I took delivery of a SA 3 litre GTV6 in March. This is what it looked like. The carbies were stuffed so we couldn't get it run on all six cylinders and therefore were not able to test drive it. A set of rebuilt carries were purchased from the UK.
The car has been confirmed as genuine, one of the 208 built by Dawie De Villiers in SA, the guy who built them. This car is a 1984 model and has all of its original features unique to these cars, like the fibreglass bonnet and front spoiler and 7" Compomotive wheels. The engine is an Autodelta one unique to these cars with a different bore and stroke to the later factory 3 litres. The heads are different, of course, and they have extractors from the factory. The engines were sent out from Italy as kits. I have an idea the diff ratio may be different to the 2.5s, but am not sure about this.
These are the new carbies. A work of art, its a same to cover them with an air cleaner.
John
The sound will be phenomenal-especially without an aircleaner.I watch this space with keen interest
Congratulations John, you will love the way the drive, they sound like a 105 without air filters on steroids,
Btw, i have spoken to Dawie on many occasions and he has confirmed that they ran standard gtv6 gearbox's.
Cheers
David
I so want one
can I ask what is the going price for these
and how did you find it ?
The carby area bizzare 6 individual carbies on common throttles
they said they were hard to tune, I thought they would have had a version of dellorto like the
porsche 2 banks of 3 barrell carbs
and now I know why !
Sell it to me!
i want to buy your children. How much for the little alfa ?
Carlo, you are right on the tuning issue, it has been very hard to tune them. I think we're pretty close, but this has involved valve clearances and a lot of work.
The interior is very good, the seats haven't turned brown or green as they do, the dash isn't cracked and it has the original steering wheel.
It has rust in the lower doors and boot floor where it joins the beaver panel. Once we have it running well, we intend to pull the engine, repaint the engine bay, do the rust repairs, including repairing the bumpers, refurbish the wheels and generally bring it up to scratch.
Nice buy there GG105, I'm sure you'll be happy with it after a bit of work. If you have any questions or need any advice I suggest getting in touch with KevinR on the 'other' forum specific to the model. He's a lovely guy with more experience than most others. He lives and breathes these, always willing to help.
P.s the extra Bonnet bolge really looks tough!
John,
When you are ready to refurbish your wheels, let me know, the guy that did one of the sets on my south africian did a brilliant job.
David
Very cool! The history of these cars is intriguing and an integral part of the GTV6 story. Proves Alfa had the wherewithal to build a factory 3 litre well before the end of the cars life.
Look forward to seeing this progress. Thanks for sharing.
Congrats mate.
Green with envy!!
We have spent an inordinate amount of time tuning the GTV6. This involved making up a set of gauges for the carbs, so they didn't have to be removed every time there is an adjustment. We also had to re-engineer the linkages to make them work properly. The car now runs well.
The plan is that I road test it next week, following which, if we are all happy, knowing there are some minor clutch issues that need sorting, we may start to remove the engine for detailing. We also plan to detail the suspension, as we did with my 2.5.
The shell will then be sent away for an engine bay repaint and rust repairs to the shell.
WOW! A significant car and will be fascinated to see any video and driving impressions.
Well done on bringing to Australia!
Phil
Time for an update. After installing the new carbies, modifying the linkages, tuning them and doing the valve clearances we still couldn't get the car to run on all six. When it did, it blew clouds of smoke. Removing the heads revealed the problem, number five cylinder showed oil was escaping past the rings. We have now pulled the engine out for a rebuild.
Stripping revealed some interesting things. The valves are larger than standard 3 litre valves and the piston cutouts were done by hand, not all terribly well, there is a mark on one where old mate slipped with the grinder. Bottom end is good. The car had what look to be slightly less than 9:1 pistons in it. Who knows if they were original. We have bought a set of 9:1s, you can get 10s. Centreline delivered five the same and one odd one plus rings that are too big >:(
Photos to follow.
John
Happy new year everyone! May your Sud grow up to be a 8C 2900B Spider, or whatever else floats your boat 8)
Whilst we have been gathering parts for the engine rebuild, more of which later, the car has had its cosmetics attended to. We have repaired some rust spots, a few PDRs and painted the underside of the bonnet. Much work has gone into repairing and painting the bumper bars and grey plastic parts. It has come up really well.
