UK Alfa's

Do ye suffer much from rust? As I was in the North there yesterday looking at a 147 and was shocked at the rust that was had under the bonnet of the car. As anything that wasn't painted or galavnised rusted. Or anything that had the paint cracked off it was rusted. It wasn't even a high miler or a particularly old car. It was a 03 with 60k miles on it.


What are your experiences pictures would be cool.

Thanks,

Damien.

Not much rust on my 14-years old 155.. the bottom of the inner wing (o/s) is starting to bubble and the rubber mastic on the underside of the floor is starting to split.. but otherwise the beast is pretty solid.

Are you are you mean "rust" and not that one or two metal fasteners and brackets are a bit tarnished?


Ralf S.

Rust isnt usually a problem on Alfa's because they are galvanised. Living near the coast will cause some problems though. It's not something i have ever seen myself.

What about suspension arms, track rod ends etc etc?? Do they all stand up to the salt well?

rust on a modern alfas would often indicate a previous repair because all the visible outer panels are fully galvanised and should make it to the scrapyard in good condition.

My 8 year old GTV had not one single tiny spot of rust anywhere on it. Alfas haven't had any common rust issues that I'm aware of for at least 10 years. Rust would tend to indicate a repair job, or some form of damage.

Some of the undercarriage stuff will tend to get surface corrosion on it. . it's practically impossible to prevent what is essentially just powder-coated steel that lives in the wheel arch to not show any rusting at all.. but they're pretty solid lumps of metal.. they will take years to rust.

My wishbone arms (155) are about 4 years old now and they're not immaculate but they are essentially in "clean" condition. The TRE is about the same.. the coating is thinner and so it has some corrosion showing through but it wasn't an original part.. and even if it doesn't wear out, I'd say it would be another 10 years before it was seruiously corroded to start becoming a concern.


Ralf S.

Check ours out, if it's still on the for sale board. See to have a shave?

I had a look around a V reg 156 that was in a local scrappy and I was shocked at how much rust was in it.

The chassis rails had holes in it, ther was rust under the rear seat, and there was rust on the inner part of the front arches. It was probably why it was in there as the engine had been removed and probably sold, and there was no crash damage.

I don't think Alfa's built in the last 10 years or so have as much rust protection as those built in the late 80's and early 1990's.

My second 164 was 13 years old when I bought it and there was virtually no rust.

Wash off, and spray a little waxoyl here and there, is a good preventative exercise?