Jim K
Verde
Verde
Posts: 1751
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 12:10 am
Location: Athens,Greece

New book?

Post by Jim K »

This is a vary good Saturday! Just finished composing the cover pic and got the first spiral-bound 3 working copies. I'm probably not impartial, but it looks good! Should be available in a few months. Some stats: A4 size, 290 pages, 268 pics. I'll let you know when it's ready. :wink:
Jim K.
Attachments
First print1a.jpg
First print1a.jpg (141.53 KiB) Viewed 3192 times
User avatar
Zamani
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 1757
Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2004 8:20 pm
Location: Cameroon

Re: New book?

Post by Zamani »

MD would like a signed copy otherwise he refuses to even look at it :mrgreen:
Dr. Alban
Jim K
Verde
Verde
Posts: 1751
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 12:10 am
Location: Athens,Greece

Re: New book?

Post by Jim K »

Toilet paper hasn't been invented yet in his part of the woods, so you know what he wants the book for! And HE AIN'T GETTING ONE!! :twisted: :twisted:
User avatar
MD
Verde
Verde
Posts: 2534
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2004 2:37 am
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Contact:

Re: New book?

Post by MD »

Hey Greaser, good to see you have put that birdbrain of yours to more constructive use. Much better than your recent pastime of flicking through Peanuts Comics looking for a centrefold on Lucy. BTW, you're not getting a look-in on my copy.

I am willing to part with a shiny 20 cents worth but I insist the copy comes with a nail hole and textured soft pages. Please arrange to have the lumpy camshaft pages left out.

With much regret and mostly pain ( I am getting beaten with a stick from one of your contractors to do it) er... cough..er.. well done again.
Transaxle Alfas Haul More Arse
User avatar
Alfaaa1
Gold
Gold
Posts: 121
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2016 10:36 am
Location: Melbourne , Australia

Re: New book?

Post by Alfaaa1 »

Hi Jim.
Cannot wait to get a copy.
Well done mate.
All your books are great.
Jim K
Verde
Verde
Posts: 1751
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 12:10 am
Location: Athens,Greece

Re: New book?

Post by Jim K »

Just trying to decide on size format now, between A4 and B5. The latter looks more probable, comes out to 261 pages. I'll make sure it's NOT soft quality, so the slithering Aussie weasel will have a hard time.... :twisted: :twisted:
Jim K.
User avatar
MD
Verde
Verde
Posts: 2534
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2004 2:37 am
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Contact:

Re: New book?

Post by MD »

Hi Jim,
The readers are just going to have to do with a few less cattle prodding funny insults so this topic can get back on track which it deserves.
Well done my friend to once more dig deep and share what you and others know about Alfa Romeo engines. Unlike your wonderful Greek olives, this stuff doesn't grow on trees and takes carefully considered work. I am sure it will encourage many new projects out there.

Sorry mate, it's all the time I got. I have an early appointment with my shrink... :D
Transaxle Alfas Haul More Arse
User avatar
Zamani
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 1757
Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2004 8:20 pm
Location: Cameroon

Re: New book?

Post by Zamani »

With the new book and info on the 1.8 Turbo, I wonder if I should start collecting parts for a 2.0 turbo. No good 1.8 engine over here. All I need are new liners and pistons. 2.0L engines are worth almost nothing over here.

Anyone want to buy a 3.2 24V ? :mrgreen:

But let's see what's in the book first. Might just be a few articles on how to polish your cam covers but mostly centerfold material....in case he sent the wrong copy to his publisher :lol:
Dr. Alban
Jim K
Verde
Verde
Posts: 1751
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 12:10 am
Location: Athens,Greece

Re: New book?

Post by Jim K »

Hi guys,
Still working on details like preferred format. A4 is out of the question, B5 is not looking good, but 8x10" seems to be the one, in which case we're looking at ~250 pages of perversion, about 45-50% of which is 24v stuff. Got an appointment with a book print rep tomorrow, we'll see.
Hey MD, have you been officially declared fit for basket-weaving by your shrink? :D
Jim K.
User avatar
MD
Verde
Verde
Posts: 2534
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2004 2:37 am
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Contact:

Re: New book?

Post by MD »

Hey good buddy start looking for lots of new friends with hands and feet. With all the Moulla that's about to come rolling and you having flunked grade 3 arithmetic , you are going to run out of fingers and toes to count it all by yourself. I wouldn't suggest looking in Iraq or Afghanistan cause not all of them have a full set.

BTW the shrink did enquire about you and he did say that the baskets you recently made are wonderful examples of dexterity. His only reservation is why you made them out of barbed wire. I said I couldn't help.

Don't worry so much, The warts will go away all by themselves.
Transaxle Alfas Haul More Arse
Jim K
Verde
Verde
Posts: 1751
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 12:10 am
Location: Athens,Greece

Re: New book?

Post by Jim K »

Don't know what the official drink is in Oz, but around your part of the caves must be turpentine. Lay off the stuff and see what you can do about that empty space between the ears... I understand it'll take ya a couple days to read these lines but I'm sure some of the guys here can help if you stop wagging your tail long enough!
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
User avatar
MD
Verde
Verde
Posts: 2534
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2004 2:37 am
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Contact:

Re: New book?

