Alfa_owner 6 Report post Posted May 29, 2013 (edited) My story starts in 2010 when on Christmas day i smashed my Seat Leon :'( Having argued with some ice she ended up rear ending the barrier going onto the M4 Just after Christmas we attempted to repair the work but a snapped wishbone arm and the extent of the body damage just wasn't cost effective and i wrote the car off. This then meant i needed another car so i looked to the usual suspects to find a decent car. I had a budget of £2000 which wouldn't go along way. I looked mainly at Audi A3's and S3's but found none in a decent condition for my price range. ??? Bummed out and needing a car for work i started searching locally for 'cheap' cars... my dad and ex girlfriend were great at this point having searched high and low for what seemed an impossible ask... we had a couple of options; Alfa Romeo 147, Couple of mk4 golfs and obviously Saxo's and Corsas. Went to look at the Alfa first and immediately fell in love. Having been owned by a middle aged couple - motorbike owners. it looked well looked after. 2 owners. They had bought it for their son whom kept dropping his bike but he couldn't get used to driving it.. so it had to go. Edited May 30, 2013 by Alfa_owner Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alfa_owner 6 Report post Posted May 29, 2013 (edited) The car was then taken to Hadden Hill (we've always taken our cars there) to be serviced and have the cam belt changed. A total of 478 pound was spent but it later transpired that they hadn't changed the variator or the waterpump. For those that don't know the variator sits on the end of one of the cam and as it starts to wear a petrol engine starts to sound just like a diesel! Obviously unhappy i walked away not wanting to spend any more money on an engine which would most likely be just fine! March came and it was due its MOT... it needed 2 tires but i was reluctant to buy new tires because i had my eye on some slightly bigger wheels so i was in the market for some used tires! 20m from Philips tires in Oxford the water pump gave way. I was recovered back to hadden hill after sitting in the water eaton bus car park for almost 4 hours. More money was spent and a week later the Alfa drove out. Slightly worried the car didn't seem to have as much power as previous... so the car was returned for them to have a play. It transpired that they didn't have the proper cam locks and so i can only guess how they timed it up. Not good. They refunded a big wedge of the money and as our family used them a lot they made right and all was remedied. Time went on and i suddenly found myself with the modding bug again... this time looking at the stereo. A set of focal 165KR component speakers, £200 in Dynamat and 2 days had the basics in. It wasn't really perfect and i was a little disappointed in the features achievable by the factory headunit.. so i fitted an aftermarket one but inevitably wanted satnav etc. I looked at buying an official Alfa Romeo sat nav unit... £1200. I decided to make my own. With a strong background in IT (IT Manager) i set about choosing components and also looking at amp designs. Bought 2 Alpine amps... a 4 channel and a mono block but these were quickly sold as i just didn't like the warmth of the sound. I needed to focus on the end result and for me this could only be achieved by a computer. Some ideas and sketches started to be made and i had a few ideas. Eventually i went the route of buying Genesis Amps (i dont have any pictures ) A four channel amp - which could be used to run a 2 way front end (so tweeters and mids) 2 channel amp - would be used to run rear speakers for back fill and another 2 channel amp which would be used to run the sub. It was at this point i managed to acquire a piece of the aluminium extrude which is used to build these amps. [imgpop]http://farm7.staticf..._b10bcf54cb.jpg[/imgpop] Not being very big... i scratched my head for weeks trying to work out which components would fit for a car computer. So i decided on a Pico Itx setup. Edited May 30, 2013 by Alfa_owner Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alfa_owner 6 Report post Posted May 29, 2013 (edited) the main component being the motherboard. I opted for a Pico Itx M10000 - The EPIA PX 10000 is the first motherboard from VIA Technologies to be released in their 10cm x 7.2cm 'Pico-ITX' form factor, and is currently the 'world's smallest full-featured x86 mainboard designed for ultra compact embedded PCs, systems and appliances'. I then coupled this with a solid state hard drive..... Needing to find somewhere to mount the hard drive.. we started designing again.... ;D cutting the amp casing to fit... bootiful!! Edited May 30, 2013 by