Alfa Romeo 90 Gold Cloverleaf
Discussion
crostonian said:
Great cars and one of my favourite Alfas, my father bought a 12 month old one back in 1986 and I bought a LHD 2 litre V6 example off an Italian waiter in Preston back in the mid 90s. The brief case was an optional extra I think, even on the top spec Gold Cloverleaf. You could get them with a 2 litre 8V Twin Cam, 2 litre V6, 2.5 V6 and 2.4 VM Turbo Diesel but only the 2.5 was offered in the UK. They may have done a 1.8 in some markets. They then brought out a facelift called the 90 Super which had a different front grille and I think they ditched the digital dash but don't quote me on that! Good to see one on the roads and look forward to seeing the improvements. Bravo!
That's good to know Crostonian! I've been doing research on the 90's for a while now so I'm still learning bit by bit, but it's always handy to be told something new 
So just a small update this evening.
Today was my only day off work for this week, so because I didn't have time to do anything too time consuming I chose to give the engine bay a good scrub. Unfortunately I've got no photos but I spent roughly 6 hours getting my hands filthy in grime, grease and blood but it looks much more presentable. I also took the opportunity to tidy up the mess with all the wires, so I unplugged what I felt okay to unplug and wrapped up the colourful wires in black electrical tape
I'm also currently trying to make up my own ISO wiring harness for the 90 because you can't buy one for it to use on a new head unit, yes it's annoying but it's all part of the fun I guess.
Today was my only day off work for this week, so because I didn't have time to do anything too time consuming I chose to give the engine bay a good scrub. Unfortunately I've got no photos but I spent roughly 6 hours getting my hands filthy in grime, grease and blood but it looks much more presentable. I also took the opportunity to tidy up the mess with all the wires, so I unplugged what I felt okay to unplug and wrapped up the colourful wires in black electrical tape
I'm also currently trying to make up my own ISO wiring harness for the 90 because you can't buy one for it to use on a new head unit, yes it's annoying but it's all part of the fun I guess.
dbdb said:
I have always liked these Alfas - though they were rare things even when they were new. I have not seen one for such a long time.
Do you plan to put a set of the original style wheels on? They really suit the car.
I'd never seen one until I collected this, very very rare indeed.Do you plan to put a set of the original style wheels on? They really suit the car.
I do have a set of the original wheels, very much like the photo attached but they need a good refurb.
I'll probably keep them to oneside and just fit them for the odd show here or there.
99t said:
Really like this OP
Takes me back to the early nineties when I had an Alfetta saloon, very similar shape but with the 2.0 twin cam and twin Dellortos making about 130hp. Remember it fondly, it was utterly reliable and drove in a much more "grown up" manner than the Opel Manta I had graduated from!
Looked exactly like this one, same colour scheme too, other than the wheels which were the original alloys.
Looking forward to following your progress...
Looks like you had a lovely Alfetta there, I've always been a fan of them but I've never seen one for sale which didn't cost a small fortune. Takes me back to the early nineties when I had an Alfetta saloon, very similar shape but with the 2.0 twin cam and twin Dellortos making about 130hp. Remember it fondly, it was utterly reliable and drove in a much more "grown up" manner than the Opel Manta I had graduated from!
Looked exactly like this one, same colour scheme too, other than the wheels which were the original alloys.
Looking forward to following your progress...
I'll agree with the 'grown up' driving experience actually. I find with the 90 is that it done encourage you to drive quick everywhere, but to use the torque of the 2.5 and to simply enjoy the sound etc. People who've I've taken out in her has remarked how well she drives, how pliant the ride is and how little wind/road noise there is
Today I was lucky enough to have some spare time and because it's a lovely day for once, I decided to do a few small jobs on the 90. They weren't major problems, just irritation and at times annoying more than anything.
The passenger rear door card had come away from the actual door, at 1st I thought that some of the door clips for the card had broken but in actual fact the door card had broken off from the mounting points on the door itself. So I removed said door card, removed the part which had come away and used super glue which worked an absolute treat! Unfortantly I was too busy doing the work and forgot to take photos of that particular bit of work.
Next up was trying to figure out why the rear windows and rear passenger spot lights don't work, checked the fuses and was all good. Then I checked the wiring and that was totally fine as well, so because I was kinda stuck for ideas I gave the switches a firm whack and they started working! I'm assuming that the cables are a bit crap now being 31 years old, hence why smacking the thing worked.
I did get photos of the switches because they are mounted in such a typical 80's Alfa fashion.
The passenger rear door card had come away from the actual door, at 1st I thought that some of the door clips for the card had broken but in actual fact the door card had broken off from the mounting points on the door itself. So I removed said door card, removed the part which had come away and used super glue which worked an absolute treat! Unfortantly I was too busy doing the work and forgot to take photos of that particular bit of work.
