Hi I said I'd post a bit about my spider so here we go...
I've owned it for years - left it on the drive rotting and as a parts bin for 10.. but just didn't havet the heart to scrap it. Alfa's have souls.
Buying another would have been cheaper but I had a point to prove to myself...
Here it was in the early 1990's
Mid way through the build digital camera changes the shade a bit
And finally complete
The paint is the original 1970's drug induced colour..I love it and always have done.
When I built it together I used parts from two donor cars. Despite having two good engines - one of the cars a US import - had a recently rebuilt engine. I decided to use that engine but mated it to a second hand head which I bought from an Alfa Racer - who assured me it was good. I bolted all together with some twin 45 dellortos. The cams turned out to be shot so I put in some new ones...little did I know that this was to be a hint of it's overall condition. I decided to use 3d mapped ignition and promptly set off to Milan for Alas's 100 birthday celebrations.
The car proved to be totally reliable but returned only 19mpg and was really down on power. Getting back to the UK after a 3000 mile trip I investigated the engine further. To cut a long story short the head was ****. Stripping the engine down revealed poorly cut valves and seats - the valves could never had seated properly. The engine showed that it wasn't totally clean when built so showed bearing damage and the con-rods were not all facing the same side.
I decided to do the lot - hone the liners, regrind and re-nitride the crank, new bearings and rings - again and put it together with a little care. here are the post machine work pictures after the first clean
Block , mains and front cover
Balanced cod rods
I've owned it for years - left it on the drive rotting and as a parts bin for 10.. but just didn't havet the heart to scrap it. Alfa's have souls.
Buying another would have been cheaper but I had a point to prove to myself...
Here it was in the early 1990's
Mid way through the build digital camera changes the shade a bit
And finally complete
The paint is the original 1970's drug induced colour..I love it and always have done.
When I built it together I used parts from two donor cars. Despite having two good engines - one of the cars a US import - had a recently rebuilt engine. I decided to use that engine but mated it to a second hand head which I bought from an Alfa Racer - who assured me it was good. I bolted all together with some twin 45 dellortos. The cams turned out to be shot so I put in some new ones...little did I know that this was to be a hint of it's overall condition. I decided to use 3d mapped ignition and promptly set off to Milan for Alas's 100 birthday celebrations.
The car proved to be totally reliable but returned only 19mpg and was really down on power. Getting back to the UK after a 3000 mile trip I investigated the engine further. To cut a long story short the head was ****. Stripping the engine down revealed poorly cut valves and seats - the valves could never had seated properly. The engine showed that it wasn't totally clean when built so showed bearing damage and the con-rods were not all facing the same side.
I decided to do the lot - hone the liners, regrind and re-nitride the crank, new bearings and rings - again and put it together with a little care. here are the post machine work pictures after the first clean
Block , mains and front cover
Balanced cod rods
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