Rubber seal but was of an unusual size so i couldnt just buy a £1 seal from online suppliers as none of them stocked it! I replaced the seal, reassembled it and it all went fine. Been Fluid tight ever since with not a problem.

 

Inside the PAS pump casing

 

 

The Actual pump mechanism. the shaft in the middle is attached to the pulley. Centripetal force flings the fins on the centre disc outward creating cavities of high pressure, this is then regulated and sent to the PAS rack.

 

 

The Radiator held water fine, it was the cooling fan support bracket which had broken off. Basically there are 2 screws holding the cooling fan onto the rad (both at the top) and at the bottom it just slots into two grooves. The Bracket the cooling fan is bolted too, is just "crimped" onto the top row of the Radiator fins, which had slowly eroded away to nothing. So a bit of ingenuity and I bonded the bracket back onto the Radiator with some high temp adhesive. its held on great and has been doing fine since. Also stops the cooling fan jumping off and hitting the front exhaust manifold.

 

While the bumper was off i fixed the Nearside sidelight, the locating dowel had broken off. some Araldite and a few days to cure and it was rock solid. Another tick in the box, here is a photo of the Drivers side side light, the grey dowel is on the RHS of the photo (or the outer side of the car) Also note the BEAUTIFULLY SIMPLE way of attaching the front bumper. just 2 Massive M10 bolts and a 4 small screws (2 each side) to hold "beautification" panels in place then that is it. None of the crappy clips as seen on the sides of the Mk1 Fabia front bumper.

 

 

The Exhaust leak was on the front manifold to downpipe join. I searched High and low, no where stocked a new Gasket. Not even Alfa! they claimed Alfa in Italy didnt even have any! (running theme here) the 3.2's had Cats built into the manifolds so they have a different gasket, and I forgot to see if the 2.5's gasket fitted, all of the local motor factors had gaskets which may or may not have fitted but none were exactly the right size. Eventually with the help of Jayar Car Parts we found a gasket which would fit and with some Exhaust sealant paste too, its now blow-free!

 

The next exhaust problem was the heat shield over the centre section. its aluminium which had been damaged and over 17 years it had vibrated and rattled its way into tearing out the ally mounting holes. So this was easily fixed with some modified metal washers.One was actually the old Aux Belt Idler pulley washer (Recycling wooo :p ), which held the heat shield nicely. This only worked because the Pulley washer was dished and due to the shape of the heat shield, a normal washer wouldn't fit. So the Dished washer did the job. End of the day now I have the straight through centre pipe, there is a lot less hot metal exhaust in that area and as long as the shield doesnt rattle or fall off, its okay. Most GTV owners when they find this problem end up pulling the thing off and leaving it off for good.

 

I also set to tackle a few other jobs. Including the reverse light switch, the night before the MoT i found it wasnt working. It would but then stop working intermittently. Diagnosed it quickly as a faulty switch, new one ordered and fitted. problem solved.

 

The Gear linkage was a bit stiff also, you put it in front of 1st/2nd or 5th/6th and let go and it wouldnt spring back to the middle. Typically this is worn "Top Hat" bushes on the selector mechanism, but when i removed them they looked fine, just a bit gunked up. So a clean and the application of some Red Rubber Grease its a lot smoother

 

A job I tackled today was sorting the Front lower cross member. Its a strip of metal that supports the weight of the radiator. That's it. But mine was full of Rust. it was worsened by in a moment of haste I drove the GTV into my trolley jack and cracked said cross member. So a replacement was ordered from a breakers and I tackled the rusty bolts today (angle grinder paid a visit). the Replacement one was given a quick lick of paint just to help it last a bit longer and was fitted in no time. 

 

 

Part of the Old Cross member (small bit on the LHS was left on the car) compared to the 2nd hand one. Slightly different however the key parts are there. the 2 missing "triangle" shaped bits arent needed. This photo was taken before I cleaned and sprayed it.

 

 

Video: (Excuse the music, Radio 2 was on) http://vid264.photobucket.com/albums/ii191/Warlord_1011/Cars/Alfa%20GTV%20T530%20BFC/20160109_131344_zpsmtzrpkqo.mp4

 

 

The Last one i shall cover for now was the tracking. So i had the tracking done months ago, but the exhaust heat shield was rattling on the front subframe due to some locating screws I had missed off. but the bad news was it meant the subframe had to be dropped to fit these screws. In doing this it meant that my tracking which was spot on, no longer would be. After doing this the car tracked true if the steering wheel was turned to between 12 and 1, rather than dead ahead. So I believe (if my understanding is correct) that although the steering wheel angle was off (in between two splines of the steering wheel so no chance of cheating there) the Toe angles etc when the wheels were pointing dead ahead would still be correct.

