ALFAGTV6.COM

Leave out the tax Z and it may be closer to the truth! We'll be fine as long as the first digit is 3 ! That's the first concern -together with regular idling under 1krpm.
Jim K.

OK sure I'll take off the 1% VAT you guys have there in Grease land.

BTW I hope your 75 will be whippin'those Bimmer dudes like these French GTV6 guys.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJkfPhu6q9w

Just watch the first 5 mins. Nice to see a Z4 M being given a good hiding .... not that I hate BMWs, love 'em...promise...

75evo wrote:OK sure I'll take off the 1% VAT you guys have there in Grease land.

BTW I hope your 75 will be whippin'those Bimmer dudes like these French GTV6 guys.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJkfPhu6q9w

Just watch the first 5 mins. Nice to see a Z4 M being given a good hiding .... not that I hate BMWs, love 'em...promise...

only engine power doesn't make up for a lack of driving skills

The bimmer numbers are a nice aim ...
3.2-litre straight-six engine (S54B32). 343 horsepower (256 kW) @7,900 rpm, 365 N·m @4,900 rpm, 8,000 rpm redline. 107 bhp/liter (80 kW; 108 PS)
(source: Wikipedia Z4m )

Yes, nice numbers but not realistic in our case...NO VANOS! This feature can contribute seriously to power and make the car docile for street use. Its like having two types of cams in the engine. The BMW also has bigger valves, making for better breathing and most notably, it has a much longer stroke than Alfa! Lack of VANOS and short stroke are limitations we have to live with in this 24v Alfa. Since I intend to drive the car in the street, I chose a cam profile which will hopefully do in both worlds road/track or ...none of the two! Its very easy to design a wild cam profile...Living with it is the hard part!
Jim K.

Well it's 2015. I'm guessing the days of the 75 as a daily driver is long gone. The 1.8T is a better bet for this.

Here's a vid that will make you happy and proves your point about the 1.8T:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blbokFGxghY

For a good daily driver, what about a VW TDi (CLEAN Diesel) from the honest guys at VW. Good daily driver.

I wouldn't mind if the 75 is a bit of highly strung.

My REAL daily car is a '98 Hyundai Accent, my dad bought it new back then so I'm keeping it. The 1.8T goes out 1-2 times a week and the 24v almost never, seeing it has a bad PS rack leak. A rebuilt rack will go in during the engine swap to the 3.2 soon, so I'll be able to putt around in this one too couple times a week.
Jim K.

This post should be in this thread but here it is: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4044&start=180

Jim K.

My 75 with the 3.2 engine finally drove me home today! It started yesterday morning and after a few necessary checks for leaks etc, I took it for a 10 minute drive in a nearby highway. Accel-decel-accel-decel... from ~2500-4000rpm. Pulls great compared to the 3liter 24v! Except the 223 extra cc's its the cams and the little better heads making the difference. Actually, I was surprised to see the cams pull this strong from low rpm. Note that its still running on the 3liter maps. Deceleration was very gradual, I suppose the CPS rings are low-tension type. One most important parameter for me is idle quality. I set idle at a rock steady 1000rpm with the throttle stop. During mapping, I hope to be able to lower idle rpm. If these cams are so good up to 4500rpm (as high as I went) I can't wait to see how they do up to ~7600rpm!
Before the end of the month, I'll take a short 600km break-in trip. After that its dyno/mapping time, all with the present 'short' intake. Testing will continue with the 'long' intake. As I write this, two new custom wiring harnesses are being made, one for the existing factory management (164Q4) and one for the Emerald ecu. I'll have to leave the car with my buddy for a few days so that he can tailor the wires to the car/engine.
Jim K.

Great to see that you have it running Jim.
So in the end how are the cams timed in now?
On the standard marks?
How is idle? Little rough or solid?
Why are you still running a maf sensor instead of a map?

The cams are timed on the std marks, those in the rear of the cams -I didn't use camblocks, although I'll try them on possibly this week.
I set idle to 1000rpm and its rock solid -still unmapped. After mapping I will see how low I can get it to idle regularly.
This is the maf sensor the 164Q4 uses as std and its there because that's the system I use now (Bosch M3.7.1).
For the time being, I have an urgent job to do as I just averted disaster... Noticing a little slack on the belt, I checked the tensioner and it crapped out right then and there while I attempted to adjust it! Unbeleivably enough, it got me home before it failed! I took the thing apart and will convert it to a manual adjust by cutting threads in the bore and inserting a long bolt + locknut, a sure-fire solution. Will have pics in a few days when i'm done.
Jim K.

Looking very good . Jim if you set the belt tension with the pin still in the tensioner then surely if it fails it can only move out about 1mm ( the pin I'm referring to) . When you felt the tension of the belt when you suspected something was up did you check it at Tdc as maybe with your cams it pulls the belts differently compared to the standard cam . I have that with my cams which but that's because the ramps are very steep and aggressive . I know yours are not like that as they are proper cams . Just a thought

Is the manual setup going to be permanent? These tsubaki stuff is NLA. Or do you want to adapt a tensioner from another car?For example modify the one from the Mitsu VR4 V6.

I had set it per factory specs using the pin etc and it was fine for the first few kms. But fortunately, after I got home I pushed down on the belt between the cams and ...'clonk' the wheel jumped a tooth! Then I saw the slack, meaning the plunger gave way. I do have another one but no way I'm putting it in! I'll just convert the failed one to manual. Funny to think the 3liter 24v motor has been with a similar unit for years and not one problem! Oh well, we're all used to this $hit from Alfa I suppose!
Note: when I dismantled it and pulled the plunger out, it was bent!
Z: I will modify the existing failed unit into manual. In the 12v engine, I ran a fixed tensioner for years. Like I said, pics later in the week.
Jim K.

Luckely no engine damage. Only thing is you age instantly 10 years....
Nice enigine Jim!

Oh yes, I was lucky -doesn't happen too much!
Spent a few hours today building a manual tensioner out of the failed thermostatic one. I took a good look at it and noticed that some of the fluid had leaked out... That's why it failed...
Oh well, here is a pic of a good one (?) I have and what I ended up with. The centerpiece is a long M10 fine-thread bolt with a nut for locking in place. The original tensioner 15mm bore was filled/plugged with a M16 bolt and then drilled for the M10.
The hard time-consuming part was taking both valve covers off to make sure the cams haven't skipped any teeth! That took several hours but was necessary for peace of mind.
Jim K.