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139 Posts
iv been thinking about starting a thread about my car so that i could answer all questions that might arise and at the same time get help on all the small thing i might over see and would not be aware of... there is a alot, so i hope it isnt boring, i find it real intresting though.. the story of my 147 gta 3.7.
it all started a few years ago while i was still driving my new citi golf 1.4i, and getting close to completing my degree, my dad came across this alfa 147 gta
not knowing what a gta really was, but say that it was a 3.2 as shown on the motor, my dad deciede to get it from me. from what we could see, the right front rim was damaged and the front control arm with the wishbones was damaged along with the front right fender. other than this, the whole car was in good condition with literally no damage!
Knowing this, we got the car (my dad wouldnt tell me how much since it was like a gift from him) we got the parts to fix it up and get it on the road. there were a few problems with the wiring and start up as well with items such as the air flow sensor and the engine didnt want to start due to what the auto electrician said was a chip that he had to bypass (still mysteriously bypassed till now i think).
i was still in durban then studying while all this was going on at my hometown of newcastle. anyway, i got really excited when i heard that the car was actually going to be mine, since i vaguely remeber reading it in the speed and sound magazine and all the good the things its good at doing (not forgetting the time the 3.7 got, faster than the m3 at that time around the track).
Well, then comes my 1st heart break. The car was ready and needed to be licensed that day my bro decieded to take it for a test drive, and not knowing what he was in for until he drove straight into the back of a bakkie deploying the airbags, locking up the seatbelts and also damaging the whole front bumper along with the headlights, the two fenders and a few other items that i might not have seen.
This made it frustrating and the cars just sat in the yard for about a year before i came one december holidays and persuaded my dad into getting the car on the road again. we couldnt really source a real front bumper for the gta along wit the headlights and fenders that would seem economically viable for the car how it was, so we got the standard 147 front bumper and headlights which seemed to work fine
we also got new airbag modules, which just sliped into place perfectly and released the seatbelts after a few hours of fidgeting. i satrted becoming acoustomed to how the italians think when they designed this car being complex in many ways, yet alot of things are sourced from the same designs they have in their older cars.
And like 6months down the line, near the end of 2008, i finally got the car on the road, licensed and moving, which is literally when i couldnt get over the car! the power, although not what it should be, was so addictive, with the 6 speed gear box and loads of torque i had to get used to, just made it alot more attractive. i didnt see myself wanting any other car!
On a certian last day in november of that very same year, i was on my way back to Durban, and bad luck hit again from where near my destination, i somehow managed to melt the pistons in my car. This was like certainly one of the worst feelings ever, nonethe less, this meant alot of hours and money to fix he again. i took it to a mechanic who did a service for me a month earlier, since he the only guy i knew that would do it, as the alfa centres would be so much of a hassle. anyways, after discovering the cause of the failure, which the mechanic said was due to the water pump packing up, the recovery cost was set at R48k. note that the 1st time i did discover that the car had a 3.7 modification on it was when the pistons failed and we opend it up, finding 101mm ross pistons done initially by oom Dawie. Time of delivery for the car was dependent over when he could source the parts. sadly, this took another 6-8 months, which just seemed an eternity to me, but the excitement was still there.
I finally got the car after that and after many difficulties with the mechanic, after i got the car back in my hands, i wouldnt want to give it back to him ever, he seemd quite dodgy. Driving the car around felt great until i noticed that the oil temperature used to always be too high around 100 degrees and sometimes even go too 120. I changed the oil and it seemed quite burnt and then i figured that the oil cooler required cleaning. i also noticed that the original 147 bumper does not have enough duct to allow for ventalation to the oil coolers, which in my head i felt was also the actual cause of the overheating and failing of the pistons.
Currently my car is in newcastle getting some fins cut into the bumper to allow better ventilation for the oil cooler, and i recently changed the cluth master and slave cylinders ( quite a tough job starting from scratch and having the aid of an old mech). There has also just the other day been an addition of a new set of tyres and last month as well, i put in a whole new front suspension (upper and lower).
