1985 Alfa Romeo GTV6 (my first Alfa)

I'm going to have to remember the anal glaucoma line. May have to use that in the near future.

oh! and these arrived in the mail

Ok, back at it.

The engine is back together (well, as back together as it's going to get pre-installation) and all those gaskets and parts I bought 4 or so years ago all seem to be going in just fine

Well, I say "just fine" but that nose cap kicked my butt for about 3-days straight (well, 3-mornings in a row...)

Inside that cone is a washer and a spring (similar in size and shape to a valve spring). Once on the driveshaft, everything is held in place with a snap ring. Fun fun.

I placed the cone on the ground and pushed down on the driveshaft to compress everything but dang if that snap ring didn't fight me tooth and nail. I boogered up the first one pretty good, and it just popped off every time I thought I had it.

The second snap ring went a bit better, but I could tell that it was the tangs with the holes (for the snap ring pliers) that was giving me all the grief. They were too thick and binding between the driveshaft and the nose cone causing the cap to sit at an angle.

I did some file work on the third one and got it in place by pinching the driveshaft between my shoulder and head (like you would an old telephone) and pushing down while working with a flat-head screw driver in each hand. She fought a good fight, but in the end...

I win

Oh please god don't ever make me have to take that back out.

On another note, I got word back from the records center in Italy.

The car and I were born on the same day!

(this makes me unbelievably happy)

(which means it's not an '85. By our standards it'd be an '82. So my thread title is wrong, and I'll have to move some exhaust hangars around when that time comes...)

Hopefully you have much better wiring than the car does, then.

Hmm, guibo before the trans input shaft? Seems like a strange design. Nice progress!

coming back into this a bit late...

about snap rings... there are 2 sides to a snap rings, smooth side, and "sharp" side (depending on how the ring was manufacturered). It is often best to put the "sharp" side to hold.

as to valve clearances.... odd that intakes are looser then exhaust... most every engine I've wrenched on has the clearances favor more on the exhaust.

as to .050mm - no valve job was done, so there is little if any chance of the valve tightening any more. If it wasn't too tight before, it should still be good now.

In reply to oldeskewltoy:

Probably has something to do with this. I think the pushrod runs the exhaust.

Oldskewl: I had no idea! thanks

sssswitch: Wiring is probably better, but I have a few more screws loose

2002: maaaaaan, you aint just whistlin dixie. I can imagine the driveline meeting back at Alfa Romeo went something like this

• Project Manager: Fellas, this is serious. Fiat is putting in a bid to buy our floundering company, and we gotta come up with something good and we gotta come up with something quick. God only knows the kind of FWD crap they're going to make us build if this deal goes through. The GTV6 may very well be our "last hurrah" so it's gotta be a winner. What have you guys come up with to get all that V6 power to those back wheels.

• Alfa engineer 1: We have this huge flywheel at the front to facilitate the starter, lets buy a common single disc clutch and place it here. Since it's a consumable item, perhaps something cheap and durable to help our customers with replacement later would be best.

• Alfa engineer 2: whaddya talkin about? Lets make another REALLY heavy flywheel and put it at the other end of the driveshaft and bolt a twin disc clutch to it like this (scribbles kakamimi idea on paper) and put a guibo here, here, and here to absorb the "shock" of the torques this engine will have (scribbling). We can add a support bearing here (more scribbling) just to make the removal that much more difficult and THEN we can make the clutch line extremely long like this (scribbles some more) and make the whole thing weigh eleventy billion pounds!

• Other Alfa engineers: (cheer in agreement, throw hats in air, applause)

• (Alfa engineer 1 exits room quietly, quits, and goes to work for Ford in Europe where he designs perfectly normal vehicles with decent build quality and excellent reliability and performance ratings. He continues working hard day in and day out and eventually he begins the preliminary designs on the new Focus RS and ST models. Both become a huge success. After receiving several awards and a rather large pension he retires on the Italian coast and tends to his vineyard completely satisfied with his life's accomplishments.)

As if. Alfa Engineer 1 probably got pulled out into the hallway by his manager and given a fresh 8-ball.

Their parking lot gate just says "you must be this high to engineer" in Italian. Employees keep falling through mysterious holes in the floor.

You forgot to mention my favourite part:

Alfa Engine Engineer: "Why balance the crankshaft? We'll just let the flywheel and crank pulley handle that"

ssswitch wrote: Employees keep falling through mysterious holes in the floor.

