Star garages - The Good, the Rusty, and the Delayed - (anti)social zorstage

[IronStar]

Since the last outing, Mini started acting, working on 3 cylinders, and belching white smoke, all of which cleared up after 30s or so of running. 

Strike number 1

Two days ago, the alternator stopped alternating properly. It was rebuilt 3000km ago, with everything brand new inside. I went to spray the screen and turned on the wipers to have the radio turn off, and was greeted with:

Strike number 2.

Today was Serbia's biggest, fanciest car meet. Sign-up process, invite only, all the jazz. Mini was selected to come join. I got it washed it yesterday in preparation, made it all nice. Started this morning, worked like shit, cleared up, drove there. It was already booked with the specialist to see what the actual fuck is it THIS TIME. Spent a day with a bunch of friends, spoke to tons of people. Mini garnered a lot of attention, even though there was so much more to see there. Case in point:

Random selection of cars from today, before it all went to shit:

        

Went for a lunch. I was one of the last cars left in the lot, as we finished with lunch after the meet ended. Went to start it. It spluttered, but didn't start. Tried again. And again. And 50 more times. I was physically restrained by a friend not to jump on the roof, cave it in, and set the fucking car on fire. It acted like it didn't have enough fuel, so despite leaving it parked with a bit under 1/4 we went to get a bottle of fuel, mostly to give me time to calm the fuck down and not destroy the car.

Came back an hour later with 6L. Still didn't start. Tried bump starting it. Still didn't start. There's fuel. There's air. There's power. I didn't have a wrench to check spark plugs. Called several people for ideas, with the most reasonable one being "it probably hydrolocked, stop molesting it and put it on a tow truck". So I threw in the towel, and I did. The sole car out of some 200 in attendance that didn't leave the show under its own steam. FML.

Strike fucking 3.

Looking pretty, waiting for the big yellow bus.

The guy who is working on it seems more depressed by the fact that it disgraced itself than me. I calmed down after the initial desire to set it on fire, and am now just shrugging it off. He says that this is the sole car in his 30-odd works off working on Minis in various states of (dis)repair that came back on a tow truck, let alone multiple times, and is completely at a loss as to why it is dead AGAIN. He'll give it another thorough onceover, and something tells me that no bolt will be left unturned, no component unchecked 3x, and compared against various, known good, new, and NOS bits he has, and anything remotely suspicious replaced with the best part he has. 

This car really has been a little whiny cunt since I first got it, and has left me stranded more times than all my other cars in 14 years of driving, combined. I really hope it finally decides to work for a while and leave me be. I just got home in Bravo, reminded why having AC is a good thing, as it was completely misted up, with no AC to hurry the demisting, but happy it's dry, warm, runs, and sounds magnificent. As a memorabilia, I have one unused C&C license plate cover, Top Gear magazine, two stickers, and a cut finger.

In case you wanna see more cars from the show, it's well worth checking out https://www.instagram.com/carsandcoffeeserbia/, as there were some absolutely marvelous cars. Proper coverage will probably be on the website in a week or so.

To be continued....

[IronStar]

Got a call today that 155 is finally done, got past the technical inspection (with warning wheels are rubbing) and that LPG removal paperwork went through. It’s been sitting there since December last year, so about bloody time. 😄

Went over to technical inspection station to sign the paperwork, but turns out that car’s paperwork is still with the shop, half the city away. Arsebiscuits. 
Went over, and this is the first time I saw it  lowered, on the new* placeholder wheels, and after quite a while.

Some pillock scratched the other side a bit, but I really don’t care as car needs a respray anyway. Looks much better in the photos than in person, paintwork is dead.

Went back to get the paperwork, went back to work, went to hand over the papers and get the new plates. Walked into the police station and thought 

Few minutes of waiting, and few very stressful minutes of clerk checking a bunch of papers that I handed over for any discrepancies. I was greeted with new set of plates. I may have asked to pick the suffix from what was available there

Went to get some other stuff done, got on a bus, got to the car, but it started raining in the meantime. Which would be fine, if the ancient wiper blades didn’t decide to delaminate after the first swipe. 😆

Moving on. Turn the wheel to get the car out of the parking spot rub CRUNCH. Yeah, that’s only half the radius available then. It’s currently on 205/55 R16, so it needs 45 or 40 section tyres not to catch on everything. First bump revealed a lot of rubbing on the driver side rear. Passenger side rear is fine as it’s missing the liner. 😄 I tried the heater on demist, but death itself came out of the vents so that was turned off immediately.

Unnervingly, oil pressure gauge or sender seem to be dead, but warning light comes on and goes off when car starts, oil temperature goes up, and it didn’t lock on the way back, so it’s probably just annoying and needs looking into. It has the most paranoid fuel warning light I’ve ever seen, so first few minutes of driving gave me THE FEAR. Pulled up to the gas station for an obligatory pez shot.

I don’t hate the wheels, they look like aliexpress BMW Motorsport items. 
Some fuel in the tank, wiping off the windshield as it stopped raining, and wiping off the misting inside, I drove on with much improved visibility. I even found the button for rear demister that works, helpfully* placed on the wiper stalk.

Other discovery of the evening was that, despite what the internet may suggest, 155 doesn’t have clip-on wiper blades. It has one of those stupidly annoying things where you need to replace the rubber inserts only, like what you usually see on the rear wipers. 🤦‍♂️
Refilled*, wipers are now happy. Even the stereo works* out of a single very sad and tired sounding speaker.

Got it to the garage in the end.

 

Photo with current garage lineup 

Fairly upmarket shopping mall staff must be wondering why is someone paying parking for what they probably see as scrap. Oh, front plate is on the dash, I just couldn’t get two screws to budge to put it where it’s supposed to go.