Alfa_owner Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alfa_owner 6 Report post Posted May 29, 2013 (edited) Screen - Decided that a 7" touchscreen might fit in place... so bought the screen and a double din adapter... Decided at this point i didn't like the step on the buttons.. so chopped it out.. re moulded it.. and highlighted all the imperfections before taking it to the car. Edited May 30, 2013 by Alfa_owner Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alfa_owner 6 Report post Posted May 29, 2013 (edited) Dismantle the car.... Test fit... Still no where near perfect.. and at this point i was struggling to get it perfect so i had few options...... attack it in the car!!! testing the hdmi connection into the screen with a skybox.... - she's lovely isn't she? Edited May 30, 2013 by Alfa_owner Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smiffy 99 Report post Posted May 29, 2013 Awesome thread Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
K9d 108 Report post Posted May 29, 2013 Some interesting mods there and nice to see them sympathetically done. I'm particularly interested in your PC setup, I currently have a full size PC used as a media server and am looking for a viable low powered alternative to run XBMC for FLAC music and 1080p video playback. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LJ_GQV 115 Report post Posted May 29, 2013 should be great when its all finished Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alfa_owner 6 Report post Posted May 30, 2013 Moving on - Steering Wheel - As part of my attempts to make it look Oem i wanted the steering wheel buttons to work as well... so i purchased a new steering wheel... to replace the previous non buttoned version. To help me achieve my idea i spoke to a couple of companies and one of them sponsored me! Such a small little device which plugs in via mini usb. It works on button resistance... these resistances are then mapped to keys on the keyboard! Clever Huh!? In testing.... Fitted! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alfa_owner 6 Report post Posted May 30, 2013 Software! First off i needed to make the loading screen - so a modified bios screen... Then started looking into lots of different routes for the operating system. For this i used windows 7 lite by Experience (google it) and then cut some more bits outs. Then checking the changes as i go along... i then managed a 10 second from cold boot. Thats fast!! This was then wrapped in brushed steel effect vinyl as well as the heater controls as well... pictures to be taken though! Interior - it previously had a cream and grey cloth interior... god awful! So stripped it out.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alfa_owner 6 Report post Posted May 30, 2013 This was then changed for a black leather and red stitch interior Then added matching gearstick and handbrake gators.... and also a stainless steel round gear sweetheart. The rear tweeter covers were changed to the bose editions, the dash clocks were changed to the white facelift versions and the front tweeter covers were changed for the later facelift version which included a chrome ring Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alfa_owner 6 Report post Posted May 30, 2013 Exterior wise... it looks completely standard... Had a set of road pads and vented, grooved and drilled discs. and its only modification engine wise... A gsr induction kit... on a very underpowered 1.6 engine. :'( so.. that was my next venture!! i looked into the different engine types available to me... 1.8... 2.0l.. 3.2 v6 from the gta. I was disappointed by all 3. I paid a deposit to have a race engine made based on the 2.0l engine but then withdrew having spoken to a gentlemen in Poland... who fitted..... A 220bhp Fiat Coupe engine.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alfa_owner 6 Report post Posted May 30, 2013 (edited) this got me thinking!!! Easy power.... easily tunable... and will leave a GTA and R32 etc for standing... With a factory fitted LSD and using the same ECU setup as a lancia intergrale they are really capable. one thing led to another..... ;D Currently has the following mods; Blue flame Exhaust 3" down pipe to turbo Motech Chip Gizzmo MS-IBC Boost Controller HKS dump valve with hard pipe Stage 2 gt28rs Turbo - 360 bearings + 60 trim wheel Straight induction pipe paddle clutch Before a few of the modifications it ran 260 on the rollers and on opinion of the tuner should be running 310 easily Edited June 21, 2013 by Alfa_owner Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alfa_owner 6 Report post Posted May 30, 2013 Dirty!! Genuine HKS dumpvalve and modified pipe Genuine K&N filter which needs a clean! