GTP_Ingram's Alfa Romeo 156: ch-ch-changes

[GTP_Ingram]

Red with tan, I'm afraid I'm not a fan, not even slightly!

It's a weird one. On some cars it looks odd, but on anything Italian red/tan just looks perfect to me. Plenty of Alfas and Ferraris (old and new) mix the two.

Continuing the colour debate, I agree that black and tan is a great combination. If I was getting a GTV my first choice would be Vela Blue (dark blue metallic) with tan leather. I'd always try to avoid owning a silver or grey car (unless it's something suitably quirky - @homeforsummer's old Honda Insight was a rare exception), but if possible it'd need red leather to liven it up a bit. Unless of course, we're talking about a first-gen Audi A8, in which case silver paint/black leather is the only way to go

Tan leather serves a practical purpose, too: slip into the black seats of my 156 on a sunny day and the cabin feels like a furnace..

 

[TB]

Plenty of Alfas and Ferraris (old and new) mix the two.

Don't forget Fiat!

 

[MidnightRun85]

It's a weird one. On some cars it looks odd, but on anything Italian red/tan just looks perfect to me. Plenty of Alfas and Ferraris (old and new) mix the two.

Continuing the colour debate, I agree that black and tan is a great combination. If I was getting a GTV my first choice would be Vela Blue (dark blue metallic) with tan leather. I'd always try to avoid owning a silver or grey car (unless it's something suitably quirky - @homeforsummer's old Honda Insight was a rare exception), but if possible it'd need red leather to liven it up a bit. Unless of course, we're talking about a first-gen Audi A8, in which case silver paint/black leather is the only way to go

Tan leather serves a practical purpose, too: slip into the black seats of my 156 on a sunny day and the cabin feels like a furnace..

I suppose yes it can look okay on the right car, but I just personally don't like the combination. Of course, each to their own right!
Black leather always looks good and generally easiest to keep in good condition and looking clean, although as you say, has the furnace effect!
Red leather is a bloody bold statement and only works if you can pull it off. I've always struggled with red leather, and haven't seen a car I like with it yet!
Blue leather can be the same as above, unless the colour/car combination works.
Grey leather can work quite well (I've got grey leather in my black e46 bmw and it suits quite well), and also lessens the furnace effect!

I guess it all just depends on what you're doing externally, and what colour/car combination you've got. Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing the result. You may just prove me wrong!!

 

[Beeblebrox237]

I love a tan leather interior, and I think it would look great on the 156.

 

[hasslemoff]

I like the look of my fake Carbon Fiber in the car, it feels very cheap though when you touch it.

Tan leather in a red 156 👍.

 

[GTP_Ingram]

Some very exciting things arrived today

Lots of tan Momo loveliness. Not pictured are the matching door cards and B-pillar trims.

Found a fella breaking a knackered 156 on eBay and took them off his hands for surprisingly little - I'm almost certain that with a little patience I can sell my black interior for more. I've already given them a thorough clean and they're in fantastic condition. Aside from a tiny bit of wear on the driver's seat, they're probably in a better state than my current seats (which are pretty tidy themselves). Will hopefully have a go at fitting them before the end of the week.

Oh, and I got a new rubber seal for the boot because the old one is tatty. But I can understand if that doesn't seem quite as fascinating to you.

 

[MidnightRun85]

Some very exciting things arrived today

View attachment 571012

Lots of tan Momo loveliness. Not pictured are the matching door cards and B-pillar trims.

Found a fella breaking a knackered 156 on eBay and took them off his hands for surprisingly little - I'm almost certain that with a little patience I can sell my black interior for more. I've already given them a thorough clean and they're in fantastic condition. Aside from a tiny bit of wear on the driver's seat, they're probably in a better state than my current seats (which are pretty tidy themselves). Will hopefully have a go at fitting them before the end of the week.

Oh, and I got a new rubber seal for the boot because the old one is tatty. But I can understand if that doesn't seem quite as fascinating to you.

Wow those ARE clean! Nothing like the second hand BMW E46 stuff which is always really worn on the driver's side bolster. Great find!

 

[GTP_Ingram]

I stripped most of the rear seating area today, and gave everything a clean before re-fitting the new stuff later. I'm fully expecting to break many trim clips at some point, so I went to my local Alfa garage to order more.