Next up was trying to figure out why the rear windows and rear passenger spot lights don't work, checked the fuses and was all good. Then I checked the wiring and that was totally fine as well, so because I was kinda stuck for ideas I gave the switches a firm whack and they started working! I'm assuming that the cables are a bit crap now being 31 years old, hence why smacking the thing worked.
I did get photos of the switches because they are mounted in such a typical 80's Alfa fashion.
Honestly thanks everyone, I'm humbled and surprised at the response for the 90, I honestly thought that I wouldn't get many comments let alone praise for it.
The 90 has been absolute flawless so far, always starting 1st time. Tonight she felt wonderful, pulling strongly in each gear
Zombie - I thought we were still friends on Facebook as I have posted about the car a few times, I'm not on Alfabook as I was getting threats from certain people and I'm still banned from AO
The 75 had to go simply because I couldn't afford to keep living how I was, I essentially had to reevaluate my priorities in life so unfortunately both cars went.
Small update btw guys!
I fitted the stereo today (with help from a friend of course), so I can now finally drive around while listening to music but not too loud as I still want to hear the lovely exhaust note
The 90 has been absolute flawless so far, always starting 1st time. Tonight she felt wonderful, pulling strongly in each gear
Zombie - I thought we were still friends on Facebook as I have posted about the car a few times, I'm not on Alfabook as I was getting threats from certain people and I'm still banned from AO
The 75 had to go simply because I couldn't afford to keep living how I was, I essentially had to reevaluate my priorities in life so unfortunately both cars went.
Small update btw guys!
I fitted the stereo today (with help from a friend of course), so I can now finally drive around while listening to music but not too loud as I still want to hear the lovely exhaust note
Rafeabrook said:
Top work fella.
I had the grandson of this beast (166 3.0) for a brief period a few years ago but alas it was a duffer with an oil leak that required an engine out fix, which cost more than the value of the car to sort.
By the time I'd spent £3k on it and very little time driving it (as it lived at Autolusso most weeks) I had had enough.
I may return to Alfa but as a wedding photographer and I can't have a car let me down mid job!
Props to you for saving this rare beast and running it as a daily though!
Thanks and guys.I had the grandson of this beast (166 3.0) for a brief period a few years ago but alas it was a duffer with an oil leak that required an engine out fix, which cost more than the value of the car to sort.
By the time I'd spent £3k on it and very little time driving it (as it lived at Autolusso most weeks) I had had enough.
I may return to Alfa but as a wedding photographer and I can't have a car let me down mid job!
Props to you for saving this rare beast and running it as a daily though!
With your issue regarding how much you spent on her, you used Autolusso which are quite well known for certain 'issues' which need addressing but it's fine
Another update time!
As you guys are fully aware, is that I have quite a bit of bodywork to get sorted due to rust. Now admittedly the rust is not terminal as it's just surface rust. I phoned around and also popped into a few places for quotes which has been quite interesting as what I've been quoted and what they will do.
1st quote is from an Alfa specialist which I've used previously for paint on my old GTA, which did look pretty good! I've been quoted £600 cash if I prep the panels and fit them myself (which I can do).
2nd is the company that my work place uses to get cars repaired for whatever reason, I've seen their work and it really is top notch! Unfortunately their quote is a bit more than what I could happily afford which is £3000+.
The 3rd place sadly wouldn't quote me until they had done the work, so they knew how long it took etc. I kindly declined them.
Also in May I'll be having the new gearbox fitted by the previous owner, myself and some Alfa buddies which we both know. We'll also be fitting new discs/pads on the rear, a whole new exhaust which I'll explain in a moment and also lower the car roughly by 30mm. But everything which will be done will be reversible if I ever need to sell her.
Now the exhaust, as everyone who may know me throughout the Alfa cumminity will know that I've always done my own thing when coming to tinkering and modifying the cars, after some advice from the previous owner I decided on two possible routes to go with the exhaust. The 1st would be a side exit on each side of the car, but after checking clearances and remembering how after having a side exit on the 75 was a pain, I abandoned that idea. The 2nd is to get the guy who made the exhaust for the GTA to build me anothe cat back system but just without the back box, which I'm waiting on a quote for
Also on another note, because of where I work and what I do, I get to drive new cars essentially every day of the week. I was thinking about writing up something on here detailing my viewpoint on each car without a biased view.
As you guys are fully aware, is that I have quite a bit of bodywork to get sorted due to rust. Now admittedly the rust is not terminal as it's just surface rust. I phoned around and also popped into a few places for quotes which has been quite interesting as what I've been quoted and what they will do.
1st quote is from an Alfa specialist which I've used previously for paint on my old GTA, which did look pretty good! I've been quoted £600 cash if I prep the panels and fit them myself (which I can do).
