Star garages - The Good, the Rusty, and the Delayed - General updates

[JMotor]

Top work there.

The note off the 155 reminds me of my Altezza. 

A rather fruity note from a multi valve engine. 

I like it! 

Bonus points for the tailpipe too. Does suit the oblong shape well, keeps it OE. 

[IronStar]

@Missy Charm @JMotor Thanks guys! Alfa really did their magic when designing that engine. I love Fiat and Italian cars in general, but nothing after they acquired Alfa sounds as good. 

It previously had Imsaf oblong shaped tailpipe, and I thought it looked smart. I’m told they pulled the tooling for this shape from a ton of dust, and they can’t recall when did they last use it. 

Today it got oil and filter. Like every other delusional self respecting Alfista, I believe that Selenia’s liquified dinosaurs are somehow superior to any other liquified dinosaurs, so that what it got. Their very special (and stupidly expensive) blend!

 

I swapped the passenger side wiper arm for driver’s side 156 one. Great success, wiping restored, and blades are now swappable. There was some rain tonight, so I got to confirm it’s fine.

If someone on the internet runs into this, the recipe for swapping LHD 155 arms that don’t have replaceable wiper blades is 2x 156 driver side wiper arms.

I also went to the bodyshop to lend a hand in getting the cabrio back together. There was a few hour power outage, so limited progress, but it’s progress. Forgot to take photos, so text only.

Dash that was in there was swapped for another dash, as this one delaminated near air vents. We also swapped out switch holders for ones that actually hold something in place. Harness decided to put up a fight, but was manhandled into place. The under-dash insulation fell apart on every Yugo I ever saw dismantled, so we had nowhere to transfer it from. Found some felt, and cut it to shape. Better than nothing I guess.

Cranking the engine to confirm the wiring is fine didn’t result in engine start, and after a bit of looking, we pinpointed it to two things - coil that chipped last time around and a faulty fuel pump. It was already playing up and intermittently worked, so it’s now going out. Our mood wasn’t helped by the fact coils we have as spare are wider so not a direct fit on the mount, and fuel pump is held in by 10 or so screws. Swapping both out resulted in the car happily starting.

Tried 14 inch Punto space saver and it fits under the hood, which is amazing news. I need to go buy one, but that means I’ll have a spare that works on both front and the back. Original 13 inch wheels don’t clear the uprated front brakes. 

Last night the driver’s seat went in. I completely forgot the bolster is torn and needs to be replaced, but I think it looks smart otherwise.

 

To be continued…

[Brigsy]

155 exhaust sounds lovely, great job. Enjoying the updates

[IronStar]

Exhaust shop's #1 customer 😆

[IronStar]

 156 came back with an exhaust. 50mm is now 60mm piping, (dead) cat delete, backbox delete, hi-flow system. It also got a new downpipe, as the one that was on 1756 was restricted on both flanges. 🤦‍♂️ The factory flange has thick welds inside, restricting the factory 60mm outlet to about 55mm, and the downpipe to exhaust flange was factory 50mm. They spotted all of this, and rectified with properly sized flanges. While they were at it, they also re-did the downpipe for a bit smoother flow, with "might as well while we're at it..." thinking. Didn't even pay much extra, as the shop's owner considered this an unagreed scope of work, and wanted money for the materials only, with no option to tip.

I honestly have no clue how it sounds now. Initial impressions are more throaty, but I don't want to give it a boot before remap for the fear of triggering safe mode at best, or things going expensively wrong at worst. Under 3k RPM limped home, booked for a remap on Friday, and they asked for it to be left for a few days to slot it in and get the map right. Haven't used these guys previously, but got them as a recommendation, so it'll hopefully be alright. 

Cabrio has updates as well. Bodyshop is hellbent on finally getting the fucking car out of the way.  The replacement glass for the cracked, unobtanium passenger side corner piece still didn't arrive. I found factory-tinted side windows to match all other cabrio-specific tinted windows that it has. Surprisingly* window mechanism is stiff as fuck, and we already managed to crack one window handle trying to get it to open/close. 🙄 Thankfully, I have about 50 spare, and probably about 20 spare NOS window mechanisms, so hopefully one will work right. 

Oh, and numberplate lights have disintegrated for good measure. 50 euros later, I have two NOS items looking very sad for themselves

I'm almost certain these are factory rejects or something. Yugo may be the butt of jokes, but not even Zastava / 21 Oktobar was able to miscut the rubber weatherstripping and think "hm, this looks right".

It also got a bloody roof on! 🎉 

It's about 1.5 cm too short, even when adjusted to the furthest forward possible position. It's a tossup between the material that was sitting folded for 30 years, material shrinkage and factory defect. They managed to drag it on to close, and we'll see if it stretches out sitting closed for a bit. There seems to be enough meat to grind the adjusters for those additional millimetres, so if it's indeed too short, it's at least solvable. 

