Sit rep. 1208 miles to Brooklands and back, ran like a dream (despite not having had a chance to clean the egr!)

Two tanks of derv. Averaged approx 600 miles per tank.

Only slight worry is a weird dull rumble on the way back from Glasgow to Aberdeen. Wheel bearing has been suggested, but needs further investigation.

I spy a fix it/service session at some point soon. And it needs a clean. Bloody minging

Update to the above - weird noise identified as bearing. Just need to get it booked in for repair now.

On my travels yesterday I got an aerosol can of EGR cleaner, to be sprayed in short bursts in via the air intake? Has anyone used this sorta thing before and is it likely to work or is the best course of action still the removal of the EGR?

no no no no no no !!!!!

do not spray it in to the engine ,,, Take the egr off , spary it in to the engine you could cause pre det , and cause damage ... , take the egr of and use the spray

Take it off and clean it properly... there is not and will never be, shortcuts to doing a job properly

yup, do it off the car. Doing it on the car means only one thing, it gets in areas you don't want it. Off the car means you can control where it goes, how much of it goes where and as it will be going in directly, means you use less AND get a more effective result.

Long overdue update - Alfas done 'one or two' miles this year.

Having hit a pheasant the other week the front grilles are both now needing replacing - on this weekends to do list. As is a looooooooooong overdue clean.

Need to find a rear bumper reflector still. But still trucking on quite happily.

I bet you that was a Pheasant Exparance to hit ........... ok i wont come back ...

Door handle on drivers side now missing in action.

Bloody alfa

Hahahahaha Stuart

Lower grilles now replaced. Next up oil change/door handle and reflector replace. And maybe a clean.

Boss managed to take a chunk of pain off of the door shut line last night, slammed it open against a yellow cage

Today was 'one of those days' as far as the Alfa was concerned.

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Headed to work early so that I had the bulk of the day free to fettle with the 147. Plan was to do an oil & oil filter change, replace a nackered sidelight, fix the door handle and fit new wiper blades. Andrew planned to change the spark plugs and thermostat on the GT, whilst cleaning the throttle body. It was decided early into proceedings that changing the Aux belt would be abandoned, as his in laws volvo needed the front brakes replaced too.

As far as the plans go, the bulk of the above was achieved.

On the 147 the oil and filter was relatively straightforward. The filter is hidden with a protective shield, as it's quite close to the downpipe/centre exhaust.

Bulb was - for once - a cakewalk. The door handle is where the most time was wasted. You may recall I snapped the hinge on New Years day...the replacement hinge isn't enough to perform a fully functioning repair. The actual handle itself is ****ed too. An hour down the drain, and back to the drawing board. In sheer frustration, I cleaned the engine cover a little.

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Andrews spark plugs were also ... interesting. The amount of crap contained in them was shocking!

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A bit later than hoped, the bleeding of his coolant was complete by the back of 7. All in, a productive - but frustrating - day. Back to ebay for parts :/

PS I fixed the rear bumper/tow eye cover.

PPS The grilles have fallen out again

PPPS Must remember to get Tiger Seal tomorrow...

One lower grille out again...need to use tiger seal lol

Hit a pot hole on Tuesday. Was worried Id done something terminal. May have found the problem...

So either a new alloy to source or put on the good wheels. Argh

Also new door handle on the way. Fingers crossed

*sigh* n/s headlight has blown again

Productive morning...

No spare alloys in either scrappy (though there is a 156/Coupe Turbo and a couple of Puntos at Persley) so I've found a replacement on ebay for £38 posted - including a tyre with some tread left. Result.

Full replacement door handle en route as is the rear bumper reflector. And whilst picking up another bulb in autosave today I've grabbed some Tiger Seal, so hopefully tomorrow the grilles will finally sit right.

Progress, allbeit slow, is being made.

So this arrived today to replace the Panda attack...

Along with a full new door handle. Can't be arsed fitting that though, so it's off to a local mechanic to fit on Friday.

Just the spare wheel to arrive now....sat in a depot in Tullos

So, reflector replaced and un-buckled alloy is also on the car. It's odd, all the bits I ordered arrived at various times yesterday. Like it was all properly pre-planned!

Tomorrow am pop the door card off (it's just sat on the runner) and a local mech is going to fit the doorhandle and lock, to save me the hassle/from messing it up

And all in time for Sunday

It's even getting a wash*

The other thing I think I forgot to say is I've fixed the n/s number plate light holder...I think/hope

*subject to weather

Well that's more than the punto is getting. I'm aiming for the proper industrial look once again #murmanskmotor