Rusty cars

[GreenBrick]

Originally Posted by Grimble

On a similar note, I heard a comment the other day the the medical profession was going down a similar route. Medical training today revolves around testing the patient and acting upon the test results. In the old days training was about assessing the symptoms and diagnosing the problem. Of course both vehicle engineering and medicine have progressed remarkably in recent years but my wife (trained the old school way) can accurately diagnose a great many ailments long before any instrument goes near. If I was a car I'd have been scrapped a long time ago.

Luckily I know a good Doctor (diagnosed my sarcoidosis after 3 others failed to) and a good Garage (Macclesfield MOT centre - very trustworthy).

That aside, I did give up on my V6 Audi and sold it at a big loss with engine pinking that the stealer could not even fix.
It went to auction and some person probably bought it cheap and fixed it, but by then I had run out of time/patience/money/faith in Audis (as many other problems had dogged the car).
Audi were doing the route of replace, nope didn't fix, charge anyway, replace something else, nope didn't fix, charge anyway....
There were no manuals for the general public to use for that model and I had no idea where to begin, and the only person who gave me any help said get shot of it before the engine detonates completely, as he had left it too long with his.

[GreenBrick]

Oh, and as for rust... My '04 Jumbuck. Picture says it all.

[60041]

Thankfully, rusty cars seem to be largely a thing of the past: when I think of some of the old wrecks that I owned when I was young and remember the constant battle against rust. My Minivan needed floor pans, sills, a petrol tank and a rear subframe during the 3 years I had it, not to mention the tub fulls of P40 that went into the front wings. I had a Renault 6 that needed extensive welding of the rear suspension mountings at 5 years old and a Renault 14 that had its first respray at 3 years, new wings and door skins at 5 years, and was scrapped as beyond economic repair at 7 when the drivers side A pillar rusted through and the door hinges broke free.
In contrast, my wife’s old Focus was sold at 13 years old with only a little bubbling of the paint on the front wheel arch; the rest of the car was rust free - that would have been unheard of 20 years ago.
Walking around the town today, I saw a Ford Ka with rusty rear wheel arches and an Audi that had tatty sills, and that was it out of the dozens of cars I walked past.

[360beast]

Originally Posted by phil1968

Saw this the other day & found it quite interesting, although I'd have to disagree with his statement that cars have been galvanised for the last 30 years (unless that is the case in Australia), more like the last 15 to 20: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlAQP5Sng6M

The Alfa Romeo 164 was galvanised and that started production in 1987 so 31 years ago.

[Prufrock]

Originally Posted by 360beast

The Alfa Romeo 164 was galvanised and that started production in 1987 so 31 years ago.

It wasn't fully galvanised, you give a false impression. Like the 700 series the 164 had certain key panels and substructure treated.

I worked for Alfa Romeo (GB) and had a new 164TS.

Jon.

[360beast]

Originally Posted by Prufrock

It wasn't fully galvanised, you give a false impression. Like the 700 series the 164 had certain key panels and substructure treated.

I worked for Alfa Romeo (GB) and had a new 164TS.

Jon.

It is galvanised, no? So how am I giving a false impression? Doesn't matter if the whole car was or not the post I quoted said cars haven't been galvanised for 30 years and I said they have been. I didn't say they galvanised the whole car just that they are galvanised. I haven't watched the video but I imagine that is what they meant.

The 164 is a lovely car, I keep looking at them for sale but only the twin sparks seem to crop up with the occasional trashed busso powered one. My brother had a 12v 3.0 and a 24v cloverleaf 164 I only got to drive the 12v but with the sports exhaust and on the empty roads going through Milford sound in New Zealand the sound was godly.

He also had about 10 suds all of which he dropped in 1.7's from the 33.

He had about 4 1.7 33's and a 1.5 one.

My dad had a 12v 3.0 164.

My other brother had a 1.7 33 a 1.5 33 and a 2.0TS 75.

Unreliable not at all, when people say Alfas are unreliable I think what a load of bollocks, when the whole family is running them and the worst problem we had was a 164 stripping the plastic teeth off the cog inside the window motor.

[Prufrock]

Need to get excited, just trying to be accurate. I don't need convincing about ARs either, I've driven every Alfa Romeo* since I collected a 75 at the factory and drove back in convoy with three other 75s.

I was also a part of the team that launched (in the UK) the 145, 146, 156 and 166.

Jon

*including the SZ

[GreenBrick]

I would get excited by an AR 75 with a 3Ltr V6 with race cams like my mate had.... Flippin' 'eck, did that go!

[phil1968]

Originally Posted by 360beast

The Alfa Romeo 164 was galvanised and that started production in 1987 so 31 years ago.

I meant cars in general really. But I would imagine that was through necessity if my Alfasud was anything to go by ;-) Actually, it wasn't that bad as it was a later one ('83). But Italian cars, especially Lancia, did have a bad reputation for rust. In fact Lancia pulled out of the UK back in the 90s because they couldn't shake off the reputation here & poor sales were the result. But that Alfa Romeo V6 is pure music to one's ears ;-)

[Brianvs60]

I've just swapped a BMW 3 series for a Volvo - the Bimmer's wheel arches were starting to rust and bubble up. Front nearside and rear offside. 2004 vehicle, so not *that* old!

Very hard to prevent corrosion. Actually now that I think of corrosion, I had a coil spring fail on me a couple of months ago on the same BMW. Whatever about rust you can see, it's the stuff you can't see that really bothers me!