Hi all.

I introduced myself in the main 'newbie' bit but as most things will probably be related to the Stilo from me I figured I'd say hi in here too.

Had a couple of 1.8 Dynamic's in the past but recently got an Abarth Selespeed and proper loving it. I also own, or have owned, Alafa's too but never a Selespeed. Lot's of stories, pros and cons but decided to get one. Tricky to get used to round town, can be a little jumpy, but on the open road it works a treat. It's like anything else, maintain it and look after it and it should be okay, we'll see. Spent the other day buffing it but it was a hot day, and black panels and sun made for hard work. So I'm gonna wait until we get a cooler overcast day and get the buffer out again, get rid of what's left of the swirls etc. But it'll do for now.

Looking forward to contributing where I can.

Daz.

Great to see another Abarth - welcome :wave:
Those are sought-after wheels (the "claws").

I see you have an automatic 156. I had a Selespeed 156 and while I like Selespeeds, it's fair to say they can never be as smooth as a standard auto box. The Stilo's Selespeed is one generation newer than the 156/147 (except GTA, which has the later generation). A number of problems were solved and the selectors were made quieter by the engineers 'carving a hole' in the top of the gearbox and placing the actuator so it bears directly on the selector forks. There's also a concentric, non-adjustable clutch release bearing. Should have been done that way in the first place I reckon; I get the impression that the 156/147 Selespeed was just a proof of concept.

Something I've learned with the Stilos is that when the clutch gets near the end of its life, the Selespeed brain is no longer able to synchronise the engine revs properly - it starts to become really lumpy at moving off in 2nd, the 1st to 2nd change, etc. Blipping the throttle in reverse (all by itself) seems common too - really hard to manoeuvre smoothly.

I'd highly recommend (regular readers will know what's coming next) MultiECUScan and an ELM327 cable - this is practically essential for finding out how a Stilo is going. There's a parameter called the Clutch Degradation Index (I'll call it CDI) which is calculated based on the take-up point of the clutch. The three Stilos I've worked on that have had jerky clutches have all had CDI values over 12,000. CDI varies from -4000 to 14000, so you can tell that 12,000 is pretty near the end of its life. The three cars had between 120,000km and 140,000km (74,500 - 87,000 miles) on the clock.

After replacing the clutch there initially seems to be little difference - because I haven't figured out how to reset the CDI. I have tried following the instructions in the software (which involve a switch off and back on, then a vigorous set-off, and a stop after 400m) and despite many attempts, I've got nowhere. The good news is that the system slowly recalculated the CDI by itself and ends up with a figure of around 5000 - and the clutch is very much smoother.

Probably all more than you wanted to know but just something to think about for the future. The clutch kit is very expensive relative to other cars and there is a Dual Mass Flywheel, but unless the DMF seems to rattle to and fro (once you have the gearbox off), then I'd probably reuse the DMF.

Nice job with the buffer, by the way
I gave my black Spider a similar treatment, but just washing it has put fine scratches back in again

-Alex

Hi Alex.

Thanks for the info mate, much appreciated. No such thing as 'too much information' as the more knowledge I have the better I'm equipped to deal with any problems that may arise.

Being an Alfa owner too I already have MultiECUScan and an ELM327 interface along with a Bluetooth OBD reader and the Torque app on my phone and tablet, invaluable kit. Saved me a few times with the Alfa's.

Although I haven't done it as a fulltime job for many years, I am actually a mechanic by trade. I've also spent many hours at my brothers bodyshop (he's had his own garage and bodyshop for over 30 years) and I did run my own car detailing business too. I was the first Duragloss autherised detailer in the UK and I was approached by Swissvax just before selling up. So if anyone would ever like any advice on paint correction and paint detailing I'd be more than happy to help.

Setting off etc. is now much better on the Stilo, it seemed more of a case of me getting used to it. The Q-System in the V6 Alfa is a very different systems, more akin to a traditional automatic system but with the choice of a 4 speed 'H gate' too. So you kind of get best of both worlds. But you have to be quite heavy-footed with the accelerator. The Selespeed is much more sensitive and I seem to have the hang of it now. Smooth as you like setting off.

I have to confess, I didn't initially like the wheels, but they've grown on me now. I preferred the 5 spoke alloys but I'll be keeping the claws now. They could do with a refurb at some point, so I think I might get a spare set of wheels to run over the winter and get the claws done while they're off the car, we'll see.

Thanks again mate.

Daz.

Good one... if you happen to change your mind, I'm sure there will be people here keen to swap a set of 'blades' (17" five spoke wheels) for the set of less-common 'claws' that you have

Good to know about your paint detailing skills. What compound do you use on a buffer for polishing out typical clearcoat scratches (the ones not deep enough to feel with a fingernail?)

-Alex

Good to know about your paint detailing skills. What compound do you use on a buffer for polishing out typical clearcoat scratches (the ones not deep enough to feel with a fingernail?)

Click to expand...

