Alpha Romeo 155 Rescue Mission – Flipping Bangers – S01 EP10 – Car Show

Join Gus and Will in their latest challenge as they attempt to restore a severely rusted Alpha Romeo 155 sports saloon. Will their passion and determination be enough to bring this Italian classic back to life in just five days? Watch the journey of flipping bangers and witness the transformation of this once-neglected beauty.

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Join hosts Will Trickett and Gus Gregory in Flipping Bangers as they embark on an exhilarating automotive journey. Watch these two car enthusiasts search for neglected classics, work their magic in the garage, and turn old vehicles into pristine gems. Experience the excitement of buying, restoring, and selling cars in this thrilling series. From rust to riches, it’s all here. Buckle up and enjoy the ride with Will and Gus!

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This time on Flipping bangers a beautiful  Italian sports Saloon wow that is brilliant   with a couple of small issues sorry and a couple  of big ones honestly this is a horror show under   here it’s the toughest challenge we’ve ever  faced it just seems like one step forward two  

Steps back doesn’t it can we bring an Italian  classic back from the dead or have we pushed   our luck too far let’s get it done to a standard  finish that we’ll put it down we’ll get it out I’m Gus Gregory and he’s will Trickett together  we’re risking everything to follow a dream it’s  

Something I’ve wanted to do for a long  long time we’ve packed in our day jobs   and invested our own hard-earned  cash we will do whatever it takes   as we try to make a living in the Cutthroat  world at secondhand cars it’s all in the  

Chase you’ve got to buy well you’ve got to sell  well why would anybody buy this car we’ve got a   goal we want to double our money if we put 500  quid in we need to see a thousand pounds back  

We’re targeting the very bottom of the market  we buy cars that no one else wants can we make   it flipping bangers or is this a gamble we  cannot win it needs so much work doing to it we’ve invested 10 grand in our new car  trading Venture that’s to pay for cars

Isn’t it great I know I’ve never actually had a   proper clean work so this is  really it’s not so much stuff I’ve got my favorite Tools in here  my favorite spanners but if we’re to   cover the rent on our lovely workshop and  pay ourselves wages the goal is to double  

Our return on every pound we put in we  love cars but if we can’t keep the money   coming in we’ll be forced to close right now  we’re on top just basically we’ve given up   salary a monthly salary and replaced  it with well possibly no celery at all

We have to cycle one car per week and  can only afford five Workshop days   per vehicle what’s next well we want  something Glam and if you want that   no Gus yes there’s one thing that we haven’t  thought about what’s that Italian cars oh  

Italian cars we should have a Ferrari you  think the best Italian cars are expensive   but plenty are affordable Alpha certainly a bit  more in our league yeah I think something like   I don’t know alpha giulietta or something  like that well that sounds quite dear Alpha  

Spider rust Alpha sud those are definitely  lost clock is none left other none left   as usual our budget dictates the next move and  a 90s car feels the most likely I come up with a  

Lead a contact offers me a wild card a wide-bodied  Alfa Romeo 155 from an era when Alpha was making   a comeback they are good to drive and becoming  rare when kids find out we’ve been driving for  

Some time now where are we going and who are we  going to go and see well it’s uh it’s just outside   reigate it’s a little um well it’s a barn I  think extensively okay Wayne’s the bloke is  

Selling as the car and I’m I met him I was asking  around if anyone knew anyone who might have some   cars and he’s an alpha nut and uh brilliant  I think you’d have to be careful don’t you  

Because they also they also know what they want  to get rid of why are you selling it Wayne yeah Wayne is a mechanic collector and keeps cars at  the ready that he can restore when he has the time  

Apparently this 155 could be worth between two  and five thousand pounds in Nice condition but   until we’ve seen it for ourselves we have no idea  whether that’s for real why are you in I’m in hey   you’re right all right guys how  you doing hi this is Will is it  

In there can we see it come on have a look thanks wow there she is fabulous it’s looking  great how long has it been in here Wayne   a couple years now so this is uh 97 Alfa Romeo  155 yep 1.8 twin spot this looks great I mean  

It looks amazing I had a picture in my mind and  this looks 100 times better and they shouldn’t   say that when you’re buying a car should you well  it’s excellent it’s just more money well what’s  

