ALFAitalia's new Captain Kirk!

[ALFAitalia]

AFAIK condensers are are normally aluminium now (the one on my 2007 Vito definitely is), and the pinholes come from corrosion. So you might be looking at replacement rather than repair.

I've done a few with a combo of silver solder and a protective layer of JB Weld. On my old Grand Cherokee a similar repair lasted the whole time I owned it....even though it was regularly abused off road! Of course there maybe another leak after I've fixed this one so it might still not be DIY faxable.

 

[BTB 500]

I've done a few with a combo of silver solder and a protective layer of JB Weld. On my old Grand Cherokee a similar repair lasted the whole time I owned it....even though it was regularly abused off road!

Not silver solder surely ... the melting point of that is about the same as aluminium

 

[ALFAitalia]

???? The melting point of the various silver solders can range from under 200 ˚C to some greater than 360 ˚C, but most of the solders in general hobby use have melt temperature in the range of 215 ˚C to 220 ˚C (419 ˚F to 428 ˚F). Mine says 220c on the reel. Aluminium does not melt until around 660c. But you still have to be carefull dealing with such smal sections of metal. Not confusing silver solder with actual silver? Low melting point silver solder is made from a mixture of silver, tin, and other metals that have a low melting point

 

[Bellow]

Unless there's been some revolution, genuine silver solder always has a melt temp higher than regular solder. Silver solder will not melt with an iron - flame only.
(My ol' man used to work for Eutectic and knew this shit inside out).

 

[BTB 500]

???? The melting point of the various silver solders can range from under 200 ˚C to some greater than 360 ˚C, but most of the solders in general hobby use have melt temperature in the range of 215 ˚C to 220 ˚C (419 ˚F to 428 ˚F). Mine says 220c on the reel. Aluminium does not melt until around 660c. But you still have to be carefull dealing with such smal sections of metal. Not confusing silver solder with actual silver? Low melting point silver solder is made from a mixture of silver, tin, and other metals that have a low melting point

I think you are confusing normal soft solder with silver solder. Silver solder comes in rods (not on a reel), is pretty expensive (because it contains a high percentage of silver), and melts at 650C or so.

Model Engineering | Solders & Fluxes | Silver Solder

Designed for Model Engineering, we stock a range of soldering products including Soft & Silver Solders and associated fluxes.

soldersandfluxes.co.uk

Soft solder is traditionally 60% tin / 40% lead, but lead-free versions can contain a small amount of silver (maybe 3-4%). Silver solder is typically 40-50% silver but can go as high as 75%.

 

[BTB 500]

Unless there's been some revolution, genuine silver solder always has a melt temp higher than regular solder. Silver solder will not melt with an iron - flame only.
(My ol' man used to work for Eutectic and knew this shit inside out).

Yup I've been using both soft and silver solder for 40+ years. Silver solder needs a lot of heat (dull red for steel), and as you say can only be done with a torch.

 

[Bellow]

Silver solders are also a lot stiffer - ie, the rods don't bend compliantly as do soft solders. They need flux. They work on metals that soft solders do and don't with the exception of stainless steels. They don't work with aluminium or alloys of. Their real reasons for existing are stainless steel compatibility, higher strength (where other methods eg, welding/brazing are unsuitable) and a higher melt point of finished joints. Other than that, they are just more difficult to work with than soft solders.

 

[ChrisPDuck]

FYI - This (light grey) isn't a very good match for the grey seats in mine: Leather Repair Paint Dye ALL IN ONE for Restoring Colour to Leather | eBay

I've used this brand a few times (e.g. for a leather suite, different car interiors) and it's a good product, and maybe a different colour will match my seats better, but 'light grey' doesn't.

Update: Ivory isn't the right match either! There are probably people out there selling an exact match, but I've got enough to work with now.

I think a blend of Ivory and Light Grey will get me close enough. This photo almost captures what it looks like in the flesh. Based on the 50:50 being too 'blue', and the 3:1 (Ivory:Light Grey) being a fraction too light, I reckon a 2:1 mix will be just about right. Will test later.
(apologies for the foil test card!)

