My New Shitbox

[jimnielsen]

Looks like a great course! I think that cooling will be important, the Giulietta is not known for great prowess in that department. Myself, i would use water-wetter (from Redline) rather than ethyl glycol because it has more headroom for boiling, and the coolant is unlikely to be in danger of freezing. I would also replace all the coolant hoses, including the bypass hose under the thermostat. The Giulietta hoses are simple and you can easily match them at 'super Cheap Auto' if you are prepared for a bit of cutting - making them cheap. As far as spares go, i would take a cheap 2nd hand electric fuel pump and some fuel line so that you can splice it in when the mechanical one fails.

jim..

[MD]

Dear Mr. Sheldon Wog,

Another hot tip for Saturday..wear protection.
As for your car, well, the cylinders are numbered 1>4 starting at the front of the car. Give yourself a spanking for not knowing such basics. ( I hear you are into spanking.. )

What point are you making with the plug you are holding?

The more you describe the engine behaviour, the more it sounds like it needs a tune up to sort out the last two cylinders at least. The mixture based on the plug characteristics for pots 3&4 doesn't sound right and could be due to air leaks from the rubber mounts. To test this, clean down the rubber mounts on these same cylinders with White Spirits. Apply some silicone sealant compeletly around the rubber mounts to ensure all the cracks are covered. This will prevent any further stray air entering the fuel mixture. At the same time check to see if the carburettor support bracket is in place. It's a metal bar that goes under the carbies and down to the RHS engine mount. It's job is to stop the weight stress on the rubber carby mounts being too great. Run the engine as you have done before and see if there is any difference. If not, you have more issues.

Remember that a good tune up should be preceded by a compression test of all the cylinders . Given the age of the engine, there could be a lot of carbon build up in the cumbustion chambers which will affect detonation independent of ignition timing. The usual cure for this without taking the head off and decoking is to flow some horribly nasty stuff down the intake whilest on the dyno and give it a seriuos flogging thereon. This usually results in massive refugee emissions from the derrier followed by smoother running. But hey, this sort of stuff costs money to do so it's just background info ok?

Not least, being your transaxle doctor, I prescribe that you take a blonde and brunette sandwich three times a week and visit Rooty Hill as often as you can get it into gear...

[Anthony Miller]

Hey Sheldon, sounds like you need to borrow a mannometer to balance your carbies, you might also need to borrow someone who can use the thing too and I've found some top and bottom hoses for you too

[Barry Edmunds]

Sheldon

Having been through the area that your rally event is going to/through on a number of occasions I feel obliged to warn you that some of that country is well beyond your wildest imagination, both worse and better. It has also been referred to by some as Gold's own country which may well be true but if that is the case there are also parts of that country that God obviously didn't like very much and these are the areas that arel likely to give you grief and lots of it. Take plenty of spares.

I have got some photos of Hell's Gate if you want to see what you are likely to encounter.

Any problems you encounter along the way will be far outweighed by the enormous amount of fun you will have on the event. You will bring back memories that will last for a lifetime, so much so that you will want to go back more than once.

Barry

[alfagtv152]

Hi Sheldon,
I have been reading this with much enjoyment.If you want to double filter your air intake I would add hose/pipe(50mm pvc from the hardware) to your existing air cleaner and run it out front with a cheap pod filter behind the grill or something.I have used them a couple of times below the inner gaurd between the grill and the inner wheel arch liner(right),there is a nice little space there where you can draw reasonably still cool air.For your carbies you need to eliminate air leaks etc as described by MD,take the tops off and set the float levels as per the manual and remove the jets etc for a good clean out/blow out.Make sure you remove the accelerator pump jets and pump plenty of fuel through the galleries as the accel pumps are on the bottom and collect all the rubbish.Once clean and reassembled you will need to get the idle mixtures correct and then ballance the carbies up,you will probably need to do it a couple of times over until it is all correct.I personally do not use any instruments other than my ears and senses to get the carbies set up,just a ruler for the float levels,but I have had some practice.
A good starting point is to open all the idle screws 4 turns from closed and synchronise the carbies by using something (like feeler gauges) between the throttle butterfly and the carby body in the throat of #3
then #2.You can use the idle speed screw to set the throttle opening to measure #3 then adjust the balance screw to get #2 the same.Start there then warm it up and fine tune it,I usually set them 2 turns out from where the cylinder slows down when screwing the mixture screw down.I would do it for you but I am in Adelaide!.Hope it makes sense and helps!.
Cheers
Andrew

[shane wescott]

My bit about balancing.

BTW  great cause Sheldon you will have all our support.

