GTP_Ingram's Alfa Romeo 156: ch-ch-changes

[GTP_Ingram]

Went on a road trip with @Beeblebrox237 yesterday. Drove up through the Yorkshire dales and the Lake District. Plenty of stunning scenery along the way. Took a few photos:

And here are some sheep

 

[Niku Driver HC]

Never thought that I'd see both an 156 and a Yaris in the same gorgeous scenary without either being overshadowed by the other, but there you go, it's possible. Then again, that lovely country-esque Yorkshire scenary may be the one who is overwhelming both cars... Either way, great pictures, Yorkshire roads are indeed full of character. And sheep, I will not forget those prideful English heroes.

Did you feel the urge to leave Beetle's Yaris in the dust at any time through the journey?

 

[GTP_Ingram]

A few little updates, I'll start with the most visible. The old leather gearknob was worn and rather nasty looking, so I treated it to a little upgrade:

It's an official Alfa accessory, but one which I haven't seen often. I wanted to do something very subtle to the interior, but not something which I've seen often, and a mild retro touch suits me fine. Plus it gives me a perfect excuse to swap out the nasty fake carbon fibre centre console at some point...

In addition to the various oddities I've found while raking through the car (the belt is a perfect fit by the way), the previous owner also left me a box of random spares from an old 156 he broke for parts. Nothing too fancy: interior trim, tail lights, door handles - that sort of thing. It came in very useful when I noticed one of the dashboard air vents was jiggered, and I found a spare in the box.

Other miscellaneous jobs recently undertaken include changing one of the number plate lights (the old one was hanging loose thanks to a broken clip) and replacing the pollen filter. By 'replace', I actually mean, 'fitting', because there was a space where there should have been one...

 

[GTP_Ingram]

More good news!

The Alfa passed its MOT today. The only minor issue was a split gaiter on the steering rack, but otherwise it sailed through. It was treated to a service at the same time.

I measured the mpg figure from the second tank of fuel (I forgot to with the first): almost precisely 26mpg. Considering that tank covered the jaunt through the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District - and that the official combined figure is meant to be only 23.9mpg - I'll take that.

I'm planning to book it in for a Terraclean at some point soon, which combined with a service could improve things further. I've used it previously with the 205 and @homeforsummer used it with the Insight. Though I didn't ever manage to measure an mpg improvement (a lack of effort on my part to find out) it certainly helped the Pug feel much more responsive at low revs.

 

[ExigeEvan]

Re: Terraclean - Glad to hear some positive stories on it. A friend has had only bad news to report (family of diesel cars done, sensors and EGRs playing up afterwards).

 

[homeforsummer]

Re: Terraclean - Glad to hear some positive stories on it. A friend has had only bad news to report (family of diesel cars done, sensors and EGRs playing up afterwards).

I've heard it can cause problems sometimes - generally though on older cars, where it might be dislodging things that could subsequently clog important oil passages. Reluctant to have it done on the MX-5 as a result, but was a fairly safe bet for the squeaky-clean Honda. Made no difference whatsoever that I could tell, but if it helps the engine live a little longer then it's all good.

Modern diesels are a Christmas tree of warning lights waiting to happen anyway so I can't see Terraclean being the sole culprit. An inherently healthy engine shouldn't start throwing codes after having the work done, so issues were probably deeper than that.

 

[GTP_Ingram]

It has been a while since my last update, so here's a photo I took today:

Treated it to a good clean and polish, Rosso Proteo is a gorgeous colour when the sun is out.

There's a little dent on the lower edge of the driver's door which has broken through the paint (my guess is that it has been opened onto a low wall or particularly sharp kerb at some point) so a body shop appointment is booked to fix it.

I've also made an interesting purchase today. When I collect the item(s), I'll reveal all

 

[Crash]

I've also made an interesting purchase today. When I collect the item(s), I'll reveal all

No like until then.

 

[GTP_Ingram]

As I'd mentioned a little while back, the 205 is now (reluctantly) for sale.

But to cheer myself up, I collected my latest purchase today:

I thought I'd keep things Italian, so I've bought myself some Fondmetal 9RR. They're 17x7.5, so an inch larger (in terms of width and diameter) than the current wheels. I'd considered buying a used set of the 17" Teledials (which back in the day were available for the GTV) but two things swayed me towards these:

- I've grabbed these in a sale, discounted from over £1,100 to about £550. A tidy set of used teledials tend to sell for around £4-500 anyway.
- The weight. The Alfa 16" set weigh just under 10kg each, the 17" teledails about 11kg. These weigh 7.85kg each. An effective 3kg saving of unsprung mass per corner is pretty cool, if that sort of thing floats your boat.

They're not going on the car yet - I want to combine the swap with some suspension upgrades, and at the very least wait until I've used up the meat on the current tyres first. I'm planning to keep the old wheels and stick some winter tyres on them. Those Fondmetal centre caps will be getting switched for some Alfa Romeo logos for a more OEM look too.

