alastairq Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 An Italian motorcycle manufacturer [was it Laverda? Or Benelli?]...........was,IIRC noted for having improved switches over what went, usually, before..by using Japanese switchgear... As a young working lad [left school before 16....as was the thing in those days]....I was 'at sea'....Italian-built vessels were noted for dodgy electrics... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium boxbrownie Posted June 2, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 2, 2019 12 hours ago, Northmoor said: Other than those who enjoyed driving them. My uncle had multiple Alfas, most of them broke down but this was always outweighed by the driving enjoyment. That Integrale is,...... sorry, I've started drooling on the keyboard.......... We have had two Alfas, one was a convertible and not that good actually it rattled and flexed over anything but a Motorway surface, or should that be AutoStrada? the second was a Giulietta type 116 (four door saloon 1980) which was an absolute gem, I bought it at two years old from BCA auctions Enfield as I did all my cars back then, and it turned out to have been a company car but owned by the chairman/president of the UK Alfa Romeo owners club, as you can imagine it was PERFECT ........a lovely car which was so well balanced with a superb twin cam twin sidedraft dellorto carbed engine up front and a rear mounted gearbox/diff assembly, a brilliant car........but today it would have been considered a bit basic and unrefined, but around the back roads of the Essex countryside it was great fun! 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium boxbrownie Posted June 2, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 2, 2019 1 hour ago, Rugd1022 said: my six year old Alfa Giulietta which has a re-occurring fault with the German supplied wiring loom. Unfortunately it may well be “German supplied” but it’s built to “Italian budget specifications” 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted June 2, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 2, 2019 11 minutes ago, boxbrownie said: Unfortunately it may well be “German supplied” but it’s built to “Italian budget specifications” Fords once had (has) a reputation for using materials of the cheapest specification. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastairq Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 (edited) Hmmmm! Not only do we have 'just-in-time' [JIT] production processes, but we also seem to have ' only-just-good-enough ' quality ? MAybe even, 'just-enough-to-outlast-the-guarantee' quality as well? Bring back Jowett!! Edited June 2, 2019 by alastairq 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porkscratching Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 Or just cheap enough so the buyer can't be bothered to send it back / complain.. 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 1 hour ago, boxbrownie said: Unfortunately it may well be “German supplied” but it’s built to “Italian budget specifications” Italian thinking definitely came into it somewhere, the loom in question wasn't actually designed to go into the Giulietta but was, er 'made to fit'! One of the Alfa forums is full of people complaining about specific electrical gremlins in the Giulietta, the worst of which is where the loom goes into the tailgate and 'pinches' every time you open or close it, causing the central locking to start playing silly beggars. Mine started doing this three years ago and shows no sign of putting itself right, despite a trip to the nearest Alfa dealer In Nuneaton. That said, the car itself is fine, it's red, it's Italian and has caramel coloured leather seats.... it's just a pity it sounds like a JCB! Despite all their faults, perceived or real, I'm still massively drawn to old Italian stuff, they really do get under your skin of you let them. I remember playing Top Trumps with a mate in the '70s and drooling over the small grainy pictures of various Alfas and the Lancia Stratos..... oh my... 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted June 2, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 2, 2019 Do replicas count? Guess where I am! 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
royaloak Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 4 hours ago, Rugd1022 said: my neighbours recently restored Fiat X1/9's electrics are in better shape than my six year old Alfa Giulietta which has a re-occurring fault with the German supplied wiring loom. Is it the actual loom, an installation issue or something attached to the loom? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Sidecar Racer Posted June 2, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 2, 2019 Some photos from yesterdays Vale of Avalon car run , I tried to avoid those that I recognised from last year . You can argue among yourselves about the 'old or not old' . More to follow . 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 2 hours ago, royaloak said: Is it the actual loom, an installation issue or something attached to the loom? General consensus seems to be that it's the loom and its installation, it was designed for another car (a Merc of some sort I think) and opening the tailgate stretches and pinches it at a certain point. It's very common on Giuliettas but as far as I'm aware doesn't affect the smaller Mito. Just got back from work, sat down with a cuppa, time for a bit of blatant Italianate nostalgia... the last photo is the one off Maserati 450S Zagato built by Frank Costin in 1957 on a 1956 convertible chassis, pictured in the factory yard, there's a railway line behind the fence apparently... 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Sidecar Racer Posted June 2, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 2, 2019 Next batch . I had to split the Hillman Minx and caravan as I could'nt get both in the same shot . Some there could have been a bit better presented but on the whole some very tidy motors , best in show went to a 1966 Mini Countryman with the wood sides . As last year there was a commercial section but it was to cramped to get any good shots . If any one is interested here is the report from the local news site . https://www.burnham-on-sea.com/news/burnhams-mayor-picks-winning-entry-at-vale-of-avalon-vintage-car-run/ 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Northmoor Posted June 2, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 2, 2019 Lots of lurvely stuff there, thanks for sharing the photos! The Mini pickup would be a personal favourite - WHY WHY WHY didn't I buy a Mini when you could get them for buttons? - but the rarity prize must be the Land Crab pick-up. Not sure I've ever seen one, anywhere. