Alfa Romeo 147 2.0 Twin Spark - Unseen-ish
Discussion
A few minor updates as I continue to strip out the donor.
I’ve finally finished swapping over the interior so my car now has full grey leather front and back, including the centre rear armrest (that will probably never be used).
The black interior can now go on an auction site of some kind and help pay for the upkeep of the Alfa.
The black seats are almost mint and the condition of the grey ones is slightly worse but This car is never going to be a minter anyway and I’d rather have a lumbar support for the sake of a few scuffs in the leather.
I also decided to make an almost pointlessly marginal improvement to the rear of the Alfa but it was free so I did it anyway.
There was some kind of monochrome aftermarket Alfa badge on the boot that looked a bit meh, so I prised the slightly faded but not totally duff rear badge off the donor with a view to popping it on mine.
I still had some Gorilla glue left fixing the seats and given the staggering £6 or whatever I paid for it, the Scrooge in me was pleased to get some more use out of it
In yet another nice touch that nobody would ever normally spot, there’s a little locating hole and pin to ensure the badge is installed upright.
Behold! A thrilling marginal improvement...
Also checked the oil and it has dipped below minimum on the stock so I’ll be buying a litre tomorrow to get me to work and will probably treat it to oil and filters over the weekend as I’m approaching 5,000 miles since I bought it.
I’ve finally finished swapping over the interior so my car now has full grey leather front and back, including the centre rear armrest (that will probably never be used).
The black interior can now go on an auction site of some kind and help pay for the upkeep of the Alfa.
The black seats are almost mint and the condition of the grey ones is slightly worse but This car is never going to be a minter anyway and I’d rather have a lumbar support for the sake of a few scuffs in the leather.
I also decided to make an almost pointlessly marginal improvement to the rear of the Alfa but it was free so I did it anyway.
There was some kind of monochrome aftermarket Alfa badge on the boot that looked a bit meh, so I prised the slightly faded but not totally duff rear badge off the donor with a view to popping it on mine.
I still had some Gorilla glue left fixing the seats and given the staggering £6 or whatever I paid for it, the Scrooge in me was pleased to get some more use out of it
In yet another nice touch that nobody would ever normally spot, there’s a little locating hole and pin to ensure the badge is installed upright.
Behold! A thrilling marginal improvement...
Also checked the oil and it has dipped below minimum on the stock so I’ll be buying a litre tomorrow to get me to work and will probably treat it to oil and filters over the weekend as I’m approaching 5,000 miles since I bought it.
Edited by stewjohnst on Sunday 17th June 23:13
stewjohnst said:
There was some kind of monochrome aftermarket Alfa badge on the boot that looked a bit meh, so I prised the slightly faded but not totally duff rear badge off the donor with a view to popping it on mine.
Wonder what that would have looked like with a bit of metal polish?Whitean3 said:
Wonder what that would have looked like with a bit of metal polish?
Interesting thought, I haven’t binned it yet and have some Barkeeper’s friend lying around so will see if it comes up anything like. Obviously mine has a crease in it now but if it looks ok, I may find myself trawling eBay I finally tired of only listening to one CD in the car and after a bit of googling, YouTubing and so on, I had a suspicion it was possible to get an aux input working.
The few listings I found on eBay were badly translated to English and I wasn’t sure it would work with my car, plus I could only find videos in Italian of it working online but I figured I could stand an £8 punt on a cable
For older Alfa stereos with a blank blue socket in the back, this replaces that and gives you and 3.5mm jack to use your phone or whatever as an audio source by selecting the hidden CD changer option. (Exciting!)
I couldn’t do it straight away tonight as I’ve been digging a trench to trace a water leak at the house...so once that was done, I buggered off to the refuge of the Alfa to tinker.
Pop out the unit and find the blue plug.
Whip it off, there’s a little clip joining it to the green plug.
Plug it all back in and try to get the changer mode to work...