The engine has been quite a saga. I mentioned the Centreline piston debacle, not only that, they sent the wrong size rings. Globally, we could not source a 3 litre piston and liner set so we have bored the original liners and had oversize pistons made to match. We now have all the parts and engine reassembly has commenced.
The original airbox has been modified and we will bring this back to stock. The car has fabricated headers that don't look particularly glamorous, however, I think these may be original. I hope to meet with DNA Dave in the not too far distant future to compare notes ;D
I will download some pictures shortly.
John
Progress report.
As with all rebuilds/restos things haven't gone exactly to plan. After the dramas with the pistons, despite a global search, it took weeks to find a new clutch.
The engine is finished and we were about to send the extractors off for ceramic coating when we realised that the drivers side are 44mm whilst the passenger side are 40mm! I wonder if someone in SA was scratching their heads trying to figure out why it wouldn't run properly :P
This meant we had to order new extractors, intermediate pipes with a repro rear. The new extractors are now out for coating.
None of my previous three GTV6s have had power steering and I've always thought this to be one of their major shortcomings. So, for the one I decided to add it. We've obtained the system from a 75 with all the bracketry, had it refurbished and it will go in. We've also sourced the bracket to change the aircon compressor to a rotary one. Ball joint risers are also going in.
The car is a pre isostatic build and whilst it's difficult to fit the full system, we may put the rear parts in, which can be bought from EB Spares. No decision on this yet.
I'll try to load some photos.
Cheers
John
Hi John, GG105
I am currently in search of a set of pistons for a GTV6 SA. Who did you use to make the pistons for your car?
Globally we can get hi comp domed pistons, but these are not really suited to the GTV6 SA.
Hoping you can assist.
Thanks,
Frank
PM sent.
Help needed!
The GTV6 is now running and has been road tested. It goes very well and the noise, even at 4,000 rpm is epic. The addition of power steering and the ball joint risers has made a great difference to the driving experience. We still have some stuff to sort, the usual washer bottle dilemma, some new pads, bonnet lining and some detailing to complete, but we're on the way.
But I do need some help to complete it. Does anyone have an inside drivers door handleand a pair of the plastic slide on surrounds?
Some earlier photos before we put the engine back in.
Sorry I can't help with your requests but what I will say is 'WOW!'..... Absolutely love your work!
Hope I get to see & hear this in the flesh.
Here are a couple of photos of the extractors we fitted. We couldn't use the ones on the car because one side had 44mm fitted, whilst the other had 40mm. Go figure. We ceramic coated them before fitting them.
I thought you might want to see a better picture of the carbies installed. We estimate the engine is producing around 250 flywheel hp, but of course this is a guess.
This side is better.
I thought it might be useful to detail the differences between the Arese built 116 GTVs and the SA built cars, to the extent I am aware of them and understanding that I only have my car and pictures on the web for reference. As I haven't seen a pre one piece dash car, these comments will be limited to post 83 cars. This isn't specific to the 3 litre cars. Happy to stand corrected on any of this.
Exterior.
The most obvious difference is the wide side moldings which are unique to the SA built cars. I think the red tape on the molds, bumper inserts and grille is unique to the 3 litre cars. Ignoring the specific 3 litre differences, I think the exterior is the same as Arese. I have seen the long whippy centre roof aerial on a number of photos of SA cars, mine has one, so I suspect this may also be standard. As has been discussed elsewhere, I think, with the possible exception of red, the colours are unique to SA. My colour is called Ice White
Interior
There are differences here. My car is a non sunroof car (thank goodness) and its interior is largely original. Unlike our cars, the headlining is black cloth, the seats use the same velour material however, the mounts are quite different and the seats are mounted higher than ours, particularly the passengers seat. We thought they had been modified but on close inspection look factory. The pattern in the vinyl of the headrests is different as are the armrests. The armrests don't have the little silver plastic insert. Otherwise, it all looks the same. Interestingly, at least some of the split dash cars have the later Recaro seats, I assume these are late 82/early 83 cars, with the new interior but using up the supply of split dashes.
