MikeyRules

Sorry Stuart can't help you with a 'take your car apart manual' I'm afraid to say... The four button control unit does come apart really easily although you do end up literally taking it to pieces. It does back together simply enough though when you come to re-attach it to your new fascia. I didn't need to remove the metal cradle unfortunately as my new unit was also single DIN at the back.

Hmm I'm not keen on microwave meals and prefer my 'Curries' a bit more specialist! I used to work for Tandy a long time ago and we used to give new recruits as part of their induction, 'plug' and fuse safety training and certification as nothing ever came with a plug fitted... Makes you laugh these days now we're in the dawn of the health & safety officers where there's blame there's a claim society we now find ourselves in! The world has truly gone mad!!

Ouch! Feeling your pain Rosso! I'm not sure how the connections can be different as the airbag is the same for the Ypsilon and Delta!? Sometimes on more basic models they used to use single stage airbags rather than dual stage, but I thought this had now stopped as safety is classed as standard? Where did you get it from and was it advertised for a new Delta?

Hmm I might get a black gear knob if one comes up, but no hurry and that will probably be it.... I'm happy to keep the rest of the car silver as I like the two tone effect and don't want everything too dark. Yes the floor mats are for an automatic... I'd already left positive feedback before I realised and left it too late to return them. However they work ok, were cheap as chips and don't get in the way so I'll keep them for now. Fitted the key fob badges this evening... Neil did you remove the Chrysler wings from the back? I did but obviously they leave an indentation where they were... I might get some replacement key shells as they're easily available.

Well decided to give the car a quick wash today as there was a break in the rain. So once relatively clean I took some snaps to show progress made so far. Interior: The dash from this angle actually looks ok From here you can see the gear stick surround doesn't fit

Ha-ha I knew you'd like my comment! Not sure I agree re the Vauxhall comment though as the Lancia is more of a shield and obviously no Griffin sitting in the middle either... (My old part owned car club is JOV (Just Opel Vauxhall) so have had a few of those too )

It was nice to see the two cars together... I have to say I'm quite liking the older vertical grill on the Delta, and makes me wonder whether I should have got one of those instead.

I'm not sure to be perfectly honest... How long is it since it was last changed, as it might be worth just draining the system and putting in fresh! It should be changed every 3 years.

Was that yours in the pic next to Stuarts then?

Ha-ha how funny! I do the classic car show every year with a car club I part own and have done for at least the last 10 years! I'm sure that girl on the left stayed at our hotel and ended up getting wasted with us at the bar on an all nighter!

Yeah it took me by surprise considering that there was still one strut operational! I couldn't get to my vice as it was buried in my full to bursting garage... I just used a pair of mole grips wrapped in a cloth and a pair of pliers to unscrew the end. It didn't put up much resistance to be fair and was easy to unscrew by hand once cracked off.

Yes if the price is right the Delta's are definitely finding new homes. That white 1.4 Multiair SR I was considering for my wife in Sheffield has gone too, but that was a bargain at just £6.5k... As you say Rosso they are a Marmite car without doubt! Most of my Alfisti friends don't like it, but then again I find them the most critical when it comes to contentious design. You know what's funny though... The first Delta I saw was in white with a black roof back in 2008 on the 'Lido' island just off of Venice and my first thoughts were that it looked expensive and I liked the quirky design. I no longer think the first obviously, but still love the quirky and exclusivity of being able to drive down the road and not see another! It was the same with Alfa and the Saab's I've owned and I don't think I could ever drive something common Germanic and barge like.

Sounds more like something that should be in the bathroom cabinet Ooh-Eer! Yes what you describe regarding the parking sensors is quite common across all makes to be honest, but good tip though non the less... It's not unusual for the sensors to fail completely either and as said easy to replace should that happen. I wonder how much they are... an arm and a leg no doubt!