Post by MD »

Cut it out JK. All this love talk is making me embarrassed. :oops:

Do something useful and give us an overview of what the book covers and tel us what page number Raquel lives in and does it come in braille.
Transaxle Alfas Haul More Arse
Jim K
Verde
Verde
Posts: 1751
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 12:10 am
Location: Athens,Greece

Re: New book?

Post by Jim K »

Today, I will not comment about your next to non-existent intelligence, nor about your despicable sexual affinity to animals... Instead, I will give ya some reading practice, of something that I intended to include in the book but decided against. Not all engine stories are successful, we all know that and if not, we haven't built enough of them or we're lying! :wink:
Jim K.

There are good days and bad days …like this one!
So, the engine is built and tested and you’re enjoying it off and on the track. In fact, it turned out so good that you keep pushing it harder every time, looking for better lap times –aren’t we all! You’ve set the shift light to 7400rpm and at those revs, all you hear is music. And the music gets even better as you venture closer to 8krpm –the hell with the shift light! You are so mesmerized that you forget little things like the standard valve springs. Remember, std engines have a 7krpm cutoff for a reason. The people who decide these things know a hell of a lot more about mechanical limits than you or me. At some point, you feel a misfire, you slow down and leave the track. You check plugs, injectors, ecu… can’t figure it out so you decide to drive home on 5½ cylinders. Someone up there must be on your side, because you got home after 65km at ~4200rpm. To be exact, a mere 300m from home when it happened! A quick ‘thud’ and instant lockup. At first glance, the expansion tank is empty, so it doesn’t take a genius to figure a liner broke –at the very least! And that was the end of my 3.2liter. I did enjoy it for a few good years and I had thought that it would be the last engine ever for my 75’s but it seems fate was laughing in my face.
To make a long story short, I still haven’t decided on the exact cause of this mechanical disaster. Two possible causes are valve spring float and a dropped valve seat. I believe it started when a valve was bent, by either hitting the piston or a partly detached valve seat insert. The bent valve survived for the 65km trip home, but metal fatigue ultimately took its toll and subsequent catastrophic events took only a few milliseconds to unfold.
The mechanical autopsy revealed what you see in these pages. All this, was a result of not setting a rev-limit during the dyno/mapping session and driver… indifference –I can think of several stronger words.
Life goes on and the engine is being rebuilt. Fortunately, the 3.2 crank was intact –these things are getting rare- and so were the rods. However, I replaced the small-end bushings as the one in the affected cylinder (#1) had spun. In short, new valves, new Supertech springs, new CPS pistons…. Had I loaded the car on the flatbed instead of driving home, the cost would be considerably lower, 10 times lower to be exact. Oh well, water under the bridge now.
The point of presenting this unfortunate mishap, is to show that even this cylinder head damage can be effectively repaired, so don’t despair if you ever find yourselves in a similar predicament. Sure, it will take some careful grinding to restore proper chamber volume but that is a minor inconvenience when compared to having to fully modify another used head! And in closing, here are my sacred last words: always map a safe rev-limit!
Attachments
Damage3.jpg
Damage3.jpg (175.18 KiB) Viewed 2997 times
Damage.jpg
Damage.jpg (255.86 KiB) Viewed 2997 times
User avatar
MD
Verde
Verde
Posts: 2534
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2004 2:37 am
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Contact:

Re: New book?

Post by MD »

Interesting story Jim. I am sure we all got one.

Mine is a little different and I didn't even get to enjoy the music. I got let down by the Alfa bean counters who decided that installing a key way to lock up the bottom sprocket that drives the camshafts chain was too expensive.(8 valve twin spark engine ) Instead let's save 2c and just make it a press fit. All good for a while and one day the sprocket develops a stress split and you guessed it, completely screws up the valve timing.
One day I was trying to start the engine and it just wasn't happy. It was misfiring and complaining until it finally started. Good I thought. But hang on, some is terribly wrong ! It started backwards. FAAAAAARK !! No music, just a shitload of pain.
Transaxle Alfas Haul More Arse
Jim K
Verde
Verde
Posts: 1751
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 12:10 am
Location: Athens,Greece

Re: New book?

Post by Jim K »

It's a good day today... After almost two months of delays, the first batch of books arrived this morning. The 'Alfa Romeo High Performance Manual for the 24v and Alfa 75 1.8 Turbo' is now available for 47€+shipping. It's much bigger than the two previous books, with 270 pages, 295 pics and tables. After early March 2022, Post-Office rates have more than doubled so worldwide shipping is now 16€, bringing the total to 63€ for a single book. Group buys can benefit from significantly lower shipping cost (example: a package of 10 books requires 56€ for Europe and 76€ elsewhere). Interested buyers, please send pm for Paypal details.🙂
Jim K.
Attachments
P1010001 (28).JPG
P1010001 (28).JPG (209.92 KiB) Viewed 2281 times
Post Reply