Alfa Mito Twin Air?

[Darkslider]

Great cars, we bought our 1.4 turbo 155bhp Veloce for shed money with 100k on the clock. I went a bit mad with sorting it out, parts were all so cheap I fitted a new timing belt and water pump, brakes and shocks all round and had the gearbox reconditioned so the total spend is probably more like £2.5k now, but it's a quick characterful frugal car that's a bit different to everything else you see on the roads. I'd like to get it remapped to bump the power up to QV levels eventually.

[OldSkoolRS]

Tidy looking cars there Rob 131 Sport and Darkslider. I suspect I'll go a bit mad just getting everything spot on with it, though hopefully nothing too pricey just doing all the service items like spark plugs, cabin filters, etc that I can't confirm have been done recently. I'll give it a machine polish too as it's quite swirly and touch in a few chips, but it's a good base to start from.

I imagine the 1.4 Turbo must be fun to drive being 50% more powerful than my Twin Air. I did look up remapping costs a while ago and there is one option to take mine up to 126bhp, though I have to remind myself it's really meant as our local run about. I did have fun driving back from a gig last night down some familiar country roads though, so I guess it's quick enough for my needs.

I renewed my insurance for next month, so keeping it standard is probably not a bad idea since I only have 1 year NCD as I had a company car until last May. Can't complain at just over £200 though, possibly reduced due to having my wife on the policy and that we're both retired, so no commuting use.

[WelshPetrolhead]

Here's mine!



I keep looking at 170 TCTs, but then I think about the state of the roads and how slow everyone seems to drive now and think...What's the point? I wouldn't be gaining a huge amount in spec, just a more powerful engine that I'm not really going to get a huge amount of use out of.

As a commuter and occasional longer run car it fits the brief perfectly, and it's pretty fun to drive as well. I'm 6 months in with mine, and it'll be getting a full service and MOT next month, and probably 4 new tyres as well as they are all the originals and getting on a bit.

[OldSkoolRS]

Nice later model WelshPetrolhead. I did consider a white Super on a 17 plate (just old enough to still be £0 VED) but decided to reign the budget in a bit since mine isn't our main car. Not that I often drive our main car so I figure I might as well have something I enjoy and as you say it's fine for longer trips too judging by my drive back from the dealers round the M25 this week.

I'm currently trying to find a workshop manual, but it seems that Haynes only do a simplified on line one for the Mito (or Fiat 500 TA). Reluctant to pay £26 for something that just tells me nothing more advanced than an oil or brake pad change.

Also looking into an ODB reader to reset any alarms and to check history of them, if any one has a recommendation? I'd prefer a stand alone device like I have for the Mercedes, but I guess I'll have to take what I can find.

[Alfahorn]

Darkslider said:

Great cars, we bought our 1.4 turbo 155bhp Veloce for shed money with 100k on the clock. I went a bit mad with sorting it out, parts were all so cheap I fitted a new timing belt and water pump, brakes and shocks all round and had the gearbox reconditioned so the total spend is probably more like £2.5k now, but it's a quick characterful frugal car that's a bit different to everything else you see on the roads. I'd like to get it remapped to bump the power up to QV levels eventually.

Nice Mito. I do like the earlier Tjet engine more than the MA units. Sound great, go like stink.

[A500leroy]

You need shop4parts if you need anything.

[Darkslider]

Alfahorn said:

Darkslider said:

Great cars, we bought our 1.4 turbo 155bhp Veloce for shed money with 100k on the clock. I went a bit mad with sorting it out, parts were all so cheap I fitted a new timing belt and water pump, brakes and shocks all round and had the gearbox reconditioned so the total spend is probably more like £2.5k now, but it's a quick characterful frugal car that's a bit different to everything else you see on the roads. I'd like to get it remapped to bump the power up to QV levels eventually.

Nice Mito. I do like the earlier Tjet engine more than the MA units. Sound great, go like stink.

I did a bit of reading up beforehand, we could have upped the budget and got a similar condition/mileage cloverleaf/QV for the £3k mark, but I preferred the simplicity of the Tjet engine with no Multiair unit or adaptive dampers to service/go wrong. Instead I spent the difference on some decent Kumho tyres, refurbing the Brembos, a K&N induction kit and full silicone hose kit for the engine. Oh, and a double din Carplay/android auto headunit.