While I was there I decided to ask about an OE boot net that I'd seen, and it turns out that they still sell them. EIGHTY. FIVE. POUNDS. For a bit of netting! I thought it'd be a useful add-on, but I'll probably do without...

 

[Sureboss]

I stripped most of the rear seating area today, and gave everything a clean before re-fitting the new stuff later. I'm fully expecting to break many trim clips at some point, so I went to my local Alfa garage to order more.

While I was there I decided to ask about an OE boot net that I'd seen, and it turns out that they still sell them. EIGHTY. FIVE. POUNDS. For a bit of netting! I thought it'd be a useful add-on, but I'll probably do without...

You *must* be able to buy a non-genuine net that fits. I got given one for the Audi, it works well, not least because the boot is 4ft deep so getting stuff that rolls to the back of the boot means pretty much lying down with legs in the air...

And yes, Italian car trim clips are fun.

What does it use? I've got some Christmas tree ones in the garage left over from Stilo ownership, The Audi just uses screws and/or plastic clips that don't break. Which is nice.

 

[TheCracker]

While I was there I decided to ask about an OE boot net that I'd seen, and it turns out that they still sell them. EIGHTY. FIVE. POUNDS. For a bit of netting! I thought it'd be a useful add-on, but I'll probably do without...

Ebay perhaps?

 

[GTP_Ingram]

And yes, Italian car trim clips are fun.

What does it use? I've got some Christmas tree ones in the garage left over from Stilo ownership, The Audi just uses screws and/or plastic clips that don't break. Which is nice.

There are some Christmas tree-type clips - I've ordered 10 for a couple of quid. The bigger pain are the T-shaped white clips. It appears that they're nice and secure once in place, but trying to remove the trim that they secure is a nightmare.

You *must* be able to buy a non-genuine net that fits. I got given one for the Audi, it works well, not least because the boot is 4ft deep so getting stuff that rolls to the back of the boot means pretty much lying down with legs in the air...

Strangely enough, I'd considered an Audi one because apparently they fit fine and cost about £20 on ebay. Then again, there's probably plenty of others which do the same job and are even cheaper.

Ebay perhaps?

A little digging with that part number reveals that's a side net for a 156 Sportwagon. Not that the seller bothers to mention it..

 

[GTP_Ingram]

All done

All went together fairly smoothly. Here's a pic of it stripped down:

As you can see from that door loads of the sound deadening was missing, and some was gone from the other front door. Fortunately I'd bought some Dynamat stuff years ago that I'd never got around to using, so I slapped on all of that:

While I had the door cards off I decided to replace the front speakers for a pair of Pioneer items. I'd noticed that the original Alfa items buzzed a little with anything bassy (though that could be because of the lack of the sound deadening too) and for £30 for the pair they've made a noticeable improvement. They fit behind the original speaker grilles, because I'd prefer to not go for the chavvy look..

You might be able to notice in the first pic that I replaced the bright red hazard switch for one matching the rest of the dash. A simple change, but I'm quite chuffed with it.

 

[Niku Driver HC]

That half-Dynamat-half-stock-sound deadening looks a tad bit strange for me... If you're going down the Dynamat route, you might as well cover the entire bloody door insides with it, haha.

But good (and interesting) call on the hazard switch bit, it's not everyday you see someone matching its color with the rest of the dashboard... Although now it'll be sure to confuse a few with all the grey involved.

 

[GTP_Ingram]

That half-Dynamat-half-stock-sound deadening looks a tad bit strange for me... If you're going down the Dynamat route, you might as well cover the entire bloody door insides with it, haha.

That's all I had! It's expensive stuff

But good (and interesting) call on the hazard switch bit, it's not everyday you see someone matching its color with the rest of the dashboard... Although now it'll be sure to confuse a few with all the grey involved.

It's only me who's driving it, so as long as I know where the switch is, all's well It's still easy enough to find anyway because the hazard symbol glows red-ish when the car is running, and the button is still huge.

 

[Niku Driver HC]

That's all I had! It's expensive stuff

"5 quid at ASDA" expensive, or the actual kind of expensive?

It's only me who's driving it, so as long as I know where the switch is, all's well It's still easy enough to find anyway because the hazard symbol glows red-ish when the car is running, and the button is still huge.