What’s the deal with it then well basically I  bought off a couple of chaps they need to get   rid of it they are storage problems put it on the  ramp so it need a few things for an mot said fine  

I’ll store it and when the right time comes  I’ll get it done so you’ve basically got a   list of things that you think need doing to  this haven’t you yes well that would really   help us wouldn’t it I mean that’s that’s perfect  for us especially if they’re not too complicated  

Nothing nothing major well I think well I think  you’re right I think we should try and uh try and   get it out shall we yeah sure excellent could  we get this one out of the way first push or a  

Driver I have to push that one okay but this one  I reckon’s gonna drive really yeah that’s good   news it’s brilliant wouldn’t it yeah when you’re  looking at a barn find it’s essential to give   yourself space to get a proper inspection that’s  easier said than done as most of the cars here are  

Non-runners but that’s okay we’re allowed to move  them as long as we don’t break them which means   will isn’t allowed to drive okay go a little bit  more if you can come on let’s have a look wow that  

Is brilliant so much better it’s got a slightly  droopy front here yeah I think that’s relatively   cosmetic though thank goodness I’d say so dare  we yes go on let’s have a look look at that   that is a pretty engine it looks great doesn’t  it yeah it’s got to be the last generation of  

Cars that were built with an engine to look at I  mean that is proper isn’t it they’ve taken proper   pride in making that look cool haven’t they they  have I’m I can see myself riding around in this  

I have to say have you got the keys yeah  shall we can I give it a go yeah sure okay okay then girls are ready ready to go yeah here we  go there’s lights guys oh it’s closed whoa drums cars that have been stored often have  seized engines it would be bad news  

To buy this if there was any question  about the Mechanicals but it sounds good it’s a great moment to see  the alpha venture outside at   the point we’re getting excited but we still  don’t know what Wayne wants for the car s [ __ ] that’s brilliant

I think it’s fabulous but in the barn  it’ll sell for a male red out here it’s   Alfa Romeo pink which is perfect it’s  very in very in pink this season that’s   good I think a couple of hours of the mob  might solve that problem but look at that  

It looks great it’s pretty tidy actually and  a load of paperwork as well what have we got   we got any service history with this one  no service history low paperwork with the   AAA but no service history it’s had two owners  yes and it’s done about 70 000 miles wow that’s  

Amazing they clearly loved it though didn’t they  because it looks great in there doesn’t it I was   well loved the car was well loved it is they were  very upset when they were saying goodbye to it  

These are all the things that if you’re buying  a car that you should be wary of people say   so what’s the what’s the story about the wheels  they’ve got a bit they’ve been painted black are   they the original they are the original Wheels um  yeah they’ve been painted black very poorly and uh  

That’s just just unfortunate Wayne as you know  we’re not particularly flush and we are looking   for cars and there’s cheaper end of the markets  well sort of price were you thinking on this one  

I think trade maze rates 500 pounds we need to  have a thing don’t we we do do you ever think do   you mind no bullet journal to the physical Corner  look at the car it’s got everything going for it  

Isn’t it it has it is perfect we’ve got to come  up with a decent offer yeah but I was thinking   you know 400 quid I was thinking for I mean  it’s yeah the thing that worries me about it  

Is that it’s an old Alpha and we take it back  and he’s got a list of things that we need to   do to it we take it back to the workshop and  we find 100 other things all right brilliant

Well Wayne we uh we have come to a bit  of a decision haven’t we we have and we   think that 500 quid is completely fair  for this car but we are decidedly skins   so we’d like to come back to you with a  slightly different offer which is 400 quid

Okay you are a deal hey excellent well done nice  one way no problem brilliant we wanted Glam we’ve   got it we wanted cheap we got it but buying an  old Alpha isn’t an easy call they are notoriously  

Unreliable and prone to rust but honestly could  we do better than this wide-bodied btcc star it   can even drive out of the barn under its own  steam the only issue here is lack of brakes so  

I will need to be careful not to kill will off  we go back to the workshop where we’ll find out   whether this fantastic 155 is As Good As It Seems  thank you it’s great isn’t it and we did a good  

Job nice car yeah that’s a good morning’s work he  must have thought that you were a complete rank   amateur you know why you never asked him about the  list you know he said he had a list of things yeah  