There’s plenty of room for improvement here, especially on the inside. Interior looks tired, passenger side power window is dead, gear knob is literally ripped to shreds, dash looks sad for itself, door cards are done for. It needs tracking, I got a heads up about rear brakes being iffy, and it desperately needs proper sized tyres so it can actually be driven. That oil pressure indicator being dead is unsettling, and electrics could do with a general comb-over as there were some mice droppings in the car at some point. Oh, exterior door handles don’t self-return and doors are very sticky.  There’s probably a bunch more things that need doing. 
However, importantly, it’s home. The list will be picked off one by one as usual, starting with the tyres.

I sent the photos to the previous owner and he’s really happy it’s back in the land of the living.

Welcome back home, 155. We’re happy to see you again! 
 

[IronStar]

Forgot to take any pics, so just words today.

I got a few calls from the bodyshop that my parts cars are taking up space, and we need to git rid of at least one of them. So yesterday, parts car Yugo was turned from a complete car into a bunch of parts, a tub of bolts, and a crashed shell with no engine, gearbox, or front suspension, filled with everything that was broken/unusable in a matter of a few hours. 

Spectacular amount of trash in the car, including a wig(!). I inhaled a bunch of that shit when a friend who was helping me tugged on a carpet and sent everything that was on it flying straight into my face. 😄 My sinuses are VERY hurty today as a result. 

I think we have everything bar the suspension components that have been ordered almost two months ago to get the 1.6 16v car back together. Just* the small matter of getting it welded up and going. 

[IronStar]

Bravo has been increasingly often running like shit, misfiring, and being generally unhappy. Switching the ignition off and back on again usually cleared it for a bit, except when it didn’t, but there’s no check engine light, or anything to go by.

So, I decided to play a bit of parts darts.

Ordered spark plugs, leads and coils. Even if it’s ok, it won’t harm to change them, as the leads have never been changed, and coil pack looks like it’s the one it left the factory with. As with everything else, it’s very cheap, so didn’t even bother checking, just went with it.

Disconnecting the top lambda sensor seems to help, but that doesn’t trigger check engine(?!)

Step 1: Ignition coil

I don’t think that should be cracked.

2. HT Leads

1, 2 looked fine. 3 looked a bit oily. 4…oh

Yeah, that won’t be helping the car run right.

Very oily in there
 

How’s the spark plug?

That’ll be fucked.

I cleaned up as much as I could and put the new plug in, but that oil turned into grease. The plan is to get it to a proper garage, brim with cleaner, let it sit to get it unstuck, and use compressed air to get the shit out. Not wanting to get the brand new leads soaked in oil, I reinstalled two good looking old ones, and two new ones in the dry holes. 
 

Not the shit routing of the two leftmost leads as they’re too short. There doesn’t seem to be an active valve cover oil leak, so it was either fixed at some point and it kept eating away the leads as it wasn’t cleaned up, or someone spilled oil when pouring it in  and it seeped down from well located oil filler.

Runs much happier now. Reconnecting the lambda sensor got it stuttering a bit again, and one pf the wires going out of it has lost some of its shielding and looks very tired, so I ordered another one. 

There’s still another thing that needs investigating. Tapping the throttle lightly results in revs falling to 500ish and the car almost stalling. Idle control valve that’s dirty? 

[IronStar]

Yet again, forgot to take the before photo here.
 

Before: Most of the car interior.

After:

A bit crusty.

I then went on to help with putting together Bodyshop guy’s Zastava 101. 

Parts quality of what can be bought nowadays is mostly godawful.  It’s a bunch of misfitting pattern parts, NOS parts that are well past best before, factory rejects sold as NOS, shit refurbs, the lot of it. Everything takes 3x longer than it would on a car with sensibly fitting parts, and needs to be taken apart, adjusted, dismantling 5 things because thing 6 doesn’t line up with thing 1, etc etc etc. It’s all very demoralizing as progress is ridiculously slow. We ended up putting together a bunch of things, but he broke one of the pipes going into the cabin heater, which now in turn requires entire cabin heater assembly to go back out, which is, naturally, an absolute PITA.

However, his car is more complete than it was when we started, and Yugo into which 1.6 16v will be going into is fully dismantled. I’m taking that as progress. 😄
He also managed to clear out most of the cars waiting for work and is booking new work for after new year, so I thinks it’s realistic to have at least one of mine back together and on the road.

In other fleet news, BX lost its long-term free storage, as a mechanic mate of mine sold his shop where it was sitting for ages. It’s been moved to a paid parking lot, awaiting its turn at the shop. As I’m now actually paying for that, the moment it gets out of there can’t come soon enough.
Single guess on the bottleneck for that car. 😄

[IronStar]

Fleet update

159 has received a pigeon winter tyres. I wanted Goodyear Ultragrip Performance +, but there weren’t in stock despite the importer’s own website saying they are. I got offered different speed rated ones, but when I went to pick them up, it turned out they are 2019 vintage being sold at full price. 🥴

An apology from the guy working there and “I wouldn’t buy them either”, I got an employee discount on 2025 Michelin Alpin 7s, which ended up cheaper than Goodyears. Result! 
I would’ve preferred Pilot Alpin but heyho.

It also passed technical inspection the other day. One rear caliper is a bit sticky, and passenger side rear window has detached from the bracket. Whoops. Will look into it, but I don’t think I used that window 20 times since I bought the car.

156 also came back home, and it never looked more sorry for itself. The air of absolute neglect was completed by wiper delaminating as I did a wipe. 🤦‍♂️ 
It limped through technical inspection few weeks ago, and I was told in no uncertain terms it’s not getting another one without some serious work. It’s overdue for the welding, it’s overdue for belts change, there’s at least one pulley with a worrying rattle, AC pulley sounds awful, clutch is slipping, suspension is shot, turbo is whistling, there’s an oil leak, coolant leak, rear tyres are on the legal limit, and fuck knows what else. 
Realistically, if I was sensible, I should cut my losses here. Luckily for the car, I’m not a sensible person when it comes to cars, so I’m getting everything done. Whilst I’m spending money on solving everything, I might as well put on a bigger turbo and injectors, and get it mapped to significantly more power, just because.  
Now parked up in the lockup until I pay up for a few other car-related bills.

