HMC architecte britannique

[HMC]

Came from bramz7 on some suitably nice tyres…

And an almost new bosch battery.

Even before he had it, former keepers had also been nice to it…..

Or should that read “it was needy” i like to think of it as an Alfisti showing the love 😂

[HMC]

And our former long term keeper kept all those little things that so often go missing over 20 years….

Clearly a man of a particular taste in cars, look at the px on the sales invoice…..

[HMC]

I was wondering what the colour was, handily alfas (and fiats?) of this period, i remembered usually had a little foil sticker applied to the inner bootlid….

Azzurro Gabbiano. No, not the new centre forward for Juventus, but very cool sounding. “sky-blue seagull”  just doesn't have the same ring to it somehow.

Strangely enough and right on que some seagulls have come quite far inland and were circling around just as i was investigating. Hope they dont leave their approval on the Azzurro Gabbiano 💩

[brownnova]

I had a W Reg 2.4JTD 156 in black. Absolutely loved it.

Turned out it had lost about 70k off the odometer at some point when I found service stickers for 170k under the bonnet… 

Still loved it. Only got rid because the clutch went suddenly… and it was a big bill when I’d just bought my first house so was skint.

Would have another. 

[rainagain]

I loved my 2.4 10v JTD 156, mine had a remap on it and massive pod filter. That five cylinder engine noise was fantastic. It would leave most things for dead. I’ve still got a dash video of my carrying out a nine car overtake one day on the way to work. The Momo seats and the interior were just gorgeous. 

I only sold it as the clutch bite was getting higher and higher and the guys on the Alfa forum said I’d never get the aluminium suspension bits apart to let me change it. I saw it for sale about a year later with the clutch dead, if I’d had my own driveway I would have bought it back. 

How are you getting on with the crap turning circle? 

 

[IronStar]

These are absolutely lovely to drive and a great place to be in. Alfa really hit the sweetspot with 156 in regards to handling! 2.4 is a bit less tough than 1.9, but a hoot to drive with a much nicer noise coming out of it. 
How are the sills and the underside? These are not really well known for the rust protection unfortunately. 

[Schaefft]

16 hours ago, HMC said:

Came from bramz7 on some suitably nice tyres…

And an almost new bosch battery.

Even before he had it, former keepers had also been nice to it…..

Or should that read “it was needy” i like to think of it as an Alfisti showing the love 😂

Without looking at @bramz7's ad again, dibs when it comes up for sale!😂

[MrBiscuits]

22 hours ago, grogee said:

Is that Pripyat? 

That's Basingstoke mate. My office is in the building next door. 

[grogee]

2 minutes ago, MrBiscuits said:

That's Basingstoke mate. My office is in the building next door. 

Twinned with Pripyat? My sympathies. (Actually I like it). 

Although we've always managed to find picturesque places to work, haven't we? Bordon, Basildon, Coventry, Southampton... 

[HMC]

Off to work with £10 gumtree folding bike. But why?

 

[HMC]

So the alfa sportwagon, ex @bramz7 is now @Schaefft ‘s the bargain price being the same at each transaction. 

And theres also a recurring character coming up, a forum stalwart thats saved and fixed more old cars than Ive had hot dinners….

[Peter C]

Fair enough, it's been a while since you last got a new motor.

[EyesWeldedShut]

Well, it's not an electric Ami as you'd not fit a folding bike in one?
Ahhh - maybe a swap? Yes - you're getting an Ami from @kiltox and then it'll be three days before you get home.

Don't worry - we have emergency supplies for you:

[HMC]

Making progress… nice morning on the Exe

[tooSavvy]

Liked... for 'folder in sun'👍

.... One Day 🚴🙄

🚙💨

[HMC]

BOOM!

Thanks again @Rave  your a star. 

I will get some more pics later when i get away and im thinking a drive back over Dartmoor.

[Peter C]

You've become quite the Ford man.

[HMC]

Had a great drive back over the moor. As you would exepct, it drives well and is quite chuckable. A few period road tests were critical of the gearshift quality, but i think its excellent. Im loving the engine, its not a rocketship but its brisk and quite high revving. IIRC its got a variable intake manifold with the same tech as the mondeo st200- a motor and a cable changes the air routing to help low down torque, and then top end breathing . Ive just 2 pints of cobra so that could be made up.

[HMC]

Extra instrumentation (iirc in place of a coin holder)

[HMC]

Its a proper ESSEX ford, canvey FTW

[HMC]

Once again shout out to @Rave for being a top shiter and @RobT for putting him in touch with its former keeper. 

Rave has resurrected so many vehicles that were facing an uncertain future and made them usable again, im again just enjoying the results of his care and expertise.

[HMC]

Also

A mk1 focus on xenons. I didnt know there was such a thing. Very on point for 2003 though.

[Rave]

3 hours ago, HMC said:

Once again shout out to @Rave for being a top shiter and @RobT for putting him in touch with its former keeper. 

Rave has resurrected so many vehicles that were facing an uncertain future and made them usable again, im again just enjoying the results of his care and expertise.

I haven't actually rescued that many, I just make a massive song and dance about it each time while stringing the process out as long as possible 😛

[Rave]

15 hours ago, HMC said:

Making progress… nice morning on the Exe

That's a ludicrous bargain for 10 quid, please do start a sideline punting on bargain bikes as well as cars if you're equally adept at sourcing those!

Did you ride it to Okehampton or get the bus with it? Good going if the former.

[RoverFolkUs]

On 14/06/2024 at 07:24, Split_Pin said:

The MK1 steering wheel badge looks much better.

Agree muchly, of all things Rover decided to project drive, I'll never understand why they decided to project drive the badge into that inferior blob!

[HMC]

Fleet news-

A new key battery has sorted the remote locking on the focus. 

And the Granada has been used for target practice by the local bird population…..

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, HMC said:

And the Granada has been used for target practice by the local bird population…..

That's a bit shit. Hope you've washed it off already

[HMC]

22 hours ago, High Jetter said:

That's a bit shit. Hope you've washed it off already

Moorland weather came to the rescue 😂

 

[HMC]

I took out the granada for a moorland drive last night. I think the exhaust is blowing now so it sounds quite like a banger racer. When it was parked up beside coop a youth in high vis told me it looked “gangster”. 

Meanwhile i washed the 75 which had been gathering a bit of moss. 

Came up great! Im closely monitoring the engine temps and coolant level. I could hear a sloshing sound on part throttle which could be blocked plenum drains but i think is a cooling system airlock as its engine speed and not g-force related.  I bled the system using a screw hidden under the inlet manifold which helped. Online theres loads of different opinions about how to do it. The official MG rover description sounds a bit of a pain. Plus to be honest fundamentally the gasses may be from a combustion chamber.

Its running on all 4 and not overheating , no mayo etc so im just using and monitoring at the mo.

Its a very nice looking banger. Were they used as government cars? I can see one parked outside the department for work and pensions c.2004 quietly boiling over.

[Rave]

I cleared the plenum drains, they were blocked. Should still be clear now even though there's a tree outside my house.

That trickling water noise has been a constant, it is weird that it's only on part throttle and never goes away despite all my efforts to bleed the system. It did it on and off all the way on the drive down to you with no obvious ill effects. Seems to come from within the cabin and yet it does it even in summer when the heater controls are set to minimum. A real mystery TBH.