 

[ExigeEvan]

How dare you betray the fellowship of the teledial!!!


Nice wheels though. Any ideas what rubber you're aiming for? Touring/sport?

 

[GTP_Ingram]

How dare you betray the fellowship of the teledial!!!


Nice wheels though. Any ideas what rubber you're aiming for? Touring/sport?

Probably something reasonably sporty. Given my plans suspension-wise, it'd make sense.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Despite its age, that 205 still looks great! 👍

 

[GTP_Ingram]

Despite its age, that 205 still looks great! 👍

Thanks! It has one or two rough edges cosmetically, but mechanically it's almost perfect.

 

[GTP_Ingram]

It turns out that being dosey can sometimes have its benefits.

I hadn't driven my 205 for a week or two (what with it being for sale and all) and I'd left it in the garage with the driver's door slightly ajar. As I found out when I tried to start it today, the interior light had completely drained the battery...

The good news is that it had a five year guarantee (of which about four-and-a-half had passed) from Halfords. I took it to them, they tested it - "yep, that's flat" - and they gave me a brand new one for free. Result.

I only found out because it was a beautiful sunny day today, so I thought I'd park it in the centre of town with a "For Sale" sign on it. 20 minutes later, I get two pretty decent enquiries. Result #2.

When I got back to my car, it had made a new Eighties pal, too:

 

[homeforsummer]

That's a fairly good street to park it too. Should get people who actually have the money to pay for it, in other words.

 

[GTP_Ingram]

Time for some money well-spent.

When I picked up the car, I'd noticed there were a few blemishes dotted around the bodywork. Not surprising really - it's a 16 year-old car which wasn't exactly worth a fortune when I bought it.

In one or two places there is a little paint lacquer peeling, minor scuffs etc, but the worst scruffiness was on the driver's side doors. This was at the lower edge of the front door:

...And this on rear door/rear wheelarch

So the 156 has had a trip to the painters:

Really pleased with the job he's done. Both doors have been fully resprayed, and he's cleaned up the rear arch too. Colour matches perfectly - I genuinely can't find where the work on the rear arch has blended into the rest of the body.

 

[GTP_Ingram]

Bye bye little Pug:

The last shot I took of my 205 as the new buyer drove it away last week. Quite simply the most exciting car I've ever owned.

Not only was it brilliant to drive, but it was easy to live with, too. Running costs were low (classic insurance cost me about £280 last year), parts were dirt cheap (shop around and a pair of Brembo front discs will only set you back £35) and fuel economy on a long run edged towards 40mpg.

It broke down twice while I owned it: once due to an exploded clutch (literally - the friction material needed sweeping up off the floor as it was removed) and once because the gear linkage popped off - not bad going for a 27 year-old car. The condition I left it in, I can't think of any reason for it to cause any issues over the next few years, either.

If any of you ever consider buying one, do it. I'd gladly help you find a good one too.



In Alfa-related news, I have one or two minor jobs which I'll update you all with tomorrow.

 

[GTP_Ingram]

As promised, here's an update of a couple of jobs I've done recently.

I noticed that the top engine mount was a little wobbly, so I thought it was worth swapping it for a set of poly bushes. Here's the old one in situ:

Once removed I could see daylight where I shouldn't be able to see daylight:

..As it turns out, the bush was so badly split that I could break it in two with my thumb. Treated the bracket to a new coat of paint:

Then I reinstalled it - a process far easier said than done. Being more rigid than the old part, there's far less articulation to negotiate the two bolts back into place. After some jiggling of the engine, wobbling of the bushes, and plenty of expletives, all is well:

There's definitely much less play in the mount, and on the move the most noticeable improvements are a more precise gearshift and (slightly) more accurate steering. The engine seems to be smoother on lighter throttle openings, too.

I've also fitted a new set of number plates (woo!) - I thought it needed them considering the front was a little tatty and the rear had SEAT logos on it...

I ordered them the day before the EU referendum. I bet not one of the 52 percent of the British public who voted "Leave" for one second considered the fact I'd bought a set with little EU flags on. Selfish.

 

[Niku Driver HC]

Well, look on the bright(ish) side; now that the whole Brexit thing has happened, you are in posession of what could be considered as classic car parts. One set of Euro-reg British plates with EU flags, I bet that will fetch top Pounds over at English eBay...

 

[MidnightRun85]

Lovely Alfa you have there! I owned one around 2010/2011 in New Zealand. It was also the 2.5 V6, but in Rosso Alfa, also with black leather. I have to admit, it is the best engine I've ever owned (they sound incredible at full throttle don't they?!) but incredibly problematic and expensive in the long run for me. Ended up selling for a rather large loss, but do actually miss it.

Glad to see you've got the patience to nurse one back to health and keep it healthy! They're a lovely car when they're running properly.

 

[GTP_Ingram]

Lovely Alfa you have there! I owned one around 2010/2011 in New Zealand. It was also the 2.5 V6, but in Rosso Alfa, also with black leather. I have to admit, it is the best engine I've ever owned (they sound incredible at full throttle don't they?!) but incredibly problematic and expensive in the long run for me. Ended up selling for a rather large loss, but do actually miss it.