New spark plug and HT leads cured the misfires on Bravo, and lambda sensor has arrived but not yet fitted to see if it resolves another issue or two. 
One issue that is persistent is tapping the gas shortly drops the revs under 500RPM, and I managed to get the car stalled a few times like this. I’m guessing dirty ICV, but didn’t have time to investigate yet. I need to buy some winter tyres for it as well.
I’ve realized that since this car came back home and most of the issues were resolved, I ended up reaching for its keys more than any other car I have. It’s just so good as a city runaround, and in being a daily AN car. Probably the best unnecessary car purchase I ever did. 11/10, would buy again.

In minor updates

PCV-replacement filter for Florida has arrived.  

For high performance vehicles, so suitable for Florida then. 😆

155 has been booked at Alfa specialists. Starter motor sounds concerning, and I just can’t relax out with dead oil pressure gauge showing 0psi on the dash. I also didn’t manage to find HT Leads, so I’m hoping they will have more luck than me in sourcing it. They can do another onceover to see if anything was missed.

Mini is, to my great annoyance, still sitting where I left it when I towed it back month and a half ago. The specialist is in the process of selling his house, and just can’t find time or arsed to deal with cars right now. He’s selling to a property developer, so I can’t really blame him for feeling drained. I really really really want to get the car started and out of there if he doesn’t have time to fix it before the winter. One more winter outside wouldn’t help with all the rust that started showing back again in all the weakspots and would probably need to get welded again if it does. Easily prevented by moving the car inside and getting it fixed next year when it’s nice and dry. 

Yugo Cabrio is still hogging the lift in the bodyshop. I think the final car to get out of there before it gets done is my friend’s 7 series that was in a crash. 

I got one more harness for Yugo 1.6 16v project. This time out of a carb car that had newer digital dash, so I don’t have to clean up the harness from Peugeot-engine specific bits that are one the one I took out from the car I dismantled few weeks ago. It was 30€ delivered, so not worth the hassle for the price. I’m optimistically hoping that gets welded by the end of the year as well.

World’s longest, most open ended collection thread Rover 45 is still being used as a parking cone. No clue when is that coming to an end. Closely tied in with what’s going on with Mini.

[IronStar]

Did a bit of tinkering today.

It started with me realizing I have some time to spare, and I could go pick up my 156 from the garage across town. 155 is in the shop, and returning any day now, and I agreed with the shop to pick up 155 and drop off 156 in the same go.

I made a lengthy list of everything wrong with it on the bus to a garage, and I realized it’s like 2/3 of the car. Add the facts that it’s rusty and cosmetically challenged, and I’m really wondering why the fuck am I doing this and am so hellbent for this car to live.

Even trying to get in was a pain, as drivers door card is missing some vital clips, and it’s fouling the door when opening it. It got old very quickly so I moved a clip from the middle of the vertical bit to the bottom horizontal one. Still shit and rattling, but at least you can open the door now. On the way back, I saw that windscreen was filthy, and remembered that the wiper blades are dead-dead, and it’s out of washing fluid. Then I realized that new wipers are sitting in the Bravo’s boot in the other garage, and I don’t have keys with me. Might as well bring the replacement stereo that’s sitting around and leave it in the back.

Starting off - wipers on 156

Brother-Star or cousin-Star say they delaminated since they parked the car but I’m a bit* skeptical. 

Replaced with quality stuff

While I’m in the garage, it doesn’t hurt to see how hard is it to fit the new stereo to Bravo, right?

Click unlock…oh, it seems that water ingress I patched up a week or so ago managed to kill the remote locking module. Fucksake. Thankfully that’s easily reachable and easy to replace.

Oh well..

bastard thing did put up a fight. The mic cable that I previously ran is a touch too short, so I ended up tugging on it to get it to plug in. I took a bit of wrangling the wires, but I got it in. Looks a bit out of place, but better (or rather less bad) than I expected. 

It runs some sort of chinesium-os, but does wireless CarPlay. Unlike my Android-based thing in 159, CarPlay connects almost instantly, which was a pleasant surprise. Buttons have that distinct shit switch feedback, and button backlight LEDs look so cheap I’m tempted to open it and burn the LEDs.

I texted the photo of the stereo in place to the friend group, and got a response from a friend living next door to the garage “you should’ve called to come and help you”. Nah, no need mate, it was 10 minutes.

Sounds surprisingly decent, better than the very tired amp in the original stereo. Which brings us to the next problem. Stereo with any omph in the output revealed just how badly blown the speakers on the Bravo were. I bought new speakers weeks ago, but didn’t get to fitting them.

I love* 200W peak power, and realistic figure in 40W ballpark. 

It’s still not too late, and I’m not too tired, how hard could it be to get these in? I started disassembling the door card. Fiat helpfully* made sure you need at least 4 different screwdrivers, with randomly varying screw sizes. I took almost all the screws out, then realized I don’t have a screwdriver short enough to get the final 3. 🤦‍♂️ Quick text to the mate “still got nothing better to do? I need some tools….”

10 minutes later, door card was off, with clear evidence that someone was there before us, as the insulation is all torn up. Forgot to take photos of any of this. Speakers went out, some educated guessing as to which wire is which took place, and connectors were dismantled. Despite being 5x8, same as the original ones, they didn’t fit straight in. Somehow, they seem to be fatter than the original ones. Didn’t matter, I forced them to fit with the appropriate use of force.

