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Alfa 147 advice #1657823
24/05/2022 19:43
24/05/2022 19:43
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 16,603
Corridor of Uncertainty
J
Jim_Clennell Offline OP
Forum veteran
Jim_Clennell  Offline OP
Forum veteran
J

Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 16,603
Corridor of Uncertainty
A friend of mine is going through a bit of a tough time at the moment and when his trusty transport (a battered, very high mileage Renault Trafic) turned out to be not-so-trusty, he was left in the Gloucestershire countryside with no wheels and virtually no budget.
After several days of him working from home and us exchanging "cheapest car on eBay" messages, he happened upon a possible solution, whilst signing the death sentence on the Trafic.
The garage had a 2003 Alfa 147 1.6 TwinSpark loitering around looking a bit sad. With only 85k miles and a reasonably solid body and mechanicals, my friend decided they needed each other and agreed a price with the garage owner (based on a thorough inspection and tour of the likely worst bits).
So, now he's got it, he is going to give it a full service and replace the front suspension, so that it's a bit less likely to kill him straight away.
You can tell he's one of us, because he'd already bought replacement Alfa badges on eBay before he got her home.

So, the questions to all of you amazing car people are:

What does he need to look out for?

and

What would you do if it were yours...?

Last edited by Jim_Clennell; 24/05/2022 19:44.
Re: Alfa 147 advice [Re: Jim_Clennell] #1657826
24/05/2022 21:55
24/05/2022 21:55
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 5,390
Essex
Trappy Offline
Forum is my life
Trappy  Offline
Forum is my life

Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 5,390
Essex
Take it to see Roger at Power Italia for a health check. Rog loves those things. "Things do go wrong with them, but everything's cheap to fix". See what he says.

Last edited by Trappy; 24/05/2022 21:55.

F****** b****** thing...
Re: Alfa 147 advice [Re: Jim_Clennell] #1657827
24/05/2022 22:58
24/05/2022 22:58
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 23,294
North Wales
Theresa Offline
Former Presidentessa Club member 58
Theresa  Offline
Former Presidentessa Club member 58
Forum Fossil

Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 23,294
North Wales
Make sure it's had a cambelt change! The worst for snapping are the 1.6's.

Re: Alfa 147 advice [Re: Jim_Clennell] #1657828
25/05/2022 05:26
25/05/2022 05:26
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 16,603
Corridor of Uncertainty
J
Jim_Clennell Offline OP
Forum veteran
Jim_Clennell  Offline OP
Forum veteran
J

Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 16,603
Corridor of Uncertainty
Thanks Trappy and T. I think a trip to Essex might be beyond his current spending plans, but I'll definitely remind him about the timing belt.

Re: Alfa 147 advice [Re: Jim_Clennell] #1657831
25/05/2022 08:29
25/05/2022 08:29
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 17,112
FCSS 01684 593187
Countrycruising Offline
Club Rep Europe, member 914
Countrycruising  Offline
Club Rep Europe, member 914
Forum veteran

Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 17,112
FCSS 01684 593187
TS cam variators are prone to failing so if it's got a top end rattle that's a £300 component not including labour to fit it, with a belt as there's no point doing that work with replacing the timing kit.

Re: Alfa 147 advice [Re: Jim_Clennell] #1657832
25/05/2022 12:40
25/05/2022 12:40
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 16,603
Corridor of Uncertainty
J
Jim_Clennell Offline OP
Forum veteran
Jim_Clennell  Offline OP
Forum veteran
J

Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 16,603
Corridor of Uncertainty
Cheers, Joe, I'm passing on all info as I get it. My friend is still just about smiling at his purchase...!

Re: Alfa 147 advice [Re: Jim_Clennell] #1657867
27/05/2022 17:35
27/05/2022 17:35
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 16,603
Corridor of Uncertainty
J
Jim_Clennell Offline OP
Forum veteran
Jim_Clennell  Offline OP
Forum veteran
J

Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 16,603
Corridor of Uncertainty
One task that my newly Alfa-d up friend has discovered needs doing, is the gear change plate (apparently a common job). He thought it was the springs and bushes around the gear lever, but it turns out these are fine.
Obviously, he has access to the same Internet and forums as I do, but he is *extremely* French (and believe me, I've met some very French people) and may not fully understand the language used in English online groups. So, on his behalf, does anyone have any experience of doing this job? Any hints that I can pass on?
I haven't called Roger, as he is so far from us that I can't promise him any work at all resulting from his goodwill.

Re: Alfa 147 advice [Re: Jim_Clennell] #1659124
21/07/2022 07:55
21/07/2022 07:55
Joined: Jul 2022
Posts: 1
Kyiv
A
ArturN Offline
Newbie
ArturN  Offline
Newbie
A

Joined: Jul 2022
Posts: 1
Kyiv
Originally Posted by Jim_Clennell
One task that my newly Alfa-d up friend has discovered needs doing, is the gear change plate (apparently a common job). He thought it was the springs and bushes around the gear lever, but it turns out these are fine.
Obviously, he has access to the same Internet and forums as I do, but he is *extremely* French (and believe me, I've met some very French people) and may not fully understand the language used in English online groups. So, on his behalf, does anyone have any experience of doing this job? Any hints that I can pass on?
I haven't called Roger, as he is so far from us that I can't promise him any work at all resulting from his goodwill.

Also interesting

Re: Alfa 147 advice [Re: Jim_Clennell] #1659126
21/07/2022 09:24
21/07/2022 09:24
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 582
Guildford
wink Offline
Club member 1453
wink  Offline
Club member 1453
Enjoying the ride

Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 582
Guildford
It's a horrible job - the mechanism seizes up at the gearbox end then the cables stretch and to replace the whole lot is lengthy and expensive. Had a 147 once with this problem but settled for freeing up the seized bits and living with the floppy cables, because I'd already spent shed loads on refurbing all the suspension. Nice car though.

Re: Alfa 147 advice [Re: Jim_Clennell] #1662509
22/12/2022 08:35
22/12/2022 08:35
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 16,603
Corridor of Uncertainty
J
Jim_Clennell Offline OP
Forum veteran
Jim_Clennell  Offline OP
Forum veteran
J

Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 16,603
Corridor of Uncertainty
Update: well, the inevitable has happened - the cambelt snapped and now the poor bloke is back where he started.
It anyone knows of any ultra-cheap daily bangers within an hour of Gloucester, please let me know. Also, does anyone want a non-running 147?!


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