ALFAGTV6.COM

[Barry]

One more thing Kevin - What spark plugs do you use in your 3 litre GTV6 cars?
Previously I always used Golden Lodge 2HL plugs in my 2.5 cars, but this 3 litre arrived with NKG R BPR6EY plugs. I don't have any Lodge plugs on hand, and they seem difficult to get hold of now - I think they are now part of Magneti Marelli, but they don't list any. Do you know of any suitable alternatives please?

A bit of advice here..stay away from a resistor plug on the Alfa as it will contribute in weakening the spark dramatically.
Unless you have got rid of the suppressors and replaced the solid wires with a carbon type wire, it will just not work.
This may be a contributing factor to the rough running below 3000 rpm. Any plug with the "R" designation is a resistor plug.

[kevin]

Just finished hectic three weekens of serving my cars. Rating out of 10 which is crap job.(white 156 my mothers). on the 156 2.5 had to chainge powersteering pump and bleed the rack of all steel fillings when last pump started seizing . A stupid pipe split and lost all fluid . I just told my mom keep driving as you dont wanna be stuck on the roads here. I rate that 8/10 as there is no space for hands and i dont have a hoist. Also when bleeding rack dont bmix up the return with entry line when flushing 2liters of fluid through - can land up on the windscreen
on the GTA i did lower control arms , drop links and inner CV s . Car is an absolute pleasure to drive now. Also no hoist but 8/10 . absolute b*tch to pull cv out when doing this on your own.
Finally the worst job was changing the steering rack on race car . I ended up cuuting the ears for the shock on the rack off so I could pull it out. I dont use the shock anyway . But the worst part is loosening and tightening the four bolts that hold the rack down . aaarrrghhh 12/10.
pics of cars in drive. So far no issues on spider
But the satisfaction is standing back at the end of the day and just looking how pretty these Alfas are.
Cant wait until work tomorrow (monday) then I can rest for the week and my hands grow some skin back

[kevin]

Had a surprise visit from one of my Alfa mates . I swear i could here him coming 5km away
When you see the exhaust you will know why
As Andrew Brown said in another thread in another post , you can only do this in SA. Its not that its allowed as they can impound your car but its just we dont really care and we try figure out a way to get out of the situation when arrives . to much other sh#t happening here to worry about minor technicalities like this. One thing is for sure you DONT drink and drive here as you will get locked up and a full cell infested with aids. No need to explain that !

[75evo]

Your mom drives a 2.5 V6? Nice. I saw some documentaries on crimes in Joberg, it sounds really serious. And how is it someone like you not have an engine lift. You have a dozen cars fer crissakes!!!

Funny story about my mom and dad. My mom decides to take her GTA down to my grandma's house. She drove it down, and close to a laketown resort, it died. It died before because the alternator was toast. The mechanic wanted to save some money and tried to replace a few parts internally, but alas, the fix didn't last.

Anyway, she calls my dad and he said, wait there and he'll call a flatbed. He then drove down with the 530i so he can pick her up. My dad arrives, parks behind her GTA. He checks out the GTA and sees that nothing can be done so they both wait for the flatbed. While waiting he tells my mom, go drive the 530i back home while he waits for the flatbed. Lo and behold, the 530i wouldn't start and it wasn't the battery. So he calls in another flatbed. So 2 hours later, they both go back on flatbeds.

[kevin]

Ha ha ,Well at least no one could point fingers at the Alfa . Both my folks are iin there seventies and have been driving alfas their whole lives so when something goes wrong they always say " well At least it only cost a quarter of the price as a BMW ".
My mom still runs a landscaping business and her 156 tows a trailer on a daily basis with at least 400kg in it so it's probably the hardest working alfa around. I have only sent a flatbed out for it once and that was when the thrust bearing pressed into the pressure plate. I think problems are gonna start coming soon but not sure what to replace this car with unless I find another low mileage 156 facelift