No wonder it sounded like shit

the one missing all the foam was passenger side which sounded unbearable. Driver’s side was just awful in comparison.

Cue some swearing and we got the door cards back on. No extra screws either!

Rears put up less of a fight. Just 3 screws holding them in, but not much place to work. They somehow weren’t blown, but still sounded awful, so they were replaced with the ones I bought anyway.

Overall, music Bravo actually sounds good now! It could do with getting the tweeters replaced as well, though.

Very happy with the result!

I got all the bits I planned to pre-purchase (bar LSD conversion that’s getting delivered tomorrow) for 156 in the back as well, so it’s ready to go in the moment I get the call I can pick up 155.

More soon(?)

[MrBig]

Excellent stuff. Didn't realise you had a 155, 156 and 159! Sterling car collection. 

I have neither the time, money or space for such frivolities, but enjoying reading about yours. Maybe next time I come to Belgrade I will have to see some of them!

[IronStar]

3 hours ago, MrBig said:

Excellent stuff. Didn't realise you had a 155, 156 and 159! Sterling car collection. 

I have neither the time, money or space for such frivolities, but enjoying reading about yours. Maybe next time I come to Belgrade I will have to see some of them!

Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying it!

I'm probably spending way too much time/money/effort on cars, but the man-maths is I wouldn't be saving much if I had a sensible brand-new car on PCP, and I wouldn't have the options or enjoy doing things anywhere close to what I'm doing now. 

Absolutely, drop me a message next time you're around and we'll get something planned!

[IronStar]

155 is back! So much nicer to drive than it was with dead HT leads, and I now have some actual confidence to drive it when oil pressure is not showing 0. 😄

Adjusting brake compensator valve also helped as it has more braking force than before. I didn’t give it a trashing, to be 100% sure, but seems better on the first glance.

As I’m on a speaker shopping spree, I went to buy new fronts for it. Only the passenger side one works, so I took the cover off to see if the beefier one will fit and

Well that’s fucking butchered. What’s the yellow stuff though?

Oh fuck me, that’s some more evidence that I had a rodent in there. It’s insulation, not some random shit that got dragged in.

Thankfully after the droppings were vacuumed months ago there were no new ones, and nothing smells rotten in the car, so either he fucked off long time ago, or there’s a mummified carcass waiting for me when I eventually take the dash off.

Bonus points for not chewing through any harness (I found so far) and dead speaker was down to spade connector falling apart.

Bought a set of these for it

Nicer ones probably wouldn’t fit. There’s also 6x9 sized holes in the parcel shelf, and there was a set of decent 6x9 speakers somewhere in the car last time I checked. Didn’t have time to deal with any of that today, so possibly a job for the next week.

There’s also something wrong with the stereo as display keeps losing the connection, so that will have to be looked into as well. I’ll probably swap it out anyway for something with Bluetooth. 

156 got dropped off with a laundry list to the joy* of the guys at the garage. The list might’ve been “don’t focus on X” it would probably be shorter. 🤣 

 

 

• Belts
• Oil and filters
• Brake fluid
• Gearbox oil
• Coolant
• Clutch (can you please get the reinforced one)
• Suspension is clonking 
• Everything that leaks, and it leaks everywhere
• Some bearing is whining 
• Handbrake needs tightening or the cables need replacing if there’s no adjustment left
• Rear right light connector is fucked
• Pro kit is in the trunk, but what’s the condition of the shock absorbers?
• Turbo is in the trunk
• LSD conversion is in the trunk
• 119 injectors are in the trunk, but should we test them before installing?
• R65 pump is in the trunk
• Side mirrors don’t work, not sure what’s wrong with them
• THAT spring limiter is broken on the passenger side mirror
• Seats are not connected
• Upholstery clips are missing
• Quick battery terminal is in the trunk, can we install that too?
• Check everything else
• Should we replace the heater plugs preventively?

Bonus minor thing - after 5 years of ownership I replaced the wipers on 159. I thought they’ll go on forever, but they started smearing lately. Replaced with another set of aerotwins, I hope they last at least 1/2 of the previous ones.

Bonus photo of 159 looking pretty under Belgrade fortress

Edited December 12, 2025 by IronStar
Forum editor is a pain on mobile

[IronStar]

Fettling with 155 revealed one thing - they are almost extinct. Finding mechanical parts that are not shared with other, primarily Tipo Tre platform cars is hard. Finding someone breaking one to get bodywork and co is very hard. Finding interior bits is almost impossible. Finding the fucking mirrors, not sticking Tipo/Tempra ones, whilst not paying 200€ for one is quite literally - impossible. They are garbage design, with carriers made of shittiest metal known to mankind, and folding mechanism designed by part sales department. 

My 155 is now mechanically great, has solid bodywork except begging for a respray (but you can be sure I’ll double triple quadruple check the floorpan which is THE weakspot on them and the reason they were getting scrapped) but very scruffy on the inside. Sitting in the sun did no good to the door trims that have bubbled up and split. Dash is cracked. Driver’s side mirror is Tempra unit. I would like a wing, and good luck finding it. My car is rare, but very annoying, non-aircon model, and fuck driving with no aircon is Serbian summers. I have most of the aircon off a scrapper I got a few years ago, but I don’t think it’s all there.

I looked at the classifieds for days. There’s no one in Serbia selling what I need. I looked in Bosnia. I looked in Croatia. I looked on eBay. Nope.

So I’ve started looking in a different direction? Surely there’s something out there? I went away for 2 days to a place some 250km away from home for a weekend. I tried one more time after dinner yesterday.

Enter my birthday present! 
 

 

Well, it’s more of a birthday package!

🎉🎉🎉🎉

The black one is complete as well, and all the bits are coming with it. It’s primer, not rolled black.

