ALFAGTV6.COM

[Lachy]

Hey guys,
New to the forum, but have owned my GTV6 for 7 years now, and am just taking over doing the work myself now (too poor to pay someone else, plus its a lot more fun that way ).

I will state my intentions very clearly (or at least as clearly as my ADHD will allow me to! ). I want to drive this car in SUPERSPRINTS here in Australia, held by the Alfa Romeo club of NSW. These are events where you can bring your street-registered Alfa and with only very few additions (fire extinguisher, battery sticker etc) you can race against the clock with similar car out on the track together (no bumper-to -bumper racing).

My car has a small amount of rust and rather faded paint which I am planning on treating in the next couple of months with a full-body sodablast, PROFESSIONAL rust repair, and a paint-job by myself. I don't have an eternity to have the car off the road, but I want to ensure that the car will remain rust-free for the next 10 or so years if I am going to pour money into it. Paint finish is not my main concern, as long as the body stays healthy!

So, for a small budget of $4000, I need to:

a) sort the rust out and paint it back up to make sure the car doesn't dissolve!

With the change (if any, I may need to save for a bit!) i would like to improve the car. This is NOTa list of everything I want done now, but rather some ideas of where to start FIRST. Any suggestions are welcomed


My priorities are...(and keep in mind this is on a tight budget!)

1) Handling. I see no point in having 200hp at the treads if my car can't hold speed around a corner! My car currently has dead-stock suspension, so what would be some nice improvements? Some rough figures would be nice too Ripping things out and going with a fully customised setup is not an option! (Hey, I wish I had the $$$!). Rather bushings, shocks, MAYBE springs, sway-bars etc
Having an adjustable setup would be nice, but $$$ is precious to uni-students!!!

2) Power. NOT my first priority. Engine-transplants are completely out of the question here guys! LOL. I have a stock engine that I will just give a bit of a tune-up to bring it back up to factory-power, and am only looking at the lower end of the upgrade spectrum. Yes I know big power doesn't come cheap, but with the suspension all set up nicely, every HP will be more efficient on the track:) I have noticed my muffler has taken a few hits, and the pipes have been a bit flattened a little in certain places courtesy of speed-bumps and my pizza-delivering days - perhaps these are better things to start with than actual engine-mods?

This is a car that I will GRADUALLY develop, not into a full-on race car, but into a nice street-car that is as capable as it can be on the track

I know this sort of help is spread out through the forum, but hey, we're Alfa owners and everyone loves putting in their two cents!

(Keep in mind that I am in Australia, so any suggestions on US or Euro suppliers is a little redundant for me - unless they have cheap shipping! )

[MR2 Zig]

Look over Greg's site here http://www.hiperformancestore.com/
He has a GOOD tuning up section on the fuel injection system. He also has some good parts .....but he's in the US.

hth,

[Lachy]

Hi MR2,
Yeah I first saw his site some years back (I think when it was at the oldebottles page), and have recently found his new one.

Good tips indeed, certainly a couple of FREE horsepower is delightful! Even though he is in the US, it gives some good ideas for things I might be able to rig up myself here. I'm sure the shipping of some of his SMALLER items wouldn't kill me, just perhaps not his supercharger kits!

[Mats]

Your racing budget will be: All the money you have to spare (the whole year around) plus 10%.

I'm not kidding, think hard before going into racing.

[Zamani]

Budget is something like a promise. Meant to be broken. Except that you don't only break your budget, you run it over a few times.

[Mats]

Budget is something like a promise. Meant to be broken. Except that you don't only break your budget, you run it over a few times.

Exactly, then you flatspot your tires down to the third layer of nylon cord...

[Lachy]

Hahaha, too true guys!
I don't want to deck it out as a full on racer, just get a good start in the right direction and go from there. I've read a fair few of everyone's project builds and can see all too well the addiction of which you speak!

Once i get the suspension and tyres sorted, I'm going to keep track of $$ spent and corresponding lap-times. I want to see what can be improved for the least $$ possible. It will be a good little project The emphasis will be on what can be done with a bit of thought, some innovation and only basic building skills.

