[Redd]

Hi all,

Last time I was here was 13 years ago, when I had a 156 V6 Q-System. Unfortunately, the car met its end in a battery fire and I moved on to other European marques.

Last year, I saw a red 159 on the road and it was still such a stunning car that the image stuck with me. I started my hunt for a 159 Sportwagon but those are extremely rare here (only one unit in the country). End of last year, a lovely low-mileage unit came up on sale in the right colors (red with tan) and, after more than a decade, I'm back in an Alfa!

My car is a 2011 159 2.2 JTS Selespeed. It was sold as a 'Sport Pack' here and came with a lot of stuff from the TI parts bin - TI brakes and suspension, TI black alu interior trim, TI red gauges, and power seats. Car had 68k kms and had been lovingly cared for by the previous owners. The front and boot badges weren't even faded yet!

I'm starting this thread to document the restoration process of the 159. It will be my spare car and I intend to restore it back to a like-new condition. And at the same time, modernize it a little so it doesn't feel as dated compared to modern cars.

Here's a pic of the 159 parked next to my buddy's 156.

 

[Redd]

Headlight cleaning and refurbishment.

The left headlight came with a nasty stone chip so I decided to clean and refurbish them. I sent out the lights to a professional shop to clean the reflectors, polish the lenses, and apply protection film. But they wouldn't touch the chrome bit for fear of damaging them so I had to tackle those myself.

Meguiars Cleaner Wax makes easy work of tough water marks on the chrome, and Molotow Liquid Chrome pen is perfect for touching up the stone chips.

(Sorry I can't seem to arrange the images in the sequence that I want)

 

[LiamBates]

Would love to see more pics of the car, it looks great. Nice work with the lights too!


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[Redd]

Would love to see more pics of the car, it looks great. Nice work with the lights too!


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Car's in paint right now. Even though the paint was in relatively good condition for its age, it did have some scratches, chips and dings. So I decided to just respray the whole car to avoid any color matching issues. Pics of the process will follow soon.

 

[LiamBates]

Car's in paint right now. Even though the paint was in relatively good condition for its age, it did have some scratches, chips and dings. So I decided to just respray the whole car to avoid any color matching issues. Pics of the process will follow soon.

You’re right about the colour matching, and I admire your commitment going for a full respray. I would definitely recommend getting PPF when it’s finished, I regret not doing the same when my Brera had a front end respray.

Looking forward to seeing more!


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[jdajames]

I have a feeling that this is definitely going to be a thread worth following. Lovely repair on the light.
Good luck with the project.

 

[Redd]

Car is fresh out of the spray booth. Even before polish the quality of the work is apparent.

Just a teaser. I really like the Rosso red with tan leather.

 

[LiamBates]

Looks lovely already, and a great colour combination for sure!


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[paul.o]

Is that a black roof combo...

 

[Redd]

Is that a black roof combo...

Yes I decided to go gloss black on the roof because it lowers the roofline of the car and makes it look a bit sportier.

 

[Redd]

Repainted calipers in body color, and wheels in Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio Black Metallic.

 

[W1NST]

Look forward to seeing the finished article - used to love my Alfa Red 159 ti!

 

[Lankan159]

Looks stunning OP! Have you seen the LED running light project? Any thoughts?

 

[Redd]

Looks stunning OP! Have you seen the LED running light project? Any thoughts?

You're referring to the halos on the six headlight rings? I've seen it but undecided on it. I may just do a halo on the foglights and keep the headlights without halo.

 

[lanceshaw]

You're referring to the halos on the six headlight rings? I've seen it but undecided on it. I may just do a halo on the foglights and keep the headlights without halo.

I went LED's on my Spider for the six headlights and put halos in the fogs. Pic attached but hard to see the halo's in daylight

 

[SanRemo78]

BiXenons fitted with a Halo Ring conversion.
Guy

 

[Redd]

I went LED's on my Spider for the six headlights and put halos in the fogs. Pic attached but hard to see the halo's in daylight
View attachment 966806

Yeah that's kinda the direction I'm thinking right now also. LEDs have come a long way - they're much brighter, much cheaper, and I don't need to modify the headlights unlike with HIDs.

What brand LEDs did you use? Any feedback/watch outs?

 

[jdajames]

I went LED's on my Spider for the six headlights and put halos in the fogs. Pic attached but hard to see the halo's in daylight
View attachment 966806

How to the LED’s perform? I’ve heard while they look great, the beam pattern doesn’t actually increase the light when driving?

 

[alfaitalia]

Yeah that's kinda the direction I'm thinking right now also. LEDs have come a long way - they're much brighter, much cheaper, and I don't need to modify the headlights unlike with HIDs.

What brand LEDs did you use? Any feedback/watch outs?

Not to mention they are illegal and wont pass an MOT in the UK since the rules changed....this is because they tend to blind oncoming traffic because halogen reflectors or projectors cant properly focus LED bulbs. Look at the car with factory LED bulbs....completely different reflector style. The op is overseas though where they might not care about blinding people!!!

 

[Redd]

Fair point about beam pattern. I don't have to go thru a MOT here, but I also don't want to be that a-hole on the roads blinding people. I've seen enough LED replacement bulb reviews to believe that things have improved a lot and beam pattern is largely due to misaligned bulbs (installer didn't bother to adjust them to the 9-3 position).

They're cheap enough that I don't mind experimenting. Will check beam pattern when it's done, and if it doesn't work I'll just go back to halogens.