Another new addition to the club!

[letsgo]

Hi everyone!

A couple of days ago I picked a 1992 Alfa Romeo 164 Q with a little under 150,000kms
Funnily I wasn't even looking for a euro car, I was just looking for something simple like a Magna or a Telstar, but I definatelly do not regret getting the Alfa!

The car is two tone black on grey and comes with 17" alloys from a 156 I think.
I will have pics up shortly, but just wanted to say hi first.

Also, the car came with custom number plates - AQ164 which I'm not a fan of so they are now listed in the for sale section.

Looking forward to meeting everyone at a cruise or club meet!

[alfagtv58]

Welcome!!  Hope you enjoy both the new car and your stay   Any pics?

[letsgo]

Thanks Phil!

I took some pics yesterday before I washed the car and haven't had a chance to take more pics now that it's all clean, but here's what I've got so far...

[pep105]

Hi Nice 164,

Just a bit of useless info those wheels are 147 mags, and they look quite good on the 164
looks like its been dropped a little too   

[John Hanslow]

Great looking car.  I look forward to checking out the car when you come along to a club meet or function.

The wheels really do finish off the car. 

Standard 164 rims are a bit ordinary and hard to clean so the larger 156/147 rims are refreshing.  I had better check some out.

Cheers.

[letsgo]

thanks for the comments guys

and thanks Pep, now I know where the rims are from - not useless info at all!

Yeah it's got lowered springs and sits at a nice height.
The previous owner put a custom cat-back exhaust on with a smaller cat and smaller hot dogs as well as a straight through muffler. It's pretty loud and while it sounds quite tough, I want to replace the cat with either a stock one or a larger a/m one as well as maybe put in a larger hotdog.

Of course being an Alfa it's not without it's electrical faults... The cigarette lighter doesn't work, the front map lights don't work - the globes are good, and worst of all, the reverse lights aren't working either.
Last night I replaced the old and what looks like oxydised reverse globes with new ones but that hasn't fixed it. I'm hoping it's as simple as a couple of blown fuses for the above issues.

Ok here comes the funny question... where is the main fuse box???

Also, is The Italian Job in Oakleigh a good place to go for Alfa servicing and etc? They're only 10 minutes from my house...

[John Hanslow]

Well speaking of standard 164  autos, fhe reverse lights are sometmes an issue on 164's.  This is because the contact points under the selector cover  wear out and only pick up contact with a bit of a sideways push.  Do not know if a similar 'style' of contact point with your manual set up.

The fuse box is to in front of your right knee (as you are seated) as the driver.  Check out the fuse layout in the owners manual.

Nothing beats the convenience of a local servicing by an expert.  That's invaluable.

However check out our sponsors site and make a few phone call to check out prices, quotes for parts, bits and pieces etc.   I was rather surprised as to the variation.

More importantly also speak to a few club members at the next meeting and a few own or have owned 164's and will share their knowledge.

Cheers.

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Really nice car mate, I love these things.

So what was it that made you go for the Alfa if you were originally looking at 'normal' cars?  Did the vendor say "just have a listen", and then start it up?  That's why I bought my Alfa!

[Joe Garra]

Welcome to the world of black Qs. According to David Wright, there's about 13 of us. The electrics are fun. I usually have a couple of lights out on the dash. I wait till a few go and then get them all replaced. My local auto elec knows me well over the last 16 years ;-) .The greeting is usually "Joe, what's not working now". I've had mine virtually since new (it was an Alfa demo)

[letsgo]

Thanks for all the advice John.

Yeah I found the fuse box finally.. of course everything's in Italian but I simply checked each one of the fuses one by one. The manual didn't come with the car. I ordered a dvd manual from cardisc.com - hopefully it will be worthwhile because it cost a bit!

Only one fuse was burnt out, and when I tried replacing it, the new fuses kept getting burnt as well. Must be a short somewhere. But from the broken translations of babelfish, I gathered that fuse is for the lamp that lights the actual fuse. However I can not be sure of this as it may also be responsible for the front map lights!

Good thing the long weekend is here! hehe looks like I'll be spending most of it in the car!

Sheldon, the Alfa just came up in one of the carsales searches I was doing for a manual 6 cyl car and I thought, that looks quite different to the magnas etc.
Funny you should say that about the sound, because when I came to see the car, sure I thought it looked pretty good, but it was the exhaust note that sold it to me!

Having said that, the exhaust isn't stock, but I'm sure even stock it would sound great!

Wow Joe! that's a long time to have a car! must be something ey? hmm being in an exclusive club is pretty good however I'm sure the lack of support and parts do make it difficult!