ALFAGTV6.COM

[Mats]

Boring machine? Guess not all machines are exciting...

Tried it on my Nord now, boring was no problem, honing impossible so they were removed.

[slyalfa]

Greg the supercharger. has had them done in the block and says they are better then stock liners. Also I was told you could have a motorbike shop do it that is used to thin liners.
I looked on line how the motorbike guys do it with a lath. It had a jig that clamped it.

"We then bolted the cylinder between a set of torque plates that were secured in the lathe's chuck. Torque plates recreate the clamping force put on the cylinder by the heads when attached to the motor. A cylinder can grow by as much as a thousandth of an inch after torquing. We used 40 lb-ft to secure the cylinder."

after seeing that I think I might be able to do that on my cheap china lath if it has the travel needed.

http://www.hotbikeweb.com/tech/0803_hbk ... index.html

[gran turismo]

Jim,

So how is the V6 running? Any dyno results yet? I've read the 1.8T thread and realize the V6 isn't your favorite any more but it's been a few months since your last post here so I thought that I would ask....

thanks,

Jeff

[Jim K]

I guess a little update is in order. The new engine completed ~2500km and was ready to map/dyno. The recent austerity measures in Greece along with my retirement from work, severely reduced family income precluding any non-essential expenses and I lent the 3liter car to a good friend, who would assume all running costs, taxes, insurance etc. Last month while driving back from work one day, he called me and reported high coolant temperature....We did nothing right away and a few days later it got really hot...sure enough, the gasket(s) were well done and the oil turned into milkshake! Last week the heads were re-surfaced and I determined that when previously milled, the cutter was not 100% parallel to the surface, thereby leaving it concave...!! It started up again yesterday, after 3 washing cycles with cheap oil, where the pump was drill-operated (without the heads on) to pressurize the system. For this operation, two hoses routed the oil supplied up to the heads from the two block fittings to the round oil drain holes on the block surface. Oil was again drained and refilled twice and will be drained again tomorrow and again after very few kms. It still contains some milkshake and I have no way to guess bearing condition...Sump removal is out of the question as its fairly involved with the scraper in place; forget it! If the thing is shot, in goes the 24v! Bolts were tightened to 110Nm and will be retightened to 115Nm several times when cold after driving over a couple of weeks. It will then be ready to be mapped and...sold!
I only hope the bearings will last well long enough for a month of easy driving and then a dyno session! Knowing how the crank oilways/chambers are shaped I can see that this milkshake will unfortunately be there forever as there are distinct stagnant areas contained in the crankthrows.
Jim K.

[Zamani]

JK,

Retirement only means you don't have to answer to your boss at work, only your boss at home.

This means more time for car related stuff, and I'm pretty sure you can turn some of your knowledge into profit.

[MD]

...

turn some of your knowledge into profit.

I heard a rumour he's starting up an olive grove to convert cooking oil into racing oil..

[Jim K]

With the economy going downhill, unemployment is the key word here and will reach ~12-14% in 2011. If things were very different, I could consider moving to NA with a few select of the Alfa crowd here to set up an Alfa shop, for Alfas from 1960 to today. From what I can see, there's dire need in some areas for such a business. Oh well...next time around!
Jim K.

[Zamani]

14%? Well at least the Greeks are ahead of the US in something, we're only at around 9.6% if you believe the official statistics. No improvement in sight here either either.

What about custom specialized parts? Like High performance valves + guide package for the V6/I4, what about your book? Wrap it up and publish it , make some money out of it.

I dunno Jim, think of something. A great mind like yours shouldn't be left alone in the olive grove no seriously, I hope you don't just quit the Alfa scene. It would be a TRAGEDY if you just call it quits.

I mean, MD can't make fun of you anymore, he might go nuts on this forum!

[MR2 Zig]

I thought MD was already nuts...

[MD]

Yes but I am awaiting certification..

[Jim K]

Z, there's been some thought with other members to put together proven kits for 4cyl and V6 engines. The main question is would it be financially viable? You speak of big-valves and guides: I paid 300Euros for a set of JK valves (from G&S Valves, UK) and about 50Euros for 6 BMW guides. Add to this the retainers and keepers (another ~50Euros) and you have a total cost of 400Euros. How much profit should we add? Then -if someone buys this set- they'll have to install 6 large intake seat inserts, a job going for ~200Euros here in Athens and I assume it would cost a lot more in the US. Grand total of 600Euros here...with no profit. Not many would be prepared to fork out that much! Is it worth stocking up these parts? Maybe it would pay to make and sell relatively inexpensive special parts like low-temp thermostats and rebuilt/new 'improved' oil pumps for 4/6 cyl engines. Modified and Flowbench-certified heads would be another possibility but this idea would fly like the proverbial lead balloon on account of shiping costs.
As for the books...I already said many times there is no money to be made from this type of book -very limited clientelle- as far more money is spent building and trying everything you read, than you can possibly expect to make from royalties!
As for the question whether MD is certifiable...there's only one way to answer: Does a bear shit in the woods? Is a frog's asshole watertight?
Jim K.

[kevin]

Jim, the other day I needed some info on percentage effects of crane outrigger subsidence relative to boom deflection blah blah blah , point is I had to pay for this info from some chaps thesis .
The idea is you sell your info without having to publish your book and you can limit it or exploit it depending how much the chap is paying. Sure some chaps will buy it and post it for free to show how smart they are, but hopefully the well known alfa forums around can be on the lookout for this and curb it.
Just thoughts (maybe hire some hot blonde babes to pose next to that modified oil pump )

[Jim K]

Maybe you got something there Kevin! F*** the oil pump...The babes can bring in much more $$
Seriously, once parts of the book are sent out, the entire thing will be public in no time. There are very few people I trusted with this so far, whose opinion I value.
Theoretically, having some way to get paid for sending the book over the net to buyers would be the best of all worlds, provided these buyers wouldn't proliferate it themselves; you can see its difficult. If you paid for a similar book over the net, how could you resist passing it on to a very close friend? Friends are friends and I don't believe you'd want money from them.
Jim K.

[gran turismo]

Maybe you got something there Kevin! F*** the oil pump...The babes can bring in much more $$

It's all about compromizes. Spend 1/3 of your time pimping. Then you can spend the other 2/3 of your time on the alfas and have plenty of money to do it.

Seriously though, hope the motor holds together and your can finish the book and make some of your money back.

(I saw the cover on the internet somewhere . It could use some work. Put one of those babes covered in that olive oil on the cover and you could sell it to the ricers too!)

[MD]

Knowing JK, if those oiled babes were on the front cover, he'd buy his own book to see what's in the centrefold.