The Eighties are Back... 405Mi16 Time

addo · Post by **addo** » 17 Feb 2009, 21:42

Yep,

An interim replacement for the Alfa 147 has been sourced. I hope to pick it up in a few hours. Didn't want an Mi really; just that all the regular 405s are gone or overpriced.

Have to stop buying stuff; run out of fingers and thumbs now.

Pics in a day or so - it's really poor weather here and I don't fancy my chances of nice portraiture.

Cheers, Adam.

addo · Post by **addo** » 18 Feb 2009, 10:48

A round trip of just over 120 miles! Weather stayed pretty amicable throughout.

Car is a bit ragged in places; paint dull where repairs are present and the nearside skirt damaged. Dash trim against screen has cracked splendidly and is glued up with ugly beads of silicone. Radio missing, as is wheel brace.

Looking forward to getting it sorted and registered.

jgra1 · Post by **jgra1** » 18 Feb 2009, 11:03

Ross_K · Post by **Ross_K** » 18 Feb 2009, 11:17

Nice bit of retro action there...

Dunno about that exhaust though.

How much do Mi's go for there down there?

ACTIVE8 · Post by **ACTIVE8** » 18 Feb 2009, 17:01

Yeah retro is good!

8)

Did they not import many of these there, so is this a rare car addo?

addo · Post by **addo** » 18 Feb 2009, 21:27

They're getting pretty rare. New the price was around £22,500 (back then!

) - I paid $600 - about £270.

Ross_K wrote:Dunno about that exhaust though.

Agreed; if it's not leaky it'll stay, though. Got even worse bluish "rice lights" in place of the foggies. They're going to go!

I didn't buy a BX valver due to concerns about the octopus possibly failing... But the ride would have been far superior.

Cheers, Adam.

addo · Post by **addo** » 12 Mar 2009, 11:14

On the road! Registered, and comprehensively insured at $4000 (£1875).

ACTIVE8 · Post by **ACTIVE8** » 12 Mar 2009, 11:35

Nice to see it on the road!

What's with the insurance cost, do they load up classics over there?

addo · Post by **addo** » 12 Mar 2009, 21:35

Sorry, misspoken by moi - that's the agreed value. Comprehensive policy itself was about $700.

Registration (equal to your MOT and road tax, plus issue fee for new plates) totalled about £400. We have a mandatory third party personal insurance component that represents about 40% of the amount above.

It goes well.

The only real worry is licence points!

addo · Post by **addo** » 20 Mar 2009, 09:30

Hasn't been driven all week.

Don't worry; there's a good reason.

I gutted the interior (save for the deteriorated rooflining and dash). All trim plastics were scrubbed in warm water and sugarsoap, then rinsed well, dried, rubbed thoroughly with neat ammonia then rinsed and dried again. The textured coating on forward sections of the dash and console proper, is however rotting and remains slightly tacky.

Seats were well sponged and dried and I found a PSA trim spec sheet jammed in the driver's seat. Part of the base frame springing to this seat has broken at the welds - anyone else ever seen this failure?

Carpet was effectively glued in by a deteriorating bitumen layer of the underveldt so I pulled up the edges and wiped/Hoovered away best as possible. Door seals and roof rail rubbers were removed, scrubbed, and hung to dry. The door jambs and pinched flanges were washed with car shampoo, rubbed where needed with Farécla G3 and then treated with Autoglym #12. Seat belts were soaked (not the reel end), scrubbed and left to dry on the folding clothesline.

It's becoming much more "homely" now, rather than feeling like someone else's hacked-about car. I also de-clogged the fuel filler recess drain tube - full of rust flakes from the leading tube and general grime.

Still to do in the nearer future: Clean and detail boot interior, ditto for the engine bay and front wheelarches. Remove door trims and clean them plus buff/wax door edges. Full glass clean. Fix fuel gauge (or its sender!) The paint is pretty well shot, but that can stay untouched at least until the car has proven itself over thousands of miles.

So far it's been fun. I'm sure there are, and will continue to be frustrations - but overall it is shaping up nicely.

Cheers, Adam.

ACTIVE8 · Post by **ACTIVE8** » 15 May 2009, 17:07

Hi addo how is the car now?

Talking about the 80's Spandau Ballet are doing comeback concerts here, and Kajagoogoo are jumping on the same bandwagon!

Post by **CitroJim** » 15 May 2009, 19:56

addo wrote:Part of the base frame springing to this seat has broken at the welds - anyone else ever seen this failure?

Several times now Adam. Responds well to a welder though. My lad, when he had a 405, broke both the seat frame and ripped one of the mountings out of the crossmember. Mind you, he does weigh rather a lot though!

When you weld the seats, take off all the fabric and the seatbelt pretensioner. Those things and welders do not get on well

So far, his 406 seats are standing up well to his bulk

addo · Post by **addo** » 15 May 2009, 22:51

ACTIVE8 wrote:...how is the car now?

Ah... I posted on AussieFrogs but failed to mention here; "Paris" was naughty and blew a head gasket. It's almost sorted now but there's been a massive amount of general cleaning to deal with in terms of revitalising everything removed for the repair process (gross outlay near £950 excluding my labour

).

Oddly enough, I'm looking forward to driving it. Delving that deep into the unknown means you can only return with more knowledge, and more confidence. (Yes, I am a "glass half full" person!)

ACTIVE8 wrote:Talking about the 80's Spandau Ballet are doing comeback concerts here, and Kajagoogoo are jumping on the same bandwagon!

some YouTuber wrote:...la vida pasa muy rapido

And, now I have True stuck in my head!

Thanks for the seat feedback, Jim. I have a good upholstery guy who can strip seats for this type of repair work, so no worries about setting it alight. Apart from one cigarette burn I think its fabric is almost better (quality) than the ten years younger Xantia! Being a Series One there is no seatbelt pretensioner to fuss about. It's a gloriously basic car; suitably worthy to replace the much-missed '87 Corolla.

Regards, Adam.

addo · Post by **addo** » 18 May 2009, 22:57

Jagged by the BOL!

It gives cam cap torque as 11 foot-pounds.

In fact, it's seven.

I broke one cap bolt as a consequence, and shall renew all 24, plus washers.

addo · Post by **addo** » 03 Jun 2009, 10:49

Car is back together and running.

Again.

It chewed out a driveshaft CV joint late last week, so that was fixed today along with the new lower engine mount and bracket eye bush.

I tend to DIY, but even so it has eaten about £1200 in parts costs and third party labour (head welding, skim and valve work). Having a great argument on AussieFrogs with one of the Kiwis who reckons I can't convert it to LHM/doseur braking.

As to overall performance - I think the Xantia is far superior. Roomier, almost as nimble, better braked and less tiring to drive. Faster, too! However, the 405 has a sort of visceral appeal; you do things in it which normally would make you shake your head and mutter about another driver doing...

Next project is repairing the dash wiring and replacing its speedo cable.

Cheers, Adam.