Cleansing Time

 First thing up was a vacuum and clean. The interior seats are flithy and in an OK condition except for the tears on the drivers front. May keep a look out for a cheap replacement, or think about a race seat. I know the previous owner had a large dog ( from my brother-in-law, Liam, who collected it for me) but I was not expecting the amount of dog hair under the seats, boot, footwells etc; almost had me gagging when I lifted the rear seat. Lets just say the vacuum canister was filled a few times. Quick wipe of the seats but major cleaning to be left for another day. 




Ground in dirt everywhere and other bits and pieces I have no idea of their origin, and don't want to know..

Removed all the wheels to 1. clean and 2. look at the brakes. The pads and discs all look in very good condition with heaps of life left in them. To clean the rims I tried Meguiars Ultimate All Wheel Cleaner ( Dr Google recommendation) in preference to the Bowdens Wheely Clean that I have been using on Renoir (another story) and only moderately happy with. Meguairs wins hands down, brilliant; and as you can see from the photos, a spray, scrub and rinse revealed a very nice set of wheels. Very happy chappy. Bit of a wash all over and Aurelia hasn't come up too bad at all. The intermittent, annoying "Brake Light Failure' warning on startup was next and after a little research, it appeared that a simple 10amp fuse replacement was in order. This was done ( and also lead to finding the mobile phone speaker that was connected to the funny aerial on the window) and hey presto, no more annoying message. Another win for 'The Apprentice', no stopping now.

 Next job will be addressing the yellowed headlights.

Good old Italian electrics, what could possibly go wrong.


Not too shabby at all for 3 months shy of 20 years, those wheels shine.







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

il Addio Aurelia

Image
 So after completing as much of the aesthetics as desired up till this stage it was time to get Aurelia off to my good friends at Superior Automotive for a good going over to see where we stood mechanically before taking her out for her first track day. She had driven 2000km from Melbourne with no issue so I was fairly confident nothing major was required. I was able to drop her off on Monday 21st February  (date will become significant) and leave for a couple of days in Sandgate Road, just round the corner from my new offices in Edmondstone Road, Bowen Hills. The verdict on Tuesday from the mechanics was good as the minor oil leak underneath was merely a seeping from the transmission oil plug; replaced, fixed. New rear suspension arm replaced and a couple rear bushes and other than what was expected to be done, timing belt kit, water pump, thermostat, drive belt, serpentine belt, oil filter, plugs etc (major service) she was in excellent condition mechanically. We also decided to repl
Read more

The Lights

Image
With the initial diagnoses I found that I had driven all the way with only the drivers low beam working. I didn't do much night stuff, save a couple of hours, and the high beams were operational. So off to Supercheap to get a new light bulb (H7,12v,55W) which are common and a Narta twin pack with bonus Park globes on special $47.00 ; bargain. That was the easy part, removed the rubber panel off the back of the light assembly and tried to remove the bulb; note swearing words inserted. A funny wire retaining clip that would not budge. Finally half an hour later onto Dr Google and presto, slight twist and lift movement required at the same time and out it came easily. Replaced and working perfectly. Now to address the faded, yellowed headlights themselves as they are all plastic now, no glass to be found. Backyard Garage. To remove the headlight assembly is not as simple as you would think. First you need to remove both front wheels so that you can access the plastic inner wheel arche
Read more

The Resurrection - Meet Alonzo

Image
 OK so I might be exaggerating ever so slightly with 'The Resurrection' title for this post, but a  quick search for synonyms reveal; restoration, rebirth, reawakening & revival to name a few so I don't feel I'm overextending with the 'Resurrection' theme. Even though it is not the original Alfa, Aurelia that is being continued with, it is 'The Italian project' that is now experiencing a rebirth. If your reading this you will be aware that my recently acquired 2001 Alfa Romeo 147 (Aurealia) met her demise in the underground carpark at my workplace during the February rain events (read floods, but apparently we aren't allowed to use that word now, it has to be "inundation" for the politically correct). Since then I have been methodically searching for a replacement as I really want to get on the track and I did enjoy ( the very limited time I had her) the Alfa. So it was with bated breath a couple of weeks ago that I came across another
Read more