Well you never know, just wondering that's all. I do guess the button's glow and its chunkiness (for the lack of a better word) help with such a minimalistic dashboard... Classic Alfa quirks.

 

[GTP_Ingram]

"5 quid at ASDA" expensive, or the actual kind of expensive?

About £40 or £50 for just that, if I remember rightly...

 

[Niku Driver HC]

About £40 or £50 for just that, if I remember rightly...

Well I stand corrected then, that is quite pricey. It has to be a damm good piece of sound deadening...

 

[MidnightRun85]

I may have to change my opinion on red with tan. That looks very stylish! I'm liking that a lot, and that hazard light change makes a huge difference for such a tiny component! Brilliant work!!

 

[GTP_Ingram]

Next job will be on the go soon:

I've gone for a little braking upgrade as the standard setup isn't completely confidence inspiring, so I'll be fitting a set of Brembo grooved discs and EBC Yelowstuff brake pads. I'm also planning to tidy up the calipers - the box on the right has gunmetal-ish paint and I'll see how that looks with those red Alfa Romeo decals (red calipers with white lettering has been done to death on Alfas, and I wanted something a little more subtle).

While I'm in that general area, I'll be fitting poly bushes to the rear trailing arms because I'll probably have to remove the rear discs to get to them anyway.

 

[GTP_Ingram]

It's taken a while to get everything sorted, but I now have new discs and pads all round, tarted-up brake calipers, new fluid and new trailing arm bushes at the rear. The brake fluid wasn't originally planned but it made sense to do it - I let a little air into the lines as I was winding back the rear caliper pistons, leaving me with a very soft pedal. The fluid looked a little old and discoloured anyway.

Here's how the front discs, pads and decorated calipers look now:

I thought the grey/red combo would be subtle, but I didn't realise how much of the yellow pads would be on show!

I haven't given the car a full workout yet (you're meant to bed the pads in gently over the first 100 miles or so) but they already feel noticeably better than what was on before.

Here's the rear trailing arm bushes in situ (the purple bits). I also tidied a little surface rust from the arms themselves and gave them a coat or two of paint:

And as an extra treat (and because I couldn't resist) here's a little sneak preview of how the new wheels will look when they eventually go on:

As well as gaining an extra inch in diameter compared to the teledials, they're also an inch wider, and they have a different offset which pushes them slightly further out. I'm loathed to use the word "stance," but this all means that once they're on, it'll sit even better on the road

 

[Niku Driver HC]

Aww, I'll miss the teledials. I can understand the new rims' benefits, granted, but I will still miss them. And yes, the grey/red color combo on the caliper is a good idea (although I think the grey should be a bit darker, almost black-ish), but those Yellow Stuff thingies are too bright to make it look properly subtle. What else could you expect from pads with that sort of name?

 

[MidnightRun85]

It's taken a while to get everything sorted, but I now have new discs and pads all round, tarted-up brake calipers, new fluid and new trailing arm bushes at the rear. The brake fluid wasn't originally planned but it made sense to do it - I let a little air into the lines as I was winding back the rear caliper pistons, leaving me with a very soft pedal. The fluid looked a little old and discoloured anyway.

Here's how the front discs, pads and decorated calipers look now:

View attachment 581665

View attachment 581666

I thought the grey/red combo would be subtle, but I didn't realise how much of the yellow pads would be on show!

I haven't given the car a full workout yet (you're meant to bed the pads in gently over the first 100 miles or so) but they already feel noticeably better than what was on before.

Here's the rear trailing arm bushes in situ (the purple bits). I also tidied a little surface rust from the arms themselves and gave them a coat or two of paint:

View attachment 581667

And as an extra treat (and because I couldn't resist) here's a little sneak preview of how the new wheels will look when they eventually go on:

View attachment 581668

As well as gaining an extra inch in diameter compared to the teledials, they're also an inch wider, and they have a different offset which pushes them slightly further out. I'm loathed to use the word "stance," but this all means that once they're on, it'll sit even better on the road

Those are some tasty mods there! Really looking forward to seeing the end results! Did you use EBC yellow stuff and Powerflex bushes?

 

[GTP_Ingram]

Aww, I'll miss the teledials. I can understand the new rims' benefits, granted, but I will still miss them. And yes, the grey/red color combo on the caliper is a good idea (although I think the grey should be a bit darker, almost black-ish), but those Yellow Stuff thingies are too bright to make it look properly subtle. What else could you expect from pads with that sort of name?

