Alfa Romeo 147 GTA | The Brave Pill

[s m]

Pommy said:

I knew the guy who owned that white one - was Troll on the Alfa forums and lived in Verwood in the New Forest near me. Nice chap and that thing looked bloody lovely in white with the 18in multispokes.

That’s right - he was on the Ford ones as Troll too - hence the number plate and presence at a Ford track day

Edited by s m on Tuesday 21st January 11:24

[Faceplant]

Bump!


Hi All

I must say it's quite a surprise to see your own car featured on The Brave Pill whilst casually browsing PH at work

I don't think anyone really wants to sell their GTA, me included, but it's not getting used much and I need my garage back. Finally decided to get an advert up last Autumn and here we are. Interest has been....slow, shall we say. But it's as I expected - these have a niche appeal plus they're getting on a bit too.

Currently commuting in a Fiesta ST so the GTA comes out of the garage for a run at weekends. I would've SORNed if I didn't enjoy driving it so much. It really is incredibly difficult not to speak in cliches when describing these cars. So all I'll say it that they're addictive. Anyone with experience one will know what I mean. Did I mention no-one really wants to sell their GTA?

Talking about brave pills, how about stupid pills: I actually bought it off Ebay without going to see it first. It was fun for about 9 months, then a lumpy idle that got gradually worse and worse turned out to be a compression issue and led me down the "lets get the entire engine rebuilt" path. With hindsight I see it as money well spent.

Anyway....the AC I think is the compressor - I can't hear it engaging and yes, the wheels aren't in the greatest condition. In my defense they were like that when I bought it. Nothing wrong with my parking

[Tankrizzo]

I sold mine to a cracking guy who came all the way from Kent (I'm near Portsmouth).

He told me in the first few weeks he thought it was a money pit because it had a few niggles (the usual GTA stuff you just ignore as an owner really) and he'd be looking to sell it very soon....

.....that was two years ago and he's still got it, changed the wheels, fitted a Wizard exhaust and had a complete respray done

Once you're hooked....

[z06tim]

Faceplant said:

Bump!


Hi All

I must say it's quite a surprise to see your own car featured on The Brave Pill whilst casually browsing PH at work

I don't think anyone really wants to sell their GTA, me included, but it's not getting used much and I need my garage back. Finally decided to get an advert up last Autumn and here we are. Interest has been....slow, shall we say. But it's as I expected - these have a niche appeal plus they're getting on a bit too.

Currently commuting in a Fiesta ST so the GTA comes out of the garage for a run at weekends. I would've SORNed if I didn't enjoy driving it so much. It really is incredibly difficult not to speak in cliches when describing these cars. So all I'll say it that they're addictive. Anyone with experience one will know what I mean. Did I mention no-one really wants to sell their GTA?

Talking about brave pills, how about stupid pills: I actually bought it off Ebay without going to see it first. It was fun for about 9 months, then a lumpy idle that got gradually worse and worse turned out to be a compression issue and led me down the "lets get the entire engine rebuilt" path. With hindsight I see it as money well spent.

Anyway....the AC I think is the compressor - I can't hear it engaging and yes, the wheels aren't in the greatest condition. In my defense they were like that when I bought it. Nothing wrong with my parking

Good luck with the sale. I will miss seeing it around, especially when I am driving mine (the blue one, I think you have seen?).

Mine was on PH too, back in 2012, and at the time I had just gone to see it and already put a deposit down! I was worried the owner at the time was going to have second thoughts about selling.

You are right about them being addictive. I have a Corvette as a fun car, and they are like chalk and cheese, but the GTA always amazes/inspires and leads to fun drives in different ways.

[Faceplant]

z06tim said:

Good luck with the sale. I will miss seeing it around, especially when I am driving mine (the blue one, I think you have seen?).

Mine was on PH too, back in 2012, and at the time I had just gone to see it and already put a deposit down! I was worried the owner at the time was going to have second thoughts about selling.