The earliest 3 litres, built in 82, have split dashes, most have the single piece dash, like mine, which was built in 83. I suspect most were built in 83, there may be some 84s, they ran out of wheel sets so the last cars have GTV6 wheels.
^ Don't forget that famous bonnet!
sportiva stop it and hear the gears in your mind you dont want to mod your motor to 3 ltr put a 3.2 in and be done with it
PS love that motor and workshop
great to see the carbs would be a fabulous sound love to hear it post a video
Copied from Wikipedia
0 SA (Autodelta) Edit
The original 2.5 engine as used in the Alfa Sei was bored and stroked by Autodelta, the former Alfa Romeo racing department to match the racing rules for South African and Australian championships. Bore was increased from 88 mm (3.5 in) to 93 mm (3.7 in) and a new crankshaft stroked to 72 mm (2.8 in). The total displacement was 2,939.5 cc (179.38 cu in) and it's a totally different engine from the later 3.0 (2,959 cc (180.6 cu in)) that powered the 75/Milano models. It was, too, a 2-valve-per-cylinder design with a single belt-driven camshaft per cylinder bank and six carburettors fitted. Special camshafts and carbs were used giving a power figure of 176.4 PS (130 kW; 174 hp) at 5800 rpm. Torque was 222 N⋅m (164 lb⋅ft) at 4300 rpm, while compression ratio was 9:1.
Only 174 complete GTV6 3.0 SA cars were produced in 1984 plus 68 more in 1985. the last ones were fitted with EFI.
Dave the 3.0 I was told used the same crank as the 2,5 but cleverley they offset the bigend by 2mm and the piston gudgeon the same amout giving it 4 mm extra stroke
so special pistons and 5mm bigger bore as you said
is this true?
After one of the most alternately frustrating and depressing restos I've done. The GTV6 is 95% finished. 95% because there's always a bit more to do. Apart from the obvious and usual GTV6 issues setting it up to run properly was a mission. My car has big cams, Dawie de Villiers who built them in SA tells us that mine is probably one of the race engines as most of them had the road 2.5 cams. The carbs were set up on a bench, which is pretty much the only way you can do them without spending a lot of money and sending your favourite mechanic, engineer and dyno operator around the twist! This is why so many you see for sale os have engines and/or carbs in pieces.
This is what we did. Finally we got it right, after far too much time and money. It really needs an idle step up for the a/c but its ok. It now runs really well, the a/c is excellent and the power steer transforms the car.
I'm curious about one cosmetic detail; you have the rear auxiliary reflectors as were mandated in ZA, but none on the front?
Correct, and I'm going to take them off.
For those who are interested, on the dyno it made 134kw at the wheels, or around 190hp. At a guess, that's about 220hp at the wheels.
Sorry, that should be 220hp at the flywheel.
at dyno day in sydney the old guys told me that the transaxle loses around 50 hp
due to the set up where as the 105 conventional only loses 35 to 40 hp
so that would mean 240hp flywheel
BUT some dynos do an auto correct
i would think a strong standard SA would be around 125-130 hp at the wheels
see below from sheldon macintosh
re's a basic list of the results. Names have been omitted for confidentiality, just in case someone doesn't want their figures to be known to the world wide web. I'll be publishing a more comprehensive list in the next Allegerita, complete with naming and shaming.