Black is 1.8 TS 8v, same as mine. Has the more upmarket dash, digital aircon, gray interior, and both fucking mirrors. It was crashed and repaired but utterly butchered repair. Rear quarter is not aligned to, well, anything else. Floor is rusty. It’s half-dismantled. Realistically it’s dead.

Silver one is 2.0 turbo diesel. Has manual aircon, semi-leather seats (driver’s is torn, but it’s coming with another seat for fabric to fix it), black interior. Floor is rusty and seller is keeping the alloys and the wing.

Have some more photos off the ad

The seller is an Alfista as well. He’s mostly into 33s, but has a fuckton of Alfas.
The story is he wanted to restore the 1.8 one, bought TD for spares. He then realized how rusty and shoddily crash repaired TS is, 33 project ate too much money and he lost enthusiasm and isn’t willing to sink more money into it. He just wanted to recoup some of the money he sunk into them. I tried persuading him to sell me just the black one and swap the door cards from the silver one, but he didn’t want to split them, as he wants to try saving at least one of them, and hopes someone takes a pity if they come together. I told him I have a green one, and will end up ripping at least one completely apart to make mine nice, and he can live with that result, as that means one more 155 on the road. 

That leaves me with the silver 2.0 TD. It will surely lose the door cards, the seats, and possibly a few more bits. Is it the end of the road for it though? Time will tell. Depends on how rusty the floor is I guess.
It’s a rare, undesirable version of an already rare car. I already have a 155, that’s going to be really nice soon. It would be absolutely stupid to try and fix this. I would never put a bigger turbo and keep this as well? Right? RIGHT?!

Bonus points for a scene there. The guy is talking about how he doesn’t understand how silver 155 has door handles ripped off. Like, wtf do you do to rip them off? I started explaining how they’re shit design and brittle. 30 seconds later I go to open the rear door on the black one, just for the handle to crack into 4 pieces, shards flying everywhere, and the biggest piece staying in my hand. 
He looks at me, I look at him. Like this, I say. Congratulations, you ripped it off your new car. Now this one is missing the handle as well. 😂😂😂

[IronStar]

Did a tiny bit more on 155.

Went to install the mirror. Removed the Tempra one, offered up 155 unit, went to bolt it in….fucksticks, 2/3 threads for the bolts are fucked. 🤦‍♂️ They are fine on the mount of the shattered mirror that came with the car, but I’m not brave enough to attempt dismantling this one myself. That will have to visit someone less hamfisted than me. 
This was supposed to be a before shot of a before-after comparison of fitting 155 mirror, but unfortunately it remained the same afterwards.

Note that the plate has migrated from the dash to where it should sit. 😄
Fished out a nest out of the mirror for good measure.

Glad that’s bloody empty.

I installed the new speakers in the front, but forgot to take photos. Replaced both connectors on the driver side, passenger side was alright. Found the 6x9s for the parcel shelf in the car, and went to give it a shot.

That is definitely not my cup of tea, and would probably get a feature in one mod wonders thread of some other forum 15 or so years ago. Speakers were free, and it’s better than having 6x9 sized holes there, so I won’t frown upon it.

1 spade terminal was fucked on each of the channels, so a quick twist and solder heatshrink job later we had music blasting out of both. It actually sounds….not terrible with them. Fronts only were ridiculously weedy and underpowered, but with 6x9s in the back…I can kinda see why did someone cut out the holes. Still looks naff though.

For a nice bonus, the stereo is iPod compatible, and iPhone still supports that protocol when plugged in via the USB, which is really nice. I’d still prefer Bluetooth, but this comes with a benefit of trickle charging the phone as well. 

Another thing I did but forgot to take photos of is swap out the door seals. I got replacements off a Tempra ages ago, but they were never installed. Rears were alright, but fronts were looking very sad for themselves, with bits missing, and driver’s side having a bit of it literally dangling on top where it was torn. Fitting not-utterly-ruined ones lifted the first impressions a bit.

I also realized that central locking is not operating from driver’s door, but is operating from passenger’s one, on everything except driver’s one, so that’s an unhappy cable or mechanism somewhere.

For a final bit today, I yeeted out all the trash. Turns out that after fitting the speakers and door seals, there was enough space in the boot to hold all the remaining parts. Interior is now finally not filled with boxes and parts. Result!

I really want to take it for a drive to see how everything beds in, but the weather is too foggy after I finish work to enjoy it a single bit. Hopefully it clears up one of these days, so I can give it a go.

Thanks for reading!

[IronStar]

Incoming!

 

[IronStar]

Evry house needs at least 3 of these

Welcome home 2x155.

What is this now, 465? 😂

[IronStar]

First impressions?

Twin spark runs silky smooth, and honestly sounds nicer than mine as the exhaust is…not completely shit. It’s rusty, but has plenty of good bits. Destiny probably determined by how different the dash between aircon and non-aircon model and am I missing something to complete aircon as I have another digital aircon unit off the scrapper that I got years ago.

If I end up needing dash and aircon and…it’s game over for it and I’ll fully dismantle it. If not, I may end up tackling that at some point. Maybe. Maybe not. We’ll see.

Silver one? How the fuck does 30+ years old 90HP diesel have so much torque from standstill? 😳 I got completely caught out taking it off the trailer with the kick. No damage, but oooft! 12/10, honestly impressive. Another fast diesel project? 😆
 

[Yoss]

3 hours ago, IronStar said:

Evry house needs at least 3 of these

Welcome home 2x155.

What is this now, 465? 😂

Plus the 156 and 159 brings it up to about 780, I think. Plus any other Alfas you might have stashed away that I don't know about. 

[hairnet]

155 mafia lmao

the plastics

fiat gonna fiat

 

[andy18s]

When a Bulgarian seller says "the low price reflects the condition of the car",you know it's going to be bad..

