talk me out of a Milano

Yall failed.

An '87 Milano Gold followed me home last night.

ddavidv wrote: Ugly, but then an XR4ti only appeals to the weird among us too.

I guess I'm weird--the Merkur does have some appeal for me. Much more than the Alfa--I'm not fond of four-doors.

m4ff3w wrote: Yall failed. An '87 Milano Gold followed me home last night.

Nice! Pics?

alfabb.com will be your friend now.

E-

Nice, now you get to have the fun of fixing all the problems so you can drive it. :)

If you want a few things to start with:

Replace every rubber fuel line on the whole car.

replace the timing belt and cam seals (you can try the front main seal if you are brave, but thats an engine out of the car job it you want to be 100% sure nothing will leak when its back together)

If its got a spring tensioner for the timing belt, get rid of it and use a stock one with the oil feed blocked (or rebuild it so it works as designed if you are really bored and have nothing better to spend your time on lol)

see how the headlight switch recall was dealt with (there should be relay added for the low beams so the switch doesnt melt)

clean up the rust under the reflector strip on the trunk so it doesnt get worse

Add an extra ground to the tail light circuit boards so the plugs dont melt any worse than they already are.

check the driveshaft flex joints and make sure they are not about to explode.

If you do all that, it should be fine at least to start using it until you learn more about things that need to be fixed on them or whatever. And again, dont turn the heater blower on whatever you do.

m4ff3w wrote: Yall failed. An '87 Milano Gold followed me home last night.

I got the car from an Alfa mechanic, from AlfaBB actually.

All rubber fuel hoses have been replaced.

Timing belt isn't due for another year, has a hydraulic tensioner

Brakes are very recent, including new SS hoses.

Guibos are all good (two are new)

Front suspension is full of poly

Rear OMP springs

Konis all the way around (though they are Reds, not Yellows)

Huge folder of receipts

Seller's pics. It wasn't actually posted for sale, he happened to mention it in conversation.

I'll try to get some clear pics once I get it cleaned up.

So is there a Merkur fire sale?

LALALALALALALA I can't go to Texas for an XR4Ti.

John Brown wrote: So is there a Merkur fire sale? LALALALALALALA I can't go to Texas for an XR4Ti.

Well, it isn't exactly a fire sale. But it can be bought for... $1700 :)

Well it sounds like that should be a pretty good car, not having to change the timing belt and hoses and stuff will be nice. lol

She has experienced her first hiccup.

It started with with hesitation and bucking when accelerating from a stop.

The vacuum advance is working intermittently. I moved the vacuum source from the throttle body to the nipple that goes to the charcoal cannister and it is much better.

Will it hurt having the vacuum source changed? Vacuum is MUCH stronger where I have it now.

Change all the vacuum hoses, after 20+ years they are shot. Check all the wiring ground to body connections, another common problem. See you on the ALFABB.

It has a silicone hose kit from hiperformancestore.com :)

The issue was with the AFM. I cleaned out the PCB area w/CRC electronics cleaner and cleaned the vane area w/carb cleaner. It runs very well now.

So much better infact, that the clutch is now slipping.

That is in the works for next weekend. Lucky me!

In reply to m4ff3w: You're wife let you bring this home? http://www.wallpapergate.com/data/media/24/alyssa149.jpg

4eyes wrote: In reply to m4ff3w: You're wife let you bring this home? http://www.wallpapergate.com/data/media/24/alyssa149.jpg

My dream girl growing up. She shares my birthday.

If she was coming home with me, I wouldn't need my w....

Wait, I plead the 5th.

How many miles are on the car? If the clutch is slipping, thats not a good sign, they should last as long as most of those cars ever get driven. Are you just planning on replacing the disc, or the whole $700 assembley? I think most people just replace the disc, but you have to have the assembley balanced again if you get the flywheel turned. I have another whole clutch with 70k miles on it im going to use when mine wears out.

152k miles.

The PO already had a whole assembly ready to go in, w/relined disc.

152k miles.

The PO already had a whole assembly ready to go in, w/relined disc. I just need to swap it in this weekend.

Hmm, mine has 116k, and the clutch is still fine, who knows. Id replace the clutch fork pivot ball when you replace the cliutch, becasue they arent that expensive, and its not uncommon for them to break. As long as the clutch has been balanced (if the flywheel was turned or anything), it should be easy to get it done.

Clutch is in.

That was quick .

Sounds like a good buy, when all said and done. And you can't beat that Alfa V6 noise .

Can I get more info on your Merkur? How many miles, is it a auto or manual, etc? Do think it would make the drive back to PA?

Andrew

The Merkur would easily had made it back to PA, but it got sold less than a week after picking up the Milano.

damn, i've been in the search for one, in somewhat good condition. Could you suggest some good forums or websites for parts or whole cars?

Andrew

http://forum.merkurclub.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=27

www.merkursport.com

Either of those should help ya, best of look. I wanted one for 12 years before the right circumstances and right price confluenced together.