2nd is the company that my work place uses to get cars repaired for whatever reason, I've seen their work and it really is top notch! Unfortunately their quote is a bit more than what I could happily afford which is £3000+.
The 3rd place sadly wouldn't quote me until they had done the work, so they knew how long it took etc. I kindly declined them.
Also in May I'll be having the new gearbox fitted by the previous owner, myself and some Alfa buddies which we both know. We'll also be fitting new discs/pads on the rear, a whole new exhaust which I'll explain in a moment and also lower the car roughly by 30mm. But everything which will be done will be reversible if I ever need to sell her.
Now the exhaust, as everyone who may know me throughout the Alfa cumminity will know that I've always done my own thing when coming to tinkering and modifying the cars, after some advice from the previous owner I decided on two possible routes to go with the exhaust. The 1st would be a side exit on each side of the car, but after checking clearances and remembering how after having a side exit on the 75 was a pain, I abandoned that idea. The 2nd is to get the guy who made the exhaust for the GTA to build me anothe cat back system but just without the back box, which I'm waiting on a quote for
Also on another note, because of where I work and what I do, I get to drive new cars essentially every day of the week. I was thinking about writing up something on here detailing my viewpoint on each car without a biased view.
Vitorio said:
So just a straight pipe? does a 90 even have a cat?
Should sound mental/metal
It does indeed have a cat, I'll be keeping the cat for the moment because I've ran cars with no cat (when I was younger) and tbh it caused more problems that it's worth.Should sound mental/metal
I'll still have silencing in the exhaust system, the cat should help a bit with back pressure and if it's too loud then I'll get a small box fitted
Update for you guys.
For the 1st time she failed to start last night, finished a 13hr shift and went to go home, and all you could hear was the relays clicking. I had 'some' power but not enough to crank her over, so I grabbed a car from work and used that. Cue this evening at work I jumped started her and all was fine
Seems the issue was my fault in that I wired the head unit wrong, so it was always drawing power doh! Plus the battery looks old, so I've ordered a new more beefier battery and wired the head unit correctly this time.
Apart from that she's been fine.
Oh and I've found someone in Belgium who's offered me essentially a whole car for €200. It's been broken already so all I need to do is hire a van from work and head to Belgium for the bits
For the 1st time she failed to start last night, finished a 13hr shift and went to go home, and all you could hear was the relays clicking. I had 'some' power but not enough to crank her over, so I grabbed a car from work and used that. Cue this evening at work I jumped started her and all was fine
Seems the issue was my fault in that I wired the head unit wrong, so it was always drawing power doh! Plus the battery looks old, so I've ordered a new more beefier battery and wired the head unit correctly this time.
Apart from that she's been fine.
Oh and I've found someone in Belgium who's offered me essentially a whole car for €200. It's been broken already so all I need to do is hire a van from work and head to Belgium for the bits
Spinakerr said:
beautifulbusso said:
Update for you guys.
For the 1st time she failed to start last night, finished a 13hr shift and went to go home, and all you could hear was the relays clicking. I had 'some' power but not enough to crank her over, so I grabbed a car from work and used that. Cue this evening at work I jumped started her and all was fine
Seems the issue was my fault in that I wired the head unit wrong, so it was always drawing power doh! Plus the battery looks old, so I've ordered a new more beefier battery and wired the head unit correctly this time.
That's just a standard attention-seeking Alfa. It'll probably charge fine for the next 10 years after it gets a new battery. Does it have an awkward battery tray that limits the type? As I recall it is mounted front-nearside by the headlight, is that correct?For the 1st time she failed to start last night, finished a 13hr shift and went to go home, and all you could hear was the relays clicking. I had 'some' power but not enough to crank her over, so I grabbed a car from work and used that. Cue this evening at work I jumped started her and all was fine
Seems the issue was my fault in that I wired the head unit wrong, so it was always drawing power doh! Plus the battery looks old, so I've ordered a new more beefier battery and wired the head unit correctly this time.
You are correct in where the battery tray is located, but my plan now is to move the battery into the boot because 1) the battery tray is rusting, 2) I can then fit an even bigger battery at some point and 3) it'll help even out the weight as it's not quite 50/50 just yet.
beautifulbusso said:
Oh and I've found someone in Belgium who's offered me essentially a whole car for €200. It's been broken already so all I need to do is hire a van from work and head to Belgium for the bits
Hark! 'Tis the distant sound of...roadtrip!Good luck with the paint/de-rusting work. LEt me know if you ever look into undersealing - still can't get a reasonable answer or quote in London.
As for the underseal, I was going to do it myself but if your not able to do that then give these two places a call and say you know me (scott).
Felice @ Sunnyside Garages in Chadwell Heath.
Paul @ Aforalfa in Aylesbury.
I've used both extensively and would recommend them both.
Just a small update this evening.