HP Nm Model
66.5 108.6 33 1.5Ti
72.5 97.0 33 1.5Ti
77.0 110.1 33 1.7iE
77.4 109.7 Alfasud 1.7iE
80.5 120.8 Alfetta GT 1.8
81.7 117.3 Spider Duetto
84.3 131.8 GTV 2.0
93.2 147.0 Giulietta 2.0
94.7 127.3 Guilia Super
95.2 132.4 Alfetta 2.0
96.3 140.5 156 2.0
98.7 150.4 916 Spider 2.0
101.6 125.8 Berlina TwinSpark
106.1 162.1 GTV6
107.1 151.6 GTV 2.0
110.9 151.8 Alfetta GTV Gp S
118.7 170.8 75 TwinSpark
127.7 168.5 75 2.5
128.3 183.1 GTV6
131.8 174.8 Alfetta GTV Gp S
132.0 178.4 90 Super 3.0
136.4 155.9 Alfetta GTV Gp S
136.9 162.8 75 3.0
138.5 276.5 Falcon 4.0 EL maybe? POS definitely
142.5 184.1 75 3.0
148.2 190.8 Lotus Elise
148.3 171.8 Alfetta GTV 2.0 Sports Sedan
149.1 239.6 Lancia Delta Integrale
163.2 212.9 GTV6 Tarmac Rally Car
179.2 233.3 Spider 24V V6
181.2 243.7 159 3.2 Ti
198.3 237.7 Alfa GT
221.9 287.9 BMW 330Ci Supercharged (interrupted run)
240.3 306.0 75 3.0 24V
257.7 343.2 Audi B6S4
262.4 337.0 BMW 330 Convertible
298.5 362.5 Porsche 997
393.0 418.4 BMW M5
Carlo, not sure what your post means. Are you suggesting the figures I've quoted aren't correct or that they've been made up?
quite the opposite I think you underrate the loses from transaxle
it was a well not so well known secret that they did not disclose the
real power figures for the race preped cars that were amongst the 200 or so made for racing
like when ford told everyone that the phase 3 had 224kw when it was closer to 300kw
why? so it caught the opposition of guard
these cars as you well know was for primarily racing and as I understand there was 50 very special ones in there
YOu my friend I think has scored one of the 50
I want it so bad
ps yes the 50hp lose is correct so by those figures you are up around 240hp which again I think is correct for the 50
the figures for the 75 3.0 on the list is around 170 to 200
so spot on ! congrats
Understand Carlo. I was probably a bit cautious on flywheel horsepower.
As I've come to expect with this car, nothing comes easily or goes according to plan. The first 24 hours on bringing it home went well. The next not so.
The long and short of it is, it went back to Corse Automotive on Brad The Towie's truck. What I had thought initially was low fuel, wasn't. It became clear it was electrical, hence the ride back on the truck. It emerges that despite 500klms of sorting, the problem is periods of idling.
We discovered that because we had to put a smaller pulley on the alternator to fit the power steer. This meant that with the air on, noting my earlier comment about a step up motor, at idle the alternator wasn't producing enough voltage to keep it running, this resulted in the wiring at the fuse box overheating. A fire was next.
The fix is to put a microswitch in the circuit so the a/c doesn't work at idle, reducing the pulley size and getting more alternator power. We also discovered even more bodges at the back of the fuse box which have been corrected.
This thing has fought us all the way, but we're nearly there, I think :P
A couple of post (almost) completion.
Stunning. A true collectable and if you ever want to sell it, let me know!
That's a stunning v6 !!
Quote from: carlo rossi on November 22, 2018, 02:11:36 PM
HP Nm Model
' 81.7 117.3 Spider Duetto
101.6 125.8 Berlina TwinSpark
118.7 170.8 75 TwinSpark
138.5 276.5 Falcon 4.0 EL maybe? POS definitely
First couple interest me.. what were the mechanical or setup differences between the two TS??
The last one just made me laugh 😂, cheers !!
the torque figure in ythe second twin spark would indicate its closer to 2.5 in capacity
maybe its bored out and different chips
In this thread I have detailed a portion of the work involved in what ended up being a comprehensive rebuild of this car.
As a cautionary tale of the perils of buying a car sight unseen, I thought I would reproduce the ad for my car that ran in Car and Classic UK:
ALFA ROMEO GTV6 3.0 HOMOLOGATION:
These GTV6 3.0 cars were exclusive to ALFA ROMEO South Africa (ARSA) and by all accounts ONLY 206 UNITS were built during the period 1983 to 1985.
Billed as the most powerful production sports car ever built by Alfa Romeo, the car was the result of a co-operative programme run by Alfa South Africa, assisted by Autodelta, the Italian parent company's specialist competition arm, and Alfa's Arese head office.
They took a standard 2.5 and increased the bore complete with special pistons, camshafts, and six Delortto carburettors to produce a car that trounced all-comers including the super fast BMW 535i in the South African Group One Touring Cars Championship from inception. The sound that she emits ranges from a throaty growl at low speeds to a mind blowing howling wail at full taps. More detailed information available on request.