Front wings were painted, as well as all the plastic bits.

Shiny! 

Very shiny test fit! Cat approves!

To be continued!

[IronStar]

I got a call tonight. Bodyshop turned the car on to lower the roof. The oil pressure light is not going off. Engine was working for about 30 minutes since rebuild.

That’s all. 
 

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[IronStar]

Well, at least something went right. This was picked up today and it fucking fits!

Not so fast though, brand new, unused hydraulic roof piston is pissing fluid. There’s another one for sale, but chances of it not leaking as well through 30+ years old seals are…slim. I’ll take the set that came with the car for a rebuild. 

[IronStar]

Front end - assembled ✅

Wrong grille, it should be matte black, but it’s 4 screws to change it

 

[andy18s]

Alfa 156 with easy wipe down seats,proving popular with da ladeez ..

[IronStar]

14 minutes ago, andy18s said:

Alfa 156 with easy wipe down seats,proving popular with da ladeez ..

There’s a really weird trend of adding girls next to cars with AI on FB marketplace lately 😄

[IronStar]

On 12/02/2026 at 22:48, IronStar said:

I got a call tonight. Bodyshop turned the car on to lower the roof. The oil pressure light is not going off. Engine was working for about 30 minutes since rebuild.

That’s all. 
 

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

This was new 30 engine minutes ago. Drive gear on the oil pump. I hate how parts you buy nowadays are almost universally scrap. 

[155V6]

Just caught up on this thread,THREE 155s!,that's just greedy 😄.

The 155 exhaust sounds brilliant 😎

[IronStar]

You know what orange mango, sitting in a shop for ages, and now externally assembled except rubbing strips?

Yes.

Fuck me, this car is so pretty! ❤️

Interior (and engine and roof hydraulics) to go. 🙌

[Yoss]

Roof hydraulics? I was assuming it was hand operated. Is it really hydraulic? 

[IronStar]

19 minutes ago, Yoss said:

Roof hydraulics? I was assuming it was hand operated. Is it really hydraulic? 

Yup. You unlatch it and lift it from the locks manually, then press a button to get it to retract. Same for the other way round. 

This is the hydraulics 

[Yoss]

That's quality. 

 

[hairnet]

13 minutes ago, Yoss said:

That's quality. 

 

better than slk

[Brigsy]

On 18/02/2026 at 12:55, IronStar said:

This was new 30 engine minutes ago. Drive gear on the oil pump. I hate how parts you buy nowadays are almost universally scrap. 

Nightmare that, hopefully not too much damage done. Agreed with new available parts being scrap, ive seen a few new oilpumps fail on other engines recently. Might be worth seeing if a good used pump is available.

[IronStar]

1 minute ago, Brigsy said:

Nightmare that, hopefully not too much damage done. Agreed with new available parts being scrap, ive seen a few new oilpumps fail on other engines recently. Might be worth seeing if a good used pump is available.

We agreed to tow it back to the shop of guy that assembled the engine when rest of the car is done. He’s really great old-school mechanic that (re)built hundreds of these, and from brief chat with him he sounded devastated and mortified this happened. I’m almost 100% certain this is not on him. 
He’ll take the sump off, clean it up, replace the pump and its drive, and see how did rest of the engine fare.
Hopefully the shrapnel didn’t get picked up and go anywhere, or at least not past the filter. Otherwise… 💀

We’ll see what’s available. 

[Yoss]

I've just been browsing Belgrade on Google maps, as you do, and came across this. Is it really a Florida based pick up? 

[IronStar]

1 hour ago, Yoss said:

I've just been browsing Belgrade on Google maps, as you do, and came across this. Is it really a Florida based pick up? 

Yup. It’s called Florida Poly

https://www.polovniautomobili.com/auto-oglasi/zastava/florida/pickup

[Yoss]

6 hours ago, IronStar said:

Yup. It’s called Florida Poly

https://www.polovniautomobili.com/auto-oglasi/zastava/florida/pickup

Thanks, they are a new one on me but it makes perfect sense. 

[Bear]

14 hours ago, IronStar said:

Yup. It’s called Florida Poly

https://www.polovniautomobili.com/auto-oglasi/zastava/florida/pickup

In America they call that 'a close family'.

[Sigmund Fraud]

On 19/02/2026 at 19:43, IronStar said:

Fuck me, this car is so pretty! ❤️

Looking great ! Are those Seat Ibiza SXI wheels ?

[IronStar]

Came back from the trip last night. Enjoyment was disturbed by a wheel bearing that didn’t like the rain or the salt on the road. I had a great pleasure* of listening to a failed bearing for 600 kilometers. Not fun, I feel like my head is still rumbling. 😵‍💫
Booked in the shop for tomorrow with “can we please fix this fast, I need this car operational?” I think my case was helped by them not even starting on the Bravo yet.

