Scortho

I was in the local alfa dealer here and was able to order in all the engine bay stickers bar one. The pulley and belt running, the danger hot temp, the big one about the alarm and the light 1% one came in packs of ten direct from Alfa, whereas the other two were loose.

:clap:Hi all, Some of you may recognise my username from AnOther site Name is Shane and Im hooked on Alfas and cars in general. I don't know where either my Alfa obsession, or that for cars comes from, Im the odd one out in the family, everyone else drives new base spec diesels. Anyway, last year I bought my first Alfa, a 2002 156 2.5 v6. It had 130k miles on it when I got it (my father had a heart attack when he heard that ) but it was in excellent condition. New trw wishbones on the front, a new clutch, belts just done, a years test, grey momo leather interior, stainless steel cat back that beautifully enhanced the Busso's sound. Prior to that I had a 9n polo with 54 horses of fury . In fact the day I bought the car, was the day I first sat and drove an alfa, sweet jesus there was some difference power Heres a picture of it the day I got it, after I washed it using the 2bm and some Chemical Guys xxx hardcore wax. Since then, I've added quite a bit to the list of Alfas Ive owned, mainly because I realised that the only way that I could afford to own one of these beauties was to have a readily accessible parts bin. So along came two 156 v6's, a proteo red one that had a lot of goodies, including koni str.t shocks, Eibach springs, ebc turbo disks and ebc green stuff pads. The other was a silver v6, that the previous owner had as a donor, but rarely used. The silver one was given to a friend of mine in return for dismantling the car for me and fitting the parts. Total cost for the two donors was 480 pounds (600 euro). However selling the gearbox, leather and 17 inch alloys yield back the 600 euro, so free upgrades One of the jobs I also did was sort out the engine bay....as I got it. And after some 1500 wet and dry and lots of autosol and trim gel....much better. The sharp eyed might notice that the flexi has been replaced, this was yielded from the proteo red one, along with original deep ply mats like these http://www.partsworld-uk.com/product/Luxury_Carpet_mats-156_46001046 A picture of it at a meet last October, where half the cars in attendance were BMWs.....the amount of people that that busso converted However I had a hankering for another alfa and was on the lookout for something that needed a bit of work. Then in November, the regional rep for Ireland on AO, put his rosso red gtv up for sale. There was one catch, it needed work, a gearbox casing had torn a gigantic hole... and the cost to fix was too much. So he reluctantly put it up for sale and I bought it for 350 euro (280 pounds). Id originally agreed 300, but for some reason gave him an extra 50 as on viewing the car was a lot better than I thought. It had 143k miles on the clock and no test....and although I couldn't drive it, it had close to 5k in receipts from his time in ownership over the previous four years The service history The gtv awaiting work, and its surrounding environs at my friends house.... The front bumper was cracked in the middle, and the entire drivers side had lacquer peeling everywhere. The proteo red 156 is my donor, now fully stripped (it was held together with sealant), the 166 belongs to another friend and will be on the road in the next month, the car on its side was the 156 that I gave my friend for stripping it for me and the silver 156 in the corner was a cf3 1.6 that now has a cf2 3.0 v6 in it which belongs to the friend who stripped the car for me. As you may have guessed, another gtv was to arrive at the Mad house, this was bought from a prison. It had original phase 1 tan/beige interior and while the paintwork was a lot better than mine, it was rotten in parts and had a cf2 engine cobbled into it. It only cost 180 euro though... and it served its purpose extremely well, donating many parts to the gtv, including a new bonnet My friend who stripped the proteo red car for me, agreed to fit a new box, which was kindly donated by a chap on AO (eau rouge) at a cut price 40 pounds. Along the way however, I picked up an e39 520i for a song that said friend had taken a liking to. This lead to a rather good agreement for me, in that he'd do the work in return for the car and he suggested while doing the box, that I should change the clutch as it was most likely the original, as well as put new belts on it (they were only a year old, but while the engine was out, he said I might as well, once I bought the tools). The master cylinder was also changed and the front arb replaced with one from a fiat coupe.... All fluids were changed as well as plugs and the drivers drive shaft. He also offered to respray the drivers side, once I provided the paint and lacquer. So at the end of May, 6 months after I had collected the gtv of the previous owner, she was back on the road. It drives so well in the bends and never fails to put a smile on my face. its tested until next year, and has had virtually everything replaced in the engine bay, with either a new part, or a part that was better. Since then, I've put up 5k miles on her over the summer, as its now my daily hack. Whats happened to the 156 v6....I still have it, its currently in storage until I can afford to run both at the same time (being 22 has disadvantages you know, no classic insurance). Some photos as she sits now. Plans for the gtv in the near future... first is to polybush, i have them already and are just waiting to go on. As are new pagid disks, ebc greenstuff pads, HEL braided lines and pressed metal plates new sunroof motor new gear knob Koni sport shocks for the front Alfaholics rear arb Full respray as its very pink in parts (bumpers, bonnet and boot lid are off the donor and friends respray, while brilliant, highlights the pink areas so much ) Oh and Ive just agreed a price with a person in Scotland for 17 inch Siena's.....should have them in the next week or two. Apologies for the intro being so long, I hope you enjoyed and when Ive the time i might sort out a build thread for the gtv