The car is finished in stunning Arctic White bodywork which is thankfully rust-free. The standard body package includes the unique factory special NACA bonnet, front airdam and polite side-skirts and four split-rim Compomotive road wheels.
[color=blue]The interior has also stood up extremely well to age and has no dashboard cracks or sun-fading to the upholstery. The car has a unique ex-factory interior with black Velour headlining and black Velour seats with a thin off-Grey pin-stripe and black carpeting.
This completed the package available off the showroom floor! Unusually, she still has all of her books - a Handbook (for the 2.5) and Service Log. The spare wheel was always a standard 2.5 alloy rim.
Needless to say this limited production run of only 206 units makes these cars extremely rare, and more difficult than hens teeth to find. This is a late 2004 production unit, number 172/206, which came with the long-dashboard.
[b]This car has covered some 119,000 klms from new, bought by her second owner a couple of years back, after she had been in storage for sbout 12 years as far as I can ascertain. The car was been extensively recommissioned and only driven some 2,000 kilometres since all of the work was completed.
The work carried out included; new radiator, water pump, oil pump, pistons, rings & bearings, all hoses, clutch, stainless exhuast from the manifolds as well as having new rubber bushes (polypropelene) for the suspension and new dampers. The gearbox was also overhauled and is noise free and changes smoothly without syncro problems or clatter while idling in neutral (most of them do). The brakes received new discs, new pads and overhauled calipers plus new inboard handbrake pads to the rear. The Compomotive rims were also refurbished and fitted with new tyres all around. The car also had all filters, HT-Leads and plugs also replaced. All that is still required mechanically is a coastal tune-up for sea-level performance from the 6-carbs before shipping.[/b]
Prior to going to her new owner her slightly cracked front windscreen will be replaced along with new rubber seal and new rubbers and weatherseals to the doors and rear hatch.
The advertised price includes all export documentation and single container shipping to London Gateway Port in England as well as provision for a Buyer's retained amount for the equivalent amount required for UK Customs Import Duty.
I didn't buy the car from this vendor, I bought it in Australia and hadn't seen this ad when I bought the car. When you read the ad, particularly the part I have highlighted in bold, it reads like its another car. There were no books, as for a coastal tune-up, the engine was shot, there was no stainless exhaust, it was a mild steel mess, the wheels weren't refurbished, the brakes didn't work effectively, dampers were stuffed, tyres were old and so on. As for rust free, no mention of the rust in the doors and rear valence. Even the engine number is wrong.
I've not seen such blatant misrepresentation on this scale before. Its not always like this, I have bought five cars in from the US and all were as described, nevertheless we do need to be careful, vendors like this are out there.
Hi John and congratulations on the car. Its obviously been a test of resilience. I'm interested in the numbering system of these limited edition models. Is there a plate or plaque on the car which identifies this as being #172 of the total production run? How can you tell?
Cheers.
Henry.
As an aside, I met a lovely South African chap (mobile mechanic) who lives down the road from me a little while ago who worked for AR assembling Alfas in SA. I introduced myself when I spotted a mint rosso 155 V6 fitted with the Evoluzione bodykit and a pristine early 80s Giulietta sedan in his driveway. He told me had owned one of the 3.0L GTV6s for many years but sold it in the UK before moving to Oz. Apparently he still has molds for the 3.0L bonnets, front spoilers etc.
He's the only other Alfa owner in my suburb that I'm aware of, so it was pretty incredible that he has the only 155 I've seen in the flesh in Oz, and the only rust free 80s Giulietta I've seen in 20 years!
Good question Henry. Apart from the obvious difference that the heads are unique, the only formal engine identifier is a stamped number on the crank pulley.
I don't know if there are any factory records of engine and chassis nos. Dyno Dave has talked to Dawie de Villiers, he may know. Other than having the orginal books, as far as I know, this is the only way to confirm authenticity.
I don't know how many engine kits were produced, but I do know that some of the last cars had fuel injection fitted and standard GTV6 wheels, as they had run out of Compomotive sets.
