Classic Alfa Forums

in reply to what some have asked for, and to maybe keep day to day chat in one place rather than getting lost in amongst folks various build threads.......here is an experimental chat thread.

for the casual poster can i please ask to keep it vaguely car related, leave your comments about what you had for your tea or how your cat is to the facebook/alfaowner wot threads

we will see how this goes, always willing to listen to requests...........unlike other forums.....eh



i can say that now without fear of being banned

Good call chaps

Ooh ... look what ive just found ....

Morning folks ...

As for keeping it car related .. I cant promise ..

Good morning - I will be trying to polish out some scuffs on my sons car today!

Morning chaps

I'll be in the garage finishing the plastering then hopefully painting it

Ill be cutting a xr3i into little pieces!

And enjoy every minute of doing so!

Cool we need pics of that

I thought YOU might! ha ha!

I'm stripping it today, and if i get far enough, the cutters coming out too.

This is the victim!

I'll be sweeping some concrete debris from the garden paths and trying not to get the dust on the Alfetta.

Does this count as a car related subject........ ?

i see the thread is coming along nicely, loads of car activity going on, well done guys and gals

Today ... ( apart from cooking a full English) I will be mostly sourcing car parts for my 156 .. top arms .. lower arms and a rear shocker ...
Any suggestions will be welcome .. ie .. what make and where to get ....

Does this constitute to car related natter ... :p

I got all my suspension parts for my 156 off eBay

But what make were the parts .. I need to know quality of said parts .. unlike most of you guys I dont have the facilities to carry out repairs for my self.. therefor I have to cough up and take it somewhere. So I thought if by sourcing the bits my self it may save a few quid .. but I only want decent parts or its false economy to me ...

Joe1968 wrote:But what make were the parts .. I need to know quality of said parts .. unlike most of you guys I dont have the facilities to carry out repairs for my self.. therefor I have to cough up and take it somewhere. So I thought if by sourcing the bits my self it may save a few quid .. but I only want decent parts or its false economy to me ...

Hiya Joe. Good to see you here

I have a N/S upper wishbone arm for sale made by Motaquip if it would be of any use to you
viewtopic.php?f=23&t=194

Hi Mark ...

Long time no see ...

How come you only have the one ...

Hi Joe

all the ebay stuff is pretty much a muchness.

In the past, ive orderedf the same full kit, 2 x lower arms, 2 x upper arms, and 2 x drop links, approximately £90, from various ebay suppliers,

theyve arrived as QH, Motaquip, Ap, all manner and types of brands, other than Alfa Romeo.


They say that only the AR originals fit without hassle, but i've never took out a 2nd mortgage to find out.

All the aftermarket brands are virtually the same quality in my opinion, and the only areas of concern are the lower wishbones have 4 bolts through the subframe, and what normally happens is that 3 line up with ease, and the 4th is a Git!

also, the anti roll bar drop links, almost always come with a Nyloc nut, and a pathetic allen capping to the thread ends. My advice is throw the nylocs away, as what often happens is the nyloc grips the thread tight enough to start spinning the joint before its pulled up tight, so you go for an allen key or bit to hold the thread still while you wind on the nut, the allen socket will fail very quickly, they are crap! so use a lock washer and plain nut instead, and this will spin on with ease.

If you're lucky, the drop links have 2 flats for a C spanner instead of the allen capping to hold them still, and you could always file some flats on if you do end up with the Allen types.



The top arms are usually pretty straight forward, but a bit tight for room. Once everything's undone, they almost fall out, but for some reason always a small fight to put a nice new tight one back in!

Penetrating oil on the wishbone and subframe bolts will always help, they can be beggars for snapping with dirty threads too, so give them a bit of a soaking first, and a clean up before they go back in.


Thats my two penneth Joe,

now, can we see you in your overalls please now you're chatting on a proper car forum! ha ha!

Agree with all of the above!
On a more serious note . Just phones my wife from the garage for a tea and she's gone out ! This is shocking behaviour

Cant get the staff nowadays mate,



cant get the staff........

petrolhead wrote:
now, can we see you in your overalls please now you're chatting on a proper car forum! ha ha!

thats for private viewing only ...



I shall reply to your post later Shrew ...

agree with the above, i've bought the ebay packages before and were al from different manufacturers. bit of pot luck really.

regular changes seem to be the only option without paying through the nose for alfa parts. there was a thread on AO about autolusso fitting some arms and they failing within a year, was some names mentioned on there about what are the best ones.




me, today. i've been mostly working on a nice 75.

and selling the punto.

As promised for JB, here is the result of a busy long day.

This plain old mk3 escort xr3i cabriolet, used to be a right posers car, until they were so common that you didn't "stand out" anymore i expect.


it's been a long time since anyone thought a little outside the box i guess for one of these old ford plodders, that is, until today

So this



became this! (que the dramatic incidental Dun Dun Derrrrrrrrr!!!)

big improvement mate

I thought so too


48"s shorter, the turning circle will be fantastic!

Seen that done to a Beetle - makes it about the size of a Smart.

Its a weird old thing!

It was only supposed to be a rip down, we needed the floor for repairs to a real nice one, but we kept looking at it, asking each other, what if?

The only answer was to cut it fully, offer it up, and weld it together.

Thats the result of 2 daft twats with a lazy day, messing with cars!

Gotta love them days!


Thing is, given another couple of hours, and this would actually go places,

A scarey thought!

An escort shorty love it . They do this to minis , which I really want to do
If you do this rite that car could be Worth some dosh ! Never seen an escort shorty before I'd love to do a fiat 126 ,as the engines in the back it would popping wheelies

Morning guys ..

So whats on the agenda for today

Not a lot as hungover

SHOUTING IN A VERY LOUD VOICE ... serves you right ...

What did you have ... or should I say .. how much ..

You know these essex boys Joe, theyre all a bit Cocktails and driving gloves aren't they?


As for what on the agenda today, i've just finished doing a bit more to the escort. Bonnet, boot, spoiler, you know all the important things.


anyone want to buy it?