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Many issues caused by GTV TS sitting for a year

2K views 23 replies 19 participants last post by  MalcQV 
#1 ·
I SORN'd my GTV for just over a year; I expected maybe a couple of problems, needing new tyres maybe, and an oil & filter change, but after letting a very well looked after GTV sit for a year she has some issues.

I guess I would firstly list this as a warning to store your precious cars properly, pay the extra for a garage or storage company and don't bother with a car cover - It didn't work.

Secondly, for a little advice on where to take her in Gloucestershire - Would you guys use a general mechanics (trusted - family friends) or would you pay for the specialist Alfa garage, I hear Cloverleaf Services in Gloucester are very good? But I guess a lot more expensive than a general mechanics. I don't have the budget for this so want to keep costs sensible, but she deserves to be repaired.
Thirdly, is this all as bad as I think? Maybe these are easy fixes..

Anyway, here we go...
After a general tyre check, replacing the battery and a sparkle clean I took her in for the MOT, which she failed:

"Brakes failures: RBT Service brake efficiency: 45%
Brake efficiency: 4%
1: Service brake efficiency below requirement
2: Parking brake efficiency below requirement."

Advisories:
3: Offside rear (corroded) brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened.
4: Nearside rear (corroded) brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened.
5: Nearside front lower suspension arm ball joint dust cover deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt
6: General scaly rust to chassis and suspension
7: Both front shock gaiters damaged


I feel awful - the car was great before winter. So I don't want to just repair the brakes to get the car through the MOT, I would like to repair all advisories and get rid of that rust and have the car back to ship shape again. Number 6 is a particular worry for obvious reasons...

So, what do you guys think? Any advice to offer this stupid man, paying the price for leaving his Alfa outside all winter? :(
 
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#3 ·
3: Offside rear (corroded) brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened.
4: Nearside rear (corroded) brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened.

depends on how much is corroded, but just find a road... go 40+ and brake the living **** out of them. the pads should mm by mm take away the corroded discs.
 
#4 ·
depends on how much is corroded, but just find a road... go 40+ and brake the living **** out of them. the pads should mm by mm take away the corroded discs.
I brake as gently as possible for as long as possible rather than stand on them,to wear it off evenly. Hate to think what mine would be like after a year,they're bad enough after a fortnight :)
 
#7 ·
...and liberal coatings of ACF50 next time you lay it up for any length of time. Before I had a garage my old Ducati was outside under a cover for 5 years but treating with ACF50 no noticeable increase in corrosion at all. You can literally spray it everywhere, though it's not that cheap.
 
#8 ·
MOT advisories are pretty hit and miss. Two years ago the GTV passed but with a list of advisories. I did nothing about any of them. Last year a different garage passed it with no advisories at all. This week I went back to the original garage where it passed again with a completely different list of advisories.

I guess what I'm saying is make your own decision on which of them you address but don't be spooked into throwing money at them all
 
#10 ·
I've just got my Spider through it's MOT on the second attempt. It had been standing for a year or so before I bought it and I've had the same brake issues.

I fitted new disks and pads all round as the old ones were worn out and expected it to sail through.

Both my service and parking brakes were below the limit and it turned out that my rear callipers were both sticking. They weren't stuck solid, but the pistons were difficult to move. I freed them off and rebuilt them with new seals and it's fine now.
 
#12 ·
I agree that's not really much of a list and easy to sort. They are after all advisories not failure notes.
The service brake efficiency is likely to be sticky calipers or brake fluid issues. A general mechanic can easily diagnose and sort but it would be part of a four corner change anyway.
You may need a new cable for the parking brake - they do stretch to a point that they can't be adjusted anymore but again that's easy.
 
#13 ·
with that service brake efficiency a pre-68 classic car would pass, so you aren't too far off the mark. Some garages will lift the car on teh ramp, start the engine, drive it in 4th and gently apply the brakes to clean the disks. Pretty quick way to burn off the corrosion.
 
#14 ·
Glad I read this. This is a concern for me as I bought my TS Spider back in February so this will be my first winter with her. I don't have a garage - just a driveway, and had bought a car cover for her. Have spent a lot on her this year to get her up to speed mechanically, so don't want it to be money wasted. :paranoid: What to do though!? Driving her in the depths of a Scottish winter won't do much either to help her condition.
 
#17 ·
I've never had a good experience of storing away an Alfa for the winters, and I too used to park them on the driveway. Car covers made it worse I think so now I'm going to try out a Carcoon and see if that works. Generally they're accepted as doing the job but that's mostly indoors again, but I have no option but to try it out as I don't drive my car that often.
 
#16 ·
Mots are a bit of a joke in the UK ,depending on where u take it and who you know determines if you get a pass or end up spending hundreds

Its easy for garages to fail just to get work ,i know i work in one .Yes you can appeal ,but who bothers and whats the chance of winning
 
#20 ·
Whilst that list was annoying (and noted it was back in April/May) it's not actually all bad. I assume the discs were corroded and not scored. That I admit is down to lack of use.

I have a one car in the garage (and also in a Carcoon) over winter and one outside under a Specialized Car cover (tailor made and not cheap).
The Carcooned garaged car failed the MOT on emissions (maybe also a wheel bearing but I had that fixed prior to the MOT). Consequently due to diagnosing the emission failure and the busy specialist having time that was away all summer :(
The car outside under the cover also failed it's MOT (using them does help in many ways, though not all) but it had failed the year previous too. I had it MOT'd in April 2014 and it failed. Tyre advisory and lower rear spring pans. I did them and never took it back (busy with other stuff). So this year it failed on the front two lower arms and that was it.

The point being I do believe using them is the key if at all possible. This year instead of SORN'ing them I am leaving them taxed. Whether I use any car (except the hack) once the salt has been down though is doubtful. Even when it's dry that stuff get's thrown up under the car.
 
#24 ·
malc said:
Whether I use any car (except the hack) once the salt has been down though is doubtful. Even when it's dry that stuff get's thrown up under the car.
I wouldn't worry. It says in the buyers guide that rust isn't an issue anymore:devious:
:lol: Yeah sod it :p
 
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