You’re right he did yeah that wasn’t solely my  responsibility actually I’ll have you know I did   ask him he said he said the reason that the car  had come in was because the brake bias fell with  

Gong and that’s what came in in the first place  um rest of the braking system needs overhauling   uh right here and he said and this is obvious  it needs cam belt that you would put a camber  

On it wouldn’t you yeah you would yeah we want to  sell this car and know that it’s going to keep on   going yeah yeah really if we add it all up what’s  it going to be I don’t know but still not massive

Wayne also said the car needs some  welding towards the rear which is   to be expected on a car of this age but  the alpha could be worth thousands done   up so if we get this right we’re  looking at some decent Payback

So we’ve got exactly what we wanted a 1.55 1.8  wide-bodied twin spark Alfa Romeo built just   at the time when they were building brilliant  cars well this is the type of Alfa Romeo that   everybody wants these ones are really really  popular there’s forums there’s collectors clubs  

There’s all the sort of groups of people that love  these cars and we have got ourselves on which is   good because it doesn’t even need very much work  got a bit of welding stew at the back which you  

Know about apparently uh the brakes need a bit of  attention apparently we ought to put a cam belt   on it definitely should those Wheels I know they  look scabies they are going to look so good if  

We do them in silver aren’t they yeah I think  that’s the thing now we are incredibly short   of time so I vote we get it straight into the  workshop wheels off poke around yes definitely before the alpha goes to surgery I  take some pictures for an internet  

Auction ad that will go up immediately and run for   a week this is so we can sell the car the  moment it’s finished for us time is money I’m just setting up the online auction for our  Alpha 155 which is a beautiful car and I love  

It very much I’ve seen them online for between  five and seven thousand Pounds admittedly some   of those were two liter ones not 1800s but  they’re worth money because there’s not very   many of them about ours is never going to be  perfect so I’m putting it on 1500. because  

We want it gone we’ve got five days if we can get  that for it and we can get it out then Happy Days oversell our cars we’d rather sell a  car cheap with some rough edges than   pretend to offer Perfection  we’re realists not magicians

The alpha is in and since I  found the car I want to have   a quick check underneath before will  seize it because let’s face it these   cars rust and we know it needs some  work I need to know what we’re in for

Underneath is not a pretty sight caca  has suffered in storage and is in an   awful State my excitement on the sweet  deal evaporates in an instant I feel sick honestly this is a horror show under here I  can poke my fingers through this panel here  

I can poke my fingers through into the floor here  but it’s nice that somebody’s written the date on   there which concisely shows that this car’s 20  years old and rotten as a pair we’ve only got   five days in the workshop to optimize our time  we’re going to have to do late nights because  

Really I don’t know if we’re going to be able  to do this car we’re just going to have to see   where we are at the end of five days and I think  probably five nights as well we’ve always said  

We like a challenge but this will be the biggest  yet I’m struggling to stay positive there was rust   everywhere and it there’s there’s massive great  holes everywhere and underneath the the stone   chip guard that they’ve put on at the factory  everything everything oh I can I mean I can  

I can push the screwdrivers through all of the  inner wheel Arch here and oh my goodness it’s   it’s just falling it looks to me like this has  been sat in salt water everything about it like  

The Springs the trailing arm everything is covered  in right we’re eaten by rust but this in here this   is I mean I can poke my screwdriver all the way  all the way through that that’s going into them  

Wow I’m it’s in a terrible State Wayne Who Sold us  the car in good faith is a professional mechanic   and presumably expert welder to him it’s  simple work that can be done at his leisure   but for us with five days it’s like looking  over a cliff my first instinct is to panic  

Do we try and fix it or do we throw in the town  now and lose our money I need to bring in wheel S I hope you’re right you’re right for this I had to look at the back  yeah atrocious really everything that could  

Be rusty is Rusty even underneath a stone chip  but look at this it looks like it’s been stored   underwater doesn’t it um I mean I I don’t even  know if it’s worth starting because we’re just  

Going to be chasing our Tails there’s so much  rot in it so much rot I just think everything   that we’ve made we’re going to blow on a car  that’s that is look at it I mean there’s no bill  

Like no it doesn’t look too bad give me reality  rods even if I’ve got to work all nice on this   we’ll get it done mate don’t you worry don’t  you worry it’ll be okay well you’re prepared  