 

So today as a matter of fact, I had the car up and down about 3 times, making adjustments followed by testing, first 2 whole turns out on one side, 2 whole turns in on the other (to essentially adjust the L/R offset of the rack), then that pushed the steering wheel too far the other way, so a bit more fettling and i got it down to 1/2 a turn off each side from their original positions. But with markings on track rod positions before I started, I had a reference point and I was able to make fine adjustments down to 1/6th of a turn (marked each corner on the hex inner track rod). So the car now drives dead ahead when the steering wheel is straight. So with any luck I would have kept my overall Toe angle the same and I think that my tracking should be just fine

 

 

Its been fun and its coming up for 1 Year of ownership... oh and between 4000 and 5000 miles of sporadic driving haha but I am starting to have a few problems with parts which most Alfa owners are finding now, more in particular the GTV owners.

 

I am worried about the possibility the nearside Top Mount is worn out. Simple, Buy a new one! but there's the problem. Alfa Romeo no longer Manufacture nor Stock this part. Most Alfa "parts" dealers online just broker Alfa OEM parts. so they may claim its in stock in their website. but they dont actually have them. Even so they all price around the £90-120 mark PER TOP MOUNT!

 

The 90 Degree Rubber intake pipe to the throttle body, No Longer Manufactured,  No Longer Stocked

Manifold to Downpipe Gasket, No Longer Manufactured,  No Longer Stocked

PAS Pump seal kit,  No Longer Stocked

Top Mounts, No Longer Manufactured,  No Longer Stocked (some places only stock the RH Top Mount)

 

Despite the jokes that eventually I would have completely rebuilt the Car with new parts at the rate I am going, There is a Re-occuring theme here I dont like haha 

Edited 10 January, 201610 yr by Taylor93

Blimey that crossmember lol, good work

Blimey that crossmember lol, good work

 

Cheers Trevor, When I went to Rockingham last year, I popped into Auto Lusso, an Alfa Specialist who do free 1 Hour health checks on the weekends. Well they looked it over and only really came back with that. So ive known about it for a while, but I thought it wasnt as bad as it actually was. In that Video you can see how it was jsut falling to pieces. the worst bit was hammering a socket onto the bolt (in an attempt to get it on) and I was being showered in rusty bits lol. Also in the video, that bit i wiggled to the right hand side, thats where the bracket bolted on.... it was a "bit loose" haha

Nothing worse then rust in hair/face

Nothing worse then rust in hair/face

 

Despite wearing goggles... i Still got some in my eyes :( bloody hurt like hell and i was in and out washing my eyes countless times. I think a full clear face mask it on order soon haha

This is a great read....I grew up on Alfas with my Dad having a real penchant for them in the 70's/80's and growing up with Suds, 33's and the like.

Every one of them had their quirks....werent exactly what you would call reliable but they had soul and all mine and my brothers friends always thought he was pretty cool for running an Alfa with everyone elses parents running dull as dishwater Fords,Vauxhalls and french stuff.

After his last 33 spent a number of years in company cars....coming up to his retirement he kept considering the GTV and later the Brera as his "retirememt" car......needless to say he decided it probably wasnt the best call and ended up getting a BMW 3 series....albeit a 330Ci Sport convertible so was no real hardship :-)

He sadly passed away earlier this week at no real age due to a relatively long battle with Pancreatic Cancer....reading this bought back some happy memories of the Alfa days....though in a sense Im kind of pleased he didnt buy another :-)

The Busso V6 motor in all forms takes some beating though.....about as close to a Ferrari motor that us mear mortals will tend to get...nice to see one being loved and kept alive for sure :-)

Edited 10 January, 201610 yr by pipsypreturns

Pipsy i couldn't agree more. What i would do for a Ferrari 355 GTB but its doubtful i would ever be in a position to afford one. So for now my GTV is my baby Ferrari.

Its a car I love driving just for that engine noise. It is glorious!

None of my family have or had Alfas. All of them think im mad for owning it but no matter what i do with it. The experience of owning the GTV will stay with me for ever.

Definitely owning an older Alfa is a bit of an event, something you do through love and I think you just tend to accept the issues through love of the vehicle....thats what being a true Alfisti is about i reckon.

