145 1.6 Boxer owned by Zhagar Options

[Zhagar]

Hello dear 145 lovers.

My name is Matej Žagar and I'm coming from Slovenia. I would like to introduce to you my 145 1.6 Boxer. I've bought it in May 2018 after it was rolling a couple of months on car ads. 9 years ago I used to own a 146 1.7 16V so I know what a boxer engine brings to the road and to the face

I went with my father to take a look and in a couple of minutes I've decided to buy it. This is my face, when I went to the petrol station with her for the first time:



The car also changed a lot of owners in the recent past, more or less good owners. A lot of things were documented on the Alfa Klub Slovenia's official forum.

There are some quirks to do with the car, it needs some love. Nontheless, after all these years she is in very good shape. The engine runs like a charm (revs perfectly, no overheating, no trouble with ignition,...), rust is present but really easily fixed, interior is in good shape apart from the drivers' seat.

One cold start for you guys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvRKtv64K6M...eature=youtu.be

Sure she burns a little bit of oil but after 3.000 kilometers of owning her and having a friend drive behind me while driving her hard there is no blue smoke mid-drive, only on cold start.


A picture from Alfa Klub Slovenia's biggest meeting this year (over 140 alfas )






After my initial enthusiasm I then started planning what to fix on her. Then a list started filling up.

First thing I did was to change the light bulbs in the dashboard, they were almost all dead.
Then I changed her front logo which was old (chinese from aliexpress )
After that I decided to mix some paint in the correct number and painted all the chips from the little stones, car parks, etc. and this:




Now for some more serious things. Below picture of her underbody state:






Bit of oil leaking from the valve covers, nothing critical, she's an older lady after all





After this inspection I decided to change the rubber mats with high quality textile ones:



Of course I cleaned the foot rests and pedals with a brush, I just forgot to take a picture...

Because she came with just 1 key, I decided to make a copy of the original key, 60 EUR and it works like a charm




After this the time has come to change the engine oil. I chose Motul 6100 10W-40. If you have any other recommendation for a boxer unit, please let me know. I've heard Mobil and/or Shell is more quality? Can somebody confirm?


Let's move on. I went on a MOT test inspection where I saw the test telling me that rear handbrake didn't work. OK, I said and bought stuff to replace.

New cilinder and new brake pads. I bought the springs a couple of weeks ago and did not change them yet (I don't like rusty springs )



The same day we also changed the spark plugs because the old golden lodges were... let's just say ready for a change:



Because of the rediculous price and general un-availability of new golden lodges I went with NGK BP6ES and I'm happy. The car runs a bit smoother and after 3.000 km absolutely no problems with ignition.



Couple of days later I decided to buy the 145 logo for the trunk, result:



I also changed the horrible gear shift knob all 145/146 have. Yes, china again and really cheap but I love the looks and the feel of it. I also shortened the lever a bit, was just too damn high




Cronologically now we're almost in November. And since I decided this car will not drive on snow I pulled her tables off and sent her to sleep. But only official sleep. Now it's time do to the really big stuff


Time to rip off all plastics and let her show me all her secrets:



Eveything OFF



''Please don't hurt me'' she's saying




Next step on my goal was to completely make new tapestriest, fix the seat, make new leather for gear knob, hand brake and making a leather steering wheel with the help of a tailor.

Everything OFF from the inside



One day before I was agreed to meet with the tailor I got my hands on completely new seats. What seats you ask? SPORTPACK SEAT A complete set. The drivers seat needs tailors' help to be as new and I gave him these seats instead of the boring green ones. Seats + all mentioned above will cost me up to 300 EUR.





I have something more to share but can't due to forums post restrictions

[dante giacosa]

Hey Zhagar!

welcome along!

What a great car- it made a terrific noise on your you-tube video.

I can't believe how far you've got already; it looks like everything is going well- are you going to do anything over the winter..?

[shpuncik]

that Boxer sound - music to my ears

[Zhagar]

Hey Zhagar!

welcome along!

What a great car- it made a terrific noise on your you-tube video.

I can't believe how far you've got already; it looks like everything is going well- are you going to do anything over the winter..?

Plan over the winter is to completely (or at least 90%) remove the rust and protect her against it. If I wanted to do a perfect job I would have to completely re-new the front and rear bridges but they are not in such a bad shape that they would need that.
Also I would like to change the crankshaft bearings and piston rod bearing. I have to replace the radiator (already a new Nissens one on stock) and change the coolant liquid.
Last thing is fixing the interior.
Oh and I will replace the left fog lamp, the plastic glass is damaged beyond repair. I will also remove the yellow foil, it does not look god on red for my taste.

If I manage to complete this in the current winter I will be super glad


Some more prettier pictures










@shpuncik Yes it is music to my ears aswell.

This post has been edited by Zhagar: 4th December 2018 22:36

[Zhagar]

New steering wheel, repaired front seats, repaired front and rear door trims, new handbrake and gear lever leather. Slowly getting ready for 2019.











Next stop - getting rid on the small parts of rust on the underbody.

[dante giacosa]

Well done Zhagar!

The seats and steering wheel look great.

Did you have the fabric material replaced on the door-cards??


How fortunate that this car fell into your hands!

This post has been edited by dante giacosa: 21st February 2019 08:28

[Zhagar]

Yes, it is fabric. Black fabric with a touch of padding underneath. Did not want leather since the seats are not leather.

[Zhagar]

Fixing the rust on her is going on slowly because of lack of time not because it's severe work She is very healthy for her age.




Floorpan completely rust free

[aero_mati]

Hi, nice to see all the work that's been done to it.
It looks really nice!

[Zhagar]

Finally, the rust issue is settled.

Pictures below of chronological rust removal:

[Ganz]

Nice work Zhagar. Only thing I'd say. Can you post your pictures on this forum rather than on other cloud sources. Reason being all too often when users move on or their external accounts expire new users on the 145 forum cannot access the pictures as it usually goes to a 404 blah error message if the account no longer exists.

I am liking the boxer a lot How did you repair the rear seat belt wheel arch?

This post has been edited by Ganz: 14th April 2019 22:12

[dante giacosa]

fantastic stuff-

did you source new front bumper supports?

or weld on better ones, chopped from another car?

[Ganz]

Interesting as the rust in almost identical spots to mine year ago! Keep up the good work.

[dante giacosa]

but the underfloor is incredible, don't you think, Ganz?

It's a very good example...

[Zhagar]

Thank you guys.

Front bumber supports are from another 145. My father found them on a junkyard in Italy cca. 10 years ago. They were still without rust so we cleaned them and welded them on.

The rear wheel arch was repaired with these kinds of sheet metal. 1,0 mm thick metal sheet. It took some time to measure and mold them into shape. Patience is gold



We still have to drill the holes for the seat belt though. But that is the easy part

I am aware the repairs are not the most aesthetic one but to be honest I really don't care how the floor pans and underbody looks. All I care about is a car with no rust

[Zhagar]

Haven't written anything in a long time because wheather was s**t and time was also a problem.

But we've done an important step yesterday and that is that we stripped her even more and got her ready for getting a new paint

[Zhagar]

Mini update in between.


Since the original fog lamp was heavily damaged because of time (oxidation) I went in the hunt for a new one.

Got lucky and got the ricambi originali one for a very very fair price. Good as new.

[Zhagar]

Finally some progress after almost a year.

[waynedear]

That is going to look fantastic

[dante giacosa]

That is going to look fantastic

Yup- a serious repaint effort! Can't wait to see it!!