To have a go at that yeah yeah yeah it’ll be  fine and you’re going to need a bigger cup um yeah Will loves welding enjoys a challenge and  just maybe his energy and childlike enthusiasm  

Is what we need to see this through we need to  sleep and get a fresh pair of eyes on it tomorrow day two with Boston Alpha that’s as rotten  as a pair fat odd consideration over a few  

Drinks we’re not letting it beat us in fact  we’re going in right I’ve chosen to start   on this bit here because it looks like a  nice quick little easy bit I’m just gonna   pull a patch on there and a little patch in  there as well great but before I get started  

That’s all made out of plastic the seats  are on the other side I just need to get   the seats and the bits of plastic and trim out  of the way and then I can crack on with the job

I know Gus is worried whether the alpha is  possible to weld in the time we have but I   know it can be done building is expensive  in terms of man or woman hours some of the   workers spent stripping out the rear  of the alpha to get behind the scenes  

Of metal as a rusting it looks like big  work well it’s actually it’s quite quick there are different standards of welding  and I have the wheel arches the Sills and   the floor pan to do so for Speed I’m just going  to do quick patches they’ll be ugly but strong

I’ve left the workshop one because will is welding   and that’s his thing but two I need  some space and decide madly perhaps   getting the wheels refurbished and  looking smarter will cheer us up a bit ah Steve oh Gus is it yeah how are  you all right yeah that is off of our  

Um used 155. oh right it looks somebody’s had to  go with a rattle can haven’t they it does rather   look that doesn’t it yes it’s definitely not  being powder coated that’s for sure but do you   think that’ll be all right you think they’ll come  up oh absolutely yeah no problem yeah there’s not  

An awful lot of damage you’ve got a little bit  in the rim but um that should be fine no problem   I assumed that this wouldn’t have a color on it I  know when we spoke on the phone that you said well  

It it would have done and subsequently I’ve looked  as well and it it was it was it was silver wasn’t   it yeah that’s right I mean um for that age of car  um certainly what we’ve done in the past is is use  

A standard server which by coincidence is this  is the one really it’s more of a standard what we   call standards okay that’s the one you’re talking  about yeah so um which would have been appropriate  

For that sort of age of cars actually look at that  that’s close isn’t it it is because that’s clearly   the silver paint under that isn’t it well there it  is paint yeah difficulty different so that’s got  

A Fleck in it that has definitely got a Fleck in  it yeah that’s right whereas this one there’s no   Fleck and I would have thought that would be fine  for that age of cards actually if you look if you  

Look at that it’s pretty similar it’s pretty  similar isn’t it yeah but I think that would   I think that looked great yeah so what do we do  then well I’m gonna strip it off so I’m going to  

Put it in the stripping tank okay then we see what  damage there is to get out yeah and then this case   of getting on with the painting process but uh  but first of all let’s get it stripped off okay

Those are in fundamentally good Nick they can be  stripped in acid and then could be powder coated   it’s 150 pounds for the set and maybe will  help us prove that under the grime the rest  

Of the alpha can be saved I want to showcas  this can all be done if we work fast it has   taken me several hours to improve the wheel  arches but there is progress no wheel look at   that that’s really nice isn’t that beautiful  that’s really nice Gus how’s it going wow oh  

So you’re on the front so you’ve done the back  uh yes the back’s all done well done happy with   it uh yeah that keeps on creeping though I mean  that was only a little hole here and that’s a  

Massive hole there’s another one up here so oh  yeah it’s a chance that we might be having to   work a little bit later tonight you good with that  yeah yeah I’m gonna do that break bus valve yeah  

Yeah I’ll do that cool all right then well let’s  get cracking so I carry on cussing and pasting I’m under here looking at this brake bias valve  it looks like it stopped working a very long   time ago but it’s quite a delicate thing to  take out because it’s got four solid brake  

Lines going into it so to do that I’m going to  take out the exhaust pipe so I can get my head   in there and get a spanner in there and see  whether they’re coming undone nicely foreign valve which divides braking pressure  from the front to the back is hidden  

Under the exhaust I’m still trying to locate it as   night falls and another day nears  its end but we’re making progress it seems to have vomited tomato soup all  over the floor which just underlines the  

