OnePaintedMan

My exhaust backbox has been an issue for me for a while. The previous owner welded together some rust mild steel pipe, the original back-box and an aftermarket generic twin exit pipe. Thankfully it had started to blow and this nearly new Ragazzon Cat-back system popped up on ebay 👍 Happy days. My current mid-pipe is a Ragazzon Group N unsilenced one so I plan to just fit the back section for the time being. I'll keep the silenced mid-pipe in case I change to a straight through quad system in future.

My favourite Spider by a long way 👍

Mine were supplied and fitted by my local tyre/suspension specialist. They can only be fitted on the front suspension but it has made a really positive difference. The steering is a lot less fidgety on uneven surfaces and there is better traction in the corners.

Lots of money spent this week! I had a GTA clutch and single mass flywheel fitted which has made the car far better to drive. Seems to spin up the revs much quicker (lighter flywheel?). The garage also noticed that the inner shoulders of the Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres I had fitted on the front (only 5k miles ago) were totally worn away 😬 So I took it to my favoured tyre specialist and a Geo check showed the camber was out. However, the shocking thing is that the suspension doesn't have adjustment capability built in as standard! Cue more money changing hands, as I had EZ Cam adjusters fitted (Which even after correcting the geo set-up allow for a further 3° of correction in future and two new tyres.

Christmas has come early. My Cup is back from its TLC at the bodyshop a week early (A new genuine Zender bumper sprayed and fitted to replace the old cracked one, and rear wing respray)!

Thought I'd move into this forum to continue the journey with my GTV Cup V6 (#60 of 155 RHD). Lost keys & immobiliser/ecu issues forced it to be stored in my garage for the last 12 months. Its been a pain to sort out but finally, as of today, it's back on the road and I can't wait to get out in it as much as posisble and enjoy that engine! I've been gradually addressing required maintenance and returning it to original spec throughout my ownership (4 years now). I will shortly be having the new OEM Zender front bumper/splitter that's waiting in my garage sprayed and fitted (in place of the otiginal that I previously paid to have repaired and resprayed . . . and then grounded on a steep bank and split badly again, 5 days later ) . I also need to address some recent sudden lacquer peel on the rear wing. Finally I will be having the wheels repainted to original Cup spec. Then it will be pretty much perfect!

So I've had a few issues to deal with. First of all the front bank cam cover was seeping oil from the new seal. I removed the cover and added red gasket sealant and refitted, only to have the engine run terribly, misfiring and throwing 14 different engine management codes! After 24 hrs of head scratching, disconnecting and cleaning earths and removing and refitting sparkplugs, I discovered I'd connected no5 and no6 coil packs the wrong way round! As soon as the connectors were reversed and the error codes cleared all was well once again, so I book teh car in for its annual government roadworthiness test (MoT). The morning of the test I was feeling quietly confident, until I moved the drivers seat with the ignition on. You guessed it - the dreaded airbag light! Needless to say it failed the test on this. The good news though is that today (after I downloaded multiecuscan and reset the airbag error), it passed! So now I am finally back on the road and enjoying the noise of the Busso once again, I think its time to stop updating on this intro thread and create a new thread in the Our 916s section to continue the adventures. Before I go though I thought I'd share the photo I took this weekend of my Cup with the other cars I have in my garage. Enjoy

Thanks Paul. You are so right, it's soul destroying and partly a result of never having enough time to spend working on the car in one or two sessions to complete a job. It means I often forget what went where! I try to take photo's but it doesn't always work. Having multiple cars to look after makes it harder as well. Nearly all of them are back to full roadworthiness now though, so hopefully I'll be able to enjoy driving them, rather than fixing them, for a while!

Its ALIVE! Finally. Folowing getting the new keys cut and inserting the transponder chips and refittingvthe ECU, immobiliser box and aerial I joyfully turned the key. Nothing. I could have cried. I sulked for a week and then dismantled everything under the bonnet once again. This led to the following discoveries a) I had connected the main loom earth to the wrong location (Should have been the back of the intake plenum), the location to which I had connected it (Cam/rocker cover) was now painted, so no electrcal conductivity, c) I hadn't re-installed the bracket from the plenum to the side engine bracket, d) I was missing the two rubber isolated bolts through the plenum that hold it to the cam/rocker cover. Once all this was addressed I tried again and was greeted byvthe sonorous bellow of my Busso V6 roaring back to life! I also received the final missing OEM pieces of the air intake piping/resonators this week so it now looks as good as it sounds! Can wait to get it taxed again so I can go out for a drive.

Hopefully you can bookmark the details above in case they are ever needed Paul

So, as it turned out the new lock/ignition barrel/keys were not required (luckily I didnt fit any of the hardware). The keys are sealed and the chips in them are locked to a matched immobiliser box. Both need to sourced based on the VIN of your car. I will therefore be reselling the complete unused set, if there is a buyer who can use them? 🤦‍♂️ The specialist (https://www.ecudecode.co.uk) 'virginised' my ecu, re-chipped my immobiliser box (it had been damaged by a voltage spike it seems) and has created a new matched 'master' transponder chip + 3 other matched transponder chips. Everything is being delivered back to me tomorrow (Cost £250 inc tax and shipping). I have purchased the replica key blanks below (with case shells that open) and will insert the transponder chips into these and get the blades cut to match my current ignition barrel/locks. https://www.keycasereplace.co.uk/alfa-romeo/12-alfa-romeo-key-shell-gt15r-blade-with-tpx-chip-position-red.html?fbclid=IwAR1xqcj-goD0Un9Ewkf6tg8ORUruuYJkwh8jktCsN4U5FuVA_oxvH6RE6RU Hopefully the Busso will sing again by the end of this week 😁

Sure Paul. If it's ok I'll wait until they have completed the job succesfully and returned my ECU/immobiliser/keys before sharing a recommendation though 😉 Should be back with me by the end of the week hopefully. I was delayed sending them off (Should have arrived with them at lunchtime today) as I ran into issues removing the steering wheel to access the immobiliser ring aerial. One of the airbag retaining torx bolts rounded out and I had to drill it out 🤦‍♂️

Got a quote to get my new Cup front bumper sprayed and fitted too today. Severely cracked the original front lip 2 days after I'd just paid £500 to have it repaired and resprayed. Car will go into the bodyshop as soon as it will start and move again! It will be perfect soon.

ECU specialist reckons it'll be no more than £200. Sending off my ecu/immobiliser/keys tomorrow so they can work their coding magic. Should be back next week.

I'm on it! Waiting to hear back from the ECU programming company. . .