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alfa_owner 6 Report post Posted May 30, 2013 so first things first lets whip off the exhaust! Then thought we would tackle the bonnet which seemed to only have been held on by 2 bolts and not 4 as expected. It litterly... fell off.... We were on a tight time frame as it was a borrowed garage... so we really cracked on. Boost gauge stuff out... Old man doing his thing! and out.... Car rides a bit high now! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alfa_owner 6 Report post Posted May 30, 2013 Then in true - not knowing what to do next we loaded the engine onto the van! Once at the other end we proceeded to remove the old 1.6 twin spark engine. I'm afraid at this point the pictures got a bit thin as we were busy, covered in oil and getting tired. Looking very sad - this is how its looked for a little while... Then decided perhaps it was time to start up again - so i gave the gearbox a paint best i could. but have then realised the gearbox is too long and as such i now need to find the shorter revision gearbox. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alfa_owner 6 Report post Posted May 30, 2013 Not being put off i decided i would start with some of the other parts and things would come together. so i started with the polishing... Coil pack cover Dumpvalve and short pipe - i have polished the end dump valve cover but that is not seen in the picture. I didn't want to go nuts on the polishing of parts! Ground down the casting marks on the turbo housing. It was then time to start looking at inlets so bought a already ported inlet and plenum.with 365cc injectors Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alfa_owner 6 Report post Posted May 30, 2013 Decided i would paint the inlet black and have the plenum polished along with the turbo housing and water rail. The parts have been shipped off to one of our local fiat coupe guys who does it for a bit of money on the side Managed to find a stainless steel manifold and proceeded to give it a good polish and buff Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gaz 29 Report post Posted May 30, 2013 It almost seems a shame to fit that manifold! Good work, i'll read through more thoroughly later on as i'm after fitting the 20vt into my 145. Will see if i can pick up any hints/tips from here Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alfa_owner 6 Report post Posted May 30, 2013 It almost seems a shame to fit that manifold! Good work, i'll read through more thoroughly later on as i'm after fitting the 20vt into my 145. Will see if i can pick up any hints/tips from here You'll notice that's why it's on a radiator cover in full view Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alfa_owner 6 Report post Posted June 3, 2013 Small Update - 02/05/13 Yesterday had a visit from Smaky to have a look at my squeaky GTV. and whilst here he had a quick look at the 147 as well. Needless to say Alex noticed a lot more than i expected. So adding to my list of now bits to get.. New revision gearbox from 20vt. New sump - I've managed to crack it some how! Cam belt & associated bits and likely engine will need a rebuild as its full of water. Have sourced new box and sump... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alfa_owner 6 Report post Posted June 14, 2013 in the meantime i have been busy negotiating deals.. so have now sourced; The Brakes! This should hopefully stop me! Consists of the following; Brembo Calipers 305mm (from 30K mile 156GTA) 147GTA uprights ( fitted with new 20v bearings) GTA Track Rods (Longer than standard cars) EBC Ultimax 305mm discs ( new & boxed) EBC Sport Formula pads (new & boxed) Goodridge hoses (new & boxed) I've also struck up a deal for a shorter 20v gearbox and sump required to keep the project moving on. Hoping i can get the engine in with Smaky's help potentially next month when funds allow. I also pickup the remainder of the polished parts this month so its going to be an expensive one! With the help of some of the members of the forum i may have solved another potential future issue as well. I don't want to say too much yet as it may not happen.. but if it does.. it'll be a fiat coupe first. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LJ_GQV 115 Report post Posted June 14, 2013 This is going to be great when its finished Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alfa_owner 6 Report post Posted June 18, 2013 If i ever finish it... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
123456789 0 Report post Posted July 16, 2013 If i ever finish it... Looks like at lot of fun. Problem if you finish it will be the want to tinker again. Good luck Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
