ALFAGTV6.COM

[ingegnere]

Thanks in advance!

[nicke]

Found this interesting link... Anyone have any clue how this works: http://www.zeroshift.com

I'm flabbergasted, but yet intrigued would be nice to put in the trans axle...

Cheers, nick

[Reale]

Hi-
I only recently found this forum, so sorry for the late reply-

On the advice of Richard Jemison, I built a new shifter for my SCCA E-Production GTV6.
The pictures of the prototype are here:

http://www.realemotorsports.com/rd/shifter

Sorry they are over 1M apiece.
Yes, I know it is UGLY, with really crappy welds, etc., but I cobbled it together really quickly to test the whole idea.

If anybody is interested, I will post some more pics of the current arrangement-which is prettier.

The shifter involves making a hole in the vertical portion of the driver's seat well, and connecting a u-joint (I used a Borgeson shift joint, I plan to use an Apex joint eventually) with a rod directly to the shift rod where it exits the transaxle.

I have been using it since mid-season last year, and it is a BIG improvement over the stock shifter.

To address some other concerns:

Everything is "so high up" because when I am racing, I wear a head and neck restraint, and I cannot SEE anything below about eye level. Don't worry, it is all carbon fiber or aluminum, so it is not completely screwing up the CG of the car.

At Roebling Road, I pretty much do not use second gear. The gearbox is a Richard Jemison special, with a 4.10 final. Roebling Road is a big momentum track, and everything you do starting with the right hander off the front straight builds up to your entry speed back onto the front-and so on. It is a very cool track.

Yes, I finally cracked 200 rear wheel HP-with 10:1 compression, Megasquirt EFI, and pretty much NO OTHER big engine mods. Stock intake, minimal head work, and good CAMS.

Thanks,
Al Mitchell

[Dennis]

I would like to see more pictures of the car. I have seen a few but would like to see more, especially your carbon driveshaft!

[Reale]

I'll see what I can come up with.
There are pictures of various parts of the car scattered throughout the site.
if you go to
www.realemotorsports.com/rd/
and cruise around, there is a lot of stuff-though I will try to put something a little more organized together.

-Al

[MD]

Reale,

The info on that site is a minefield.

What about a microscope on the driveshaft man? Thanks.

[Reale]

Ok,
as requested, here is a picture of the driveshaft. It weighs about 10 lbs.
When I get time, I will put up a page on my website with pics of the shaft in its natural environment, as well as my shift linkage.

-Al Mitchell

[Jim K]

Is a similar driveshaft available for the Milano/75 3liter? Where and how much?
Thanks!
Jim K.

[MD]

Ah, now we are making some progress.
Some close ups of each end of the shaft illustrating the detail would be nice with an explanation of how the concept works and to what degree does it work well?
What are the drawbacks (if any)
How is it fitted? How much power is it designed to handle?

(just for laughs) I am glad that thing hasn't got hair on it or it would be a real weapon!!

[Reale]

Heh heh, yes you can tell an Alfa guy by the size of his driveshaft.

Ok, I will take a bunch of pics, but I am trying to get the car ready to go to a race at Moroso next weekend, so things have been a bit hectic.
Before we all go out and get one, lets make sure it doesn't fly apart after X hours of operation.
Someone mentioned earlier about the elimination or modification of the flex couplings, and I would be interested in hearing specifics.
The length of our driveshaft makes going to a one piece assembly complicated, since a steel or aluminum shaft would begin to "whip" above a certain RPM. Since we have the privilege of an engine RPM driveshaft, this is a big problem. We have some pretty good data that suggests that a one piece steel driveshaft will NOT work.
I know some guys that tried U-Joints, but they did not seem to hold up to racing use-but I would like to hear other's experiences.

Anyway, this setup uses the front end of the GTV6/Milano driveshaft, and the back end of a late Alfetta. Why? Well, the Alfetta rear donut has its spherical pivot integral to the donut, as opposed to the GTV6 arrangement,and we have data to support that it can handle over 300HP. My transaxle is shoved up into the tunnel pretty far, and the stock donut probably would not fit, as well.

I have found that the shaft is VERY sensitive to the alignment of the engine and transaxle. I still have not managed to get the engine and transaxle to exactly line up. In fact, I was appalled at how out of alignment the two were when I started. Anyway, I am working on some adjustable engine mounts, and for the interim have shimmed them into approximate alignment. I experience a small vibration at 1800 RPM, and then (oddly), nothing until about 7000, where there is another smaller vibration. This vibration has decreased as I have tweaked the alignment closer and closer.
My recommendation is that we wait until I get them exactly pointed at one another, and tested out, before we all run out and spend $1500 on our own.
Ok, gotta go put the airdam on.
-Al

[Zamani]

Joe Beninca told me about the alignment problem a while back. He sells the tool to align the engine and gearbox that he is willing to sell.

[MD]

Thanks for the info Al. Look forward to additional details with some pics if possible when you have time.

[Reale]

Hi-
Alignment is not hard to determine-I made a couple of little gadgets that hold cheap laser pointers, one goes into the centering bushing on the flywheel, and the other onto the transaxle. Even if the axis of the pointer is not EXACTLY co-linear when you rotate the input shaft or flywheel they will describe a circle-and you just aim for the center. It is relatively easy to adjust the transaxle's position, and the rear engine mount. The front engine mounts are a different story. Anybody out there have height adjustable V6 engine mounts? Going to have to make some of my own.
-Al

[Maurizio]

I made a couple of little gadgets that hold cheap laser pointers, one goes into the centering bushing on the flywheel, and the other onto the transaxle. Even if the axis of the pointer is not EXACTLY co-linear when you rotate the input shaft or flywheel they will describe a circle-and you just aim for the center. The front engine mounts are a different story.

The lasers are a simple and effective way, great! But sounds like a real pain to adjust.
Just shimming the motor mount not possible? I found a 0.8 mm (hard plastic) plate under one side mount when I took my TS engine out. Looked like the factory also did some sort alignment.

[Reale]

Unfortunately, I really need to lower the front mounts, so shimming is out. I am going to make a jig for the mount assembly, and build an adjustable one. I'll let you know how it goes.

Alignment aside, here's another question:

Has anybody out there experimented with removing/shortening the spacers between the DeDion crossmember and the chassis?

I don't know what everyone's experience with this has been, but I found that it reduced corner-exit oversteer.

-Al