New Milano owner!!

[Eric S.]

Finally! It's been about 2 years since we've had this car in my family, it's barely been driven...~100K kms on it, VERY good condition, runs great..

It's a 1989 Milano Verde 3.0, with the Recaro seats and everything, I'm in love

Now this is my first car, and I was wondering what kind of tips you guys had for me...anything at all that you can think of that you wish someone had told you before you got your Milano!

Also I'm looking for some new mags, anybody have any suggestions? Anything I should do to the car, bodykit, etc?

I'll post pics when I have a chance, the car is in the shop for about a week, but mehh I can stop by and take pics!

Eric

[Mezevenf]

Change the timing belt

Check fluids regularly. Does your ARC (The thing with all the warning lights) still work? Keep an eye for rust in the rear wheel arches.

Looking forward to pictures

[La Voce]

What a BLAST they are to drive. Echo the advice on changing the timing belt soonest. I assume the ABS and BRAKE warning lights on the ARC panel illuminate when starting the car and extinguish withing 10 seconds or so? If not advise immediately.
Carefully remove the rear reflector strip and inspect for hidden rust. Use break-free penetrant on the six nuts before attempting to loosen. You'll have to pry out a rubber grommet at each end of the boot lid underside for access, the rest are easy to see and get at. The electrical connectors just carefully pull apart.
This is not a power-shift stoplight racer. Rev match shifting into second gear, as you pull the shift lever back into second gear don't force it- you'll be penalized with a grinding noise. Just increase rpm smoothly until she slides into second. Don't need to full double-clutch, a quick blip of throttle should do. With practice you can do this very quickly. Practice heel and toe to do this while downshifting.
If the Recaros are in good shape, cover the center panels of the front seats immediately. They are notorious for accelerated wear. You'll find it difficult to find cheap off the shelf full seat covers that fit and look nice on these seats. Cover them though, if only by tucking in a clean towel of your choice of color behind the panels. The black wool side bolsters usually fare better.
And finally, enjoy but be SAFE! Push her to your limits only in a safe area until you are comfortable with how she handles. In the immediate vicinity of high curbs or deep ditch shoulders are the wrong place to find out you've lost control. If there's a local autocross club or performance driving school, it will be time and money well spent.

[JoeCab]

The one thing anyone should do the day they get a new Milano is spend an afternoon cleaning electrical grounds. Wire brush and use contact cleaner on every one you can find. This will improve everything from the brightness of your headlights to the smoothness of the engine. Many electrical accessories may begin to function with this simple step.

JOe

[Storsav]

Congrats on your new Milano. I love my new Verde too, so I treated her to a timing belt, water pump service. Valve adjustment, Total fluid change (Diff, Engine, Coolant, Brake Fluid, PS Fluid), and some other assorted little things that needed done. It wasn't cheap, but if you treat these cars right they'll return the favor. Have fun!!


Joe, good advice on those contacts. I'll get on that asap.

[Grant]

I still don't understand how rev-matching and not double-clutching helps the synchros do their job!? I believe you La Voce, but I've just never had simliar results myself. Care to inform me?

Eric, I'm assuming you are a young adult yourself? Whatever you do, don't do drop clutch launches. You will probably break your driveshaft insulating donuts faster than you can say "Fast and the Furios 3: Tokyo Drift".
Have fun with your new Verde. I'm envious, my first Alfa was a bone stock 2.5 liter Gold

[La Voce]

You can certainly double clutch if you wish!

[Mezevenf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grant You will probably break your driveshaft insulating donuts faster than you can say "Fast and the Furios 3: Tokyo Drift".

[tomp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeCab The one thing anyone should do the day they get a new Milano is spend an afternoon cleaning electrical grounds. Wire brush and use contact cleaner on every one you can find. This will improve everything from the brightness of your headlights to the smoothness of the engine. Many electrical accessories may begin to function with this simple step. JOe

[genius]

Eric, congratulations on the new "baby"...

One thing I think is important is to check the metal surround to the heater intake just in front of the windscreen at the top of the firewall...75s (Milanos to you lot ) have a bad habit of collecting leaves and other bits of crap in the drain holes either end of the firewall. This causes water to collect and the inevitable tin worm colony to form...make sure that you clear these regularly...It's a costly excercise cutting rust out and fabricating the triple-skinned firewall

[Gubi]

Yeah, good point about the leaves - mine had half a tree in it when I got it. I'll go further and say to go in and clean out the heater box under the dash. There've been a few people around here who have had fires start because of leaves trapped in there

[Mezevenf]

Yes, then build a little mesh guard to stop more leaves and crap from getting down there. Good modification.

[La Voce]

Yes, a friend of mine had his low mileage cream puff Gold burn to the ground because he made the mistake of parking under a tree too many times. The fire started in the heater box and rapidly spread to the entire interior.

[Eric S.]

FINALLY, out of the shop

Here's some pics:

EXTERIOR











SOUND SYSTEM
2 subs in the trunk, amp, plus a sweet Alpine deck with iPod support :tu:









ENGINE BAY + MISC.



















that's all for now!

Eric

[Eric S.]

heres a video!

<embed width="352" height="308" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://vid5.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid5.photobucket.com/albums/y173/lilsuprano/PICT0619AVI.flv"></embed>