John
Hi John and thanks for the reply. I gather the limited production number is listed in the owners manual? Fantastic that you have these with the car.
We have the NSW club President's Run in a couple of weeks so it would be awesome to have it along. Special note also to DNA Dave to bring one of his beasts along. We read so much about these special cars and it would be great to have them along and allow them to stretch their legs and lungs. ;D ;D ;D
Cheers,
Henry.
Love it if you would put your cars om the
Register under 116 register
Thanks gg
Had intentions of taking the GTV6 to Auto Italia. However, the car had other ideas, specifically the immobiliser failed and of course I couldn't start it. With hindsight, I should have removed it when the car was being rebuilt, but there were so many other things to fix that this slipped through. So I took my faithful Giulia instead.
It has now been removed and I took it for a run yesterday. The power steering transforms the car. It steers nicely, and in combination with the ball joint risers, you're not aware of the extra weight in the front, as with my previous 2.5s. Ride is good, its noisier than my previous cars, mainly I think because of the extractors, intake noise isn't pronounced. I owned a 2300S Fiat for some years, vintage to drive but the intake noise from the twin 38mm Webers was fantastic.
Apart from some trim that needs tidying, theres only one major job to do, the dreaded Alfetta tailshaft vibration. Its not bad, but its there. We chased this for months in my previous car.
Other than this, and a slightly lumpy idle from the big cams, it is very civilised. Now, if I could just find some bumpers that aren't warped ;D
We continue to refine the GTV6. The interior is now finished. The SA cars have different seat runners to ours, when flipped forward they return to the original position. This leads to a complicated and very tall runner. We have removed these and reverted to the standard runners, thus lowering the seats, the height adjustment remains.
We have remade the sun visors, replaced the seat foam, while retaining the original covers, replaced the piping, installed the correct interior door handles (the drivers one was out of a Japanese car of some sort with a chrome handle!) and surrounds and made a dash mat and rear seat top cover.
I see some discussion about door seals elsewhere here. Those on my car are toast. I have been loathe to replace them as I couldn't close the doors on a previous GTV6. However, as they now yell at the interior, I have bitten the bullet and purchased a set from Elvizio in Italy. They don't have the flocking as per the originals, I'll report back on whether they work.
We've also been doing a fair bit of mechanical tidying. I have converted the car to isostatic, a bit tricky because of the different rear crossmember, but its done. The front half of the tailshaft proved to be bent (!). This was a mission to fix, I had to buy a complete shaft from a sedan and use the front half with the original rear half. Its now in and balanced. It has a new single plate clutch, which is not quite right as the takeup was very high. We're working on this.
We're not happy with the big cams that were in the car, they made the idle lumpy and low end smoothness was lost. Accordingly, we've ordered a set of Potenziata cams from Vin Sharp. These should sort this. New lower control arm bushes have also been installed, we missed this earlier.
And finally....the small triangular end piece was missing from the drivers side gutter mold. A complete replacement mold, with end piece, is on its way. Shipping is stupid expensive because of the length. I guess we could have cadded one but there it is.
I'll provide a full roundup when its done...
Hi all.
As I foreshadowed the car has been converted to Isostatic, a big improvement. We have installed potenziata cams which are friendlier than the ones that came in the car.
We've had lots of clutch problems, it seems the ones supplied by Sachs are not the same as the originals....
Finally however, its pretty much done. The combination of power steering, isostatic and ball joint risers has dealt with most of the classic GTV6 driving issues. Its grunty, quick and drives well and the sound is fabulous.
Of course, the replacement door seals are crap. I was assured they would work well, they don't.
Cheers
John
I found a supplier for the original style velour backed door seals. I have 3 original 3l GTV6 myself. Can discuss in a PM.
Had some issues with paint on the bonnet, solvent was bleeding through, also some filler on the drivers door. Both dealt with, the car looks fantastic.
True to form, this thing fights me all the way. Parked it to find a puddle of atf under the car. Turns out the seals on the powered rack have failed after less than 1,000 kms. Apparently this is a known problem. The rack and pump have gone back to QLD for new seals. Some suspicion the pressure relief valve in the pump may be faulty.
