Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Got any good trips planned when it's fixed?

NH do you know anything about Boxsters?

Hmmm it'll have the muffle back in by then so that should quieten it down a little, I think I'm young enough to enjoy loud cars. Beetle was monstrously loud. That said I think if you have a loud scooby you're automatically a cunt.

A turbo acts like a quite effective silencer- most loud Scoobs have one, yours will not. Loudness+

Simples answer - fit a big turbo roadkill style. Cheapest, largest one you can find in EBay.

NH - I'll be happy if the thing goes around the block under its own power. Once it's working, I've got to see if it still overheats (my guess no) and if the fuel pump still cavitates when hot (methinks yes...)

It's basically a purgatory work in progress.

Did a super clean of the beemer this weekend.

Washed, clayed and polished. Even dulled some of the more promintent scratches.

Next thing is to sort the parking sensors, that haven't worked for years and are in some cases missing.

@IR ain't it loud enough already with the muffler delete?

Indeed, It's currently only running with the cats in and no muffler so with decat it'll be running resonated and with the glasspack. I'm willing to give it a go knowing me I'll get pulled over for it

My little pug GTi6 project is getting a quieter exhaust this week. It currently has a 2.5" system from the 4-1 collector with a hiflow 100 cell cat and one resonator and a very rotten rear muffler. Between that and it's bigger intake cam it sounds like an angry rotor on idle and at 6500 rpm it bloody screams. I feel like a total douche so it's getting sorted.

The muffler delete was unplanned and is only temporary, have a sensible 2.5" rear section waiting for me when I get home.

I owned a GT for years which is based on the same platform. It was ultra reliable and only had a problem with rust when an incompetent mechanic jacked it up on the sills rather than the jacking points and split the seams.

Built quality was as good as any Volkswagen or BMW I've had and it made a decent nice change from a Golf, a 3 Series or an A3. Selespeeds appear to become problematic so I'd avoid those but other than that, like any car, just find a good one.

Make sure you drive a few if you're going for a petrol. So many of the variable valve timing cylinder things are fucked you wont realise until you drive a good one and it's got twice as much torque.

@NurseHolliday I thought I remembered reading somewhere that rust is not really an issue because they have a galvanised body? As for sillyspeed I don't think I'd even consider buying a car (especially an Italian one) without a proper manual. Thanks for the tip on the 1.6 had been looking at a few but have since read plenty of other reports of them being a bit wet.

Oh right, I wasn't actually aware they had VVT. Would this be more noticable at the top end?

I did LOL at 'Please note these are "rough" photos, car is being prepped for sale'

Whats the point of putting up photos that cearly show its been sat in the back of a workshop somewhere being neglected and used to store shit in for a significant period of time, which obviosly put buyers off, even more so if the care is being cleaned up for sale.... inverse sale tactics technique.

Looks like fun though! Sort of looks like a rally car, but too low for that?

Intersting sporting Puma fact of the day: I worked in an Alloy panel fab factory called Superform Aluminium for a summer when i was 16, the special wide front wings used on the Sporting Puma were made there. My job was taking them out of the tool and stacking them on a rack for inspection without damaging them. I damaged many of them, mostly because i was constantly stoned between the ages of 15-23. They also made panels for Bentley and Morgan, but i was not to be trusted with them.

I bet they've still got a pile of reject panels that i dented collecting dust in a store room there somewher if you need to find some after you inevitably crash it at a track day.

While that's true, in my (limited) experience, any car older than 10 years will start to see some issues in places you'd both expect and not expect it.

I think with the 147 there's some issues with chassis legs, but then you need to look at subframes, suspension, and steering. When I say rust I don't just mean body rust which is an MOT fail, but when stuff is gunked up, corroded, and seized, it makes it hard to service and maintain, and causes premature failure.

Not specifically on Alfas, but generally, the difference between the bottom of UK cars and cars in Japan (for example) is night and day. The Japanese cars look like they did when they rolled out of the factory, just a bit tired. UK cars you can barely tell how wide a tie rod was originally, you have no idea where the bolts are supposed to be without a Haynes manual, and woe betide you if you want to adjust something.

make sure you can do this, otherwise the louds can't get out.

Rear arch, front slam panel, lower edges of bulkhead. Suspect the bulkhead is a real issue possible stemming from the thing flexing over the years? Had two saab that succumbed to that exact form of death.
Other panels I reckon a lot of them are light crash damage repair (that's then not galvo?)
Like all fiat group cars since 1994 they have way more rust protection than any Mercedes up till about 2005, then Merc finally started making a effort (subjective opinion alert)

Had a hair brained idea of another track car, and instead of being a chump and spending 5x more than necessary to build a not great car (like the previous), should just buy someone else's after they've already spent too much?
Thought a noble m12 would be a good start but they have gone way way up in value, almost new value? What's going on there, thought they were meant to be cheap.
Found this thing, sounds like a lot of track kit for £9k
https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/motorsport/track-day-cars/track-only/fisher-fury-yamaha-r1/7485017

Imagine for auto testing and smaller circuits like Cadwell (?) would be enough fun

That looks like a billy bargain.

@danstuff has a Fury I think. Can't remember the engine in his.

Fuel pump, is that fixed by a new pump, better heat management, or a swirl pot?

A little bit, I did some heavy research while I was considering buying one instead of fixing the MX5(s).

I think @BQ knows more than I do considering he bought one.

How does someone tag Mr Bond aka Aston Owner aka BQ?

There's been a few cossie powered Pumas built for rallying, a lot of Tarmac specific cars are low with 17/18" rims

I've got two. One with a 2015 R1 engine and another with a Blackbird engine. I know the car advertised on Pistonheads - it's a very tidy car.

This is a cossie WRC powered one i used to regularly see on events when i did the tarmac championship a few years ago

I think they changed the rules about chassis modifications for RWD and 4WD conversions and most of them ended up in RallyX

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