 

[ChrisPDuck]

That's worked out quite nicely - I'm happy with the match.

 

[ALFAitalia]

OK......so we are about 2 weeks in so what's good and what's bad.

To be fair its mostly good.

Love the way it drives and corners....even the sound it makes (my first 6 pot derv). Its great to be back in a car that drives the CORRECT wheels!! The high torque at low revs makes it pretty effortless to drive on the back roads and the motorways and surprisingly quick......although there is no hiding the extra 300 kg or so compared to my old ALFA.....but its a completely different sort of car that's rather bigger in all directions. The ride is firm (being a Sport) but comfortable and my wife noticed how much better the ride is than on the Eibach equipped ALFA. It does not seem to burn any fuel at all!.....at least not measurably worse than my 2.0l Alfa derv. Its got the optional bigger 80 litre tank.....so a full tank should give a serious range.

The negatives are really just the faults that I knew about when I bought it and have not had time to resolve yet....AC, bumper damage etc. I was going to temporarily hide the bumper damage with one of those plastic bumper protectors designed to stop damage when loading the car.....but although you can get them for estates no problem all the saloon versions are out of stock everywhere and I don't want to use a sticky vinyl one as the damage will show though....so it looks like paintwork will be sooner rather than later.....unless any of you have a bumper protector to sell?
Its taking a little while to get used to driving a bigger car again......but I used to have a rather bigger A8.....so I'll soon get back into it after a few more miles. Its not helped by the front and rear parking sensors having a range of about a foot.....so you don't get much warning. On the ALFA they started the slow beeping at about 3 feet away!

Fridays job will be to try and remove the slightly illegal tint from the front side windows....not easy apparently!

Overall? Very happy!

 

[ALFAitalia]

Forgot to say on the negative side.....I thought that Group 41 insurance was a bit strong....my old petrol powered Audi A8 4.2 V8 with about 100 more horses was only Group 45!

 

[ChrisPDuck]

My E500 is one group higher - maybe it’s mostly down to the complexity of the model and the cost to repair, and less about bhp.

 

[ALFAitalia]

Maybe its the mighty diesel torque!!!!....my 6 pot derv actually makes 10 more nm torque than your chunky V8 and at lower revs....which is a surprise! Not close on the horses of course!!!

 

[ChrisPDuck]

Haha - could be! No surprise to me - I’m coming from an OM642-powered Chrysler 300C, which is what I towed with previously. The 5.5 V8 was my only option if I wanted similar torque from petrol.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

 

[st13phil]

Its got the optional bigger 80 litre tank.....so a full tank should give a serious range.

I used to routinely get 600+ miles between fill-ups in my E350CDI. The range was somewhat shorter on the E63 Biturbo that replaced it, even though that car enjoyed the same 80-litre tank capacity

Glad to hear you're enjoying the car.

 

[SmartAmg]

I used to routinely get 600+ miles between fill-ups in my E350CDI.

Don't know how you got that. Never got nowhere near that with my C207 350cdi.
You sure you where moving?

 

[st13phil]

Don't know how you got that. Never got nowhere near that with my C207 350cdi.
You sure you where moving?

Smaller tank on the C207?

And yea, I was moving. Quite quickly

 

[SmartAmg]

Smaller tank on the C207?

And yea, I was moving. Quite quickly

Had to check that. Your right, 80L tank on the saloon. 66L tank on the C207 coupe. Still your 600+ miles on a tank, is very good..

 

[st13phil]

Still your 600+ miles on a tank, is very good..

It was a later 265bhp car with the 7g+ transmission and was at least 10% more economical than the earlier cars. It averaged a real 38mpg over the 35k miles I covered in it, which was very creditable.

 

[SmartAmg]

It was a later 265bhp car with the 7g+ transmission and was at least 10% more economical than the earlier cars. It averaged a real 38mpg over the 35k miles I covered in it, which was very creditable.

Yep, mine was the 265bhp model too. Mind you it was mapped, and the torque was very addictive.