ALFAGTV6.COM

[Fernando]

To those South African Alfa owners who might not yet be aware of it,there is a nice article in the latest edition of Speed and Sound featuring Kevins race GTV6 and his one of his 3 litres.

There is also an article covering two potent Cape Town based Alfa's with 3.7 motors that hand out PK's to BMW and AMG Mercs...

[PietereQ]

Scans maybe

[JACQUES L]

Hey Fernando

Got the Speed & Sound.

Also of interest was the South African gtv6 3L car featured in the Bristish Octane magazine recently, I think it was the August 2008 edition. It was featured alongside 2 other S.A. homologation specials, the BMW e30 333i and the Ford Sierra XR8. The writer came away very impressed by the excellent handling of the Alfa, the low down torque and the howling engine note. The writer, Robert Coucher, is also the editor, who grew up in South Africa (Cape Town or thereabouts) by the way.

[JACQUES L]

By the way Fernando, what is a PK?

[kevin]

PK i think is Poe... klap.(hiding) The best thing about doing the shoot for Speed &Sound unexpected drag race between my Dad in race car and a355 Ferrari.
Day started with five chaps arriving at my place in two cars( hotted up mazda and Ford st turbo) with couple of canon 20d cameras and notepads. Chaps were to young to ever see the Alfas race and actually did not really like them so it was going to take a lot of convincing. We drove 5km to fairly scenic park for the shoot and couple of low speed runs for action shots. On the way back my dad led the way in the white race car while the camera car(Ford) was second with two camers chaps hanging out windows taking pics of the origional carbi car which the Editor of mag was driving me doing road impressions. This was the only way these guys were gonna get feel of these cars. Out of no where this 355 Ferrari charges around the corner , no silencers or number plates with a real chop driving. He sees whats happening(photo shoot) and tries to get in with tha action(steal the GTV's limelight). He then proceeds to overtake me and the camera car on a solid line and gets stuck next to my dad and a large truck. The script was written. My dad has never let a potential race ever slip by even at 72yrs old. The truck takes a slip road and the Ferrari shifts down to overtake pops, at the same time pops hooks second and they both nail it up this long hill side by side. From where we were, we could hear and watch the poor chap (chop) in the 355 shift on the limiter through to forth gear and not pass the race car .Realising he was starting to lose ground he had to pull back in .(All in a 60 zone single lane). At this stage the camera chaps and the Editor were falling about with laughter at what had just happened and apparently this discussion on this race continued through the week in their offices.
Once back at home all of them now wanted to drive all th Alfas including the GTV3.2. around the neighbourhood. At the end of the day there were five new converts with them all coming to our Annual concours on Sunday. Forgot to mention the angry neighbours who normally walk on Saturdays.
I will ask the mag for the pics once its run has finished and also get a few of the Ferrari in with us.

[MD]

What a great read..!

[fedezyl]

wow! what a great read kevin, I can't wait for the picturess! I imagine the poor ferarri guy's face...hilarious!

[JACQUES L]

Kevin, what an enjoyable story! Your dad has still got it! He looks younger though, must be the Alfas keeping him young.
Between you and Fernando and your dad a lot of PK's are being handed out here in SA!

[Fernando]

Kevin your story is a classic.I hope when I reach your dad's age I am still driving Alfa's with his kind of vigour.

Thanks again for all your great advice over the weekend.Barry got me sorted and with my brothers help we finished up on Tuesday morningat 02H30. Works like a charm again so see you on Sunday morning.

[ALFA GTV6 GP]

Yes great read

Just confirming was it the August 2008 Octane your GTV6 was in?

Speed and sound which Edition year?
(September 2008?)

Where can I get a work shop manual or info/recommended reading to help me work on my S.A. GTV6 3.0 ?

Thanks
John

[Mats]

haha!

Thanks for sharing, made my day.