I still donot know if the car has a Q2 diff or not, i did take it to a dyno one day and got 198kW. the car is black with a sunroof, full black leather interior, still smells like new, my current milage( as of just the other day) is around 26k kms. oh yes, the aircon works, though i think there is a slight leak since the after i filled gas, a week later it stopped cooling.
there probably alot more to tell that i may have missed out on which would come as i remember, and im certain i wouldnt mind telling. i would also like an opinions on this and possible help. i do have the old failed pistons at home, ill takes pics of those and of whatever i can get from the car as well.
thanx guys, let me know what you think.
it all started a few years ago while i was still driving my new citi golf 1.4i, and getting close to completing my degree, my dad came across this alfa 147 gta
not knowing what a gta really was, but say that it was a 3.2 as shown on the motor, my dad deciede to get it from me. from what we could see, the right front rim was damaged and the front control arm with the wishbones was damaged along with the front right fender. other than this, the whole car was in good condition with literally no damage!
Knowing this, we got the car (my dad wouldnt tell me how much since it was like a gift from him) we got the parts to fix it up and get it on the road. there were a few problems with the wiring and start up as well with items such as the air flow sensor and the engine didnt want to start due to what the auto electrician said was a chip that he had to bypass (still mysteriously bypassed till now i think).
i was still in durban then studying while all this was going on at my hometown of newcastle. anyway, i got really excited when i heard that the car was actually going to be mine, since i vaguely remeber reading it in the speed and sound magazine and all the good the things its good at doing (not forgetting the time the 3.7 got, faster than the m3 at that time around the track).
Well, then comes my 1st heart break. The car was ready and needed to be licensed that day my bro decieded to take it for a test drive, and not knowing what he was in for until he drove straight into the back of a bakkie deploying the airbags, locking up the seatbelts and also damaging the whole front bumper along with the headlights, the two fenders and a few other items that i might not have seen.
This made it frustrating and the cars just sat in the yard for about a year before i came one december holidays and persuaded my dad into getting the car on the road again. we couldnt really source a real front bumper for the gta along wit the headlights and fenders that would seem economically viable for the car how it was, so we got the standard 147 front bumper and headlights which seemed to work fine
we also got new airbag modules, which just sliped into place perfectly and released the seatbelts after a few hours of fidgeting. i satrted becoming acoustomed to how the italians think when they designed this car being complex in many ways, yet alot of things are sourced from the same designs they have in their older cars.And like 6months down the line, near the end of 2008, i finally got the car on the road, licensed and moving, which is literally when i couldnt get over the car! the power, although not what it should be, was so addictive, with the 6 speed gear box and loads of torque i had to get used to, just made it alot more attractive. i didnt see myself wanting any other car!
On a certian last day in november of that very same year, i was on my way back to Durban, and bad luck hit again from where near my destination, i somehow managed to melt the pistons in my car. This was like certainly one of the worst feelings ever, nonethe less, this meant alot of hours and money to fix he again. i took it to a mechanic who did a service for me a month earlier, since he the only guy i knew that would do it, as the alfa centres would be so much of a hassle. anyways, after discovering the cause of the failure, which the mechanic said was due to the water pump packing up, the recovery cost was set at R48k. note that the 1st time i did discover that the car had a 3.7 modification on it was when the pistons failed and we opend it up, finding 101mm ross pistons done initially by oom Dawie. Time of delivery for the car was dependent over when he could source the parts. sadly, this took another 6-8 months, which just seemed an eternity to me, but the excitement was still there.
I finally got the car after that and after many difficulties with the mechanic, after i got the car back in my hands, i wouldnt want to give it back to him ever, he seemd quite dodgy. Driving the car around felt great until i noticed that the oil temperature used to always be too high around 100 degrees and sometimes even go too 120. I changed the oil and it seemed quite burnt and then i figured that the oil cooler required cleaning. i also noticed that the original 147 bumper does not have enough duct to allow for ventalation to the oil coolers, which in my head i felt was also the actual cause of the overheating and failing of the pistons.
Currently my car is in newcastle getting some fins cut into the bumper to allow better ventilation for the oil cooler, and i recently changed the cluth master and slave cylinders ( quite a tough job starting from scratch and having the aid of an old mech). There has also just the other day been an addition of a new set of tyres and last month as well, i put in a whole new front suspension (upper and lower).
I still donot know if the car has a Q2 diff or not, i did take it to a dyno one day and got 198kW. the car is black with a sunroof, full black leather interior, still smells like new, my current milage( as of just the other day) is around 26k kms. oh yes, the aircon works, though i think there is a slight leak since the after i filled gas, a week later it stopped cooling.
there probably alot more to tell that i may have missed out on which would come as i remember, and im certain i wouldnt mind telling. i would also like an opinions on this and possible help. i do have the old failed pistons at home, ill takes pics of those and of whatever i can get from the car as well.thanx guys, let me know what you think.