I have to say I am v v fond of the 147 GTA; would love to get my hands on a well cherished one, perhaps that has had the Q2 diff conversion done also....but like everything finding an honest one nowadays isnt the easiest thing.

 

Edited 11 January, 201610 yr by Taylor93

Good work as ever Taylor, shame it's been an on-going mission and hopefully this will be the last few faults.

Some more clips:

 

 

 

 

Really happy with how the videos came out, and more importantly the noise

So as a few of you here did show interest in my GTV I thought I ought to update this thread after not really being on Briskoda anymore.

So Shes gone! On the 4th June I sold her for a fair price, Made a loss but that was because I had spent more than I should have on the car.... which was why I sold her! Got to the point I was too worried to drive her from fear of breaking or damaging something. Before she went I got a few snaps, including "look at me being a d**k posing next to my car photo" taken for me by a stranger (who also happened to own an Alfa )

In my time away from Briski I had been running about in a 2001 Mk5 Fiesta 1.25, However as it came to late May its MoT was due, which revealed a lot of structural rust which i had missed. Meant the car was condemned and scrapped. Picked up this little 1.0 16V Yaris as a daily run about, Soooo Cheap to run! and a nice... reliable... Japanese.... BORING! little car!

Even though the GTV was sold on the 4th June, and Collected on the 6th, by the 13th the boredom was so much I was out for another! Picked this 2.0L Twin Spark GTV up yesterday (Sat 25th). The idea? Carry out some much needed servicing and then drive it and Enjoy the damn thing! at £750 it was never going to be a show queen, but its all do-able work.

Why Go for a 2.0L instead of the V6? Yes it is a Fiat FIRE Block with an Alfa Head, with the pointless 16V Twinspark system (1 central plug with 1 tiny one offset which fires on the exhaust stroke, achieves the same as most modern wasted spark systems, but without the extra spark plug), In general the 916 Era GTV's are priced as little as £500, but that is for a rough 2.0 Twin Spark like I have or average models for £1500, for £1000 you could pick up a 3.0 V6 but that will sink another £4000 in making it an average one (trust me I know, Ive got that T-Shirt!) . So yes a 2.0 TS model is alot cheaper to buy, cheaper on parts, cheaper to run on fuel (only 4 banger instead of the 6 etc). The 2.0 was also praised for better handling over the V6 models when released as the 2.0's have stiffer ARB's, marginally better weight distribution etc. But a lack of the Passive Rear steer system which does assist the V6's cornering... not that I ever benefited as mine had Poly Bushed Rear suspension which prevents/reduces to a negligible amount.

The Idea is to have my GTV, but on a slightly tighter budget, either Save every penny or Blow it all on crap, so I am trying to create a healthy balance

But on to the car!

83,000 miles on the clock, 2000 Plate GTV 2.0TS, about 150bhp with Variable Cam Timing (On/Off Cam Phasing on the Intake cam) and a VLIM (Variable Length Intake Manifold). Black Leather with White Carpet (like my last) but obviously Black in colour. Phase 2 model which means it has a few bits of chrome/silver instead of black bits which the Phase 1 had. It has a few little mods, such as Poly Bushed Rear suspension (does make the rear twitchier but is alot more robust, i.e. not changing bushes every 10-20,000 miles) and Eibach Lowering springs fitted by the 2nd owner back in late 2000!

Needs some love and attention, Just briefly it has:

Deep Scratch on front N/S bumper

Lacquer peel on the rear bumper

Cracked paint on Bonnet

Oh and an 8 year old Cambelt when the service interval is 3yr/36,000. They are bit of a ticking time bomb and this one whines. So is the immediate job.

Also needs a full service and brake fluid change as she was stood for a while.

Possibly 4 new tyres too. after that get her on the road and iron out niggles/other issues.

The idea of this car is to have the GTV looks, some fun but at a price, so I wont be going £££ on this like i did my last GTV.

Edited 27 June, 201610 yr by Taylor93

Looks a nice little project Taylor.

Cambelt kit, water pump and Cam Locks ordered for the Twin Spark.

Bit annoying that i need to buy a set of "Ribe" bit drivers as the engine is held together with them which is a square sort of Torx bit and ive never needed them so far but its another box of tools to collect

Edited 28 June, 201610 yr by Taylor93

Looks great, hopefully this will be a keeper

Haha Charlie knowing me anything can happen!