Lol even easier is to cut up a standard metal coathanger... I still have these in my toolbox from about 1985! Removed more stereo's than I'd like to admit to ha-ha

Thanks for looking Rosso much appreciated fella! Yes you're absolutely right about the depth change in the trims... although both are actually the same overall when placed together. The deeper gloss part actually looks much better and creates a bit of reflection which is nice. There aren't any clearance issues with the back of the Blue & Me socket to be honest and this end of the console actually fits perfectly. The part that doesn't fit is the other end nearest the handbrake. Here is where the consoles are handed as well as the top part under the aircon unit... I think I'm just gonna have to paint my existing TBH, as I'm not prepared to pay anything like £160 for a bit of cheap plastic trim.

P.S. The part number for the Limited version of the console is: 735529197

Ha-ha you know me too well! I'm a sucker for getting rid of all known wrong branding! Talking of which I wonder if the window etching would polish out!? Thanks for the link and much appreciated! Yes it's an Italian document holder and parking clock... Yes I'm not sure about the badges either especially with 'Italia' inscribed across them. However I'll stick one on when they arrive and take a pic for the verdict. Was the logo like a metal keyring 3d delta? I looked ages ago for the proper one and couldn't find anything so bought a key ring with a view to 'gluing' that to the dash but thought better of it when it arrived as the 'D' has a small loop to attach it to your keys.

Thanks Neil, but I've done exactly that already and the part numbers weren't coming up on Eper. I gave him the part numbers straight off the back of my original and the shiny black one.... He did say that it wasn't unusual for Eper not to find the parts using the part number which I found quite amusing! The way we were able to find it though was by using a reg number from a UK 'limited' right hand drive car off auto trader. This guaranteed the exact part, but showed them to be on back order, so potentially non available in European stock and they'd have to get the supplier to make one. He also said they'd have to raise a case and chase it weekly. Hence me knowing they're £160 inc vat... Having said all that there's no harm in seeing if your stealer is any cheaper than mine... Mangoletsi isn't exactly known for being a value place to shop lol. We used to say that the price of Mangoletsi cars included Mango's mark up i.e. about 10% more expensive than anywhere else! When all said and done maybe painting mine like Rosso mentioned is the best way forward.

Ooh was only thinking about doing that the other day... They must be quite small badges then to fit the remotes!? Were they an eBay special? I've bought one of these as they're so Italian: and after debating over several options some these for under the side repeaters:

Ok then so I've not noticed on the last 10 Alfa's I've owned then...which is pretty much every Alfa since 1999

Not so sure about that fella as it didn't have a media USB socket and I had to Dremel out a hole to fit mine.... Who knows, but I can't believe they've created so many variances as that can't be cost effective! Even Alfa don't do silly things like that and lost stuff is interchangeable.

P.S. The head units and climate control aren't drivers side biased, it's the dash that is. The only other slight annoyance is on the climate control if memory serves me right the right hand dial used to control both sides for temp (as in mono control) where as my gloss black Italian sourced one it's now the left rotary as my side just does my own.... No biggy just have a little further to reach.

There are two variations of number two in Neil's picture above shown on EPER, one with the square hole for the USB socket and one without. Then there are about 5 trim and colour variations depending on interior colour etc. I spent ages making sure I understood which one ours was.... I bought from Italy the whole shebang... i.e. one, two and three from the picture above! Now as these were sourced from Italy they are obviously for a left hand drive car and my logic was that the centre section (No:2 above) should fit either left or right...Wrong! and the secondly if that didn't work to fit the whole lot. Again that doesn't fit as our dashboards are angled towards us ever so slightly. Now I'm not sure if you can see properly on the photos but the gloss black section on the one I was sent is far deeper than the silver part on my UK one, and to counter act that the bases are either shallow or deep to compensate... If that's confusing the overall depth of the two is exactly the same. As Rosso mentions my other option is to simply paint mine.... but for £17 I thought the Italian eBay one was worth a punt. Heyho you live and learn.

I'm still licking my wounds over the gear stick centre console.... I managed to get a gloss black one from Italy and it doesn't fit as there is a slight variance between left and right hand drive! Only Fiat could royally f**k that one up! I spent ages dremel'ing out a hole for the blue and me, and swapping over the leather gator as mine has white stitching and no matter which way I approach it it won't fit properly... Fiat want £160 for one, and they are as rare as rocking horse sheet, they'd have to put it on back order or make one!! DOH!

It looks like dark steel on that pic, is it just bad lighting or are yours dark?.