Sprucing up the 156

[jimmy156]

Hi everyone,

I bought an alfa 156 a couple of months back and there are a few minor issues i told myself i would sort, but havent got round to doing, that i will attempt this weekend. I'm just looking for advice from anyone that might have tackled these before.

1: The wing mirrors. Some of the black plastic has come off around where the mirror joins the body, leaving whatever is underneath (kind of asbestos colour!) showing through. I was thinking a bit of black hammerite? I realise this wont look great close up but should improve the overall look until i feel like spending £ on new mirrors.

2: The stereo surround. This comes off, its an aftermarket stereo fitted by a previous owner and so has a bit of plastic around it to fill a gap in the dash. There is no obvious way that it would clip on. I was thinking just tack it on with some super glue? I dont want to do this though if there is a better way to fix it on there / my one is just broken.

3: The glovebox. This doesent quite shut flush with the dash, its not a big issue just a bit annoying and i have no idea how to sort it, any ideas?

Thanks for any help guys,

Cheers, James

[V6Alfisti]

1) Very common, just rub back and hammerite as you said.

2) These normally just sit behind the little facia trim you get on the 3rd party radio, but sometimes they don't fit. I just put up with mine on my first 156.

3) They never seem to fit quite right, wouldn't be concerned unless it is massively out?

[jimmy156]

V6Alfisti said:

1) Very common, just rub back and hammerite as you said.

Cool, cheers

V6Alfisti said:

2) These normally just sit behind the little facia trim you get on the 3rd party radio, but sometimes they don't fit. I just put up with mine on my first 156.

hmm, that doesent clip on either, but like you say i can probably put up with it

V6Alfisti said:

3) They never seem to fit quite right, wouldn't be concerned unless it is massively out?

No not massivly out, just thought there may be a quick fix but it doesent bother me too much

The other thing is that the wheel that adjust the angle of the back of the seat just slips on the cog, but i figue as this is out of site a bit of gaffa tape should do the job

Something i meant to ask on alfaowner today but its down so i couldnt, the brakes seem to lack in feel / are quite spongey. They are okay until you're pushing on and then under hardish braking they just feel a bit rubbish. Is this charecteristic of the 156 (the discs do look a bit small for a big-ish car) or will a new set of pads and discs sort it out

[V6Alfisti]

jimmy156 said:

V6Alfisti said:

1) Very common, just rub back and hammerite as you said.

Cool, cheers

V6Alfisti said:

2) These normally just sit behind the little facia trim you get on the 3rd party radio, but sometimes they don't fit. I just put up with mine on my first 156.

hmm, that doesent clip on either, but like you say i can probably put up with it

V6Alfisti said:

3) They never seem to fit quite right, wouldn't be concerned unless it is massively out?

No not massivly out, just thought there may be a quick fix but it doesent bother me too much

The other thing is that the wheel that adjust the angle of the back of the seat just slips on the cog, but i figue as this is out of site a bit of gaffa tape should do the job

Something i meant to ask on alfaowner today but its down so i couldnt, the brakes seem to lack in feel / are quite spongey. They are okay until you're pushing on and then under hardish braking they just feel a bit rubbish. Is this charecteristic of the 156 (the discs do look a bit small for a big-ish car) or will a new set of pads and discs sort it out

I don't have experience of the cog slip, but the brakes on the 156 do lack feel imo, however you would normally only notice when pushed and are considerably better than the on/off nature of VAG group brakes.

Pads will improve stopping distance, but for those wanting a real change then it will be braided hoses/new calipers.

[velocemitch]

Ferrodo DS pads helped the brakes on my 2.0JTS, standard 156's are a bit challenged in in the braking department.

[jimmy156]

Cheers for the tips on brakes guys. A quick google of big brake kits for the alfa shows i'm looking at around £1k, which is a lot considering the car was only £1800! Will probably put up with it and when it comes to replace the pads, use some good ones such as the ferrodo's.

[pphillpot]

re the stereo facia trim. I've recently swapped the head unit in mine as the old aftermarket one that came with the car was rubbish. The trim piece you mention never really fit in properly and I only realised why when removing the old stereo. The trim should be held in place by the cage that holds the head unit into the dash. There's a flange on the trim piece that sits under the outer rim of the cage so when it's secured into the dash it also holds the trim piece tightly in position. As the old cage had just been shoved in and not properly located, this caused the trim to rattle annoyingly. Fixing the new one in properly has resulted in one less squeky piece of plastic in the cabin, result!

[jimmy156]

Thanks for this ^ mate. I had assumed something like this would be the case, the stereo looks rather badly fitted and the cage is a bit mangled, i might look into getting a new stereo (one that accept an Mp3 player) as i'm not too keen on the old one anyway, and it would set the dash off nicely if there was a nice looking one in there!

[pphillpot]

No worries.

I got one of these by the way:

http://www.clarioncaraudioonline.co.uk/products/7/...

It's pretty good actually, fits the dash nicely, looks discreet and has full ipod control. It has a USB cable at the back which I've run into the glovebox (no drilling required) so you don't need to have the ipod on dislay anywhere. I've been really impressed with it.