This is the painful bit. The way to access the CD Changer mode is to turn off the head unit and then turn it on with the power and source (SRC) buttons held down together. It should read ‘CHANGER’ and the you need to let go of the power button and then about a half a second later, the SRC button.
If you nail it, you have a working aux for the Alfa, if not, it starts scanning the CD in the head unit (playing the first ten seconds of each track, did anyone ever use that feature on purpose?). It seems to be a skill to get it right but I now have it working more often than not.
Unfortunately it doesn’t default to changer once you’ve set it, so every time you get in, you’ll need to do this but at least I can play what I want now
Once I was happy it was working, I needed a temporary way to route the wire neatly until I decide where to put things so I can change the music whilst driving without breaking the law and/or crashing
A bit of fumbling later and hey presto, wire dropped behind the dash and up and out of the ashtray.
Tucks away nicely when not in use too
I also bought a few litres of semi-synth oil and a filter to do the oil when I get chance this weekend.
Once the seats sell, it will be getting the belts done finally, although the price to pay for this is the wife dragging me to look at kitchens on Sunday...
The few listings I found on eBay were badly translated to English and I wasn’t sure it would work with my car, plus I could only find videos in Italian of it working online but I figured I could stand an £8 punt on a cable
For older Alfa stereos with a blank blue socket in the back, this replaces that and gives you and 3.5mm jack to use your phone or whatever as an audio source by selecting the hidden CD changer option. (Exciting!)
I couldn’t do it straight away tonight as I’ve been digging a trench to trace a water leak at the house...so once that was done, I buggered off to the refuge of the Alfa to tinker.
Pop out the unit and find the blue plug.
Whip it off, there’s a little clip joining it to the green plug.
Plug it all back in and try to get the changer mode to work...
This is the painful bit. The way to access the CD Changer mode is to turn off the head unit and then turn it on with the power and source (SRC) buttons held down together. It should read ‘CHANGER’ and the you need to let go of the power button and then about a half a second later, the SRC button.
If you nail it, you have a working aux for the Alfa, if not, it starts scanning the CD in the head unit (playing the first ten seconds of each track, did anyone ever use that feature on purpose?). It seems to be a skill to get it right but I now have it working more often than not.
Unfortunately it doesn’t default to changer once you’ve set it, so every time you get in, you’ll need to do this but at least I can play what I want now
Once I was happy it was working, I needed a temporary way to route the wire neatly until I decide where to put things so I can change the music whilst driving without breaking the law and/or crashing
A bit of fumbling later and hey presto, wire dropped behind the dash and up and out of the ashtray.
Tucks away nicely when not in use too
I also bought a few litres of semi-synth oil and a filter to do the oil when I get chance this weekend.
Once the seats sell, it will be getting the belts done finally, although the price to pay for this is the wife dragging me to look at kitchens on Sunday...
stewjohnst said:
For most daily uses it is more than adequate. There will always be the odd overtake you give a miss that something with more than 150bhp would go for (The 200bhp Saab 9-3 the Alfa replaced for example) but 95% of the time is just quick and revvy enough to enjoy without ending up doing silly speeds everywhere.
The steering rack is quick and chucking at around corners is great fun, it really digs it’s nose in and reyes squeals its way around the apex wonderfully, excessive entry speed can generate lift off oversteer amusement too if that’s your thing.
Be aware if you do motorway mileage above 70mph that only the diesel has a six speed gearbox so fuel consumption and noise levels suffer.
if you’ve saved up by xmas you can probably have this one (warts and all) for a sensible offer
Caught up on the thread and this is themy Alfa that keeps on giving.The steering rack is quick and chucking at around corners is great fun, it really digs it’s nose in and reyes squeals its way around the apex wonderfully, excessive entry speed can generate lift off oversteer amusement too if that’s your thing.
Be aware if you do motorway mileage above 70mph that only the diesel has a six speed gearbox so fuel consumption and noise levels suffer.
if you’ve saved up by xmas you can probably have this one (warts and all) for a sensible offer
I would always love more power but having a 70bhp 1.2 Punto at the moment, 150bhp would feel like a massive improvement. Plus, I live at the edge of the Peaks so the fun is more in chucking the car round the twisties than going fast.