Theory that this has possibly sat in a field  for a very long time before it’s sat in a shed   for a very long time but just by the color of  the water you can see that it’s probably been  

In here a long time certainly long enough  to start rotting away the baffles in here   which again is not good news but we have pledged  not to give up and in only a short time the alpha  

Has new wheels and mostly new wheel arches this  one is a battle but bit by bit we’re winning I think it’s pretty fair to say we’re  gonna have to do another long night   tonight guys yeah that’s almost definitely  I feel I might be falling out of love with  

This car how do you feel about that it’s  becoming testing yeah after you thank you so last night I got the brake bias valve off the  car so this valve sticks on the axle and it has  

A spring which sits on the bar and as the car  is loaded the spring actuates a valve in here   so it makes more pressure to the back brakes when  it’s got a load on and less pressure when there’s  

Not a load on so it stops the brakes locking up  basically when there’s no one in the back of the   car I mean it’s a clever thing but as you can see  it looks like it’s been sat at the bottom of the  

Sea for a long time the brake pipes are seized  in here two of these brake pipes were broken   and that tells me that I have to look at all the  rest of the brake pipes on the car because clearly  

They’re going to be the same they’re covered in  plastic which is great but they’ve rotted away   beneath the plastic I can find one of these on the  internet because I’ve looked so I’m going to order  

One of these now and hopefully I will be able to  get it in the next couple of days Gus is trying to   keep me captive in the workshop but even I need a  break I volunteered to pick up Gus’s cam belt kit  

For the alpha Alphas have complicated engines and  I’m going to a well-known specialist in Croydon to   get these Bits good morning good morning hi there  oh yeah I’m wondering if you can help me right  

I’ve got a Alfa Romeo 155 which I believe is 1997.  right and we’re in need of a camel kit for us   here we should have it we’re engine size  is it it’s an 1800 twin cam yes oh yeah we  

Definitely have no problem yeah cool okay  looks like a real Aladdin’s cave it does   go back a long way it’s quite deceptive  from the front try here yes follow me there is a lot of stuff here oh it’s  crammed in there tight you’ve got  

Enough here by the looks of it to build  a trillion cars over oh easy oh yeah it   just goes on and on at wheel cylinders  brake hoses something else yep that’s it   other bits oh guys head gasket sets yeah we’ve got  most gaskets here for all like air cooled Fiats  

And some Alphas Speedo cables stuff yep Windows  should be here and an awful lot of tires yeah oh here we go Alpha that’s the one you need  that’s for you okay a genuine piece as well   yep genuine oh fantastic thank you all right  I’ll let you through part of the attraction of  

Cars like the alpha is meeting clued up people  with a passion for the mark so fair to say I am   an Alfa Romeo novice okay so never done one of  these before so we’ve got belts and we’ve got  

The other bits and pieces as well oh look follow  wheel and another tensioning wheel that’s correct   um are there any tricks to this well  the trick is you really could do with   a locking tool okay it keeps your timing  and the pulley’s in the same place so  

When you change the belt nothing’s  moved I’ve got one here I believe well that’s the kit for your engine cool okay  let’s have a look at that then see how it works   that must be instructions yep oh and look at  that right so they obviously clamp onto the  

Top of the cam shaft that’s right and then  the lobes okay since these shapes here one   other thing I suggest you might need uh when you  take the rocker cover off to lock the cams up the   gasket would have probably been gone rock hard  with age so we strongly advise you change the  

Rocker Box gasket to prevent any oil leaks in the  future yes let’s have one of those I believe I’ve   got one yeah yeah this is the one for your car oh  excellent oh this is brilliant oh this is going  

To make my mining Gus job a lot easier I hope so  oh yes star thank you ever so much I’m going to   sort your invoice out for you oh that’s great now  don’t forget the super duper discount of course

Willis dropped 150 pounds on a cam belt kit  so now I get on with the job of swapping it   on paper it’s straightforward but it isn’t a  job for the faint-hearted and I can’t afford   to damage the engine as it’s the best part  of the car right now so while I’m waiting for  

My brake bias valve to turn up I’m going to  change the cam belt on this car it’s done 78   000 miles so it’ll need a Cambo anyway but more  than the miles that it’s traveled it’s been sat  

In a field and laterally in a shed and rubber  deteriorates so it’ll need doing and it’s just   a case of draining the coolant system taking  this tank off so I can get at it then taking  