Broad question... it all depends on what paint and on what car, as they can all behave very differently. Typically the lacquer used on German cars, particularly BMW, is harder to work than on others. I have a combination of compounds, pads and two buffers. I have a Porter Cable DA buffer and a rotary buffer which I use for cars that are bad. The compounds I use are: Menzerna FG500, PO203S and PO85RD, Poorboys SSR 2.5, 3 and Poorboys Mastercut compound, Optimum Compound II and Hyper compound, I have some Megs but I can't remember what it is and I do also still have some Farecla G3, as it still works good on fresh paint, albeit a bit messy by today's standards. And again, I have various pads for different jobs and paints.

Rarely do you find one job the same as the next, even on the same manufacturers cars the paint can behave differently.

Daz.

Oh! I might be a bit out of my depth in this conversation, as I haven't used any of those

Well, the clearcoat on my black Spider seems similar to the clearcoat on the Stilo. Both suffer from scratches quite easily. I use Mirka T10 - I recently discovered that a foam pad works better than a wool pad as far as allowing the abrasives to break down into a finer polish. I have a variable-speed rotary buffer but usually have it on 2 or 3 out of 5.

One thing I find good about the Mirka compound, as well as producing a higher gloss than similar 3M compounds, is that it seems to be a bit easier to clean up all the spatter

Something I figured out was that if I peel the foam pad (Velcro) off the Mothers Wax Attack Power Palm DA Polisher (a gutless wonder only useful for applying wax!) then a foam "Abralon" sanding pad can be fitted - say 2000 grit - used wet, the DA action (random orbit) is useful for sanding out those deeper bumper scratches (etc) before the compounding.

With a wet-sand it's surprising what can be achieved with quite bad gouges/paint transfer onto a bumper - needs a respray to be perfect but the gouges (previously highlighted with white paint) are hardly noticeable any more (on my black Spider) and I won't be bothering to repaint it until something really major happens.

But I am still having the problem with minor scratches appearing on the bonnet/bootlid. Wax helps but they soon come back. I haven't got up the courage to try wet-sanding those panels.

Those products you mentioned sound like a highly professional collection - I'll keep an eye out for them!

Thanks,
-Alex

The other thing to remember as well is; paint on fibreglass panels and plastic bumpers will again behave differently.

The lacquer on the Spider will probably be very similar if not the same as the Stilo, providing it's all still original paint. People forget that too... it may at some point had some panels painted, and again could be different. Sorry

I've only ever used a samples of the Mirka stuff and what I tried I liked. Because I only do the odd job now I don't tend to run out of stuff so often, so I stick with what I have as I know it works. I've also never used wool pads, foam pads in my opinion work much better. Less room for error too.

If I can ever offer advice mate please just gimme a shout.

Daz.

Good point about the paint being possibly resprayed - this particular car, though, is two-owner and completely original.

Nice to have confirmation I'm headed in the right direction - just one question springs to mind for now - have you ever tried to wet-sand out the factory orange peel on the Stilo? There seems to be a lot, particularly on the rear pillars of mine. Again I'm certain it's original (unless someone has removed the bonded-in rear side windows to paint it) it's hard to get up the courage to take a sheet of sandpaper to the car, but I guess it will be a lasting solution for the scratches too.

Most of my cars over the years have had some resprayed panels before I've got them, but I seem to have got lucky at last with this Stilo and Spider.

-Alex

I never done it on a Stilo but I have on plenty of other cars and also freshly painted panels to get rid of the odd run, dry spot or orange peel, it happens. The freshly painted panels are no problem, as you often know how much paint has been applied. However, if it's not a car I know the history of then I'd use a paint depth reader, but sadly I don't have one anymore. I broke the one I had and never had the cash spare to replace it.

It can be a bit daunting but like anything you get used to it. Make sure you use a block where necessary, keep it nice and wet with soapy water and use some good quality 2000 paper. You don't have to take much off to see the benefits of it.

I did a BMW X5 a few years back, ex company car that'd been carwashed to death. One of the worst I've done. Clayed it, flatted the whole car then buffed, polished and waxed it. Spent nearly three days on it. It looked brilliant when it was finished but it was hard work. You just have to trust yourself.

Below is a before and after of just the bonnet, but the whole car was pretty much the same.

Wow - that is an awesome transformation, very encouraging! Those are the sort of scratches and swirls I was talking about.

We should start a new thread for before-and-after shots of swirly Stilos. The tops of my Stilo's doors (those ledges under the windows) are particularly scratched - long horizontal scratches - I might tackle those first and move on to my black car later.

-Alex

Cheers mate...

...the main thing to remember is start with the least aggressive compound and pad and work your way up and not too much speed on the buffer, especially a rotary as they do generate a lot of friction and heat. If the compound you're using isn't cutting enough, step it up, but you can't go the other way.

It's very difficult to undo taking too much off.

Daz.

...and finally, lol.

Make sure you clay it properly too, the flatter the surface the greater it will reflect light, giving you a truer picture and a much better final finish.

Had the buffer out again yesterday and it's starting to look how I want it. The back wings are orange-peeley which I'm gonna sort at some point, but most of the swirl is gone now. I got some new badges as the existing Fiat badge and the Abarth badge was badly faded and I got some Scorpion wheel centres as I hate the standard little blue Fiat ones. Next job is the exhaust and I might do the calipers yellow, not made my mind up yet.

Very happy with it now!