[Del]

OK, these ARE the struts from El Paso, so I got confused as to who had said what about whose products were out there. Phhht.

Hmmm, should have given them a visit when we were in El Paso earlier this Spring visiting relatives. Oh well, next time, now that Alaska Air flies nonstop to there from Seattle, and back.

Will be interesting as to how the spring rates work out. Did you choose the different spring rates to equal, say, the S rates or stiffer, or were they just what they had as stock?

The price doesn't seem out of bounds for sure.

 

[Rogue Leader]

OK, these ARE the struts from El Paso, so I got confused as to who had said what about whose products were out there. Phhht.

Hmmm, should have given them a visit when we were in El Paso earlier this Spring visiting relatives. Oh well, next time, now that Alaska Air flies nonstop to there from Seattle, and back.

Will be interesting as to how the spring rates work out. Did you choose the different spring rates to equal, say, the S rates or stiffer, or were they just what they had as stock?

The price doesn't seem out of bounds for sure.

The shop is very nice its called Patterson Performance, they are the exclusive importer and distributor for Yellow Speed. They obviously won't have the 164 parts in stock, but the shock bodies for all kits are basically the same so you can see that part. The unique parts to the car are the threaded lower mounts and the solid upper mount that both just twist/bolt on. They install them on every sort of car (even saw a Lamborghini once), and I've never seen a bad review

Spring rates from the factory on them are 560 front and 225 rear. I believe they are a little stiffer than stock on the S. They do offer springs (but really any brand 2.5 inch ID springs will work), but I'd have to buy them separately (which is normal unless you're getting custom made coilovers, ST suspension did the same thing when I bought them for my race car- what comes with it, comes with it). I think they are close enough that I can dial out any harshness with the damper settings. Right now I'm starting with their recommended 12 clicks front 8 rear, and will give it a few runs up and down the road before adjusting.

If you replace the spring you'd need to set the preload yourself which is not very complicated you just need the 2 included spanners and a metric ruler, the procedure is in the manual.

 

[Luigim]

Brake calipers are now red:

Drivers front suspension is almost complete:

Man that control arm can be a pain to install, needed to get it into place with a pry bar as the bolt holes didn't line up very well.

Did some finishing work in the engine bay, tightened down all those brake lines I replaced. I swapped the transmission fluid for 2 quarts of Redline 75w90 I had left over from my race car.

Ended up removing the rear cradle again. I discovered that I had the wrong combination of washers on the bolts on top, also that I need to put that together AFTER installing the brake proportioning lever. So correct me if I'm wrong but the top bolt needs to be only lightly snugged up, the clip on caps attached to the top washer between that and the thick washer on the other side provide tension to keep the nut from vibrating off. I figured to add some RED Loctite to the top nut as well. The bottom bolt looks like it has the room for the nut to bottom out if I don't use too many thick washers.

Will put that back in next week, I should have my new lever and valve from Jason by then.

looks good! A little bit of paint adds to the fun factor....like a spoonful of sugar

 

[Del]

Took the 91S for a drive to the supermarket, and saw the local doctor with the hot new Giulia coming the other way. Flashed my lights and waved, but of course, no response.

I think many of the buyers of the new Giulias just do not recognize other Alfas, based on several occurrences. I guess maybe they thought they bought a status car, but don't know the marque at all.

Meanwhile, bled the 91S offending brake hydraulic circuit (right front and left rear), as those brakes were getting hot due to leaky master seal in that circuit, and the bleeding seemed to help a lot, as after driving around for a while both front wheels were at the same normal temperature. The wheels in that affected circuit no longer getting overly hot. Hope it lasts until I can get to changing the master. Or, I can just bleed that circuit again if needed in the meantime.

And then, I discovered that the right rear brake started getting hot. Investigation revealed that the handbrake cable had a couple of sharper bends in it at that caliper and trailing arm the way the retaining clips held it, causing the cable to hang up and pads to ride the disc. Moved the cable in that area to remove the sharp bends but so far, no joy. Will have to replace that cable I guess. Is still the original.

At least now I can drive the car as long as I don't use the handbrake. Maybe the cable will free up, but I doubt it. Never had a handbrake problem before in all these years.

 

[RedAlfasgoFast]

Replaced the oil pan on the 164S I am reviving. Also removed the radiator and AC Condensor so they can be replaced, along with the AC Compressor so we will have functional AC here in El Dorado Hills. Planning on taking this to Concorso Italiano this year, after having it parked and inoperable since 2015.

 

[Luigim]

Took the 91S for a drive to the supermarket, and saw the local doctor with the hot new Giulia coming the other way. Flashed my lights and waved, but of course, no response.

I think many of the buyers of the new Giulias just do not recognize other Alfas, based on several occurrences. I guess maybe they thought they bought a status car, but don't know the marque at all.

Meanwhile, bled the 91S offending brake hydraulic circuit (right front and left rear), as those brakes were getting hot due to leaky master seal in that circuit, and the bleeding seemed to help a lot, as after driving around for a while both front wheels were at the same normal temperature. The wheels in that affected circuit no longer getting overly hot. Hope it lasts until I can get to changing the master. Or, I can just bleed that circuit again if needed in the meantime.

