ALFAGTV6.COM

[kevin]

I figured you dont need a locknut as the motor cant rotate about the bell housing bush in above pic.
Is this a correct assumption

[MD]

Kevin,

Hope this helps..

The engine will try to rotate as a torque reaction during take offs and gear changes. This you know.

It will also "pitch" fore and aft during acceleration and deceleration.
This is why this bush is so soft and fluffy from the factory. If anything, it should be a ball joint.

In your case, expect some harshness in the driveline and more vibrations generally.

Personally, I would lock up the fixing ends to the threaded rod with some anaerobic thread locker chemical and let the bush do its job. It either will or it wont. It's all experimentaion anyhow.

In my case, I use the modified bush as illustrated previously and I also use a solid rubber rear transaxle mount bush. These two combinations result in some harsh vibration resonance between 1 and 2000 rpm. Above that it is smooth. Fortunately, I don't intend to be in that rpm range other than in a serious fog..

[kevin]

Md , just because i had spare locknut lying around and to keep you happy I put it in (I dont want an upset Ozzie especially with Rugby World cup approaching)
The prop takes all of two mins to take in and out with this centre bracket removed. I fyou still have torsions its another story. Unless you have the adjustable torsion bar set up which also takes 2 mins to remove and put back at same ride height.
Red paint on prop is my spline line so I can see if its lining up . I dont have anyone else to help me doing this so try make things easy for a one man job.

[kevin]

Continued from where i left off making a clutch flywheel and thrust bearing for my AP clutch. Here some pics. I have made the new flywheel to give a resultant distance of the pressure plate from the yoke to match that of the 2.0L GTV. The reason is I then use the same set up position of a push clutch of the 2.0 and I also use the same fork.

[kevin]

My interrior is nearly done but car still not on the track as im on to my second brake bias. it works fro one bleed then jams up. Im not sure if the seals inside dont like the Ap fluid or its just a kak make. I splashed out for an imported on but seams I must just make my own .
Suspension and tuning starts next. My bilsteins are perfect on shock dyno.
I must just go through all those horrible calcs to see if im on right path, get correct springs in check corner weights as a matching percentages per side, and fine tune with AR bars out on track.
First prize would to get a real good data logger now and monitor suspension. Car has more than enough power, brakes are perfect , box ratios are fair , driver a bit dismall but with enough practice and datalogging you have to improve. Aim is to stay in top 5 of fastest Alfa(any Alfa from touring car to twin turbo) Lap times at Swartkops this year. Right now im sliding down the order faster than my Brera is depreciating

[kevin]

Finally finished thrust bearing assembly. The part i had was the actual bearing and "shell" from Ap . Note Ap use a convex shell not concave like alfa Due to internal diameter of bearing I had no choice but to base the new thrust bearing housing on the 2.0l with the 27mm shaft . So the entire set up can be a bolt in to a standard Alfa . If using a V6 all that changes is fork , pin, slave cyl, and input shaft tube to 27mm. No cnc drawings as i drew it on back of cigarette box of the machinist . I left just a millimeter step so bearing does not touch face .

[kevin]

Some pics of the flywheel which is finished . Put some some slots in for the bolts .

[kevin]

HELP , three days before race And I cannot bleed my dam brakes ever since I put a Tiltron brake bias Lever type valve in.
If you pump the pedal it builds up resistance after five pumps. There is no air that comes out bleed nipples ( one bottle of brake fluid later). If you push slowly or fast it goes down.
If there is air in system it must be in valve because pedal would not go down otherwise . So question is how do you get it out. Do you put lever on max rear brakes and slowly pump then bleed off ?? . Aaaaaaaaaaarggghhhhh

[MD]

Kevin,

Perhaps try removing the bias adjuster and by pass it with a length of brake line to simplify the problem. Try bleeding system again. If the same problems continue, you know you have problems elsewhere.

On another front, I feel your pain. My engine has a computer glitch and it wont run above 3500 rpm on the track. Runs the full rpm range on the dyno with a 75% load. Get it on the track and it's cactus !! People think I actually shave my head. Man, I don't need a razor !!

[kterkkila]

One what you could try is bleeding the brake lines backwards.

