ZAGAME technical night

[colcol]

There will be a technical night later on in the year in Victoria for the current model Alfa Romeo model range, at Zagame Automotive, West Melbourne, more details to follow, Colin.

[massiveluvbuddy67]

Thanks Colin. Greatly appreciated.
Phil

[colcol]

Confirmed, Friday May 25th at ZAGAME AUTOMOTIVE, West Melbourne, Colin.

[colcol]

Bookings are now open for the current model technical night at ZAGAME's in West Melbourne, call 0407 090 826 or email drtool@bigpond.com.au, with your Alfa club number, Colin.

[colcol]

If you are coming along, you will need to book and give me your Alfa club number, don't just turn up and hope you will get in, because you won't, also think of a question to ask about a current model, so that you don't go home and think, i should have asked about such and such, also if you are looking at buying a current model in the next few years, come along and get a close look at them, and find out about any 'issues' they may have, Colin.

[colcol]

Went to the Victorian Alfa Club AGM last night, traffic in Hoddle street was a shocker, the cause of the holdup was a Alfa Romeo GT broken down, was going to go up to the driver and offer him a place in the group who are  coming along to the workshop night at ZAGAME's on May 25th, but thought better as i might still need them one day, and i haven't got anything to sew them back on again with, if you are the person, or know of the Alfa Driver in Hoddle street, jump on the Forum and tell us what happened, and how it was fixed, Colin.

[colcol]

Bookings are starting to roll in for the ZAGAME technical night on Friday May 25th, don't let it turn out like the 932 technical night last year, when club owners missed the boat, due to leaving it too late, bookings to Colin Thomas, phone 0407 090 826, email drtool@bigpond.com.au    Colin.

[colcol]

In the Herald Sun's car guide, for whats on in car clubs, advertisment for Alfa Romeo current model workshop night, some enquires for details on the 25th of May, see Alfaclub website and calender for details, bookings are starting to come in, 4 weeks to go next Friday, Colin.

[colcol]

ZAGAME late model workshop night in 1 week, 10 places left, add running in Herald Sun motoring liftout section, not in AGE though, they got rid of the car clubs, 'whats on' a few weeks ago, new members welcome, members i haven't seen for 10 years are coming along, thinking of buying a new model in the next few years, come on down and have a close look, and ask a few questions, phone 0407 090 826 or email drtool@bigpond.com.au     all welcome, Colin.

[ANG156]

Colin, do you know how long the night will go for? I'm guessing its all dependent on the questions one asks and how long they spend on each vehicle. Is Angelo, the workshop manager running the night or Barney the service manager?

[colcol]

Hello ANG156, 7pm to 9pm, don't know who is running the night, we have at this point 31, so we might need both, keep those bookings coming in, don't leave it to the last moment, Colin.

[colcol]

As of Tuesday night, 8 places left, Colin.

[colcol]

Last chance tonight to email me for a booking for the ZAGAME workshop night, after tonight, call me on 0407 090 826, see you at ZAGAMES, Colin.

[colcol]

At the ZAGAME current model technical night we had about 26 club members there, i had 32 booked in, on the worst day in Melbourne for months, a 10 degree day, a months rain in 1 day, flooding, road closures, footy up the road all combined to make it a pain, to get there, 10 didn't show up, 4 sneaked in, so we had about the right amount, our hosts for the evening was Barney the Service Manager and Angelo the workshop Foreman, on arrival we had Pizzas, coffee and drinks, and had a look at some new model cars, then we seen a short film on how the Multi air system and twin clutch setup works on the new cars, and how the stop-start works in the new cars, and it what car makers are doing to cut down fuel consumption, and yes it can be switched off, but resets to on when the car is started.
Then it was down to the ZAGAME service workshop where there was a MITO, Guillietta and 159 on the hoist, and a good explanation of how the Diesel engine works in the 159, the types of oil used and something that i didn't know about the use of premium diesel fuel, [only a few outlets so far], but the better the fuel used the more silent it runs with less clatter, also if you drive it too gently and drive around town a lot it will clog up the particle filter, and too unclog it 'give it the beans', take it for a good hard drive, which will cause the filter to regenerate and to self clean the filter, the cam belts are changed in diesels at 150,000klms, which made all the 156 owners cry, and if the diesel snaps a belt, then the rockers break, rather than the valves hitting the pistons, but the rollers fall out of the rockers, and fall into the sump, so the sump has to be removed to remove the rollers, to avoid engine failure.
We then looked at the Guillietta and MITO, and the multi air shown to us, it would take me all day to explain it, and also we looked at the twin clutch transmission, that has a clutch for 1-3-5, and a clutch for 2-4-6 gears, so the change to the next gear is quicker, because the next gear is engaged, and Angelo said there is plenty of room in the gearbox for a 7th gear, which the Factory is reported going to do anyway.
Thank you to ZAGAMES and Barney and Angelo for such an interesting night, the next technical night is....up to you, as ever, tell me what you want to do, and i will try to organise it, Colin.

[bix]

Thanks Colin for organising a brilliant evening. The weather was pretty awful outside but it was nice and cosy in the Zagame showroom with stacks of food and coffee.
A couple of additional items I learnt that you didn't mention:

• The 159 engine sub-frame is a monster and needs to be properly aligned (using a special 159 jig) to ensure proper front wheel alignment. Don't get wheel alignment from anyone who doesn't have one of these.
• The 159 diesel has a programme which does a clean-up of the internals when it detects the car driving over a certain speed/distance. If you feel minor shuddering on the freeway, this is a result of the clean-up process so don't panic.
• Due to the rubbish diesel with high sulphur content here in Australia, it has caused problems in many modern diesel engined cars (not just Alfas) but it is improving slowly - particularly those that don't get out on the freeway often. As you said, there may be some service stations now offering a premium diesel variant.
• The GM 2.2 motor has had some problems in the past with stretched timing chains. Apparently the design of the tensioner has been revised to rectify this issue.