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Confirmed. My 156 has got terminal cancer!! (rotten floorplan)

2K views 16 replies 6 participants last post by  purple145 
#1 · (Edited)
My Friends

Today is a very sad day for me as I have received confirmation (after having a second inspection) that my beloved '99 156 needs so much welding done on the floor pan that I just can't justify (or afford) to get it done. :cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry:

I have owned her for two years and put much love into her as she has full service history. She has done 126,200K, the 120k service done at 117,100, including auxiliary belt. The Cambelt was tone at 116k too.

They're the essentials, but on top of that I have replaced in the last 12 months

Header Tank
Radiator
Both top suspension arms (top)
Discs & pads all round (rears last Saturday)
Exhaust back box and link pipe (last Saturday) - CAT 1 year before
Thermostat
Coolant Temp sensor
Front nearside Wheel bearing
All the tyres (both rears last saturday)
oh and both front and rear badges (just because they were faded)

She's not the fastest car in the world and has a flat spot at low revs I can't seem to shake, but please can someone offer some advice.

Should I

1, sell the car with no MOT, 8 months tax and all the new stuff on it? ( i reckon id get £600 tops)

2, Buy another 156 with long MOT and use mine as a doner car

3, Break the car?

Please can someone advise me which is the best course of action. I can't afford to buy a new car or another car really for that matter unless its a £200 fiesta or something, but I feel as an Alfa lover that i should never give up!

If any of you guys here can weld, and like lots of beer, respect and a bit of cash please find it in your heart to offer a lifeline to my silver baby :vomit: ( I should win an Oscar for this!)


Seriously though, and advice/help massivley appreciated!!!
 
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#2 ·
I vote for welding it, take it to an engineer, even an apprentice/ handy man. Garages will charge a fortune for this sort of work simply because they have a set labour rate and the others will price "per job". The floorpan on the 156 is pretty flat (meaning there is less fabrication required for the patches) and most areas are easy to access. I under sealed mine and found it far nicer to work at than most other cars. Just remember to disconnect the battery before anyone starts welding.
 
#4 ·
I had every intention of getting the welding done that the MOT failed on.

It failed on sills, full length on the nearside and about 10" worth on the offside. Guy at the garage said he'd have to pull up carpet on the inside as the wiring loom runs along the sill and he didn't want to ****** all the electrics up, and then plate it from underneath too. He quoted £150 all in so i said to do it - hell id just replaced the exhaust, 2 tyres and rear brake discs 2 days before and wanted my car back.

He called me three hours later saying he not going to touch it anymore until I come to look at it as big chunks are falling off as he chases back the rot looking for good steel.

The bottom -line is I've now been told by 2 separate garages (one in Leeds and one in Huddersfield) that

1, Best case price £350, Worst case £450-550 (Leeds)

2, The cost of the repair cannot be justified by the value of the car

At best i reckon she's worth 1k, so spending nearly £700 (including exhaust, tyres, brakes etc) seems plain stupid???

Am I right?????????
 
#10 ·
I can understand that you might love to bring cars back to their former glory and do it for the love, but I cant justify to myself spending £750 getting my car through this MOT to then try and get 1k when i try to sell it, cos i wouldn't dare keep it for another year after how much id spent on it to get it road legal.

In its present condition with all the new parts on I reckon someone would pay 500 and use it as a project or something like that.

You must have money to burn if you can lose £3,300 on a project, plus all the man hours! :wow:
 
G
#11 ·
i was out of work when it went so any cash was welcome, however i regret it so my next one i am keeping!

got a whole bunch of facelift parts to go on my V6 alfa too - mines in for welding as we speak! only £100 worth tho
 
G
#13 ·
yeah it was, yeah midnight blue with white leather 944 turbo this time!

id love a 911 however i prefer the 944's engine. as you can have it converted from 2.5 to 3.2 pushing the power from about 250bhp to over 400 bhp, for about 2 grand - making it an interesting race for a modern 911. in its day the 944 turbo was £95 more than a 911 ridiculous! and just as fast!

only one patch being done! the rest is solid we've checked! then a waxoil!
 
#14 ·
yes i would definately cake it in Shultz or Waxoyl

I know this will sound a bit stupid but, why spend 2k increasing engine size if all its going to do is cost you more to run? Surely a sweet standard 944 after i bit of loving is quick enough rival anything (within reason) ha ha
 
#16 ·
There won't be many 156's left soon. I looked at a few cars before buying mine, mostly from V reg to 51 reg and all of them had rust in the floor to some degree.


Because of the low value people will just scrap them instead of getting them fixed.

Mine has some rust in the floor, on the inner sills and below the driver seat but I am hoping it will be relatively easy to fix. The sills seem solid still but the other rust patch is definitely a hole.

Luckily both me and my brother have worked as professional welders, and my brother has welded up quite a few cars in the past.
 
#17 ·
it cost £250 to get my 145 done last year and that had six different sizeable rust holes, one 12 in long. Try to keep the cost down by stripping out the interior yourself, carpet is the important one, its not hard, but time consuming due to the seats, belts, console etc all being in the way. You only want to pay the welder for welding, not to do a fairly easy DIY job.

If you go to buy another car for £1000 it will need something doing to it for sure, no one sells a car when it is going well.

HTH
 
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