What I'm after here is some suggestions, perhaps quirky ideas that you've had before but for one reason or another you haven't tried yet. Perhaps with a bit of combined knowledge we can get some things working. Its a good bit of engineering practice

Lachy

[MD]

For 4 grand here's about all you could do:-

Set of track tyres
Set of racing brake pads
Some Bilstein dampers
Stiffer rear springs
Upgraded sway bars

That would just about burn your budget and you would have to do the work yourself.

If you are intending to keep the street car aspects then there is little point in spending more only to haul a lardarse around..you will need to bite the bullet later and decide whether racing is for you or not. If it is then aim for a budget that is at least 15 times more than what you started with.

Good luck and don't forget the fun factor..

[Lachy]

Thanks MD,
Yeah I plan on doing the work myself.
At the moment this car is my daily driver (i use the term loosely, I only need to drive once or twice a week), but in the next year I should have something else to use for day-to-day, which will allow me to get a bit more serious as I'll have a bit more money by that stage. I never want to go balls-out with this car, I'll get something one day thats a better base to start with that will give better performance returns per dollar spent (lets face it, we're into Alfa's because we love them to pieces, not because they're cheap!).

Since i'm on a budget, lets look at the cheaper variable of the power:weight ratio.
I'm stripping the car down to fix the body and give it a lick of paint, so the interior will be all out at some stage. How much weight have people saved by ditching things, rear-seats etc? I still want to keep the carpet + soundproofing, but what CAN go? I know it might not be much, but every kilogram lost improves my power-weight, for FREE

[MD]

OK Lachy. Get your heart burn tablets out and a glass of water. You'll need it.

What should go eh? (When you get serious)

Try this list:-

The heater demister
The air conditioner
The floor coverings
Any power steering assemblies
The sound deadner under the carpets and under the body work
The wiper assemblies(use "Rainex")
The brake booster and cross bar set up
All the seats and fit a racing seat
Plexiglass everywhere
Polycarbonate front screen
Piss off the dashboard and make a small binnacle cluster
No handbrake
No door trims
Except for driver, no door locks
Cut out all the guts of the doors bonnet and boot lids
Alloy rotor hats
Alloy calipers
Handmade tubular upper and lower control arms
Dump the torsion bars and mounting bridge, use coil overs.
Use hollow sway bars
Get rid of everything in the engine bay that is not necessary for racing.
Custom make a minimalist wiring loom and get rid of the 3 tons of copper wire in the rocket now.
Lightweight flywheels front and rear.
Lightweight custom clutch
Modified prop shaft to take the power and abuse.
Use a motorcycle alternator or equivalent
No bumpers
No headlights. fake'em.
Lightweight rims
Side exhaust is shorter and weighs less
Use small racing battery
Remove all hood linings and insulation
Remove all hinges, springs and locks on bonnet, boot lid
Cut off the battery tray
Use the lightest roll cage material allowable under racing rules.
You should be able to make your target 920kg or less without using composite materials with these reduction measures for a 4 cylinder.

Get on a diet.

As you can see, when you get serious- and you haven't even scratched the surface of developing horsepower and torque, gearing and suspension , your prize unit will never set foot on Kevin Rudds highways ever again. So think long and hard about your level of committment. Then again if you shack up with a wealthy cougar that's got shares in the opera house, well go for broke I say.

Explanation for non-Australians:-
Kevin Rudd is the Australian priminister.
A cougar is a slang word for a wealthy older woman looking for a toy boy.

[kevin]

MD, I think I am 70% through that list into my third year. I think i am going stick that on my garage door. My 2010 wish list. Diet - no problem, im in the featherweight catergory.

[MD]

Seriously Kevin, I have to say that I admire your love and passion for these cars and even though you are no expert motor mechanic like the rest of us, you REALLY go all out all the way to enjoy the cars in every aspect from development to lead feet on race day.

You inspire us all.

I must also take my hat off to all other "Kevins" on this Forum. Too many to list but you know who you are. Except for JK of course, he thinks he's an Elizabeth.

[kevin]

Ok MD , engines in the mail - you must just make it go fast

[MD]

I'll need to if JK catches up with me...I've heard engineers are good at making stuff that ticks in the mail ?

[MR2 Zig]

engineers can't make didly....they just think about it and doddle awhile....