The covers off so I can get to the cans and  lock them up and just putting a new belt on the cam belt change is pretty much Essential  on the car that’s been saddle while if the   belt perishes when the engine’s running  it can cause catastrophic damage after  

My period of negativity I’m feeling  much better most of the items in the   engine bay are as new under a layer of  dust once I have access to the covers I   whip them off and expose the pulleys  that are at the side of the engine

All bolts should really be replaced or cleaned  and I would paint this fantastic engine cover but   really we don’t have the time but as I pull off  the coil packs the alpha starts testing me again   that’s not good that that’s full of water in there  

And oil in actual fact which is not a  good mix see what the others are like whoa the last ones oh that’s yeah that’s full of  engine oil as well so the gasket’s clearly gone  

In there as well but we’ll be changing that in  a minute anyway so the alpha needs a new rocker   cover gasket it’s to be expected and will has one  anyway out come the plugs covered with old oil and  

At Last I can get to the cam and attempt to finish  the job I’ve started so this engine doesn’t have   timing marks on the camshaft Wheels here to line  up so you have to determine top dead center it’s  

Crucial so I’ve got my top dead center gauge here  atop this um very crude bracket which I’ve made   but to establish top dead center I need someone  to turn the engine over from the crankshaft down  

There and I have my willing enable assistant will  are you down there I hear you are whoa that’s a   big hole yeah isn’t it yeah it’s um well before  I can get started on helping you with that I need  

To show you what’s going on down here we’ve got  this ginormous problem here which is a bit like   the other side only twice as bad whoa we’ve  got this problem here where it goes all the  

Way through to the other side huh the bottom of  that is missing oh this bit here there’s several   layers missing that it’s not looking good judging  by what I found in this corner which I can finish  

I’m just a little bit concerned I’m going to  find more work in the rest of the car yeah we   just don’t have the time to do we’ve invested  so much time in this car we’ve got to see it  

Through haven’t we yes at some point we’re going  to run out of time but not now while will turns   to crank I line up top dead center which is  the reference point for any engine work zero   on this gauge will has several energy drinks  and gets welded I back off the old tensioner

And belt and get rid of them will is still welding the hard work done I offer up the new  tensioner the pulley slice easily into place and with the assistance of a helpful locking tool   which means the pulley can’t  move I get the cam belt on

First job on the car that we’ve  actually completed and even though   we’ll be working into the night at least  the alpha is starting to turn a corner I know it’s a really late night but in actual  fact it was worth it we’ve got all four corners  

Of the car done cam belt’s done engine is  fine and although this car fights us all   the way we have snatched Victory from  the jaws of defeat haven’t we yeah ah the uh ramps have still gone through the bottom  of the car Gus seems like it has that’s not good  

No just as we’re starting to get our  mojo back we’ve been slapped down   oh dear oh no look at this guy oh dear that’s not  good is it I can see what’s going on here okay now  

You’ve jacked it up on the wrong place and split  the scene aren’t you well all it’s doing really is   highlighting how bad it is isn’t it I mean that  let me just down there just as bad that is this  

One that’s uh that’s you know Elite disaster  isn’t it this has got to cost us so much time   so much time this is a nightmare  this is properly going backwards   yeah we’re just gonna have to just grin and bury  and crack on the weak floor pan collapsing has  

Cost us deer we’ve got two days left of our  five and now I have to weld the entire scene   this would normally take ages firstly I need to  remove most of the Interior to start this repair  

Oops sorry me I’m going to find out if the  brake lines on the car are serviceable yes   it might seem like painting the deck of  the Titanic but we’ve got to keep fighting all right so guys has all of the bits out from  inside here I’m ready to come down when you are  

We can have a look at some this gaping hole  in the floor with an older car welding onto   the chassis is a simple plating process  what we Face here is repairing complex   panels key to the car’s structure that  is a big hole isn’t it certainly torn it  

Yeah it’s kind of upsetting isn’t it we were  getting on so well it just seems like one step   forward two steps back doesn’t it all the time  now well of course solution Gus good I’m gonna  

Beat seven Bales out of it seems appropriate yeah  I never thought I’d be so happy to see the site   of Will’s hammers his solution is to reshape the  floor pan in situ to limit the amount of patching  