[IronStar]

10 hours ago, andy18s said:

When a Bulgarian seller says "the low price reflects the condition of the car",you know it's going to be bad..

That doesn’t look too bad from the photos tbh. 1200lev? Got any PTI?

[IronStar]

155x3 update

Got the paperwork sorted for the both black and silver one. I also met the previous owner of now-black one. He’s also an Alfista, and we spent some hour and a half chatting about things, and agreed to have a drink sometime in the future. Really nice bloke, with genuine passion for cars. He would also love his ex car to be saved and not ripped apart for parts, even though he understands my perspective. Promised to send me some more spares that left with him.

I also got some photos of how it looked like before being rolled black.

I love the colour, not sure what anyone had against it.

In good news for that car, it seems that digital aircon is the same unit that went into Tipo, Tempra, Dedra, but more importantly shared with Bravo/Brava/Marea. Other than the harness that I should have, it has 2(?) motors for directional flaps, and a temperature sensor. I should have all of this, and if not finding bits should be fairly straightforward, so maybe, just maybe, I won’t have to rip apart that car for the aircon. 
Compounding factor in its chances of survival is a very good mate of mine that drove the green one and fell in love. He’s a BMW guy, but absolutely loved the way 155 drives and the way engine that comes alive at revs. He may be interested in taking it over as-is after I remove what I need from it for €notmuch and get it back on the road.

Green one has a parasitic power draw somewhere to my great annoyance. Went to drive it today, turned the key, and was met with absolutely dead battery. Fucksticks. Jumped it, and it started happily, went for a spin, and it started right up afterwards. 
I pulled the radio fuse as a best guess to see of that cures it, as I didn’t have multimeter on me to check draw. 
While pulling fuses I saw this

This is for one of the dipped lights, so either someone installed a too high power bulb that melted the fuse, someone attached something to that fuse, or there’s something spectacularly wrong with that circuit. I binned this and installed a brand new 10A fuse I found in the car, so we’ll see if that melts as well.

It also has an issue I don’t know how to approach. Power windows are intermittent. When they work, both switches on the driver’s side light up. When they’re not working, only passenger side lights up. There’s obviously a power draw, as lights on the dash go slightly dimmer when you press passenger side one, but nothing happens. 
Are the power windows routed through driver’s window switch that is loose or has some wires loose?

Central locking is also misbehaving. Locking and unlocking driver’s door does nothing, but unlocking passenger side unlocks everything except driver’s door. Locking passenger side from the inside of the car locks driver’s side as well. The fuck is going on here? I need to swap door cards anyway, so I’ll investigate for any odd looking or loose wiring in there. 

[IronStar]

He do you know your car has a tendency to munch some parts? You call a breaker and he starts laughing. 

How do you know your car is on a verge of extinction? He offers you a part that’s know to be problematic, and you buy it anyway even though yours is alright, as you know there won’t be another one when it inevitably goes kaput.

Hello MAF and air filter casing. 

I also walked away with contact of a guy that casts door handles for 155s as mine are poorly on green, missing on silver, and very tired on black, and an electrician that is probably willing to retrofit aircon into green 155. 

Today I also booked an exhaust shop for Monday to stop the rattling and whooshing coming from empty cat and torn exhaust. First aid only, full system should come in March.

Saga of (too) many 155s - to be continued 

[IronStar]

Day off, so decided to tackle some stuff on green 155

Step 1 

Dome light was dead. Let’s take it apart:

First I tested the diod, but it’s working alright. Two protruding pins on the left are where switches go. Alfa decided to go for a click-button type switches, with a rotating four-pin disk that’s making contact.

Don’t think tht should be black. Cleaning it up and bending the contacts upwards gave results. However both the springy bits and the track itself are very worn, so pointy light is temremental, and requires giving it a longer push so it work. The main light seems to be working again, but I stopped while I was ahead and left it in door ajar mode.

Swapped the bulbs for good measure. I’ll need to take this apart again to replace the antenna. I got the new to me one, but I’m not chancing my luck on who knows how old seals, so I’m not takong that out without rubber putty to make sure it seals.

Went for a drive to pick up some bits afterwards.  The chap that sold me MAF gave me the contact of another guy that’s breaking Alfas for over 30 years, who has a guy with a mould for reinforced door handles. 
Original handles made out of ZAMAK are absolutely garbage, and a known weakspot of 155. These guys made a mound that’s reinforced in all the key locations, as it should’ve been from the factory, and are making them out of aluminum instead. Result is much better, more substantial handle that’s impossible to break unless you’re an absolute unit. 
Turns out the chap stopped breaking cars years ago as he got both tired and bored of dealing with cars, people, the lot of it. He’s an amazing guy, with true passion for cars that I spent an hour talking to. He binned a bunch of stock he had a few years ago as it was worth nothing and there was no demand, including some impossible to find bits for 75, Sprint, 164, 155, 33, etc… Still, even with all that gone, I walked into an Alfa parts treasure trove, with a bunch of bits that I thougt are impossible to find. He’s considering binning what’s left as well, and getting fully out of it. He told me he hates the price gouging that’s going on in the market, and how what little is left of these cars is ending up scrapped or as forever stalled projects, as prices are stupid and, effectively, no one wins.  There’s next to no demand anyway, there are so few of these left, and they are now all owned by enthusiasts, so it’s just stupid and greedy to price people out of it all. Prices he gave me seem to back up what he said, so I’ll take his word for it.
He also told me to give him a call next week to check if he still has some front wings, bumpers, and other bodywork for 155s I can have for peanuts. Also invited me for a coffee when I get back from traveling for new year.

So what did I buy then?