I also went and picked up this from the tuners

No dyno printout, and I wouldn’t really believe one if it was there. Everyone’s chasing numbers, at least here, and it’s not unheard of to…erm…skew them a bit. I like impartial 3rd party one, so that will get booked soon.

They weren’t willing to give an estimate, but state that all the parameters are happy, and I’m inclined to believe them as the cars has no weird kicks, no gaps in power, and importantly, my pet peeve of mapped diesels - no black clag when booted. They recon they could find a few more ponies if I’m not happy, but, as instructed, they went on the side of longevity rather than maximum output. 

Butt dyno says FAST! Much more power than before all of this work was done. I recon it goes better than the 159, so I would guess we’re talking the expected 190-200 bhp ballpark, which feels and goes faster because lighter, less insulated car. The sole indicator that the car was tinkered with is this:

We’ll see how it behaves longer term. I also spotted a small purple puddle under it previously, and need to check if it’s loosing coolant rapidly or just a drip. Probably an unhappy hose somewhere, but I’ll get it checked soon.

I also noted a distinct lack of grip, associated with M+S ditchfinders on it. I took an on ramp to motorway enthusiastically today and almost understeered into a barrier. 😄 If I’m buying tyres, it’s also probably a good time to send away OZ Waves I bought ages ago but never fitted for a refurb.

I’d like them in gunmetal + diamond cut rather than factory black + diamond cut. I think this shape suits 156 really well, and is slightly more interesting than GTA wheels which are also 17s. 

1 hour ago, Sigmund Fraud said:

Looking great ! Are those Seat Ibiza SXI wheels ?

Yup! Soon to be replaced with RSL Cults though.

waiting for the final go-ahead that everything is working right on the car before I buy the tyres for them.

[IronStar]

17 hours ago, IronStar said:

Came back from the trip last night. Enjoyment was disturbed by a wheel bearing that didn’t like the rain or the salt on the road. I had a great pleasure* of listening to a failed bearing for 600 kilometers. Not fun, I feel like my head is still rumbling. 😵‍💫
Booked in the shop for tomorrow with “can we please fix this fast, I need this car operational?” I think my case was helped by them not even starting on the Bravo yet.

Same day turnaround on this! 😵

Left it at 12PM, got a call at 4PM I can come pick it up. Long-standing tradition of nothing is ever cheap on this car, ever, is being upheld. Front wheel bearing, some change from 200€, supplied and fitted.

Got another Yugo Motronic 3.1 EFI system as well. Guy was doing Yugos for ages, and decided to give up, and is selling the lot. Came with everything needed for a conversion - harness, sensors, intake manifold, cylinder head, injectors, fuel pump, ECU, the lot, many of the parts double. Not everything is in the photos. 100€ for the lot.

 

[IronStar]

Steering wheel, handbrake cover, gear gaiter, and gearknob for 155 have been reupholstered. Can't wait to get the rest of the interior looking nice.

 

Not much to report outside of this, other than 156 is now spectacularly shit on fuel. Could* be related to me suddenly having a much heavier right foot, as torque kick is addictive, and it pulls like a train. 😆

Have a bonus photo of the Yugo Cabrio for coming here. Backing tape on the orange rubbing strips is a bit shit and it shows, so they will be put back on with windscreen glue

Thank you all for reading and commenting on my drivel, it feels very cosy in here!

[Anthony]

52 minutes ago, IronStar said:

Steering wheel, handbrake cover, gear gaiter, and gearknob for 155 have been reupholstered. Can't wait to get the rest of the interior looking nice.

 

They look really nicely done 👌

[IronStar]

Finally got Bravo back from the shop, which was obviously in no rush to work on it.

Pro Kit fitted, leaky cabin heater replaced, both o2 sensor replaced, Akron clutch cable replaced with ATE, completely clogged cat decatted, another coolant reservoir fitted, evap valve replaced.

Honestly it feels like a completely different car now. Clutch finally feels nice, all the hesitation and misfires are gone, handling imbalance that was annoying seems to be cured by the Pro Kit, it completely transformed the way it drives. Exhaust sounds a bit too fruity now though, and will need a revisit to the exhaust shop. Oh and I would like a wheel spacers to push them out a bit. 

Couldn’t be happier! 

Reg is expiring in a few days, so I need to book it in. My very friendly tester is in between jobs, so I will probably have to use another shop. 😱 Hopefully I don’t get some nitpicking snobs, and it goes alright. Car itself feels great but you never know. 

 

[hairnet]

On 11/02/2026 at 12:35, IronStar said:

 

 

attracts pussy llke you wouldnt believe

also when is @Mrs6C and @Six-cylinder booking a holiday so their 156 gets some love

your tech would love that