I knew that they were yellow, what I didn't realise without looking too closely is how little of the pads the calipers actually cover.

Those are some tasty mods there! Really looking forward to seeing the end results! Did you use EBC yellow stuff and Powerflex bushes?

Thanks, glad to hear it! In answer to your question: yes and yes.

 

[Beeblebrox237]

Looks great! I would imagine that the pads will soon get a coating of grey brake dust and road grime, and the yellow will be less noticeable then. That said, the yellow goes very nicely with more sporting appearance of the Fondmetal wheels, to the point where I'd almost be inclined to suggest painting the calipers yellow once they go on.

Incidentally, how did you get that bolt off in the end?

 

[GTP_Ingram]

Incidentally, how did you get that bolt off in the end?

Ah yes. That little 🤬..

For the benefit of everyone else, I had a little fracas with the bolt which fastened the front N/S brake disc to the hub. Originally it would have looked rather like this one:

...only rather more rusty.

Anyhoo, it was seized in place, and I managed to round it off as I tried to remove it. When I say 'seized', I mean really seized - this thing wouldn't budge, and it was made worse by the fact that the actual hex part of the bolt is very small, making solid purchase against it very tricky.

First I tried to saw off the end part so I could get a smaller socket hammered onto it. No luck with the socket trick. Next, I drilled into its face so I could insert a screw/bolt extractor. This had potential, only the bolt was so unwilling to shift that the steel bolt extractor snapped in two as I started to unscrew it. I tried attatching a nut splitter, but the bolt's position on the disc (and aforementioned small hex section) mean that it couldn't grip properly, so that plan was scrapped too.

I then resorted to the 'Jeremy Clarkson school of mechanics' and broke out a hammer and chisel and shouted at it - aiming in the direction of the rotation to force a groove into the side of the bolt, in the hope to eventually persuade it free. For a long, frustrating time, this didn't work.

In the end (and @Beeblebrox237 - this is your tl;dr for the anecdote) I got it free thanks to - and this is where Jeremy would be really proud - an much bigger hammer. The weight of each impact from a lump hammer was what it took to make it budge. Here is the carnage I was left with:

Note the circular piece in the centre of the bolt, which is the part of the bolt extractor which broke off. Every job seems to have on moron of a bolt, and this was one of my toughest foes yet.

 

[Niku Driver HC]

I knew that they were yellow, what I didn't realise without looking too closely is how little of the pads the calipers actually cover.

I guess you weren't expecting the calipers to have so many openings where the pads could peek through, really.

Also, that's one heck of a story with the bolt, even that can become a bonafide nightmare with Italian cars... Good to know that such a thing won't stand the might of JC's finest teachings, however, you showed that bolt who's the owner. 👍

 

[eiriksmil]

That interior is just so right..! I am not sold on bright red cars with a tan interior, but as yours is a darker red, it's a WINNAR. Does the later type steering wheel bolt in?

 

[GTP_Ingram]

Bought a cool little accessory today, an old school Alfa Romeo tool bag. Not sure what generation of Alfa it's from, but certainly before the 156, but it was so cheap (second hand on ebay) and looked nice that I thought I might as well get it!

In addition to the tools normally included with the car (usually stored in a big lump of black plastic inside the spare wheel well) I've thrown in a few extra bits - hose clip pliers, regular pliers, a few spanners - stuff which might come in handy should I ever need it. I mean, it's an Alfa, so you never know...

And yes, it upsets me that the handles for those hose clip pliers are blue and not red...

Here's a pic I took the other day. Note that I replaced the orange side repeaters for clear as I think it looks a little more modern.

That interior is just so right..! I am not sold on bright red cars with a tan interior, but as yours is a darker red, it's a WINNAR. Does the later type steering wheel bolt in?

Thanks! I believe that the newer steering wheel design is pretty much a straight swap, but I think I prefer the older one anyway.

 

[homeforsummer]

I mean, it's an Alfa, so you never know...

Given it's from an earlier generation of Alfa I'm surprised it didn't come with an entire new body-in-white to replace the one that had turned to dust in the driveway.

 

[Neddo]

whoa what leather is that?