Well the battery played up again and went flat Sunday morning, which of course annoyed me. Cue pushing my car off the drive, pulling my fathers car off the drive and pushing mine back on, which is just what I wanted at 6:30 in the morning, but at least I weren't late for work!! So I've ordered a new more beefier battery which should be here later on this evening between 19:15 and 20:15, I did pay for next working day delivery but I'm not too happy that it's arriving so late, so unfortunately I'll be cycling to work tomorrow morning.
Today has been semi productive though, I've removed the old battery, cleaned up the tray and treated the rust around that area which I feel is quite good, I will be stripping away more components at a later date to treat the whole area though.
I've also been sorting out all the old paperwork, I've managed to sort through all the bits and organised them into date order as well as finding all the old MOTs and sorting those as well. I also come across a receipt from when someone bought the car at 2 years old in 1987, which I'm pretty chuffed at finding. Does anyone know how I can find more history which is missing though? As it's not complete sadly.
Photos below showing the paperwork all sorted out
Well the battery played up again and went flat Sunday morning, which of course annoyed me. Cue pushing my car off the drive, pulling my fathers car off the drive and pushing mine back on, which is just what I wanted at 6:30 in the morning, but at least I weren't late for work!! So I've ordered a new more beefier battery which should be here later on this evening between 19:15 and 20:15, I did pay for next working day delivery but I'm not too happy that it's arriving so late, so unfortunately I'll be cycling to work tomorrow morning.
Today has been semi productive though, I've removed the old battery, cleaned up the tray and treated the rust around that area which I feel is quite good, I will be stripping away more components at a later date to treat the whole area though.
I've also been sorting out all the old paperwork, I've managed to sort through all the bits and organised them into date order as well as finding all the old MOTs and sorting those as well. I also come across a receipt from when someone bought the car at 2 years old in 1987, which I'm pretty chuffed at finding. Does anyone know how I can find more history which is missing though? As it's not complete sadly.
Photos below showing the paperwork all sorted out
Spinakerr said:
Always good to sort out the history and see what others have spent/changed over the years.
Did the new battery sort out the starting issue? Did it resuscitate any of the other recalcitrant auxillaries?
Unfortunately I don't have full history, but I've got the last 6-7 years worth so that's better than nothing...but I do have every single MOT which is a huge bonus!!Did the new battery sort out the starting issue? Did it resuscitate any of the other recalcitrant auxillaries?
I did sort out the starting issue, turned out that the battery was rather f
ked and also too small. So I ended up buying the biggest battery that would fit in the battery tray, which has also sorted out all the small electrical issues I'd been having.So I've not updated this thread for a while because she's been totally fine, running fine and smooth.
But I thought I'd post up some more, better photos since its Autoitalia Brooklands this weekend, which because I'm attending I needed to give the 90 a good polish and wax...it's surprising how well a 31 year old Alfa comes up with some wax
I also popped out in her this morning, and when I returned I found another Alfa parked next to me...with most the car park empty!!
I've also been thinking about what I'm going to do once the new body panels are fitted, regarding to the paint. I'm tempted to paint all the plastics the same colour as the car, I feel that this would make the car look a bit more modern and a little different to any other 90s that I may come across. Any opinions would defiently be welcomed too.
But I thought I'd post up some more, better photos since its Autoitalia Brooklands this weekend, which because I'm attending I needed to give the 90 a good polish and wax...it's surprising how well a 31 year old Alfa comes up with some wax
I also popped out in her this morning, and when I returned I found another Alfa parked next to me...with most the car park empty!!
I've also been thinking about what I'm going to do once the new body panels are fitted, regarding to the paint. I'm tempted to paint all the plastics the same colour as the car, I feel that this would make the car look a bit more modern and a little different to any other 90s that I may come across. Any opinions would defiently be welcomed too.
rxe said:
IMO it is rare enough to not mess with the plastics. It needs to wear its eighties-ness with pride. I had the same idea on my Alfetta GTV, and I painted the bumpers (I was 21, it was a long time ago). They look rubbish now, and I wish I hadn't.
See this is also another view of mine, it's a rare car and the plastic bumpers add to the 80s look!
castex said:
Here are some pics of painted bumpers found on alfabb.com:
I think it looks quite smart.
I just had a quick look for the briefcase / valise / valigetta for you. Hen's teeth! Guy from the same thread as those pics was offering one in 2008 for $500AUS. It's a long shot but he might still have it. The material is Valextra.
It indeed does look very smart, you've just made the decision 10x harder!I think it looks quite smart.
I just had a quick look for the briefcase / valise / valigetta for you. Hen's teeth! Guy from the same thread as those pics was offering one in 2008 for $500AUS. It's a long shot but he might still have it. The material is Valextra.
I need to get myself signed up to alfabb I think
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