Brackenfox

I must admit, I was a bit confused with the instructions when I did it, mostly as I put the car in second gear, then started the engine, then it did the normal thing of shifting itself to neutral as soon as the engine fired up. I put it back in second, and carried on from there following the instructions to the letter. Wasn't quite sure if there was a way to keep second gear selected during the starting process, or if the instructions were just a little vague.

I shall do so when I next poke around under the bonnet! Ta.

Yup, all done! Certainly improved things in a forward direction, but I think the jerkiness when cold arose after that point, as the car was fine when cold before, just hopeless when warm.

Already adjusted to 28.2mm and calibrated, as I mentioned above. The car in huuuugely improved from when I got it after adjusting the clutch rod. Shifts now can be measured in units less than weeks! I'd just like to smooth out the last little niggles. If I have to live with them, so be it, I just like things to be perfect. Ish.

Woohoo! I finally have a Selespeed question! Mine normally works absolutely perfectly (or as perfectly as a Selespeed box can), but first thing in the morning, the first few shifts are a bit strange, to say the least. It's like it takes twice as long to bring the clutch back in, and the engine jumps in revs like a slipping clutch. Give it a minute, and all is absolutely fine. Reverse and first are also seriously kangarooified when cold as well, reversing out of my parking space in the morning is probably pretty hilarious to watch! No problems at all when slightly warmed up. It's not a big problem, but if I can sort it out, it would make me happy. Had it hooked up to both Alfadiag and FiatECUscan, clutch rod adjusted to 28.2mm (from 32mm! ), system bled through and calibration routine run. Pressure seems good and steady, no fault codes stored.

Only Honda I've owned was a 2.2 VTEC (yo) Accord Coupe while I was living in the US. Newest car I've ever bought, it was only three years old at the time. Only bought it because it was the only half decent thing within about a hundred miles with a manual gearbox.

That would be this one sat to the right of mine then! Not exactly common to see two in the same place at the same time. I wasn't nicking bits off the white one, I just went over to have a chat with the then owner let him have a look under my bonnet to work out what connects to where on an M16 turbo Was a bit miffed (to put it mildly!) when I heard the owner was scrapping Scott's old car, as it was a really nice car with lots of history in the circles of t'Rover forums, and was the car which made me want one in the first place. Wouldn't have taken much effort at all to sort it out, replacement bits were even offered as close to free of charge as possible if I recall correctly. Was a sad day when I saw the dismembered white carcass sat in his garden.

Oh, horrendously so. Mind you, the fact that you could pretty much strip out half the interior in an 800 with no tools came in handy now and then when trying to track down some of the myriad electrical problems. 800's are lovely cars to drive when everything works, it's just a shame that never happened as often as it should.

I can't post pics of all the ones I've had, or you'll probably run out of server space. Still miss my Mk1 820 Tickford Turbo though, and they're so rare (I think at last check there were 7 taxed examples left - thankfully including this one which now resides in Wales) that I doubt I'll ever find another decent one. Handled like a big blob of jelly, but went like the proverbial poo off a garden implement after a few tweaks. The M16 turbo engine was good for well over 300bhp with nothing but simple bolt on mods.

I had an E36 328 for just over a year, which is a pretty long time for me where cars are concerned! Very impressive car - nippy, handled nicely, well built, not even that bad on petrol considering it was a 2.8 litre straight six. A really well rounded package. Couldn't really fault it at all! But my god, was it boring! No real character or involvement in the drive. Don't miss it even slightly!

I just counted up the number of Rovers I've owned. 16! That includes six 800's. Six. Four Vitesses and two Tickford Mk1 820 Turbos. Insanity! To be honest, Alfa ownership would have to go a long way to beat the sheer unreliability factor of an M16 turbo Mk1 820 - engine parts supply was also interesting, seeing as there were only about 26 left uncubed when I had my last one, and some parts were not even available from new! I still want another one though. I need professional help.

Ah, Meester Shane. Glad you could join us, however temporary your Alfa ownership might be!

Weirdly, no - I got curious after reading some mysterious threads on some other unnamed Alfa forum. I did notice the slight Vard invasion while trawling through threads on here though. He has however now mentioned it over on RT, so I'm sure at least Shane will drop in, as he's just bought a 1.8 156.

But you said you loved them! I see how it is! My pants aren't good enough for you anymore! *sob* Had the 156 about a month now, needed something without a clutch pedal due to problems with my left leg after a nasty stay in hospital, and was buggered if I was going for a mushy old slushbox, so didn't really leave me many options for sensible money other than a Sillyspeed Alfa! Besides, I've fancied a 156 for years since a mate bought one brand new back in 2002. I know the Selespeed box is inevitably going to cause me problems at some point, but I can see why people moan about Alfas going wrong so much now - it's so bloody nice to drive that if it went horribly wrong, I'd probably suck it up, pay to fix it and moan about it rather than do the sensible thing and get rid of it!

Ta! It's not intentional, we just seem to keep buying similar cars. Or maybe I just have some deep hidden simian fetish. Maybe I need counselling. Maybe I should eat some toast? Yes!