It’s going to be brutal without a shred of irony  I say please do not try this at home and while   will does what he was put on this Earth to do my  recondition of brake bias valve has arrived so at  

Least I can get busy too so while world’s  been hammering I’ve taken the brake pipes   off of r155 and as you can see underneath the  protective plastic covering they’ve rusted through   so I have very precisely with my piece of wire  measured the run of the brake pipes and lovingly  

Crafted new ones thoughtfully Alpha have put  a junction in the brake pipe system and the   junction is just in front of where they rust so  instead of doing the whole run all the way down  

The car all I have to do is screw these into the  junction block over the rear axle and into our   great bias valve which has arrived thankfully  so I’ve got three more to make I’ve got the  

Measurements on here so I’ll get on with  that and then I can go and give will a hand   this isn’t the first time we’ve had to remake  brake lines which carry brake fluid to the   calipers we use a flaring tool to distort the  mouth of the line so a connector can be used

Then we need to match every kink in the old brake  lines before we can reattach them to the car I’ve worked out what to do with my scene I’m  making up a steel panel which will run up against  

The seal to cover the Gap and add strength these  holes will allow molten metal to flow through and I’ve made a right angle so it can slide in   comfortably alongside the pair  it’s actually working perfectly that’s it so but I’ve almost done though this  one’s almost done and then I’ve got I’ve got  

This one for further down for all the way down  there that’s huge I know look at the size of   it oh there’s holes all the way down there yeah  all needs doing why don’t you have a break I will

I asked will to step away because I need a moment  with the alpha alone something has dawned on me   it’s time to face cold hard facts and take this  car in the direction will is not going to like   this car’s done for we’ve invested  so much time in this car so much work  

Will’s been working day and night he’s done for  I’ve completely fallen out of love with this car   we’ve got to get it out of our Workshop  there’s holes all the way along the sill here   it’s worth nothing as it is but what  will will say wow all right then  

A lot to do in it yeah I think it’s ridiculous  that you’re carrying on because there’s so much   to do this car is worth nothing we’ve invested  a huge amount of time in it a huge amount of  

Relative amount of money in it we’re never going  to get that money back this car is never going to   sell because how many days are we supposed to be  in a workshop five how many days have we been in  

The workshop well almost five five well almost  five and two nights yeah we’ve got to keep on   going at least a little bit more I mean there’s  still to get it to what stage to get it to what  

Stage because you you fill that hole up and then  there’s that hole down there you fill that hole   up and then there’s all the holes down there so  what stage do you want to get it to well we are  

Chasing holes at the moment admittedly but you  know if we do a little bit more of one final   push just to get into what though well something  is more viable than what we’ve got now viable to  

Who who would buy this car well look bottom line  remember why we bought this card this car is an   Alfa Romeo 155 wide body twin spark is the one  it’s the what is the touring car thing but it’s  

Had it well perhaps we have to compromise  then and sell it to somebody who wants to or maybe maybe maybe we could find someone to  buy it it’s had a huge amount of work done on  

It there you go I’ve only got it’s only a little  bit more to go and we surely there’s got to be   somebody out there that will just they’d be  falling over themselves to get this car well  

We know there’s none of them about there you go  we know that you’ve done 90 of the world in work   yes it wouldn’t take very much longer to get this  car done done no okay it’s a good idea it’s a good  

Idea let’s get it done to a standard finish that  we’ll put it down we’ll get it out the 155 cost   was 400 pounds we’ve spent 150 pounds on cambelt  parts and the same again on Wheels the brake valve  

Was 100 pounds so all together we spent around  800 pounds on the alpha we know we can’t get the   1500 pounds we want but if we sell the car as a  rolling restoration we might be able to claw back  

Our investment and squeeze a little on top no the  the engine’s fantastic it’s got a new cam belt on   it the wheels are amazing they’ve been refurbished  at huge expense they’re beautiful yeah speed lines   yeah beautiful and it stops it breaks you could  no I mean effectively you could drive it away Gus  

Is busy phoning everybody he knows at the moment  see if he can find a buyer for a while for a mayor   whereas I’m on the computer taking down the  existing adverts and replacing it with a new  

One that represents our dead car slightly better  spares or repairs we need to get in touch with   small time dealers and hobbyists it’s a project  car it hasn’t got an mot and although the brakes  

