ALFAGTV6.COM

[Giuliettaevo2]

How about this one?

[kevin]

When the cage is bolted together there is 4mm gap. This is designed like this as the engine site skew and takes up this gap(obviuosly on one side only). My cage was copied from a cage that Andrew Brown brought over from UK which is the same one on French site. Surely someone here speaks french and can interpret how much one of them cost(RZ you there). You can put the cage in with the motor and belhousing still in car. Bit like doing rubics cube though.
Now on to racing. Went out to track for qualifying today and there it was the 500hp twinspark GTV. This has to be the fastest 2.0 Alfa GTV track car ever. After indepth conversation with owner I was amazed it ran for five years producing 400hp with an Autodelta straight cut gearbox at the back. He did brake a few bit still got him many race wins until he finally moved box upfront . This is wat I am after or to make - a straight cut Autodelta box with the heavy external webbing.
Will try get some short clips of this car tomorrow.

[kevin]

Race report. No problems with braking(front of car moving left then right) but not sure which cured the problem as I increased toe in more and dropped tyre presure down to 1.6bar cold.
After early qualifying I thought it was going to be a short day as all i could smell was the clutch and you could here it when idling(like a chafing sound). I thought I had just made the perfect clutch to take all the power so I was about to give up on clutches until I was given the best TIP the whole season. I was told to take the car over the pit and release the bleed nipple on clutch for a few seconds then tighten it thus relieving and pressure. I thought this would be a waste of time as you cant build up pressure once you have bled the system. Was I Wrong. Clutch stopped making any chafing sounds and was perfect the rest of the day. Best tip ever and it also applies to brakes. Thanks Alan.
Our Alfa series is growing and we had a surprise entry of the 500hp twinspark. Poor chap struggled to keep it on boost with all our slow traffic so he was way of his normal pace. Still dam fast. He used to race in a series ten years ago where everyone had similiar power. But he still had fun and was good to see tthat car out there.
I took some footage of the day as I missed one of the heats due to idiot of the month award. I got times wrong a went to breakfast when i should have been tightening loose alternator. It happens.
Its end of season with alot learnt and more development in january.
Pics to follow and footage next week.

[kevin]

Back to normal. Thanks for all input this season to chaps on forum(Mats,MD,Micke,Maurizio, B, Scott etc). This forum has saved huge amounts of time and testing as most of you chaps have done this before or just logical.
Thanks

[Mats]

More input.

You say the front moves left then right, is that all? Two moves?
Do you have anti-knockback springs in your calipers? Curb hopping can make your pads move away from the discs pushing the pistons into their bore. This can make your brake bias left/right if one side makes contact before the other side...

Might be worth a thought?

[kevin]

Mats, yes two moves. Another thing I have noticed if you are travelling at walking speed 5kmh and you suddenly pump the brakes, the steering wheel rotates just as quickly to the right. Its just a fraction of rotation. Now this does not happen all the time. I noticed this sitting in heavy traffic on my way to track in rush hour on Friday. Picture this race car packed full of tools , four spare wheels etc and driver with duct tape stuck on his ears because short exhaust testing brakes. Normally the back up 164 does transport tools. Anyway got to track, checked rack(steering) was tight,calipers tight, no play bearings or any suspension bushes. So maybe right pad biting before left. All pads have equal wear. Braded hoses as well.
Maybe that has nothing or every thing to do with it. This race we just had , had no serious curbs unlike last track come to think of it. Just thoughts.

[Mats]

So it happens every time you apply the brakes?

New prime suspect, left front wheel bearing.

[MD]

Kevin,

Question : do you ever get a brake pedal that varies in height before it pressures up?
I you do, the wheel bearing is not fully home (usually the inner) causing the rotor to shift slightly from side to side based on turns and this causes caliper piston movement that tries to track it.

This can happen after new bearings have settled into their housing following renewal. It's happened on my road car but now sorted.

[kevin]

MD, There is zero play on bearings which I checked at the track. Right now the car is locked in the back of the garage so i cant go near it until the work year is up(15 december). I got to force myself to do some work some time as I aint going to afford racing next season. I am going to then jack car up spin wheels and watch carefully and then start stripping the side until I find problem.
To anyone that is racing out there post your front alignment settings . Cant really go more than 4deg castor as you will touch body work with2.5 neg camber on full slicks BUT what im looking for is toe settings.

[Giuliettaevo2]

On our dutch forum i asked that same question a few months ago. All the racers used different values...The advice on the toe in and out varied from 2mm in to 2 mm out...

I ended up with 6 degrees castor, 2 1/2 degrees camber and 0 toe on my street(racer) car, very nice handling car was the result.

[Mats]

Plenty of "old truths" about settings, take the time to try them yourself and look at the stopwatch. That's the only truth you need.

[grant]

What caused the chafing of the clutch? What causes the hydraulic system to build up pressure? There was enough pressure to pull the clutch off the flywheel??

[kevin]

Grant wish i knew what built up pressure but jeez did that clutch smell and slip until I released some pressure off the line. As I said I was about to pack it in until this chap told me to try his trick.
I have found to much toe in causes the back to oversteer as you turn in . So i geus its trial and error . Wnen the chaps go for huge -v camber the run toe out. All goes down to turning in theories.

[MD]

Kevin

I would hesitate to guess that the pressure build up was due to clutch friction due to use as the assembly is well clear of the fliud operating it.
I would suggest that the fluid itself is being heated due to radiant heat from the way the hydraulic line has some proximity to any exhaust component on its path from the reservoir to the slave cylinder. The heated fluid expands and causes a pressure build up.

My brake and clutch lines run along the driver's sill front to back to avoid this heat and also cutting brake lines in the case of a prop shaft failure.

Got no problems in this regard at all.

[Giuliettaevo2]

i believe there is a small airhole in the mastercylinder that needs to be open, sometimes a piece of dirt clogs it and causes problems...

At least this was mentioned in another forum, don't know if it helps with your problem however...