You are right about them being addictive. I have a Corvette as a fun car, and they are like chalk and cheese, but the GTA always amazes/inspires and leads to fun drives in different ways.

Thanks z06tim. Yes I've seen yours in the car park at work, it is a very nice example indeed

[Court_S]

greenarrow said:

Ha, ha, good job we all like different things. Personally I think both the GTA AND the EP3 are cast iron future classics for very different reasons.

TBF, many cars that went on to become classics were poor dynamically when new. Look at those MGBs and stuff like the Stag. Far from class leading but have been cornerstones of the classic car scene since it really got going in the 1970s.

The EP3 just isn't my cup of tea - maybe the fact that so many have fallen into the wrong hands with silly exhausts has tainted my view of them somewhat. I think there is something very cool about small cars with big engines shoved in them; I still really like the 130, quite like the R32 etc.

I think a lot of handling comments get seized upon, and they grow and grow and before you now it a certain car is deemed to be an undrivable mess.

[rxe]

Faceplant said:

Bump!


Hi All

I must say it's quite a surprise to see your own car featured on The Brave Pill whilst casually browsing PH at work

I don't think anyone really wants to sell their GTA, me included, but it's not getting used much and I need my garage back. Finally decided to get an advert up last Autumn and here we are. Interest has been....slow, shall we say. But it's as I expected - these have a niche appeal plus they're getting on a bit too.

Currently commuting in a Fiesta ST so the GTA comes out of the garage for a run at weekends. I would've SORNed if I didn't enjoy driving it so much. It really is incredibly difficult not to speak in cliches when describing these cars. So all I'll say it that they're addictive. Anyone with experience one will know what I mean. Did I mention no-one really wants to sell their GTA?

Talking about brave pills, how about stupid pills: I actually bought it off Ebay without going to see it first. It was fun for about 9 months, then a lumpy idle that got gradually worse and worse turned out to be a compression issue and led me down the "lets get the entire engine rebuilt" path. With hindsight I see it as money well spent.

Anyway....the AC I think is the compressor - I can't hear it engaging and yes, the wheels aren't in the greatest condition. In my defense they were like that when I bought it. Nothing wrong with my parking

AC is unlikely to be the compressor - which is good because they are expensive. There is a lockout switch that stops the compressor coming on if there is no gas pressure. Almost certainly a leak, probably in the condenser.

[otolith]

Court_S said:

The EP3 just isn't my cup of tea - maybe the fact that so many have fallen into the wrong hands with silly exhausts has tainted my view of them somewhat.

I bought one brand new in 2002, and kept it long enough for some of them to start sprouting tints and fart cannons. It's unfortunate, but there are very few hot hatches that don't go through a phase of suffering the indignities of ownership by yoof.

[R400TVR]

Lovely cars. They sound even better with a Ferrari F430 throttle body and a carbon intake.
Personally, I'd like a GT with the above and a Q2. https://youtu.be/ETSpaLqk-0U

[CarMatt]

Simon866 said:

Having owned mine for 16 years I would say there is a certain amount of bravery required at this point unless you have the skills, or know someone who does, to sort it out when things go wrong. I fall very much into the latter category!

As seems par for the course mine has had a Q2, bigger brakes and Ragazzon exhaust but it also has AHM cams and the larger of the 2 superchargers Autodelta offered back in the day (and a whole bunch of other bits and pieces to help it go round corners etc.), 371bhp at the engine, not sure at the wheels but immense fun.

This sounds very like a 62k pale blue one stored at my local garage, KWv3’s at the corners. Not yours is it? 😉.
What value would you put on such a heavily modified example?

[Lewlew22]

I took the brave pill and bought this car. It turns out it was needed, the oil pump let go on the way home and ruined the engine. Now Looking at spending thousands on another rebuild.

