Used to work on these. Personally always preferred the Citroen ZX 16v. They were a bit lighter and (imho) better looking. Never quite got to grips with the tapered sill look of the peugeot. Made it look fat at the back. Anyway enough personal opinion.
Make sure you use a high quality oil and keep it right to the max on the old dipstick. These motors aren't remotely tolerant of low oil and hard cornering situations (sound familiar 2.0 16v TS owners?!). The bottom end can be fragile if neglected. Having changed engines for a few enthusiastic drivers that never checked their oil, or changed it for that matter, I can't stress strongly enough keeping your oil right. I would also echo the timing belt shouts.
Sad thing is that comparing the 147 to the 306 is perhaps a little unfair though.I personally wouldn't call it a hot hatch (unlike the 306) in the true sense of the word. I don't think Alfa really made the effort they could have done to produce a "hot hatch hero" in the 2.0 litre class (hides in a dust bin to avoid volley of bricks and abuse!
).
Have fun with it. I know I would.