I might have to take you up on that offer though! Shiuld have a few bobs saved by Christmas and would rather get a car that has it's own thread outlining trials and tribulations rather than an unknown car.
Genuinely enjoy every update on this car!
For various reasons, I haven’t been near the Alfas for a while.
A few bits have been ebayed of late, pocketing me £100 for the front seats, £50 for the window switch and as it stands, 99p for the aircon controls
I then started taking off the front bumper of the donor to get a few more bits I wanted and, like the time your first girlfriend suddenly realises she’s lost quite enough items of clothing at strip poker, the donor decided enough was enough and to hold on to its remaining wares...
One of the bonnet torx screws was so tight it sheared the torx bit, managing to both take a lump out of my knuckle with the bit that stayed put and slice a gouge in my other arm as the bit that was left in the ratchet swung up and sliced me.
Anyway, I will fix that later but onto something more positive
Today was one of those days where for whatever reason I’ve been irritable and just unable to shake it off.
I’ve a fair few bits going on, with possible changing to a new job, a load of planning permission and building work at the house, etc. and when I got home to relax, the kids wouldn’t comply and stay in bed, the dog randomly decided today was a good day to go hide upstairs (he’s not allowed up there) and then as peace was breaking out a pissed stepmother in law called and cost me another 15 minutes of my life.
Eventually by about 10:30 at night, there was silence and I was trying to work out what could relax me once and for all and on the way to the fridge for a cider, I spotted the car keys...
The Joys of a Night Drive
Tonight was perfect, deserted roads and country lanes, bone dry roads and clear skies.
I allowed myself a chuckle that I felt like the Omega Man, ironically, in an Alfa (
)
A night drive is different to a daytime blast, the lack of traffic allows you to slow everything down and enjoy the road as it reveals itself before you in the headlights like a movie.
The streetlights, when there are some, are almost hypnotic, you find yourself accelerating at only three quarters throttle to prolong the wave of acceleration.
The speed still ends up arriving as you cruise through the long sweeping bends we have around here but it isn’t about outright speed and point to point, it’s about flow and savouring the sensations of driving.
You don’t stamp on the brakes, you skim them early and for longer to trim speed gently, keeping everything fluid and dreamlike. You don’t hurl the car into a bend, you just nudge the steering, letting the curve take you in and the throttle take you out as you gently ease in the power.
But most all you smile. There is nobody but you and the car (and a million dead moths smashed into the headlights) and the sensations of driving, the meaty, slightly heavy weighting of the steering, the change in the engine note from gruff at 3000 to zingy at 4000 revs, the way the seat bolsters hold you in as the short wheelbase lets you go around roundabouts like you’re being sucked into a whirlpool and all the time there’s the wicked glare of the red dials against the dark blue sky outside willing you on...
Almost an hour after I picked up the keys I’m back at home and I’m not grumpy any more.
As for the cider? That’s still in the fridge, I opted for an alcoholic ginger beer instead. A bit more unusual, a bit leftfield but all the more satisfying for it, just like driving an Alfa.
A few bits have been ebayed of late, pocketing me £100 for the front seats, £50 for the window switch and as it stands, 99p for the aircon controls
I then started taking off the front bumper of the donor to get a few more bits I wanted and, like the time your first girlfriend suddenly realises she’s lost quite enough items of clothing at strip poker, the donor decided enough was enough and to hold on to its remaining wares...
One of the bonnet torx screws was so tight it sheared the torx bit, managing to both take a lump out of my knuckle with the bit that stayed put and slice a gouge in my other arm as the bit that was left in the ratchet swung up and sliced me.
Anyway, I will fix that later but onto something more positive
Today was one of those days where for whatever reason I’ve been irritable and just unable to shake it off.
I’ve a fair few bits going on, with possible changing to a new job, a load of planning permission and building work at the house, etc. and when I got home to relax, the kids wouldn’t comply and stay in bed, the dog randomly decided today was a good day to go hide upstairs (he’s not allowed up there) and then as peace was breaking out a pissed stepmother in law called and cost me another 15 minutes of my life.