The primer ones are aluminum casts, plus one is broken, but the mechanism is alright. One of the rear lights is looking tired on mine, so I bought a pair. I think that base non-airbag pre-facelift 155 steering wheel oozes misery, so I got something less depressing to look at. 
I also got a gear knob to replace the one in the car that’s quite literally fallen apart

Three cloths and a bunch of window cleaning spray later

Much better. I need to give it a test fit, but ideally, I want both this andthe  gear knob trimmed in leather. I think it’s important to have the surfaces of the car you’re actually touching feel nice, as otherwise the impressions of driving the car fall flat.

I also fixed the broken dash speaker grill

To be continued…

[IronStar]

Small step for the car, but huge for my nerves - exhaust got sorted.

It had that distinct Zastava 101 on death throes sound even though there’s nothing wrong with the engine. At some point in time, someone hollowed out the cat, but left it in place, resulting in very undpleasant noises coming from the exhaust. The offending article can be seen on the floor, on the left side of the photo. Situation wasn’t helped by blown up muffler that came after it.
Offending article was replaced by a decat pipe, and blown muffler welded back together. It still sounds shit, just not I’m embarrassed driving this shit, which is everything you can ask for from a constantly overwhelmed custom fab shop on a day’s notice. I’m really grateful they did this for me, and didn’t fob me off until they have a proper slot available. 
Proper job for a full system booked for 30th of January. 

As an aside, I’ve never seen a car with so many things going on with the exhaust. There’s something that looks like a small cat or resonator, cat, followed by 3 mufflers in close succession. Why would it need so much muffling and obstructions on the path is anyone’s guess. 🤷‍♂️

In other news, another one of these has arrived

Factory passenger’s side, with no cracks. Silver car likes this.

I found the reason power windows are temperamental as well. Fuse holder lost one ear, and fuse is now falling out. I tried bending it for a temporary solution, but it fell out 10km later, so I got an inline fuse holder to replace what’s there now. I don’t like I’m losing originality on the electric system, but fuck trying to fix 30 years old plastic and tabs. Didn’t have time to wire it in today.

I also realized why front is higher than the rear. Eibach does only a single set of Pro Kit springs for 155 - be it 4 cylinder TS, V6 or a diesel. TS is obviously not as front heavy as V6, so it’s higher up front. I need some rear spring spacers to line it up, but I don’t think I can get 10mm off the shelf here. 
It looks like a date with suspension shop is on the cards so they get it level. Oh and fuck you Eibach for this curveball, I’m really disappointed.

To be continued 

[IronStar]

It's been a while. Where are we at then?

As outlined in the news thread, I went on a shopping spree for 156, which was long overdue.

First it was R65 high-pressure fuel pump and 119 injectors

Thanit was Eibach Pro Kit and 1756 turbo

 

Then LSD conversion

Then speakers for good measure

 

and after dropping it off for quite a while, I finally have it back, with an arm's length list of things changed. How bad was it? The engine and gearbox went out, it was the fastest way to do it. They think I'm completely out of my mind, and it wasn't worth, time, money, or effort, and I should've just scrapped it. They are still tallying up the bill, but I got a key and drove away. I'll pay when they do, and add full list of "this as well" that was done here. I left them with 159 to do oil, belts, and rear calipers that shat the bed. 

First impressions? It's not there 100% there yet. They didn't do LSD conversion as they weren't 100% sure, so they'll get another used diff, convert that, and put it back in. Seats are still not connected back in. Mirrors still don't work. But we'll get there. It's noticeably sharper, and nothing is creaking and sounding like it's falling apart. The engine is as clean as it gets, as if it were on a car with 15k on the clock, not 380k. 

The biggest negative impression is not their fault. It has fuckall power. ECU is running a stock map, and it has 0 idea what to do with all the new parts, so it's playing it VERY safe and conservative. Probably for the best, as I don't want to nuke the engine after doing all this work. 

I have it booked for a free flowing exaust on Monday, and dropping it off for a remap after that. Hopefully, it does me proud.

In other news, I tried replacing wiper arms on 155. The green one has the original, only rubber replaceable type arms, which was probably ok idea 30-odd years ago, but it went through too many heat and UV cycles for it to still work right. The rubber bit keeps falling out of the arm, and I really hope I didn't scratch the windscreen in one of those instances. 
A man on the internet(tm) claims that 156 arms are compatible with 155. In shocking* news, a man on the internet is wrong. The driver's side one fits, but the passenger side is completely wrong shape and curve to fit. 

Bollocks. However, I think 2x driver's side should fit, and I've been driving the 2nd pair of arms in 159 for a few weeks now, but still didn't get a chance to fit it.

I also tried replacing the antenna

Bollocks. Someone was here before me, and I can't get the mount off without breaking things, as it's glued/sealed in place. I can't even put a new antenna in the mount as the thread is ripped out. Put it all back together to fight another day. I'll get this done when it gets resprayed.

I left it for a complete exhaust on Friday. Now, I like my cars to sound a bit...louder. But at the same time, I don't want my cars to be undrivable without ear protection, because fuck that, I'm too old for that shit. Discussing how loud is loud, I realized a thing - the shop does something I wanted to try for absolute ages - noise control exhaust with a flap. In for a penny, in for a pound. So now it's getting an already empty catalytic converter to a hi-flow box, and the rear box will get a bypass valve, so it can be nice and raspy when on, and I ARE A RACECAR when off. 

This except I didn't go with the cheaper option 😆

A ton of suspension bits for the fast Yugo are also done

Front and rear suspension, polybushes for swaybar, adjustable wishbones and control arms, rear disc adapters.
It's just a bit* of a shame that I don't have the car welded yet. 😀

Bravo is still being an arse and not working right. I'll probably ask the shop working on Alfas to take a look at what the fuck is going on.

To be continued

[IronStar]

Got the list of things replaced.