We also changed the cams back to 164Q items to make it behave better at idle and low speed, with a significant improvement, though not complete success. Long story short, apparently its about the need for carbureted engines to have cams to suck well. Injected engines don't have this requirement. We would like to obtain a set of cams from a Euro six carb Alfa 6 to see how the factory dealt with low speed smoothness and the transition from idle to the power circuit.
Its easy to see why Alfa went to injection on the V6. Given that these SA engines were race engines, general drivability wasn't important.
The power steering issue is sorted. Mick at Corse Automotive, perfectionist that he is, spent a lot more time on the carbs while he had the car, its now the best its ever been, the transition hesitation is gone, it starts better and is more lively.
I also went back to future. Each of the five Alfetta GTVs I've owned have had the original steering wheel, this one included. However, the addition of power steering to this car, has given me the opportunity to reconfigure the steering wheel position. As we all know there is no better illustration of the Italian ape driving position than an Alfetta GT/GTV. To get to the wheel you end up with your right knee under the armrest.
Because I have ps in this car, I can play with the wheel. We have put a slightly smaller smaller, 380mm wheel on as a test, with a longer boss and deeper dish. This allows me to get further away from the pedals with the wheel within reach. Its a great improvement, I just need a nicer wheel 8)
Ignoring for a moment the six carbs, there are two things we've done that have transformed this car in ascending order, isostatic and power steer. This latter upgrade has allowed changing the driving position and transformed the car. Its now what the factory should have done.
My GTV was fitted with a spacer by a previous owner which I'm thankful for. Despite my Italian heritage I'm proportioned in a most un-Italian way which generally means all modern cars I drive with telescopic steering adjustment has the steering wheel pulled out all the way.
Power steering from a 75 is on my upgrade list too. I just don't like the steering load during sharp cornering and the parking effort with the sports steering wheel and 205 tyres.
I highly recommend the Nardi leather wrapped wheel. I have a dished version plus a boss that is slightly longer than standard. It is 360mm in diameter.
QuoteParked it to find a puddle of atf under the car. Turns out the seals on the powered rack have failed after less than 1,000 kms. Apparently this is a known problem.
This happen to mine too after I overhauled the rack... Not a big fan of additives, but thought I would try some Power Steer stop leak before pulling the rack.... 9,000 km later and not one drop!
Here is the dished 350mm temporary on the car. A big improvement, I'll get a permanent one.
Hi! Read through your thread and was quite interested because I've embarked on building an homage to Arnold Chatz' Berlina race car ('70-72) that won the African touring car championship.
(https://www.alfapower.nu/viewthread.php?tid=34903)
My version is going to have a 3.0 12v 75/Sei carburated Frankenstein engine though. Mostly for the fun of it. It's basically going to be a similar engine to your version of the SA 3.0 with 164Q cams and ported heads however I'm curious to know what size valves were used in your engine. All info online says "larger intake valves" but no info on which actual size so I'm asking: what's the size man? ;D
Also where did you source parts for the carbies? Any hints you can give to keep me from reinventing the wheel when I get my 3.0 to work on Sei heads and dellorto carbies?
What was the trick to start clearing up hesitation issues from idle to progression when using "funner" cams?
Love your build so keep it up!
Its hard to believe I've been working on this car for nearly four years.
The May progress post was a little premature :P . The car had a serious petrol smell and when driving with the window down fumes were coming into the cabin. This mean't the fuel tank had to come out again, we found a split hose on the seat side this time. This was a relatively simple fix.
I wasn't happy with the cams that we had in the car, I felt it ran too rich and the idle was too lumpy. We had them reground, again, to what we think is 164Q specs. This made a lot of difference, the car idles and runs smoother with no apparent loss of power. We were able to run smaller idle jets which seems to have cured the fumes.
Its been a mission to sort it, but I think we're there now, this is quite something considering I thought it was finished in December 2018...
Now to drive it.
From watching 1980s touring car racing, including GTV6s, reproduction Compomotive THs are now available from the UK. I've ordered a set of 7 and 8x15s for the GTV6. Saves the cost of restoring the factory wheels 8)
Here is a photo.