[kevin]

John, I must post pics of article. Forgot about it. At the same time there was another test done here on Domingoes mighty TT race car(road registered) in last months MAX POWER mag. One things for sure is the price of top condition origional GTV 3.0l is selling up to five times more than its origional price and there were very expensive when they came out in 1983.
Jon the only thing you must keep an eye on is your fuel system. Other than that there was no book. The manual for setting carbs was adopted from the Alfa six. (same carbs different jets)But this also left out a few steps.
The fuel system is from pump to carbs. If this is kept in good shape it will run over 300 000km no problem. Just lock cam tensioner in position and plug oil feed.
The electric fuel pump is not the same as the 2.5 so if it packs up use same part number. Make sure fuel filter is clean and pipes that connect to it are in good shape. MUST USE CAR REGULARY as this stops pump from seizing up and stops that white oxidisation forming in carb that blocks narrow channels.
There have been some carbs that the floats got saturated and when you start the chamber is full of fuel and wham you have a rod outside the block. I only know of three cases. To help prevent this never turn ignition for a long period(lower windows etc) before you start as sometimes this can worsen the problem.
Never overtighten the ten nuts on the fuel lines on side of carbs when leaking rather find new soft seals. You can take airbox cover off and watch the accelarator pumps from the top to see if all are spraying equally. Also monitor if none of them are dripping. Usally black o ring.
Never tap new threads into carbs iff airbox bolts are worn as this can lead into carb channel. Never lever carbs off when removing as this often bends bottom plate and will always leak air. Faulty brake vacuum unit can upset balance.
There are a few DONTS as I have learnt as I have had four origional carb GTV's since I was at Uni. Luckily I new the mechanic(Memoli) who worked for Alfa Romeo Factory on the assembly and maintenance of these carbs who showed me step by step rebuild of these. Sadly he past away in December which was a huge loss to the Alfa community here.
You will never get the car to idle smoothly with high lift cams so if your car is smooth during accelaration little rough below, no dripping inside carbs then dont touch. Most misfires and problems are electrical anyway ie bad plugs(not same as 2.5 -different heat range), bad plug wires and often the coil.
Generally the carbs are good if not butchered thats why good condition GTV3.0l are fetching high prices. MUST RUN CAR ATLEAST ONCE A WEEK.
If clutch sticks ie from condensation off pressure plate onto centre plate just go for a drive on a clear road and let the revs drop to 1000rpm and hit the throttle. Do this continuosly and it will definately free up. DONT START CAR IN GEAR.
If you need any more tips or details on this car mail me. By the way you canot buy airfilters for them so we had some made here which i am sure you can do in Oz.
Its still an amazing car to drive with the widows down listening to the growl and howl from those carbs. Once you have driven one you can see why they won so many races here against cars of much larger capacity. It was the huge midrange power from carbs combined with the standard 10 :43 ratio it came with.
Pics from track taken by Andrew Brown. Pics of Memoli setting carbs

[MD]

Some great tips there I am sure for the lucky owners Kevin. For me the best thing about this car is the location of the steering wheel..


Actually, on a semi serious note let's examine the muscle mechanics of changing gears in a standard pattern box like the Alfa. Do you realise that in the different driving positions, the muscles you use to change the same gears is completely different?

For a right hand drive position the gear selection muscle use is typically as follows:-

1st push
2nd pull
3rd pull
4th pull
5th pull

For a left hand drive position the muscle use is typically :-
1st push
2nd pull
3rd push
4th pull
5th push

Likewise it is also different in the reverse order

Given that muscle power is greater in the pull mode than it is in the push mode, left hand gear changes favour the natural muscle function. Score one for RHD cars.

The other generalisation is that the world is right handed. I know there are exceptions by the truckload but this is generally accepted as fact. Being in charge of steering the vehicle with your favoured and most powerful hand is also an advantage.Score one more for RHD cars.

Kevin, sit back and wait for the barrage .This should be fun.... D

[Mats]

I guess beer is the drink of choise..?
You shift up through the gears once and that's it?

Is shifting a big problem for people generally? Everybody seems so obsessed with shifter travel and "feel", now anatomy is another thing? I don't get it...

[MD]

Ah,Mats. You gotta stay off the piss when you read these posts. I said the muscle movement would also be different changing back to first gear.

Anyhow how come the land of logic(Sweden) swapped sides ? Pitty that.

Here's a great read about left/right origins and the reasons why it happened.

http://www.i18nguy.com/driver-side.html#countrytable