It also needed an alternator not long after we got it too. Thinking about it I've probably spent way over what the cheapest QVs start at, best not add it all up

[Pepperpots]

What model head unit is that? My daughter wanted to upgrade her basic unit and that one looks perfect

[Darkslider]

Pepperpots said:

What model head unit is that? My daughter wanted to upgrade her basic unit and that one looks perfect

It's a JVC KW-560 BT, they do a DAB and non DAB version. At the time it was the cheapest one I could find from a name I'd heard of that had both apple Carplay and android auto, as my girlfriend has an iPhone and I've got an android.

Because I wanted to keep 100 % of the cars functionality and steering wheel controls I got the full connects 2 kit which wasn't cheap, I think with the headunit it all came in at about £400.

[Pepperpots]

Darkslider said:

Pepperpots said:

What model head unit is that? My daughter wanted to upgrade her basic unit and that one looks perfect

It's a JVC KW-560 BT, they do a DAB and non DAB version. At the time it was the cheapest one I could find from a name I'd heard of that had both apple Carplay and android auto, as my girlfriend has an iPhone and I've got an android.

Because I wanted to keep 100 % of the cars functionality and steering wheel controls I got the full connects 2 kit which wasn't cheap, I think with the headunit it all came in at about £400.

Thanks, was it easy to fit?

[Darkslider]

Pepperpots said:

Thanks, was it easy to fit?

I thought so but I'm an ex mechanic with a bit of auto electric experience, it was several levels up from fitting ordinary single din headunits back in the day! I'd suggest the wefit fee from Halfords or similar would probably be quite good value for giving someone else the headache!

[Pepperpots]

Thanks!

[OldSkoolRS]

A500leroy said:

You need shop4parts if you need anything.

Thanks, I must have already looked at something from them as I recognised the site when I searched just now.

I took the plugs and air filter out this afternoon to check their condition and have ordered replacements. Found an Alfa compatible version of the iCarsoft scanner I have for the Mercedes, so might treat myself to that soon. Ran out of time to locate the Twin air strainer to check it, so will come back to that soon.

That's a nice looking head unit Darkslider. I'm just happy to have a better handsfree set up than the Ka (upgraded it with a cheap Amazon radio) and now have DAB in the standard unit. I did consider the 'Live' model, but then noticed it only comes with the 85bhp engine.

[OldSkoolRS]

I located the Twin Air strainer on mine during a break in the showers today. I wasn't convinced the dealer had replaced it before sale as promised, but I shouldn't have been so cynical as it looked brand new and clean as a whistle.

It's under the air filter housing, behind the coil pack/spark plugs as shown with the orange circle in this photo:



Turn the black plastic plug 1/8 turn anticlockwise to expose the top of the strainer:



The hole is quite tight, so you need a thin walled 15mm socket or a box spanner:



Strainer removed:



From the underneath:



Put it back in and the air filter housing back on. Hopefully the replacement spark plugs and air filter (NGK and Bosch respectively) should arrive in the next few days, so I can fit them.

I'm also going to replace the thermostat/housing and flush and replace the coolant. I think the thermostat is stuck open as it takes ages for the engine to warm up and doesn't go above 80 except when in traffic, then it just went to the mid gauge position of 90. Going to ring Alfa shop tomorrow to confirm the correct fitment, but it looks like £51 inc VAT and delivery for an original Alfa part with the housing, sensor, seal and thermostat. I'll order the correct Petronas coolant from them as well since I'll be over the free delivery price anyway.

In total I'll have spent about £220 on the battery, plugs, air filter, thermostat and antifreeze, no labour costs of course, but at least I'll know it's all done properly and hopefully I'll then be good for a long while.

[OldSkoolRS]

The thermostat arrived this lunchtime, so I got on swapping it over as it was a nice day. Didn't take too long and the old one was definitely unwell. Car now runs at 90 degrees (mid point on the gauge) while on the motorway and seems to warm up quicker. I've ordered some radiator flush because it seems a bit rusty coloured and grimy in there. Then I'll re-fill with the correct spec antifreeze.



Just waiting on the spark plugs and air filter to arrive, though it's already running better (I took it for a run after I finished the 'stat and gave it an Italian tune up ). Got some fitted floor mats and a boot liner due later this week too as I'm currently using some I pinched from my old Ka.

