ALFAGTV6.COM

[Barry]

Greg could tell you but then he would have to kill you....

Nice Greg,very nice...The amazing thing is when you start off you have these visions of a clear,clean un cluttered engine bay..then slowly you start adding all the stuff and it ends up rather cluttered !
I have the same thing here,start clean and empty,end up very full..

You keeping the aircon in the car..? realy makes for a tight package..

[Evert]

So, I will start with fuel. This car uses the SDS system. I like it because it super reliable very easy to set up, and very good at what it does. It's not a fancy system with traction and launch control, but it has every feature I could possibly need. It controls fuel and spark very well.

Thanks Greg for sharing so much information.
I'm sure there are many questions about charging the good old Busso.
Still I have another Ignition question.
I'm warned about ECU'which also controls Ignition timing,like your SDS.
For a fact I know the former owener/maker of my engine had some problems with this, see:
http://web.archive.org/web/200411021916 ... index.html
This sentence

Work on the ECU has been progressing as well. First runs with the ECU on the test bench in my office showed good results. Hooked up to a 1 meter stack of electronic testing equipment and two PC's, all signals showed up right the way they should. However real life started in the automotive environment. The ignition, alternator and relays all created their fair share of noise to fool the engine management system. Although as an electronics engineer, I was prepared for quite a noisy environment this even caught me by surprise. A month was spent testing and evaluting various filters with good results.

How did you secure your ECU? Now I might install also an "stand alone" Iginition system. Just to make sure it won't wander of.

I mention this, because it might be the reason this project never got really completed.

[Greg Gordon]

shOrtlife: The blacked out areas are censored items.

Barry: Thanks. The GTV6's engine bay is really tight, this is much easier on a Milano. The Milano has enough extra room so we don't have to worry about 1/4 inch here or there.

Not only is the A/C staying, it's been upgraded with the newer style compressor. The owner requires A/C. However even with all that in there, the serviceability is very good. As I mentioned, spark plug and oil filter access are actually improved. The only extra item to remove for a timing belt change is the crossover pipe from the supercharger to the intercooler, and obviously that only involves two clamps. Worst case would be removal of the left head, which would require pulling off the supercharger. I can do that in ten mins, no problem. So, it's cluttered, but not in a bad way.

Evert: Combining the fuel and ignition into one ECU is a pretty standard practice and doesn't create any problems, reliability or otherwise. The only possible source of electrical interference to the SDS ECU is from the spark plug wires. The stock Alfa wires have copper cores and WILL cause interference. Magnacore wires are required with SDS (at least in my shop). With these wires there is no interference ever. I don't know why the former owner of your engine had interference problems. It does look like he was using a homemade system (it certainly wasn't SDS) , which is bound to have teething problems. Still, I would bet dollars to donuts he either wasn't using Magnacore wires, didn't have the ECU in the stock location, or both.

Greg

[Rookie ROX]

Looking very good Greg. Be sure to get some pictures when the owner powdercoats it all black!

Now stop the teasing whilst I wait

ROCK ON
R~R

[Greg Gordon]

Thanks Rox,

I will probably take the parts to the powder coating shop on Monday. Hopefully they get the parts back to me in a week. Then I can post the new pictures. I actually like the stainless pipes. However the transition pipe out of the intercooler must be coated because even though it's stainless, the welds are not and the water injection would quickly rust them. The other pipe is 100% stainless, welds and all.

Greg

[Evert]

Evert: Combining the fuel and ignition into one ECU is a pretty standard practice and doesn't create any problems, reliability or otherwise. The only possible source of electrical interference to the SDS ECU is from the spark plug wires. The stock Alfa wires have copper cores and WILL cause interference. Magnacore wires are required with SDS (at least in my shop). With these wires there is no interference ever. I don't know why the former owner of your engine had interference problems. It does look like he was using a homemade system (it certainly wasn't SDS) , which is bound to have teething problems. Still, I would bet dollars to donuts he either wasn't using Magnacore wires, didn't have the ECU in the stock location, or both.
Greg

Then, I will look after it, not to make the same mistakes.

[GarthW]

Cant wait for some vid action, maybe another drag race Greg..?

[Greg Gordon]

I will make a few vids. A drag race would be a little tricky, because it's not my car.

Greg

[Greg Gordon]

I have spent the last couple days chasing boost leaks on this car. It has pulleys sized for 10psi. When I first drove the car it maxed out at about 6psi, not good. The problem turned out to be some boost leaks. Most of them were out through the plenum couplers. Replaced them with silicone and tight clamps, fixed some other minor leaks and it's now totally leak free. Boost is now 9.29psi as read on the SDS controller. So, it's still not 10, but it's pretty close. I am pretty sure the hotter cams are allowing a little more boost to escape out the exhaust. That's not a problem with a Roots blower, but it means I will need to change the supercharger pulley before I do the final tuning and dyno test.

Regarding it's current status. It's very fast. I don't think it has as much low and mid range torque as the SuperRedVerde (which is a 3 liter), but in high RPM power, it's probably within 10%. The supercharger's on/off transition is perfectly smooth, and overall it runs perfectly.

Greg

[Greg Gordon]

Today I got some preliminary numbers and ordered a smaller supercharger pulley. The pipes are going to the powder coating shop, so the car will be down for a week or so.

The current numbers:

Total fuel flow at 7000rpm=170pph

O2 reading at 7000 .86V. I have not put the wide band on it yet, but I suspect the air fuel ratio is in the 12.5:1-13.2:1 range.

That fuel flow number equates to some pretty big power numbers. It looks like this thing is even more powerful than the SuperRedVerde from 5000rpm-7000rpm, although low end torque is definitely lower. It does not have the massive grunt from 2000rpm, but from 4000rpm-7000rpm, it's a monster.

Greg

[sh0rtlife]

that might actualy be a good thing...should keep the transaxle in one piece LOL

[Barry]

Std. cams in both Greg ?

[Greg Gordon]

Hi Barry,

No, SuperRedVerde has stock 3.0 cams, and of course, it's a 3 liter engine. This GTV6 has a 2.5 with what I was told are 164S cams. However when I measure the lobe and subtract the bottom I get 9.4mm of intake lift so I guess I don't really know what they are. They are 164 cams, but I don't know for sure if they are "S" cams....

[Barry]

Greg,That probably explains the 2.5 running harder at the top..A cam change works wonders on the turbo`s..what you see n/a you see with forced induction..
I would prefer more low to mid range torque on the little motor and let the top end sort itself out..
Thanks Greg.

[Greg Gordon]

I like the low end as well. However this car has 4.10 gears so more low end would probably result in more tire smoke. When I get home my plan is to to bump it up to about 10psi, tune with the NGK wide band and dyno it.

My early impression is that I really like the 2.5 with forced induction and these cams. It's strong down low, but at 4000 rpm it really starts to pin you to the back of the seat.

As usual, Dyno testing will be done with stock manifolds downpipes and an intact converter.

Greg