So all procrastination aside, I finally got a round tuit and went to work on the engine bay again.

Scrub, scrub, scrub, rinse, inspect, repeat.

I try to break the engine bay down into sections and just do a little at a time. If I try to look at too much I get overwhelmed and start procrastinating, but if my sections get too small I noticed I start consuming paint at an alarming rate...

I figure I have two sections left. But I'll probably have to remove the brake and clutch master cylinders (heck, why not the whole pedal box?) to do a good job on the drivers side.

Not really exciting, but always:

Good times

rallymodeller wrote: You forgot to mention my favourite part: Alfa Engine Engineer: "Why balance the crankshaft? The car's gonna rust itself apart LONG before "engine balance" becomes a problem...""

FTFY

All this poking around the engine bay and whatnot. It's seriously amazing this thing is still alive. I don't even know who had the determination, but there are welding beads from what I can only assume to be rust repairs all over this beast. The firewall, engine bay, strut towers, rocker panels, the list goes on.... Just goes to show I didn't even know what I didn't know when I bought the old girl

Hungary Bill wrote: - Other Alfa engineers: (cheer in agreement, throw hats in air, applause)

-Much red wine is consumed

...

The weirdest thing happened today! I got home from work and there was no one here!

I had the place all to myself

So, I snuck in an hour and a half of Alfa time.

The pedal box came out WAY easier than it has any right to. I checked all over to make sure it was an "Alfa" pedal box, but found nothing telling me otherwise...I'm still eyeing it with suspicion.

I must have saved the best section for last because hoo-DANG this side is RUSTY. I guess it makes sense given its proximity to brake fluid right? Anyhoo, the worst areas were under the pedal box and across what looked to be a crack in some seam in the firewall above the pedal box but below the cowl shelf. This one had me a bit worried (pictures 2 and 3).

After some time with a wire whip I think I'm safe in saying that the seam is ok to continue the way it is (well, with a little more cleaning). Unless you guys say otherwise, I'm going to go forward without any further repairs there.

I was getting a bit bored with the rust and grease removal so I used my last half hour to put the oil pan back on the 164 engine. No sense in leaving its guts unnecessarily exposed right?

Thinking ahead I ordered a batch of wire brushes (for getting in tight areas like that seam there), some safety wire for parts hangers, and a barrel lug with pin for a 1911 (I don't think the Alfa will mind sharing a little of her cash with my other mistresses, right?). Seeing how bad this area is though, I'm kind of wishing I had some POR-15 handy. I should have thought of that before I started painting. "Hindsight" as they say,...

Good times

I dont know if there is a Wesco near you, but they stock POR15

It looks like there's a Wesco that's just a little out of the way of my daily commute. Maybe I'll swing by there on my way home.

Thanks!

Hungary Bill wrote: I used my last half hour to put the oil pan back on the 164 engine. No sense in leaving its guts unnecessarily exposed right?

can't fault your logic.... as long as you are finished down there

I'll be back at it

I'm thinking (since none of the overseas options seem to have worked out) that I'll enjoy driving the beast with the 2.5 installed while I get the 3-liter good and ready for install. Maybe then I can have it in and out in a weekend? (wishful thinking?)

And then I'll be right back at it again.

I was just poking around a 3L v6 this morning and thought of you, tiny little motor!

Aw!

I was reading about your 4-runner today and thinking I should really take a day and get my truck up to par for a trail run

Yeah we really should!!

it was pretty

DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!

Por-15 in and dry, topped with the usual "GM Trunk spray" and ta da! the engine bay is done!

Well, almost. I still have to paint the pedal box, throttle linkage doo dad (what an odd contraption that is...), aaaaaand I wasn't really happy with the bare valve covers so those came back off for some "wrinkle red" paint (Mezzanine, that'd be your fault). Turns out my spark plug socket won't fit down the well openings in the valve covers anyways, so one way or another they were going to have to be removed.

BUT

I had some good supervision that helped me stay on track so I got LOTS done this morning (That's "Luke" in picture #2)

I also brought some goodies in to work for cleaning to help make efficient use of some down time. Unfortunately I couldn't find a "safe" place to paint them but I hope to have those turned around and installed before the end of the week.

God it felt good to "un mask" that engine bay though. I'm in a damn good mood.