Having driven some shitboxes myself from Brisbane to Melbourne a number of times in cars you wouldnt go up the street in.

One was a HR Holden i bought for $200 bucks, then drive down 3 days later and another was a cortina that had to be towed through Cunninghams Gap on the way home - ah the memories :-)

But for the carbies my Father i Law always swore by the knitting needle method - one needle per pot and as you move the throttle make sure the needles go in at the same rate.  I used this a number of times on the old Berlina I had and then combined it with the "set fast idle and then pull off one plug at a time method"  which lets you adjust the mixture for a consistent drop in revs.

Of course people like "The 105 Whisperer" (Bruno) can do this by ear - unfortunately too much AC/DC over the years means that doesnt work for me :-(

Good luck and keep us in the loop.

Have you thought about the all important paint job and sponsors stickers etc.

All power to you and your mighty Alfa.

Catch ya

Shane

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Hi Sheldon,
I have been reading this with much enjoyment.

He he, yes I also enjoy laughing at morons on this forum....  I'd wanted to avoid touching the carbs as they seem like a black art to me, but if I'm gonna learn sometime, it might as well be on this little shitbox rather than when I have six of them on my Muira.  I took them off today while I had a bit of daylight, will silicon up the mounts when I get a chance, see what happens, and then maybe look at the carbs themselves.  Thanks for the advice, I'll be reading over that very carefully before too long, although it's hopeless without some pictures with comical huge arrows pointing to what I should be turning.

Shane - cheers for that also, will talk to you about that next time I see you.  Yes this adventure is a little like when we were all younger and thought nothing of setting off for a days motoring when you could barely afford to fill it with petrol.  And in the days before mobile phones too!  As for the colour scheme, when I emailed my Dad to tell him I'd bought the car I didn't have any pics of it so sent him the wikipedia page because he didn't know the car ...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo_Giulietta_%28nuova%29 ...and now he wants to paint it in the Polizia colour scheme on the page, "so we can be like the Italian Job".  That may happen, and it may not.  It's important that the car actually looks shit, because they are judged, and if they suspect that the car is worth more than $1000 you can get kicked out of the rally.   This shouldn't be too much of a problem since I'm documenting all costs, and we all know Giuliettas (and 33s, 90s) are worth S.F.A., but others might just see the Alfa badge and think it's worth more than it is.

Barry - I'd be interested in seeing the pics, I should make it to club night, or feel free to email them.  What vehicles did you do the trip in?

Anthony - Thanks for that, I'll grab them off you at some stage. Hope they're old and brittle.

MD - I'm glad you mentioned the silicon because that was my next question.  I did the same on the accordion section of the intake of the 90 just to make sure I didn't have any leaks there, glad to hear it'll work on these too.  It has the carb support bracket in situ.  I'll never again curse my fuel injection.  And you're a filthy bugger.

Jim - thanks, good advice re: the cooling, and it is definitely something I was planning on making as perfect as possible before the event.  I'll make sure it gets a good flogging next summer before the event to check it'll hold up.  Better budget for a head gasket I guess.  As for the fuel pump, I reckon I might stick with a spare mechanical one (or two), as I just need everything to be very simple and quick to fix.  They're not big, so no problem taking a couple.  That'll be one of the things I will take but won't need.....

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Hi all

Unfortunately no updates on the little shitbox Mario Speedwagon, been very busy on other things unfortunately.  By the way, for our younger viewers, here's the inspiration for Mario Speedwagon, one of the most awesome(ly cheesy) 80s power ballads, by REO Speedwagon

Actually, the car has some of those marine speakers installed in the rear parcel shelf, so I reckon I could mount those on the outside of the car and play that song on a constant repeat all the way to Darwin, so everyone can hear it.  Such a great song.

Anway, the link to the fundraising site has finally come through, and here it is...
http://www.everydayhero.com.au/scuderia_shitbox

The site only accepts credit cards, but I'm getting some deposit slips sent to me if anyone is really keen to donate by cheque or cash.  Thanks for looking guys, and I'm extremely grateful for any and all donations.

Hopefully will have some updates on the little shitbox soon.

Cheers
Sheldon

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Had a couple of spare hours today so got a couple of things done on the little shitbox.  Siliconed around the rubber mounts, cleaned all surfaces and put on some new gaskets.  Cranked it for ages but wouldn't start, figured I must have flooded it.  I think I did, but I definitely have a leaking fuel pipe (the one that links the two carbs). 