Glad to see you've got the patience to nurse one back to health and keep it healthy! They're a lovely car when they're running properly.

Cheers! Yeah, it's a fantastic engine. Aside from one or two minor points mine seems to be in pretty good order mechanically..

 

[Clark]

Was this the biggest engine in the 156 apart from the GTA?

 

[GTP_Ingram]

Was this the biggest engine in the 156 apart from the GTA?

Yep. The 2.5 V6 was fitted to the 156/166, the 3.0 to the 166/GTV and the 3.2 to the 147/156 GTA, the GT, and later versions of the 166.

 

[homeforsummer]

and the 3.2 to the 147/156 GTA, the GT, and later versions of the 166.

And in the facelifted GTV that I keep forgetting exists.

 

[GTP_Ingram]

I'm a big fan of carbon fibre. It's normally there for a good reason. Case in point: I used to own a BMW 320si; its carbon cam cover contributed to a 10 kilo weight reduction from the top of the engine, dropping the centre of gravity nicely. Looked cool, too:

On the other hand, I can't stand the fake stuff. It serves no purpose, and it often doesn't look that convincing. Unfortunate for me, then, that the centre console of the 156 is covered in it (see here). I have the feeling that there might be a few Alfa 156 owners who agree with me, as the overwhelming majority of second hand centre consoles on eBay are faux carbon.

Time for a change...

I had quite a lengthy think about what colour/finish to go for. My old Alfa had a dark grey-ish console which worked well, but I fancied something I hadn't seen anyone else try in a 156. I considered a piano black finish for a while, but I decided that A) it's be a pain to keep tidy, and B) I probably couldn't achieve a perfect finish myself. I eventually found someone who had done the same with their car, and as it turns out I wasn't so keen on how it looked anyway. In the end, I decided I'd try for a brushed metallic look. I thought it'd look decent given how common it is these days.

It turns out to be a fairly easy finish to achieve with a rattle can: once the paint is applied, the surface needs to be scratched in a single direction. After some trial and error (with both paint and scratching materials) I ended up with this:

I used a chrome effect paint which I then scored with a brass wire brush (a scouring pad also works, but makes finer scratches). A fairly cheap alteration, and I think it's a big improvement over what was there before. While I had the console off, I also replaced the hazard switch as the old one had faded pink.

Works much better with the wooden gear knob too. Thing is, now I'm starting to think that the brighter finish would be better suited to tan leather...

 

[Katiegan]

I love brushed metal, the Mondeo's centre console has it and it's a really nice compliment to the black-on-black interior. Yours looks very smart and very well done. 👍

 

[homeforsummer]

Works much better with the wooden gear knob too. Thing is, now I'm starting to think that the brighter finish would be better suited to tan leather...

Looks good, but I'm wondering whether there are any other interior trim bits you could apply a similar finish to, as it does now stand out much more than it did before. The outer vent rings, perhaps?

 

[GTP_Ingram]

Looks good, but I'm wondering whether there are any other interior trim bits you could apply a similar finish to, as it does now stand out much more than it did before. The outer vent rings, perhaps?

Was having a think about that myself. The obvious place to start would be to scuff up the chrome door pulls to get the same effect. The vent surrounds might work, but having changed one already I know what a nightmare they are to remove (something I'd definitely want to do if I was to paint them). I may still have one spare come to think of it..

The more I look at it, I can't help but think that hazard button looks rather incongruous too (how many modern cars can you think of with a giant red button on the dash?) Now that I have the faded spare to experiment with, I'll probably see how that'd look in the same finish.

 

[homeforsummer]

The more I look at it, I can't help but think that hazard button looks rather incongruous too (how many modern cars can you think of with a giant red button on the dash?) Now that I have the faded spare to experiment with, I'll probably see how that'd look in the same finish.

While the hazard button isn't great aesthetically I actually like how visible it is in that car. Driven modern stuff in the past where I have absolutely no idea whatsoever of where the button is, mostly because they've made it black and about as small as one of the buttons for the stereo. Given its potentially important functions I'm a fan of making them relatively visible...

 

[MidnightRun85]

Looking really good that brushed aluminium console! I had that (factory-spec) in my 156, and it looked the business! Also rate the replacement of the hazard button. No one wants pink buttons in their car! On the tan leather, I'd say no. My personal opinion, but tan leather only suits an exterior colour which is: black, white, or some variation between (aka grey/silver). It can look okay with blue exteriors too, but they need to be the right shade. Red with tan, I'm afraid I'm not a fan, not even slightly!

If you were keen to try it out, the door handle surround would look great in the same brushed aluminium look, with the door handles themselves matching or piano black. The other obvious place for the aluminium look is the gauge surrounds. They look amazing when done right and it actually brightens up the instrument cluster.

Brilliant job though. I'm a fan of your work!!