Rear suspension & brakes

Rear shock absorbers
Rear shock absorber mounts
Bump stops / dust boots
Rear suspension bushings / arms (x4 pcs)
Rear left wheel bearing
Rear shock absorber springs

Front suspension & steering

Front shock absorbers.
Front control arms (x4 pcs)
Front anti-roll bar bushings 
Rear anti-roll bar bushings 
Front and rear anti-roll bar links / stabilizers

Drivetrain

Right driveshaft with flange and bearing.
Right driveshaft CV joint.
Driveshaft boots (x4 pcs).
Right tripod bearing.
Rear differential oil seals (left and right)
Gearbox oil
Clutch repair kit
Clutch slave cylinder

Brakes

Front brake discs.
Front brake pads.
Front brake hoses.
Brake fluid.
Front right brake caliper (used)
Rear brake caliper overhaul
Brake hoses 
Handbrake cables 

Timing & auxiliary drive

Timing belt kit.
Water pump.
Auxiliary belt.
Auxiliary belt tensioner.
Auxiliary belt roller.
Serpentine (PK) belt
Alternator pulley

Engine & fuel

High-pressure fuel pump resealing.
Injector test and shims.
Valve cover gasket.
Intake manifold gasket.
Fuel hoses.
Turbo / fuel line seals.
Left lower turbo hose. 
Right engine mount (used) 
Upper engine mount 
Middle engine mount 
Turbocharger

Cooling & fluids

Coolant 
Power steering fluid

Oil and  filters 

Oil drain plug 
Oil filter 
Air filter
Fuel filter
Cabin (pollen) filter
Selenia WR 5W-40 engine oil

Electrical & misc

Glow plugs (x4 pcs)
Alternator rebuild – brush holder
Dipstick tube grommet 

Welp. 😄

~3250€ 

[Datsuncog]

On 14/12/2025 at 21:43, IronStar said:

Bonus points for a scene there. The guy is talking about how he doesn’t understand how silver 155 has door handles ripped off. Like, wtf do you do to rip them off? I started explaining how they’re shit design and brittle. 30 seconds later I go to open the rear door on the black one, just for the handle to crack into 4 pieces, shards flying everywhere, and the biggest piece staying in my hand. 
He looks at me, I look at him. Like this, I say. Congratulations, you ripped it off your new car. Now this one is missing the handle as well. 😂😂😂

Exactly the same thing happened to the rear door handles on my facelift 156... they just shattered in my hand.

Good to see that some Alfa traditions* go all the way back!

Some great fleet progress there, and hopefully combining the triple 155s will provide us with much entertainment you with a nice, well-sorted example.

[IronStar]

3 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Exactly the same thing happened to the rear door handles on my facelift 156... they just shattered in my hand.

Good to see that some Alfa traditions* go all the way back!

Some great fleet progress there, and hopefully combining the triple 155s will provide us with much entertainment you with a nice, well-sorted example.

First time I'm hearing that someone shattered one on 156! They are not a usual suspect there, unlike control arms. 😄 Lovely colour that!

Thanks! I'm really looking forward to a well-sorted 155, and extra points if all 3 manage to live on.

[IronStar]

Today I got a call that this happened 

 

And it sounds like this, just better, because phone mic is not picking up anywhere close to reality.

That’s me giggling on the video. 

It auto-closes when you turn off the engine, and turns on with a remote. Closed it sounds like a slightly louder car. Opened it sounds GLORIUS . Completely antisocial though, so needs to be used in moderation. 

Also this happened today. Yugo Cabrio bits, ready for primer. I’m also told that hood got scratched up by something sitting in the shop, and small paint runs on front wings are unpolishable, so he’s redoing those at his expense. Cabrio home soon as well?

[IronStar]

159 is back home. What an amazing turnaround time from a rather busy shop. I’m traveling next week and wanted it done before I do 2000km in it in a couple of days. Tip, 24 pack of beer, and some energy drinks left as a thank you.

Belts, oil, filters, and rear brake caliper rebuild were expected, and it munched another inlet turbo hose. Hose was replaced with 2nd hand one as I wanted the single car I’m currently 100% confident in doing 4 digit distances in home ASAP, not to provoke an unexpected family emergency and discomfort of having to do it in car that’s not 100%. Crisis averted, thankfully no family emergencies while everything was in the shop, back to regular operating mode.

Last time I was there I asked about dropping off Bravo as well, and they accepted regular cash cow customer’s car, even though they usually don’t want to deal with anything that old. Can’t really blame them, cheap bangers usually come with owners that are very tight on cash, fear of unpaid bills, “can we just bodge it” questions, and losing sanity with rusty bolts just to answer the “why is labour this expensive?” questions. Asked today how much time/effort are you willing to put into the car? You have a list, don’t you? You always have a list.

Walked them through what was done so far, how I couldn’t figure the misfire and running issues that appear randomly. Coolant loss that I suspect on cabin heater, rear suspension being…weird, and a few more snags, with a final piece being putting Pro Kit on. We’ll see how it goes.

 

[Missy Charm]

On 05/02/2026 at 20:05, IronStar said:

Today I got a call that this happened 

 

And it sounds like this, just better, because phone mic is not picking up anywhere close to reality.

That’s me giggling on the video. 

It auto-closes when you turn off the engine, and turns on with a remote. Closed it sounds like a slightly louder car. Opened it sounds GLORIUS . Completely antisocial though, so needs to be used in moderation. 

Also this happened today. Yugo Cabrio bits, ready for primer. I’m also told that hood got scratched up by something sitting in the shop, and small paint runs on front wings are unpolishable, so he’s redoing those at his expense. Cabrio home soon as well?

That really does sound good!  Some four-cylinder engines sound reasonable; lots thrum like washing machines and modern ones flatulate unenthusiastically, but that one's in a different class altogether.