Tires are emotion too!

After rethinking and contemplating about the tires I thought I had made a good choice; either Vredesteins or Michelins. Standing at the desk of my tireman of trust, he mentioned the very dry bodyrubber of the Michelins Energy Savers after three years... sic. The Vredesteins had not a long life, because of the easy wear.  So the good man mentioned that an Italian car must have Italian wheels, so he advised the Pirelli's Cinturato P1 Verde. A tire that also ended in the top 5 of the AutoWeek (Auto Bild) test, I got from a collegea.
So the Pirelli's were ordered (despite the relativly high fuel consumption, the one argument that initially was important for me). At least this tire has an aerodynamic flank... Pirelli doesn't even mention fuel consumption in their details. Below the noise reduction in the car is mentioned as being low. the test results in from the ANWB mentioned relatively high noise outside the car.

Did I mention the Continental Premium contact 5 ended in both test in the first place? But somehow I think these rather stiff and dull tires wouldn't become the graceful Bleu Lord...
Cars are emotion and I figure Alfisti are extra emotional about their cars. At least I am.

Brake bleeding

I mentioned earlier I had some trouble bleeding the brakes. By bleeding the right front wheel cylinder, only air came out of the tube. So I figured out there must be an air leak somewhere. Yesterday I checked the complete system from master cylinder to the lines and the wheel brake cylinders. I looked up my maintenance book to figure out if there were system components I didn't know. And yes, I "overlooked"  (not the right word, because I didn't know of its existence) the air valve from the brakebooster to the carburettor. This valve did not work properly, so I washed in a jar with petrol (thanks Bert K.). After this treatment the valve couldn't be blown from the lower (carb, black color) in the upper direction (booster, white color). In the opposite way it was able to blow some air through the valve.

Bert tipped me about the master cylinder, that could hold some air too, after dismantling the system. The trick was to bleed the master cylinder only with a finger ont hte down end of the cylinder. Well that was not easy. The air was in the front lines to the front wheels, so I thougt to bleed the line to the front wheels. First the line from the master cylinder didn't come off easy, becaus it rested on the panel below the cylinder. I had to bend it a lot to get it out of the cylinder. By doing so, the oil leaked enormously (that I figured out before, so I put a piece of cardboard and a rag on the panel below), and handling wasn't quite easy between the pipes and lines in this section of the engine compartment.

Second, my wife was willing to help me, but her dinner was on the stove, so she wasn't quite focussed on my matter. So it happened that I was standing with my finger on the leaking master cylinder, waiting for my wife to push the brake pedal, while she was in the kitchen turning the easter goose. 

Today I'll be checking the wheel brake cylinders wether there's still air in it.

To be continued.

Oh, this week the ANWB (the Dutch drivers union) published a test about summer tyres and the Michelin Energy Saver Plus tyres ended seventh after the Continental Premium Contact 5 tyre. That list is going to be studied and I think my focus on the Michelins will shift to the Conti's (best) or the Vredesteins (best for good money).

Finally

Yesterday I made up the works to be done on the Bleu Lord. Slowly I'm becoming used to the new workrythm and travels from my home to and fro Maastricht. And an extra day off helps to get things done. Like yesterday I cleaned the roof from the last bit of spay dust that was on the car. Additionally I got the car out of the garage, to make a list with the works to be done.
That was a short list:
- new windscreenwipers,
- new tyres,
- another check on the brakes (bleeding the systme that's still spongy on the pedal) and
- a technical check up before transferring the car to a Dutch registration.

The tyres will be brandnew and from an A-label. I ordered Michelin Energy Saver Plus tyres for 300 euros a set, fitted, balanced and all. Not a bargain, but safety first and my experience with Michelins is good. When I drove my 2CV, I never changed a tyre. Also on the Tulipwoodracer, my QV where Energy Saver tyres. They weren't new when I bought the car and they still had 3 to 4 mm profile, before they ended in my cellar, after a good 40.000 km by myself. The ride is comfortable, and fuel saving and noise reduction is good. In a few weeks these jobs will be done and the car can be driven on the public road.
I hope the steering gets lighter when the new tyres are fitted. One of my future works will be fitting a power steering. The parts are already resting in my cellar.

In my optimism I took a few pictures in a pale sun. Let me know by a comment if you like what you see.

This was in 2006 (Tulipwoodracer as dailey driver)...

... this is 2015! (Fiat Punto)