Came back an hour later, and it started after a couple of minutes.  Ran pretty much like it had before, but once it was a little bit warm I noticed it was firing back through the carbs quite a lot.  Held at around 2000 it was firing back approx once a second.  Usually from cyls 1 & 4, but occasionally the other two as well.  I took some video, but it doesn't show it as bad as it was.  I let it idle while I went to get my phone, then when I got back to take the video it was nowhere near as bad. 

You can see what I mean at about 0:21, but maybe you carb experts will be able to tell something else from the vid.  Gee it's tappety isn't it?  They're not all like that are they?  Also, when I shut it off and then tried to start it when it was warm it was shooting flames back through the carbs.  Quite big flames too, they were reaching to the edge of the engine bay.  So thats normal is it?

[Sheldon McIntosh]

If anyone has some of these parts they could donate to a good cause....

The little plastic bit that clips on the carb linkage (sorry, don't know the name but pic attached).  Fixed this one with a tiny little cable tie, but don't know how that will last over 5000km, would be good to have a spare!!

Top of the fusebox.  Mine is cracked and seems to attract water, which is probably not so good.  Will cover mine with race tape if needs be, but a nice original one would be great.

13" wheels.  I didn't even realise you could get 13s for a 116 vehicle, but this car has them.  They fit nicely in the boot too, so I reckon I can get four in there.  Considering the roads we'll be on, I want 4 spares.  So I'll need 3 then.

As said previously, happy to swap anything off this car that won't affect reliability, so if there are any bits of trim or whatever that people need...(wanna keep the shit roof rack though).

Edited...Forgot to say, link is up for donations, get behind a great (tax deductable) cause...http://www.everydayhero.com.au/scuderia_shitbox

[Frank Musco]

That engine is not supposed to be tapping like that. Sounds like you need to check the valve clearances.

You need to confirm these clearances with someone apart from myself as I have not worked on these engines for a while.

Valve clearance COLD:      Inlet Valves:           0.019 to 0.020 inch (0.475 to 0.500mm)
                                    Exhaust Valves:       0.021 to 0.022 inch (0.525 to 0.550mm) Approximately.

So valve cover off, get your feeler gauges out, and check one at a time, moving the crank to get the cam with the pointy bit opposite the bucket and then measure and record.

Unfortunately, the camshafts must be removed to correct the valve clearances in your motor, not easy like an Alfasud! Ha Ha!

Have you done a compression test? If not, do one before you adjust the valve clearances, and after, so you can see the difference. Valve clearance affects the compression the engine makes, mainly intake valve clearance. This in turn affects the performance characteristics of the engine. So if you have all the valve clearances correct, meaning within 0.001 inch of each other, the engine will be easier to tune with respect to carby balancing. Thats if everything else is within spec.

The backfire through the carbies is difficult to say what the cause is?
How is the ignition system. Have you put the new points and condenser in as suggested in earlier posts, how are the leads?, how is the condition of the distributer cap, does it have any cracks inside it, are the metal bits corresponding to cyl 1 & 4 corroded inside the cap?
Also I have noted that the butterfly's can be not balanced within the individual carby, so even if you balance the two individual carbies using cyl 2 & 3, cyl 1 can differ from 2 and cyl 3 can differ from 4.

So, what I'm getting at is make sure you can eliminate as many potential problems before you try adjusting the carbs,or you might be chasing your tail with the carbs.

Good luck, great cause, hope it goes well for you, obviously will be lots of fun.

Cheers Frank

[Mat Francis]

We (dad, and on the last engine, myself) have always set the clearances to

.016 - .018 (thou of an inch) for the inlet and .018 to .020 for the exhaust. Have never had a valve hit a piston, and it sounds MUCH quieter than your video. Should sound something like a well oiled sewing machine!

Otherwise exactly what Frank said.

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Thanks guys, great advice as always.  But are you sure I can't just take it for a 2 hour thrash and it will be better than new after that?  Hmmm?  All going well I'm going to have a 2.5 V6 doing nothing next week, that's looking like a tempting transplant right about now.....

Ah well, guess I'd better get myself a twin cam manual then, are they available online?

[Frank Musco]

Sheldon, No and No! 

I don't have a manual, but surely someone in the club will be able to help you out.

Re valve clearances, go with Mat, aim for under 0.020 thou. Nice and quiet.

[pep105]

Can't add any more to what Chich and Mat have said, though it should run (and sound) a lot better once you've done the valve clearances.

I've got an Autobooks manual from the 105, more than happy to scan the section on checking & adjusting valve clearances and send it to you by email if you like Sheldon.

Yeah cams need to come out, unlike the Fiat twin cam but anyways once done should be all good, plus a bit of fun for you