There are pressure bottles for that task available. If you don't get one on your hands, it's possible to use regular brake fluid bottle for that. Just drill two tight holes on cap, one for small hose to connect bleeding nibble (hose must go bottom) and one for air pressure pistol. Be careful, because too much pressure may blow the brake fluid bottle.

Another way is to use clutch master cylinder to circulate the fluid. Just connect brake bleeding valve to clutch bleeding valve with small hose, and start pumping. Sometimes these help, sometimes not.

[kevin]

Kimmo ,Md thanks. I removed bias and still have problem so not that. I pressurized system and still no good. So what different from before. I changed my rear calipers to the 105 series without adjusters. These calipers only have one bleed nipple so I'm thinking the air must be in the other half of caliper. Somy plan is to turn car on it's side and re bleed. If that does not work I mifgt have to do minor adjustments with the 10pd hammer .

[MD]

Hi Kevin,

It's only 'cause you Africanis are the worst cricket players in the world I have decided to come to your aid..

Some left field thinking..

1 Have you assembled your master cyclinder correctly? If you haven't done anything new to it, it's not the problem. Move on.

2 Here's a tedious plan but should help identify the culprit. Make up some brake line plugs to stop fluid going into calipers. Block off three calipers and bleed the one remaining until all the air is out of it. Move onto the the next one keeping the remaing unbled ones blocked off. repeat the excercise until you bleed each one in succession.
3 Finally bleed all of them collectively as normal.

If you're not successful, send me a return air fare and I 'll help you out.

BTW. I once put an entire new rubber kit through a 105 brake system and used silicon based brake fluid with the idea that this stuff is not hygroscopic and the system will not be prone to corrosion as they usually are. It also has a high boiling point so one thinks, bonus! Bad move, two months later, I had to strip it all down, flush clean everything, fit new rubbers again and use a regular brake fluid.

Why, because all the rubbers swelled up and my caliper pistons would not return once the brakes were applied. Sort of OK if you need a permanent four wheel hand brake on..

Er.. I was little pissed off having got this advice from gurus at the time. I trust you are not using silicon brake fluid?

[kevin]

Md, their is nothing wrong with our cricketers EXCEPT they happen to have this small problem of CHOKING.
Moving along.
I did take masterlcyl out to recheck and it's perfect so no problems there.
My braked fluid is still the same AP that I have been using since started racing ( it gets changed every 2mths or race)(All AP Racing Brake Fluids are Polyalkalene Glycol Ether based and are not a silicone based fluid. AP Racing do not sell and do not recommend using a silicone based brake fluid with any of its products. More Information
Colour variations may occour in AP 600 brake fluid due to its manufacturing process.
This has no effect on the quality and performance of this product.)

Having noted what you said about the seals swelling , I did have to replace two EMPI brake bias valves as the jammed solid until I bought my Tilton bias valve which does work. Might be a connection but I am using same seals in my 105 calipers as I use in my 116 calipers.


I am going to block off one caliper at a time and test as suggested, while everyone is out there racing tomorrow.
It's so dam cold here at moment that everyone struggling to go out side unless it's really necessary . It's only 0 deg celcius but were only used to temps from 15 deg upwards so might pluck up the courage find my one jersey and long pants and fix this dam problem . Let me go put the kettle on again.

[PietereQ]

It's only 'cause you Africanis are the worst cricket players in the world

Dunno 'bout crickets but they make some wicked music, and we all know that to race an alfa one has to be a: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bdeizHM9OU


Kevin, have you solved the issue? I don't know what's up with these cars, wether with stock brakes or not, are always a b%&ch to bleed. I've never really achieved the brake pedal feel I wanted, got new MC waiting to be installed, maybe this will fix the problem, once and for all.
I've recenty been told of method "reverse bleeding" where you fill your system via bleeding nipples, so new fluid pushes the air upwards (gravity) outta the system. Two things I don't like, unless you have a pristine clean bleeder nipples, you'll be pushing dust and other crap through the system, big no-no for the seals, and secondly all air will end up in MC, which can be a pain too, unless it's bench bled afterwards.

[Maurizio]

Kevin,

I have had a look at it in the past, (pre-fitted) a 105 caliper on a spare gearbox.
And what I then noticed is that the bleeding nipple is on a wrong place when mounted on the box. You will trap air above the bleed screw.

Suggestion: Bleeding on a spare disc with the caliper in your hand (making sure that the bleed screw is the highest point), a doable option?