Hands free phone kit in 156

Sad to say I'm waving farewell to my beloved 156 Selespeed Sportwagon
on Monday and taking delivery of a slightly less glamorous motor.
Change brought about mainly by reasons of economy and growing family
that are just not gonna fit in it anymore.

Anyhow, before I hand it over for the loose pocket change being offered
for the part-ex, I'd like to uninstall my hands free phone kit which
was fitted as an after market extra by an ICE specialist for several
hundred notes 4 years ago when the car was new. Something tells me the
job is not beyond the wit of an average bloke like myself, so rather
than shelling out the money for someone else to do it, thought I'd give
it a go myself. Question basically is has anyone done this on a 156
before and is it going to require great chunks of the dashboard to be
dismantled?

TIA

-Rod-

Oh and BTW I'm getting a Mondeo ST220. Will hopefully return to Alfa
in a few years time once financial security has returned somewhat, am
going to miss driving these great cars - been 7 years and 2 x 156s now
and have loved every minute of it. Haven't loved the maintenance
bills, but I tried to kid myself it wouldn't be a problem, must've been
much richer all that time ago...

hologram wrote:
> Sad to say I'm waving farewell to my beloved 156 Selespeed Sportwagon
> on Monday and taking delivery of a slightly less glamorous motor.
> Change brought about mainly by reasons of economy and growing family
> that are just not gonna fit in it anymore.
>
> Anyhow, before I hand it over for the loose pocket change being offered
> for the part-ex, I'd like to uninstall my hands free phone kit which
> was fitted as an after market extra by an ICE specialist for several
> hundred notes 4 years ago when the car was new. Something tells me the
> job is not beyond the wit of an average bloke like myself, so rather
> than shelling out the money for someone else to do it, thought I'd give
> it a go myself. Question basically is has anyone done this on a 156
> before and is it going to require great chunks of the dashboard to be
> dismantled?

Depends what it is. I have a parrot CK3100. I swapped if from my 75 to
my 155 to my 156

Basically there is
1) Display unit
2) Microphone
3) Control box

Everything plugs into the control box which then plugs into the back of
the stereo.

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
Alfa 116 Giulietta 3.0l (Really) Sprint 1.7 75 TS 156 TS S2
Triumph Speed Triple: Black with extra black bits
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

hologram > wrote:

> Oh and BTW I'm getting a Mondeo ST220. Will hopefully return to Alfa
> in a few years time once financial security has returned somewhat, am
> going to miss driving these great cars - been 7 years and 2 x 156s now
> and have loved every minute of it. Haven't loved the maintenance
> bills, but I tried to kid myself it wouldn't be a problem, must've been
> much richer all that time ago...

I can't see the advantage of swapping a 156 for a Mondeo ST220.

The Mondeo will be no cheaper to run and it's not actually that much
bigger.
--
Steve H 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - Hongdou GY200 - Alfa 75 TSpark
Alfa 156 2.0 TSpark - B6 Passat 2.0TDI - COSOC KOTL
BoTAFOT #87 - BoTAFOF #18 - MRO # - UKRMSBC #7 - Apostle #2 - YTC #

> I can't see the advantage of swapping a 156 for a Mondeo ST220.
>
> The Mondeo will be no cheaper to run and it's not actually that much
> bigger.

YMMV but I've found that for fitting two child seats plus a baby
carrier accross the back, the Mondeo is just that bit wider than the
156 so that the seats actually go in (albeit tightly). The boot is
bigger too for the pram and other assorted baggage.

As for running costs, whilst the 3.0 V6 is undoubtedly going to be
thirstier than the 2.0TS, my research suggests that a 12k service will
more likely be around £200 mark rather than the more normal
£300-£400 for my Alfa, and *touch wood* mechanical reliability will
be overall better, insurance and repairs are also cheaper it being a
more "normal" family car.

Only time will tell, but having shelled out best part of £3000 on
repairs to the 156 (£1500 of that on major work on the Selespeed
gearbox), in the last 12 months, time has come for us to part company.
Not complaining, I have had two 156s now and they've both cost me a lot
in overall maintenance in the last 7 years, which I have happily(?)
accepted as an inevitable part of Alfa ownership - the reward is in the
driving pleasure, style and fun factor of these great cars. Sadly my
personal reality check at the moment dictates I need something less of
a liability for my family transport!

Will still be keeping in touch with things happening in the Alfa world,
since I'm sure it won't be long before I have to get back behind the
wheel of one.

-Rod-

On 29 Jul 2006 06:12:20 -0700, "hologram" >,
wrote:

>
>Will still be keeping in touch with things happening in the Alfa world,
>since I'm sure it won't be long before I have to get back behind the
>wheel of one.

I am sure that your other RL interests will more than divert your
attention. Family needs. You can't beat them. You can only try to
meet them. Heck, there is plenty of time for enjoyable motoring later
on. Best wish and safe travels.

Pete
--
>
156 2.0 TS (2001) - Proteo Rosso

Thanks Pete, you too.

-Rod-


Pete wrote:
> On 29 Jul 2006 06:12:20 -0700, "hologram" >,
> wrote:
>
> >
> >Will still be keeping in touch with things happening in the Alfa world,
> >since I'm sure it won't be long before I have to get back behind the
> >wheel of one.
>
> I am sure that your other RL interests will more than divert your
> attention. Family needs. You can't beat them. You can only try to
> meet them. Heck, there is plenty of time for enjoyable motoring later
> on. Best wish and safe travels.
>
> Pete
> --
> >
> 156 2.0 TS (2001) - Proteo Rosso