Eventually by about 10:30 at night, there was silence and I was trying to work out what could relax me once and for all and on the way to the fridge for a cider, I spotted the car keys...
The Joys of a Night Drive
Tonight was perfect, deserted roads and country lanes, bone dry roads and clear skies.
I allowed myself a chuckle that I felt like the Omega Man, ironically, in an Alfa (
)A night drive is different to a daytime blast, the lack of traffic allows you to slow everything down and enjoy the road as it reveals itself before you in the headlights like a movie.
The streetlights, when there are some, are almost hypnotic, you find yourself accelerating at only three quarters throttle to prolong the wave of acceleration.
The speed still ends up arriving as you cruise through the long sweeping bends we have around here but it isn’t about outright speed and point to point, it’s about flow and savouring the sensations of driving.
You don’t stamp on the brakes, you skim them early and for longer to trim speed gently, keeping everything fluid and dreamlike. You don’t hurl the car into a bend, you just nudge the steering, letting the curve take you in and the throttle take you out as you gently ease in the power.
But most all you smile. There is nobody but you and the car (and a million dead moths smashed into the headlights) and the sensations of driving, the meaty, slightly heavy weighting of the steering, the change in the engine note from gruff at 3000 to zingy at 4000 revs, the way the seat bolsters hold you in as the short wheelbase lets you go around roundabouts like you’re being sucked into a whirlpool and all the time there’s the wicked glare of the red dials against the dark blue sky outside willing you on...
Almost an hour after I picked up the keys I’m back at home and I’m not grumpy any more.
As for the cider? That’s still in the fridge, I opted for an alcoholic ginger beer instead. A bit more unusual, a bit leftfield but all the more satisfying for it, just like driving an Alfa.
Edited by stewjohnst on Thursday 5th July 00:49
davebem said:
You cant sell it now! Trying to think ahead a few years how the 147 will be perceived as a modern classic.
I do think at some point a properly kept 2.0 litre will indeed keep its value well and eventually even go up again, try buying a 145 QV these days, they're twice the price they were five years back.Just sold my 147 JTD. I would've kept it as a 2nd car considering the 500 quid I got for it and the pittance I got back from the insurance company in return for the 8 months unused premium upon cancellation but the suspension had gotten quite creaky although it'd been iffy for years so even if I'd had everything replaced it would've been cheap for a few years worth of work. The buyer had half a dozen Alfas and I'm now thinking I want one again.
jfire said:
Just sold my 147 JTD. I would've kept it as a 2nd car considering the 500 quid I got for it and the pittance I got back from the insurance company in return for the 8 months unused premium upon cancellation but the suspension had gotten quite creaky although it'd been iffy for years so even if I'd had everything replaced it would've been cheap for a few years worth of work. The buyer had half a dozen Alfas and I'm now thinking I want one again.
Get one, you need onejfire said:
Someone talk me out of the Spider please
for 1500 quid we are talking a 916 twinspark presumably? From what i read those are more balanced than the V6 cars, being a CF2 twinny, they should use less oil and sound better then the units in 147s and later 156s as wellI say go for it
jfire said:
Yeah. Seen one sub 60k for £2,800
Is it likely to be worth nothing after the Summer?!
Just check when it had the timing belt done, as long as there's decent spare change out of 36,000 miles or three years, it will sell again otherwise the new owner is looking at a £450 bill and will price that in when buying.Is it likely to be worth nothing after the Summer?!
I imagine this heatwave has loaded up the prices of all the flop tops though
jfire said:
Yeah. Seen one sub 60k for £2,800
Is it likely to be worth nothing after the Summer?!
Prices will drop during winter obviously, but if its in good condition and has no rust lurking, values will stay strong, prices on GTVs have bottomed out and are on the rise for good ones, the same will apply to spidersIs it likely to be worth nothing after the Summer?!
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