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chriswright03 Posted June 2, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 2, 2019 My latest find in North Cyprus. Seen lurking in Lefkosa (Nicosia) in the Turkish version of Steptoes Yard. 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastairq Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 Morris 8? 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanuts Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 7 hours ago, Rugd1022 said: Italian thinking definitely came into it somewhere, the loom in question wasn't actually designed to go into the Giulietta but was, er 'made to fit'! One of the Alfa forums is full of people complaining about specific electrical gremlins in the Giulietta, the worst of which is where the loom goes into the tailgate and 'pinches' every time you open or close it, causing the central locking to start playing silly beggars. Mine started doing this three years ago and shows no sign of putting itself right, despite a trip to the nearest Alfa dealer In Nuneaton. That said, the car itself is fine, it's red, it's Italian and has caramel coloured leather seats.... it's just a pity it sounds like a JCB! Despite all their faults, perceived or real, I'm still massively drawn to old Italian stuff, they really do get under your skin of you let them. I remember playing Top Trumps with a mate in the '70s and drooling over the small grainy pictures of various Alfas and the Lancia Stratos..... oh my... had a few fiats couple of pandas and a strada the latter was one of the best drives i ever had sweet 1298 engine not the dreaded "fire" lump how i wish i had been able to get a set of those dinky 38 dcoe side drafts but they were way out of my budget. hell of a chassis early morning runs across chat moss to Glazebrook box were grin inducing . the perennial dodgy Italian electrics put in the odd appearance usualy resulting from poor earths especially the famous disco tail lights when indicating and breaking . child number four resulted in its replacement with various Renault people carriers now they wrote the book on dodgy electrics . 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 Mike's posting of those lovely photos reminds me I saw a pair of Cortinas on the A5 just south of Rugby this afternoon on the way home from the DIRFT shunt job, a red F reg'd Mk2 two door and a black Y reg'd MkV which must have been one of the last made / registered, it also had an odd looking 'XR6' badge on the bootlid. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted June 2, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 2, 2019 Wasn't there a V8 Cortina in south Africa that was an XR6? I'm learning DIRFT at the moment so may run into you. Not there this week now as was supposed to be on it tomorrow but now taking 37419 to Norwich instead 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted June 2, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 2, 2019 funnily enough my trainee said he saw 4 cortinas in convoy on the A1 this morning, must have been a show on somewhere 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Richard E Posted June 2, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 2, 2019 Big Ford show at Mallory Park this weekend. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted June 2, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 2, 2019 A different approach to Mini engines seen today in Peel. I think it's a Kawasaki, maybe 1000 or 1400 ZZR engine. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kickstart Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 10 hours ago, boxbrownie said: Unfortunately it may well be “German supplied” but it’s built to “Italian budget specifications” That is probably a good thing! The earlier mentioned Audi 100 had quite awful electrics (wire gauge might have been suitable for an N gauge layout, but nothing larger!), and the 3 series was worse than the contemporary Alfa 156. As an example, the connectors in to the tail light burn out which seems to be a fairly common problem (along with coil packs failing at about 70k, short lived electric window switches, etc). Strangely our neighbours fairly recent Audi A1 had almost exactly the same problem with the tail light, with the connector being under specced for the earth. To be fair, the electrics in the Maserati are not brilliant. Wiring us generally fine. But the fuse box is somewhat overloaded (apparently sourced from the Fiat Strada). And to add to the fun Maserati chose to use non common standard relays; the relays have the same pin layout but different connections for those pins , hence using a common relay that plugs straight in can cause all sorts of issues. 1 hour ago, russ p said: Wasn't there a V8 Cortina in south Africa that was an XR6? I'm learning DIRFT at the moment so may run into you. Not there this week now as was supposed to be on it tomorrow but now taking 37419 to Norwich instead Think the XR6 Cortina in South Africa used the 3L V6, as did the XR6 Sierra. There was an XR8 Sierra sold there using a 5L V8 engine from the Mustang. All the best Katy 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
runs as required Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 3 hours ago, russ p said: I'm learning DIRFT at the moment so may run into you. I do hope DIRT proves easier by rail than it is by road ! dh 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted June 3, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 3, 2019 Nidge's last Maserati pic, of the Costin special, is interesting, because it bears more than a passing resemblance to Maserati's last fling in racing sportscars, the 152, or 151/3 as it is sometimes called. yet that was in 1964, many years later! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 More pics of the 450S taken on the same day and a couple of recent ones... 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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