Motoring.guru Blog Page 9
3rd May 2018
Why do cars just keep getting bigger?
On Tuesday I used the Alfa to take some rubbish to the tip and had an even older classic pull up alongside at the petrol pumps. I took a snap coming out of the shop and was horrified to see our classics demonstrating just how bloated and ridiculously large modern cars like the Audi Q5 are becoming.
The early Ford XR3i and Alfa 33 16v from 1983 and 1993 respectively weren't tiny cars in their day, but sports saloons that were perfectly adequate in size. The 33 will accomodate a family and has a massive boot!
Today I used our Alfa GT- a relitively modern 'grande tourer', even equipped with many airbags etc, and found it dwarfed by a Fiat 500L. I remember when the Fiat 500 was a tiny, cute little thing. Why do people keep buying these ever expanding models?
22nd April 2018
Alfa Romeo owners club Spring Alfa day at Duxford.
Although windy, it was an unbelievably warm and sunny April day at Duxford, especially when you consider how cold and horrible the weather has been recently.
Lots of interesting Alfas were in attendance and here is a medley of some of the most interesting ones:
105 Spider S4, Giulia, Berlina, Bertone GTV, SZ Zagato,75 Twinspark engine bay, RZ, Alfa 6, Alfetta and Giulietta 116.
17th April 2018
Kiss 100FM sticker history
I dug out these old Kiss FM car window stickers from the early 1990s. They were first available in around 1991 when the London dance music station had just become 'legal' having gained their licence.
I originally had one in the back of my red Alfasud from spring 1991 and it looked fantastic. At that time you had to phone a premium rate number to receive the sticker in the post.
By 1994 I was quite a big fan of the station and in particular the house music DJ Steve Jackson. In April of that year I was in between jobs and managed to blag myself a space as a 'Friday person' on his morning show in the actual studio on the Holloway Road.
When we had finished, the group of us members of the public were offered some club tickets, but as I couldn't go Steve handed me a wad of these stickers, and these are five that I still have today.
14th April 2018
Shine a light!
I love things to work properly, and really love it if EVERYTHING works on a car, bike, machine etc.
The glovebox light and ignition key light on my old Alfa had never worked in my 17 years of ownership, and so I set about to rectify them.
The key came apart pretty easily and it was just a matter of cleaning everything up and installing a new battery- bingo!
The glove box light had a sticky activation plunger switch and the bulb contacts needed a quick buff up- bingo #2!
13th April 2018
New decals!
Everyone loves stickers, right? I got some new reproduction decals from the internet and stuck them on. They are: An Alfa Romeo expansion tank warning decal (from Isreal), a Tuff Kote Dinol (rust proofing treatment) decal and a 1990s style Piranha alarms decal.
11th April 2018
New bike battery
Despite being only three and a half years old the bike battery had completely died and wouldn't take any decent charge. A lovely new Yuasa unit arrived from Ebay land at a very reasonable price and I filled it with the supplied acid and gave it a trickle charge.
10th April 2018
Air box restoration
The Alfa's airbox was letting down the engine bay a little so I decided to give it a clean up and a bit of a brush touch up with some gloss black cellulose paint. It's not perfect, but much tidier- maybe I'll completely respray the top and bottom halves at a later point in time?
The air intake hose is unobtainable now and so I 'refreshed' it with some good old black 'gaffer' tape.
Go to the next page back in time >>>
Go to the next page forward in time <<<
|
|
