ALFAGTV6.COM

I put in Greg's headlight upgrade kit into today. Its very well engineered and goes in easily. The only thing that was difficult was dealing with the 90+ temps at 10am!! Probably won't take it out at night for a bit. I had a flat the other day that destroyed a Bridgestone S-03. My spare is the neverused Pirrelli P-6 that has been in the trunk since I bought the car new in 1983. Its holding air but I don't trust a 23 yr old tire (even if it is new).


Terry Johnston
83 CA GTV6 ( orginal owner)

Thanks Terry,
Were the instructions OK? The rest of the kit I am not worried about because its been on my car for years. The instructions are the big variable.

Greg www.hiperformancestore.com

Greg,

The only part that I got a bit confused was that the the light cans are different for the high and low beams. Caused me a bit of confusion until I figured it out. Otherwise it was clear sailing. I will try to check the lights out at night in the next day or so. I am just a bit concerned about drving the car with its 23 yr old OEM spare!.. Terry

Actually all 4 light cans are different. I will revise the instructions to reflect that. I never really thought about it before because it's not really related to the kit itself, just GTV6 headlights in general.

Greetings!
I received my light kit just the other day - looks quite complete - and the instructions look pretty good. I hope to get them on in the next few weeks, when I do I'll take images as I go - maybe you can use them for your instructions or I can start a posting with some of them.

Cheers!

Gregory

Gregory,

Its a pretty straight forward install. The only thing is to keep track of the light cans as they are speicic for each light. That was the only area I got confused on. As with all of Greg's products its first rate(if I could only afford the turbo!).

Terry Johnston
1983 CA GTV-6 (Orginal Owner)
Logan, Utah (formerly of the SF Bay Area)

Thanks guys. So far there are two updates I need to make to the instructions.

1. Keep track of the headlight buckets as all 4 are different.

2. Install relays pointing down just like all the factory relays are setup. This will insure water doesn't collect in them. I don't see this being a problem anyway but I will add it.

Please don't bother posting any images, the instructions are a big part of the kit...

Okay, finally got around to getting my kit installed and am just delighted! I should have done it 4 months ago - it was so easy! Great kit Greg!! I highly recommend it, easy to install (took me 2-1/2 hours at a liesurely pace) and works great ... and yeah, the high beams are brighter too. Really impressed, since I am running a stock alternator ( need to look into that 164 alternator swap though). Cheers!

GV

I'm interested in the headlight upgrade; the 164 alternator upgrade seems like a worthy upgrade as well. Anyone got specific details on what you need to do the bracket? Is it linked on the main site?

Alright, enough thread high-jacking...sorry greg. Someone should make 164 brackets....

Rob

Hi Rob,
I don't understand everyone's fascination with the 164 alternator. Sure it's from another Alfa, but so what? Bosch is Bosch, what's the difference if it's from another Alfa or some other car. The only difference I can see is the Alfa units are really expensive and hard to get. When you are on a long trip and your alternator quits you are no better off needing a 164 alternator than you would be needing a Milano alternator. In both cases you will be stuck in a hotel while you wait for a replacement to arrive.

The way I see it the BMW 735i alternator is the way to go. They are cheap and you can get them at any autoparts store. It takes some work to do the initial conversion but once it's done you have an inexpensive easy to replace unit with plenty of amperage.

I did try to get my dad (who has done this twice recently) to write up some instrucitions, but neither he, nor my wife (who runs the website) seem to think it's worth the time.
Here is a picture:

Greg,
To be honest, I don't care what car its from, I've just seen on this board that somone has completed a 164 conversion with some modifications. I do wish someone had a procedure, because I do think its worth while. I have never been a big fan of the alternators in these cars. A more readily available alternator would be fine.

What year 735i are they using? Whats the output on that Bosch model? It's hard for me to see what modification was made from that pic, was it a new bracket? That pulley looks a bit smaller to me for some reason, maybe i'm not remembering what the front of my alternator looks like.

Thanks,
Rob

Hi Rob,

OK, this is from memory and I can't check with my dad right now. I think there are actually two 735i units and he used the higher of the two. It's around 100 amps. The 735i was made in two models the E23 and the E32, they both use the same motor and I don't know what year the alternator was upgraded. In fact it may not have been related to the year, perhaps it was related to other options, market etc.

The pulley only looks smaller because the alternator is bigger. It's the exact same pulley, you re-use the pulley on your existing alternator.

Thanks Greg for the info. I haven't checked to see how much variation there was between 735I alternators, probably not a ton, but won't know until I have a chance to research.

It looks like a tight fit in the pic, you've got a bit more going on than just the alternator in that picture though!

Rob

It's a tight fit alright, but it's not a problem.

Man - now that is a hijack! And I guess I'm just going to have to add to it .

I'd love to find an easy bolt in replacement or simple conversion, and I think that is what we're all after! Agree, could care less if it was from an Alfa or not, and yes the more standard of a part it is the better - maybe we need a new thread here.

GV