[Prohibiting]

Lewlew22 said:

I took the brave pill and bought this car. It turns out it was needed, the oil pump let go on the way home and ruined the engine. Now Looking at spending thousands on another rebuild.

Ouch!!! ...a familiar Alfa story.

[S100HP]

Well that's awkward

[s m]

Lewlew22 said:

I took the brave pill and bought this car. It turns out it was needed, the oil pump let go on the way home and ruined the engine. Now Looking at spending thousands on another rebuild.

Unlucky

Hope you can get it fixed without too much expense

[A1VDY]

s m said:

Lewlew22 said:

I took the brave pill and bought this car. It turns out it was needed, the oil pump let go on the way home and ruined the engine. Now Looking at spending thousands on another rebuild.

Unlucky

Hope you can get it fixed without too much expense

Oil pump letting go means no oil pressure. It's going to need a full rebuild.
If you've got a receipt for the first rebuild check if it had the oil pump replaced. This is essential for any 'full' rebuild..

[s m]

A1VDY said:

s m said:

Lewlew22 said:

I took the brave pill and bought this car. It turns out it was needed, the oil pump let go on the way home and ruined the engine. Now Looking at spending thousands on another rebuild.

Unlucky

Hope you can get it fixed without too much expense

Oil pump letting go means no oil pressure. It's going to need a full rebuild.
If you've got a receipt for the first rebuild check if it had the oil pump replaced. This is essential for any 'full' rebuild..

I guess that’s where the brave pill part comes in....
Shame it only lasted 30k

Second hand engine might be cheaper option rather than a 3-4K rebuild

[MattyB_]

s m said:

That’s right - he was on the Ford ones as Troll too - hence the number plate and presence at a Ford track day

So here's an interesting story that's already know to Mike, but I'll tell it again anyway. I bought that car from Troll about 10 years ago now. Amazing car, exactly what I wanted - back then Pearl White wasn't very common, so I got loads of comments about how great the colour was.

However, a year later I was an idiot, and during the floods wasn't aware how low the intake was and - like a few other GTA owners have done - hydrolocked the engine. Completely dead. For 6 months I battled with Alfa to sort a new engine, but nothing. So the insurance company gave me £7k in cash to make me go away - and I handed over £7k to Autodelta who rebuilt the dead engine as a 3.7. It was off the road for almost a year, but it was *amazing* to get it back with 320bhp. Thread here:
FWIW, total conversion cost after a few "while the engine is out...." came to £10.5k !!!

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Nice shorts, Mike!

Lewlew22 said:

I took the brave pill and bought this car. It turns out it was needed, the oil pump let go on the way home and ruined the engine. Now Looking at spending thousands on another rebuild.

And also in relevance, I sold the 3.7 to a fellow who suffered the same fate the oil pump failed, wrecking the 3.7 in the process only 6 months after I sold it.
The bloke couldn't afford to have the 3.7 rebuilt, so it went back to a 3.2, which is a shame. Sorry to hear about yours Lewlew - not sure where you based, might be worth speaking to AutoLusso, who have a good rep on AlfaOwners?

[ITP]

30k miles since a full rebuild? Shouldn’t be failing after so few miles even if it was 7 years ago.
Not sure I’d be saying it’s a ‘147GTA’ problem as such....i’ve run a busso to over 150k, was as sweet as a nut and had never had a rebuild. Pretty unlucky to blow up on the way home!

[z06tim]

Oh wow. What a shame.

I would be going back to whoever did the last rebuild (was it a well known Alfa specialist in Bedfordshire?) and see if they can do you a fair price to get it repaired. Assuming you would trust them to do it again.

[s m]

z06tim said:

Oh wow. What a shame.

I would be going back to whoever did the last rebuild (was it a well known Alfa specialist in Bedfordshire?) and see if they can do you a fair price to get it repaired. Assuming you would trust them to do it again.

Says in the article it was Autolusso in Houghton Regis who did the rebuild