164 TS From France

[ArthurC]

Hello all !

I'm Arthur, 24 years old, from France. I have always been an Alfisti thanks to my father who had only Alfa when I was young.
Currently, I have an Alfa Romeo GT 3.2 V6, an Alfa Romeo 156 SW 1.9 JTD and an Alfa Romeo 164 2.0 TS.

I picked up the 164 in Switzerland last December. The former owner gave it to me for free because he had to abandon it because he is moving out abroad and he didn't have time to sell it because the car needs some repairs.




The car is from 1988 and currently has 302,800 km, 2 previous owners. The engine and the clutch were changed in 2016, the car has driven 12,000 km since this change.

Unfortunately, the car has some rust problem. The rear axle is completely rusted and needs to be changed. There is also some rust on the wings and under the car.



The front shock absorbers are used and the brakes must be replaced too.

In the interior, the headlining is falling down, the electric driver's seat does not work, the glovebox can't be open and the rear-left door can't open.
The electric window motors are tired but works.

My objective is to restore the car.

For the moment, I have changed the battery, changed the engine oil, changed the filters and changed the cylinder head cover gasket.

I'm going to replace the rims by this 15" Speedline rims which come from an Alfa 155


I can't legally drive the car yet, I don't have the French registration card yet, I will receive it in a few days normally, it takes time in France when we import a car from abroad .

I plan to quickly change the rear axle, but it's very hard to find a used one in good condition here in France. If anyone here knows where I can find one. I live in the north of France, I can move in France, Belgium, Netherlands, etc ...


I will try to update this topic to show the evolution of the car.

[Raphael164Super24V]

Hi Arthur
It's a pretty 164 ts you have recovered.
The vehicles Swiss unfortunately suffer a lot from rust.
I wish you good luck in restoring your 164.
For the locked door, you must be able to open it by passing your hand behind the door trim to pull the cable there, you must remove the few screws from the top of the trim and pull the trim towards you to unclip it. I already did it but on a front door, the rear must be a little more complicated
 

[MikeCZ]

Welcome amongst 164 owners!
To be honest, that rear frame does not look too well... you will have some work to do on that car.
But wish you good luck with the restoration, hopefully it will be worth it

[Alfan]

Welcome to the site, Arthur

I just picked up a 164 TS from 1990 with 300k km as well, but for a different purpose http://www.alfaromeo164register.com/vie ... &start=100

You can see photos & video of it here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/67cd32li3bt7 ... xQ87a?dl=0

The one you got looks to be in very much the same condition. If I decide to part it out, I will let you know, if you need parts - though the rear subframe is not better....

[obenhaus]

Salut!

It's a nice 164 that you've. I very much like this Alfa Blue color (unfortunatly Alfa dropped it in the early 90ies).

[ArthurC]

Thank you for your messages

I may have found a rear axle in Italy but it cannot be shipped because of the current situation in France and Italy

[164EVER]

Bienvenu l'ami. Je suis en Allier. Je connais très bien les 164. Actuellement je travaille sur une TS de 1989 et une 3.0L V6 de 1988.
Si je peux t'être utile ce sera avec plaisir. On peut communiquer par tph.

[ArthurC]

Merci, ça fait plaisir de voir qu'il y a des français sur le forum.Pour ma part je suis du Pas-de-Calais.
Oui ça serait bien de rentrer en contact si tu as des connaissances qui peuvent m'être utile pour remettre en état la 164

[164EVER]

Mon tph: 0784596193.

Il semble que nous sommes trois gaulois sur ce forum.

[ArthurC]

Hello, here a little update.
I could not work on the car during the lockdown because the car was stocked in a friend's garage
Now, the car is finally registered in France, so I can technically drive the car and I can work on it

I lifted the car to inspect under the car and at the same time change the rims, but it didn't go as planned.
I've used the jacking point to lift the car, I've start by the rear, no problem but when I lift the front right side, the jacking point broke...






After that, I lift the front with a jack on the towing hook on the subframe. After that, I was able to check the rust under the car
I discovered that the previous owner put an anti-rust protection under the car (I think undercoat is the english name ) you can see on this picture :



But the rust has developed under the protection at the jacking points
I removed the protection where the rust developed and try to remove the rust with wire brushes

The front-left jacking point has perforating rust around... so I will have to cut and weld piece of metal to replace the two front jacking points

The rear left have rust but not perforating and the rear right seems to much less rust than the others




There is also rust on this part, on both sides







There is rust on the front subframe too, I try to remove it with wire brushes. The rust on the front subframe is not perforating










I've order a rust converter and anti rust paint, I will receveid that this week.

About the rear subframe, here are pictures of the subframe under the car, not beautiful to see :









I receveid one from Italy last week


It's a little bit rusted but nothing in comparaison of mine, It will use rust converter to renovate it. I will install it in few weeks ( I don't have yet the place and the tools to remplace it )



I also removed the driver door panel to change the mirror, I was surprised to find rust in the door panel. to be honest, I'm afraid to see what's behind the plastics shields on the doors and behind the wings...






tomorrow i will change the brake discs and the brake pads

[164EVER]

Cela fait de la peine de voir une ALFA attaquée comme ça. Alors là ça c'est rouillé de chez rouillé, j'attends de voir quand tu auras retiré la partie avant des pare-boue arrières, en général c'est terrible à ces endroits-là. Je te souhaite bon courage.

[MikeCZ]

Unfortunately those are the typical "rust week points" - jacking points and the rear axle beam. Because those jack points are just welded on the flook, there's no reinforcment and when it starts to rust, you risk to get exactly such holes in the floor. That's why it's recommended not to jack car on those points, at least in front, where you can use engine subframe.

[alfisti-164]

Rust in doors is not commen... What happened to this car?

Inspect the floor of the boot and the exhausttunnel while your at it. These are the other things to go first...