Work and the engine is great it needs a lot of  welding and I can’t stress that enough for a few   hundred quid this is a great little buy you can’t  go wrong the engine is brilliant the gearbox is  

Also very very good it doesn’t seem to be anything  wrong with the rest of the car apart from the body   work that needs some serious attention and it’s  all downstairs we’ve put The Feelers out and  

Tonight we go home a normal time for once and  we’ll see what day five has in store for us let’s take us today let’s make or break for  this one isn’t it yeah break sounds good to   me because you know I’ve completely fallen  out of love with this car you’re not the  

Only one we’ve got to make a decision today  well the decision might be making itself   the decision is how the car will leave the  workshop and it must leave today our business   setup means that we can’t sit on it until  it sells and we want it out so what are we  

Going to do we put this on the trailer ready for  any viewing or delivery but by the afternoon no   one has contacted us no one wants to take the  alpharon as a rolling restoration it’s put us   in a very difficult situation we have played  all our cards maybe it’s time to face defeat  

Foreign seems to have done for us was one of the  hardest decisions that we’ve had to make during   the whole process I think it’s sad because we  both wanted a 155 but it’s beaten us if you  

Work hard you’ll get a reward well in this case we  weren’t going to get a reward at all this car has   consumed all of our time a tremendous amount of  efforts we’ve had to call a stop on the job which  

To be totally honest I didn’t really want to do  there’s only one destination for it one that we   never really wanted I still think it’s strange  that every time I look at that car even seeing  

It on the trailer there my heart goes Ah that’s  a really cool car in actual fact that car has   been nothing but trouble was it it just looks  great it does look great it’s given me such a  

Headache this week I don’t want to see it again  ever ever ever ever I mean you’re gonna laugh   haven’t you I mean that’s the best thing to do  in this situation is try and smile laugh a bit  

Put it down to experience we arrive at a  scrapyard in wokingham the place is full of   cars like the alpha which are Beyond economical  repair honestly this is where the 155 belongs to be this way there is another solution  I didn’t want to tell you this earlier but  

Sam who I talked to on the phone yesterday  sent me an email saying he’d like to buy   the car really yeah any sort of offer  well no I’ll phone him let me just see hello Sam yeah it’s Gus alpha155. I can’t  stress too strongly it does need a lot of  

Work doing to it yeah how much okay  well look I’ve got someone I’d like   to talk to about that so can I give you a  phone back in a minute all right bye wow   300 quid well 300 quid is better than poking the  eye with a sharp stick isn’t it yes we’ll just  

Go for it but being in the scrap yard brings  the reality of old cars sharply into Focus I   just think deep down our Alpha will never be a  good car no matter how wonderful it looks it’s  

Not like we’re scared of work or don’t love cars  we’ve got cars running that have had no engine we drove a car that had previously been sitting  in a field for years all the way to France   we’ve bought howlers and made them presentable  we’re the ones who never walk away from a car  

But no amount of man hours will make this  one safe enough to go back on the road   in any business sometimes you’ve got to make  hard decisions and not taking Sam’s money for   the alpha is one of them for me it’s not  about the money let’s just get it done

In Another Universe this car would be sailing  through its mot and delivering us a profit but   this 155 has another Destiny and if you  are of weak disposition please look away the growling 1.8 twin spark is removed without  much love but very skillfully and will be recycled

Sorry if you think we’ve gone too far  but at the end of the day a car is a   machine and when it can’t be fixed you’ve  just got to close your eyes and Let It Go shell will now be compacted and Cubed rust and all  

Far from feeling sad we are relieved  that at least we’re doing the right thing foreign how do you feel about that well I think every  time I looked at that car my heart said that is  

A beautiful car and then my head kicks in and said  but it’s it’s had it it’s nothing more we could   have done with that car I think we did everything  we could to try and pull that car back in and make  

It a good car but it just turned out that car just  would not have been safe to sell on no that’s the   key in it come on and the good thing was that  it was a success at the end wasn’t it yeah  

Yes we’ve lost hundreds of pounds and  days of work from a business point of   view this is a Calamity but it’s not  an unhappy ending we learned a lot and   we still have our integrity and you can’t  say that this Banger hasn’t been flipped foreign