Once I've got the new plugs and air filter in I'm going to reset the trip and see what the mpg settles at as the stuck thermostat probably wasn't helping. It was averaging about 38mpg before I disconnected the battery (again) today to clear some errors I triggered that turned out to be due to the water I splashed around doing the 'stat. They've all cleared now, but I'm planning to buy an iCarsoft V2.0 soon just to check it all over and for future servicing/fault finding.

[OldSkoolRS]

I got the spark plugs, air filter fitted and antifreeze drained, flushed and refilled. It runs better now and warms up quickly which will help the mpg. I reset both trips after this work when I went to fill the car up. Done about 80 miles over the last few days and it's averaging 42mpg so far, which is almost exactly the same as my Ka. I expect this will do more than 55mpg I got round the M25 after buying it now it's all sorted too, so will be better than the Ka on my occasional band gigs further away down the motorway.

I got the iCarsoft V2.0 and there were no surprises with the error codes (just a couple relating to me splashing water everywhere during the thermostat change. Cleared them all and nothing has come back (so far!), just an odd error about the aerial, but since the radio works fine I'll just ignore that.



I does Ferrari and Maserati models too, so might come in handy one day (or maybe not ).

I also ordered a set of mats from Carmats4U. Naff name, but was recommended on another forum I go on. I selected white trim and green stitching to go with the same on the seats. Pleased with them as the carpet seems pretty heavy duty (similar to the OEM ones on our Mercedes). I bought a boot liner as well and it still cost less than just the OEM mats alone.



Boot liner will help when I'm putting my guitar and amp, etc in there, or if I have to do any tip runs:



I want to change the brake fluid (have a one man kit I bought last autumn for the Ka), but other than that it's on to the more cosmetic stuff like stone chips, general deep cleaning and then machine polishing the bodywork. Really happy with it so far; cheap as the ka to run but much more fun to drive even though I know it sounds/feels faster than it really is that's all I need for a town car and occasional motorway gig trips.

[macp]

Thanks OP. Always liked these. And always give them a look when passing one. I do have quite soft spot for Italian cars though.

[OldSkoolRS]

macp said:

Thanks OP. Always liked these. And always give them a look when passing one. I do have quite soft spot for Italian cars though.

Cheers, surprised to see this thread pop back up. Good timing too as I will shortly be doing some jobs on it and plan to add photos that might help others: Mainly the PAS unit will be removed and sent away for refurb (with a lifetime warranty). I've tried all the other possible causes of the PAS error and it has still occurred a couple of times, usually when my wife is driving, so I want to get it sorted before winter.

As that will mean it being on the drive for at least a week while the unit is refurbished I plan to drop the front bumper so I can remove the headlight surrounds and repaint them, plus the matching door mirror backs in metallic grey. I'll take off each wheel and do a thorough check under each arch/deep clean and apply some Bilt Hamber rust protection where suitable. If I have time I'll decontaminate the bodywork, wet sand some of the marks on it, then machine polish and seal for winter.

Considering that it hasn't even been washed since I got it (other than to buff out a scratch someone kindly put on it!) then I think it's due a bit of TLC.

Other than the PAS issue I've been enjoying driving it to our band rehearsals and the usual local trips. The only criticism is the really poor turning circle which makes it hard to manoeuvre sometimes in tight parking spaces or just turning round at the end of our road without hitting the kerb.

[OldSkoolRS]

Actually I lied: I had to take the thermostat back out as it stopped warming up properly. Turned out the seal on the thermostat valve had worked loose and wasn't sealing properly, so it wasn't closing fully. Seems OK since I 'flipped' the seal back in place, but keeping an eye on it. I paid extra for a genuine part too which is annoying as I could have bought one for half the price off eBay including the housing.

Flipping seal:

[Essex V6]

I bought a 2010 Veloce after coming back from NZ. Found it on Gumtree for sale by the 2nd owner (original owner had it until about 3 years ago and it had a FSH from the local Alfa dealer in Inverness. I suspect it hasn’t been quite so well maintained since it changed hands. After a bit of haggling we agreed £2300 which included delivery.

Bought in April at 97000, I have now taken it to 102,000 miles. In that time, I have stuck new Yokos on the front, had full service done. It also needed bottom brackets and brake hoses along with some welding to the subframe.

I bought it as a stopgap but love it and planning to hold on to it! I reckon the handling is ace, the seats are some of the best I have ever had! Love the looks and reckon they definitely fly under the radar.