And then, I discovered that the right rear brake started getting hot. Investigation revealed that the handbrake cable had a couple of sharper bends in it at that caliper and trailing arm the way the retaining clips held it, causing the cable to hang up and pads to ride the disc. Moved the cable in that area to remove the sharp bends but so far, no joy. Will have to replace that cable I guess. Is still the original.

At least now I can drive the car as long as I don't use the handbrake. Maybe the cable will free up, but I doubt it. Never had a handbrake problem before in all these years.

do the cables require oiling?

 

[Alfisto Steve]

do the cables require oiling?

The 164 right rear parking brake cable famous for freezing up in housing. Usually the housing gets kinked the way it is routed and if covering cracks moisture gets in and rusts.

 

[Del]

Exactly. It is poorly routed, using the existing hangers. I disconnected it from the two hangers and zip tied it to the trailing arm, and when I put a new one in, I'll do the same. Much better routing, IMO.

 

[horsewidower]

Bought some supplies from Jason, hope to have the LS up and running this weekend.

 

[Del]

We also hope you do as as well.

Lol, don't kill me, but I'll say it one more time, do the 5 minute diagnostic fault code check using the gas pedal, get any code, and THEN check, clean, and protect the multiwire connector for the AFM, and then after try running the engine, do the two ignition modules BEFORE you do ANYTHING else. Get these three checks/chorse out of the way, lol, jeez.

Here's hoping.

 

[horsewidower]

Lol, don't kill me, but I'll say it one more time, do the 5 minute diagnostic fault code check using the gas pedal, get any code, and THEN check, clean, and protect the multiwire connector for the AFM, and then after try running the engine, do the two ignition modules BEFORE you do ANYTHING else. Get these three checks/chorse out of the way, lol, jeez.

LOL, you know my motto..."I may not be a great mechanic, but at least I'm slow"

 

[Luigim]

Replaced the oil pan on the 164S I am reviving. Also removed the radiator and AC Condensor so they can be replaced, along with the AC Compressor so we will have functional AC here in El Dorado Hills. Planning on taking this to Concorso Italiano this year, after having it parked and inoperable since 2015.

do you plan to check timing belt, tension> pulleys etc.? it is my impression that they don't like being left ignored and alone for too long...….

 

[Luigim]

The 164 right rear parking brake cable famous for freezing up in housing. Usually the housing gets kinked the way it is routed and if covering cracks moisture gets in and rusts.

understood, from new would they need oiling etc.?

 

[horsewidower]

Del:

**** **** **** ****

 

[Del]

Ok, 4444. Interesting. If the engine still doesn't run correctly, probably shouldn't have gotten that code (I was personally hoping for 1221, bad AFM connector). Now go though and do the next step of cleaning the connectors to the AFM and the ignition modules.

Thought did occur to me, I wonder what plugs are in that thing. Should be the NGK Iridiums (NGK BKR6EIX #6418). Maybe the plugs are fouling if they are wrong, which they will. At least pull a front one and see what they are, just out of curiosity.

 

[Kim Boydell]

I found that the last code stayed in the system after I fixed the issue. In my case it was the temperature sensor in the rad. After I replaced the sensor the car ran perfectly, but the code still came up when I did the gas pedal test.

 

[therealguy419]

So decided to recharge the ac as heat index will in around 110F today and tomorrow. Recharged my crown vic ac then did the alfas ac. Needle showed it needed to be filled did fill it and then it started to run a little rough when the ac compressor was on, when turning off ac it returned back to normal. I am thinking I might have a bad AC Compressor and it was not getting that cold.

 

[144]

So decided to recharge the ac as heat index will in around 110F today and tomorrow. Recharged my crown vic ac then did the alfas ac. Needle showed it needed to be filled did fill it and then it started to run a little rough when the ac compressor was on, when turning off ac it returned back to normal. I am thinking I might have a bad AC Compressor and it was not getting that cold.

It sounds like you were using the disposable cheapo fill gauges on the refrigerant bottle? If so, you could be overcharging the system which will degrade cooling and put tremendous strain on the compressor.

 

[Alfisto Steve]

Well ML took the Jeep Grand Cherokee (JGC) today to do her thing. I took BB1 with no a/c to P-N-P to get parts for JGC as we had a R/R passenger window regulator drop the window down couple inches in the heat of the day yesterday. Something just decided to break while we were in the store shopping. As I slid the window back up something fell into the inner door cavity. This heat wave has not been our friend on either car.

Even though it was super ambient hot today and then with no a/c but windows down BB1 sang the sweet song of an Alfa Busso V6 whine via a dual tip Ansa.

Expect Neville's care package soon so next week maybe we can get a/c serviced again after I can get that fire damaged high pressure a/c hose replaced.

 

[Luigim]

/snip
Even though it was super ambient hot today and then with no a/c but windows down BB1 sang the sweet song of an Alfa Busso V6 whine via a dual tip Ansa.
\snip

Paul Simon could have added this verse to America.

counting the cars on the new jersey turnpike
Even though it was super ambient hot today
and then with no a/c but windows down
BB1 sang the sweet song of an Alfa Busso V6 whine
via a dual tip Ansa.
They've all come to look for America...…..

sorry could not resist