Hi from Europe

[TheVsixer]

Hello from europe I found this forum this morning. I decide to join to get to know some new alfa owners from another country.

My Alfa 156 2.5 V6 is from '98 and I own her for about six years. I'm fully satisfied with this car. Even after this six years, it still offers me so much fun.

Currently I'm working on the 3.0 V6 swap. I bought the engine from Alfa 166, which I'm now taking a part to replace all minor parts. Along this I'm also taking care about the visual part by replacing some not necessary plastic brackets, small hoes and things like that.

The Alfa is on the 18" Mille Miglia rims with 225/40 18 tires. Two years ago I fitted the XYZ SuperSport coilovers which makes the handling much more precise. The front brake discs are Tarox G88 with some semi-sport pads. The exhausts tail section is from AMA Exhaust Systems (our local custom Exhaust Systems company) It has nice deep sound, luckily not annoying during long trips.

So, I hope, I will be able to share some useful information and some interesting photos with you all

p.s. sorry for my english

A few images of the car:





Some parts:





3.0 V6 Swap (in progress):

[Garibaldi]

Hello, welcome to our forum. I really like your car, it looks great. Maybe you can tell us a little about the Alfa Romeo owners and car clubs in your country. Don't worry about your English, it is very good. I look forward to sharing some information with you.

[poohbah]

Welcome Vsixer,

Love your ride. I too own a 6sp Series 1 2.5L V6. Lowered suspension on teledials.

I love everything about it, especially the sound. And sometimes I just like to open the bonnet to stare at the chrome. Is there anything more beautiful than a Busso?

[TheVsixer]

Thanks for the welcome

We have 3 Alfa clubs here in Slovakia. Official club is down for more than a 6 years, I guess. Remaining two are the Alfa156 and Alfamania. I'm the owner of the first one.

Alfamania is oriented more to car events and news from the Alfa Romeo world. My club, or forum is oriented more to sharing of technical knowledge and solutions between members.

Many of the people who own the Alfa has diesel, probably due to low operational expenses and the ease of the power gain trough chiptuning But we have also a few petrolheads with the Twinsparks. A friend of mine is building the Alfa 145 2.0 TS for hillclimb racing. Sadly, we don't have much people who own the V6. You can count them on the fingers of single hand in the single city.

I'm wondering, which engines are popular in Australia?

poohbah: I love the same things Also love that feeling when you goes through 4500 rpm

Our small local meeting:




Some racing events:




we are helping to each other


I'm going to create a new topic in 932 Series category so i can post the potos an information from the swap procedures

[Garibaldi]

All engines are popular in Australia due to the price of fuel being lower than in Europe. We have 2.0L Twin Sparks, JTS'S,V6's as well as Diesels.

Here are a few pictures from one of our Early Morning Runs.

[TheVsixer]

Beautiful. I really love these old and youngtimers from Alfa Romeo. But in our country they are extremely rare :/ If you could spot even one, then it is only once or twice in a year. We have here a lots of 156, 145, 146, 166, a few GTV '98 then 147, 159, many of the 156 owners going for 159, and of course the latest models. People here are afraid of the italian cars... I don't know why

[Garibaldi]

People here, with the exception of us Alfisti are generally afraid of Italian cars too. They still remember the bad old days when they rusted and build quality and reliability was not good. They still don't sell here in big numbers, it is more a car for the enthusiast. We are very lucky that we have a number of older Alfa Romeos here, particularly the 105 series. It is due to our climate being a lot kinder to the cars than the weather in Europe, particularly winters.

Here are a few more pictures for you.

[poohbah]

Hey VSixer,

We are lucky enough to have plenty of Alfas from different eras on the sunny west coast of Oz too. I posted these pics last year of the Italian car day in my home town. That's my 156 between the two GTV6s. I think my favourite Alfa in Perth is the black Junior Z.

We have a pretty big Alfa club over here - something for everyone!

But as Garibaldi says, lots of the uneducated here still equate Alfas with rust and dodgy wiring. 

[TheVsixer]

I wish we could have such community here and also the weather because, personally, I'm winterhater. Cold, salt, snow on the car, frost on the windows so you have to wake up earlier... nah...
Owning the classic Red Giulia Sprint is my dream

poohbah: "uneducated" that is the right word. Many people likes Alfas, they buy it, then just driving without any care and when the car brakes down, they are like: aaa, stupid italian car.
I like your ride, it seems like you have the same color as i have. Is it BluCosmo? Also like that GTV6s.

[poohbah]

Yep, sure is cosmos blue. Of course I am biased, but I think it is the best colour for the 156!

We are lucky to have a warm dry climate, makes it a lot easier to keep the rust monsters away.

[TheVsixer]

The interesting thing about this color is that during night it seems to be black, during day it is blue or green. Alfa has many nice colours.

You are lucky I have to buy winter tyres, summer tires, in case of interest in some racing events I have to buy another set for this kind of use.

I'm wondering what you are thinking about the stock V6 brakes. Is it enough for you? Or do you have any brakes modifications?

[poohbah]

All stock. It's my daily driver so while I can be enthusiastic with the loud pedal, I don't really hammer it. If I was going to do track days, I would probably want to  upgrade the brakes. The thing I really like about the 2.5 is that it sounds fantastic from anything over 3000 rpm, so you don't have to floor it to make it growl.

I will be interested to hear how you go with putting in the 3L. As its an older motor, do you reckon you will get a lot more grunt without mods?

I am keeping my eye open in case a reasonable GTA turns up in good condition and at a reasonable price. I would dearly love to have one of them to play with!

[poohbah]

Ooops, just realised you already said you got your 3L out of a 166, and the pic shows it is the 24V, so has quite a few more horses than the 24V 2.5L.

Should pull like a train then!

[TheVsixer]

Yep, the sound is amazing Sometimes get scared myself especially when i'm next to crash barrier and need to pass or move quickly so I downshift from 6 to 2

What suspension do you have? Is it a big difference if you compare it to stock? 

GTA is a great option, when you have garage. I think it's a sin to left it parked on public parking lot... People here are dumb... They smack their doors to another car and acting like: What? nothing happens... it's just a car...

I really looking forward to 3.0 first run but now I'm still too far from that point I'm just finished the cleaning of some small parts at my balcony. It's fairly weather for this

[Garibaldi]

People here are dumb too. They also smack doors into cars. They have no respect for other peoples property. You can park your car well away from all the other cars in the parking lot and guess what, when you come back someone has parked next to you and put a door into your car. What the?