ALFAGTV6.COM

[kevin]

Zamani, this is the white Giulietta with my mates son driving. This kid has such great car control but then again this I believe is the most powerfull 2.0l 8v motor around. It revs way over 8000 rpm reliably. My car does 0-100km just over 5 seconds(on race logic) in this things catches you on the straights). There should be a whole bunch of vids from this day which i will put on another thread. This was definately the greatest Alfa day we have ever had here.

[kevin]

I knew this race day was going to be cursed as i said to my dad ' this is the best this car has ever been'. This was a start disasterous day. Started off with qualifying early Sat morning when alternator belt jumped off . I have two water guages , one read 100deg while the other 80deg. so brought car in to find belt hanging under car . I have just put new larger pulley on to help extend life of bearings - will post pics(thanks MD). While changing belt noticed another crack in the alternator which I have just replaced a broken alt. Figured out the problem is a broken(not totally) right engine mount which then causes the engine to rotate and touching alt onto body . The alternator sits 7mm from body which is to close. Remedy is shorter alt belt plus new engine mount moulded with two bolts through and heavy duty springs on the top side. This will allow mount to 'stretch' a bit. Or just put another engine stay on left like the 75 racer on this forum.
Then starter motor decided after two years it had enough so it was push start from then on. Decided then to pack in and drive home. Three km's from the track the diff starts to make the most horrendous whine only under load so out comes tow rope and hook up to the 164. On way back the tow rope snaps due to some 'taxi' cutting us off and end up in a busy intersection with no starter to get out of situation. Anyway just like two water temp guages out comes spare tow rope and finally get home. Moral of story - get a trailer .
Going back to the beginning of story the car was brilliant as all clutch issues had been sorted and I thought I had the best possible oil in the box(as I have been struggling with sinchros). As in other posts i have not found the correct oil for LS (GL5) and sinchromesh (GL4). Will carry to another thread.
Here is a pic of my old clutch. One of the three pins that slide was bent from torque which prevent the clutch releasing easily. not sure if its clear in pic.

[kevin]

Pics of my new clutch set up which works great again. As there are no thrust bearings left here in SA had to take all my old ones and split them to find best set. Then recooked them in skf grease. Combination clutch with copper one side.

[kevin]

Here is the link to other thread where I fu#$% up a perfect LS box.
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=3477&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=60

[kevin]

Started doing an engine swap today now that the 3.7 is reliable (touch wood). Some pics and short clip. Busy with another 24v conversion for another race car which another thread be started for that project.[attachment=0]engines out.JPG[/attachment]

[kevin]

Short clip.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dlYDPUQ4DE
Pic of my friends prop from race car. Trying to figure out how the bush cam off as. The ''ring'' that goes inside the bush and over the prop came off. This ring I assume is a press fit. Strange he did not even know as the coupling cage held everything together except wear out a big hole in the couplig.

[kevin]

My BMW oil cooler with thermostatically controlled connector. Bit worried about Jims comments on extensive modifications on connector as I have done squat. I have just kept pipe id's the same through out. No problems in two years BUT I would like to know whats the min pressure the motor can run at (2.7 bar?)

[kevin]

Strat up pressure about 5 bar . Middle of race about 3.5 bar and worse case on hot hot day near end of race 2.7 bar.

[kevin]

I decided that seen my race car is now pushing well over 200kw flywheel I am going to mount the engine in a perfectly straight line and use another engine stay. This can only help the the prop. I know it was designed to sit at an offset to then straighten under torque but this is a different scenario when you are constantly on and off power with a much larger motor.
The engine mounts force the engine to sit at an angle as the bolt centre are over 12mm off set with the faces at about 4degrees. Here is a pic of how the mounts look when bolted together to give idea.
I will also have to centre the bell housing bush .

[Mats]

Pic of my friends prop from race car. Trying to figure out how the bush cam off as.

Wow "your friend" ( ) must be quite mechanically unsympathetic if he didn't feel any imbalance from that...

[Zamani]

Remember I was complaining about some rattling close to the clutch? Well it was that spherical bearing, but it was dried up and so it wore out real fast and had a lot of play. If the bearing was totally missing, it would have made a lot of noise and vibrated a lot too.

[kevin]

Mats, the 'friend'' was my dad and I cant believe he came into the pits with that minor noise. I would have stayed out defending that BMW until the prop ripped through the floor boards. Since all the power uprgrades its always been one thing or another so I feel that when im out on the circuit I drive it until it stops(talking drivetrain only - not engine as no spares).
Sadly I was counting today the number of gearboxes left and it should last this season. I am think of making one though as I have another "friend" who makes gearboxes from scratch for some of our race teams that run up to 800hp(v8 series). It will cost roughly the same as one of my motors which in South African terms is not that bad.
One thing is for sure , I have not broken a rubber coupling in three years because of the cages.

[kevin]

Before I post brake upgrade or put another way ''sideways grade'' , I know that race cars should have discs with lightweight hats or bells for weight but in this case I already had new gta 305 x 28mm discs. So plan was still to run the 15'' rims which I am forced with by regs and move disc inwards with spacer by 10mm and also outwards by 10mm so bolts of rims dont scrape disc.
The rear spacer inserted into the disc and press fit on hub to centralise disc. Front spacer cnc's with spigot . Its only a 1mm thick at one point over existing spigot but it aint going nowhere as also press fit. The slots in spacers help to wedge them off.
Atleast now I know it clears so next time will make propper bells. My brembo's have been replaced with these Varis. Still using performance friction pads with 01 compound.

[kevin]

I was a bit dissapointed with my 3.7 in my road car BUT holy crap with the transfer into the race car with the short duel exhaust out the side and my intake with cold air in the wheel well this is unbelievable (for me that is !) The 11;42 box in road car did not help either.
Ok so figures . Well I have gone from +- 160kw to 180kw on wheels with max power at 5500 rpm.(we are at 6000ft )My old intake in engine bay was 56deg now its down to 23deg in wheel well. (M3 on same dyno = 156kw)
Reminder, this 3.7 as standard 3.0 heads and valves , no porting, no individual throttles and 10.5 compression. It does have ''wilder'' cams even though peak power does not suggest that.
Race day sadly was a total disaster . Qualifying I broke centre coupling but that was due to imitation BMW coupling i was sold which was not like the one s I have previously used - reinforced. I am surprised this coupling even lasted the dyno !.
Changed prop at track and race two was also a disaster as I had total fuel starvation after every heavy braking. The sponge in my NEW race tank was not adequate so I need to make a fuel cannister and possible another pump.
I should have done some more research here on the forum in this area. Good thing with the huge torque I only used 3rd 4th and 5th with the 10 :41. car is still diificult to drive with the 205 /50 semis - back just drifts out.
At the end of the day I still drove this track car home 80km and decided to race evreything in site. what a rush. One day the cops are gonna get me. Until then.

[kevin]

Maybe this pic size is to big ..