ALFAGTV6.COM

[MD]

I 've struck GOLD. I finally have a coolant connection at the inlet manifold. YEAH !!

[MD]

The on again off again on again alternator position is now locked in. It minimizes the crowding of components on the exhaust size of the engine. It should have always lived here away from the radiant heat.

Now to sort out the supercharger mount...

[MD]

Making a quiet progress on the engine. Finally settled on the arrangement. Still in the process of making a fuel rail but that is well under way as well. Should be installing the engine in the 75 bay shortly. After that I will need to measure up for a custom prop shaft.

[Zamani]

Looking good MD.But why a Rotrex over a sprintex? I thought a positive displacement SC would give better lower end torque.

Another thing is, I think this whole alternator deal is overrated, for a race car, if you can charge a lithium battery pack and have it las 3x20 mins sessions at 14v you’re golden. Have a spare in your ute and swap it during lunch break….or better yet stick some solar panels on the roof, and Bob’s your uncle

[MD]

Now I am confused. I thought Bob was your uncle.
I have tried solar panels already and got banned for having too much aero.

Previously used lower end torque from a Roots blower. OK for towing caravans. I still have wide mid range torque from the twin screw Sprintex in the Cab. Time to experiment with mid to top end lunacy without the turbo heat. This thing makes so much boost I am afraid it will blow the pistons right out with all the exhaust emissions. Already I have been black flagged for a naughty oil discharge, too much noise, your uncle's aero and a future possibility of leaving a piston trail....

Appreciate your concern. Have a quiet one myself but I am more worried about Kevin. He's gone back to using vanishing hair cream.

I do not trust lithium flatteries.

[Zamani]

Hiya big fella,

Will you go for front mount or top mount intercooler? Interested in what would your approach be, I’m guessing a top mount may have a shorter route and have good response…..Although I believe you like to mount on top…or was it The Greek Santa, I forget…

Oh and uncle Bob rang and specifically said he wanted a nephew from the southern hemisphere but not someone from Johannesburg.

[MD]

Hi Zeefa.
Between you and me, we are sponsoring a kaleidoscope of transaxle information for the 3 million readers. I am starting to feel like a relic of a bygone era when this site was abuzz like a big family of honeybees bringing new and exciting bits of information to contribute to the hive as a whole. Great times for the project orientated Alfa fraternity. I am told that the hive has moved onto Facebook and the like.

Well, I took a walk around Facebook and yes there is a lot of Alfa information to be seen there including unexpected stuff like somebody trying to sell you a dildo in between the pages of pretty cars. I didn't even know what a dildo was until I walked into Facebook. Always thought a dildo (dill doh) was a weak minded idiot. Obviously my schooling is sadly lacking in diversity.

I did not see any extended project articles like on this site. Probably because I put pedal to the metal and got off before I got bushwhacked with some offer of an exciting ride with a Russian brunette.

[MD]

Intercoolers, hmmm. Been thinking of water to air but expense is holding me back somewhat. Truth is, I am undecided and need to dwell on it longer.
As you can see from the photos, making some quiet progress. Of course I am expecting industry delays over the Christmas holiday break.
I am amazed at the amount of room left around the engine bay. The headers are a little tight near the firewall but not going to be problem.
I am waiting on the arrival of a throttle body to weld onto my plenum so that will be the next thing to add to the engine bay. In the meantime I am trying to plan my wiring loom reticulation. Always fun to work with the electric spaghetti.

[KevinR]

Aah Md , I see progress ! Thanks for sharing the pics of the supercharge set up . This will put some seeds of thought in my empty pip at lunch time .
I’m back !!! Also some new projects happening in my store !! Which will be on another thread !

[Weekend Warrior]

The Alfa logo on your aluminium slab is a nice touch

[MD]

Thank you.
I was told it would make it go faster.
One day when all the other jobs are done, I will Swiss cheese that breadboard. For now rigidity testing will be more important.

Anyhow have you been on the booze recently and strayed back onto this site? I've been told everybody has moved to look at faces in books...

[KevinR]

Hi MD , I am glad you’re flying the flag on development here . Interesting your comments your choice of supercharger . We await your findings then steal or hijack all that knowledge SA style !!

I have been busy on a separate project which I will post up on the forum soon.
Also busy with a twinspark build from a mix of parts on a budget .
Some other exciting builds in progress in my shared storage unit with 380hp 75 turbo build as per Italian touring car regs for the UK classic racing series . Upon investigation there was a load more tweaks in that series including and slightly wider arches on rear . No I don’t mean the IMSA cars .
I need to call you to again to catch up on fixing a very puzzling demon in one of my engines … not the 3.7 that’s still strong as a rhino

[MD]

Hello Kevin,
Thank you for your kind words. Will you look at that! Straight civility. I am starting to mellow as I get older and less inclined to use the proctoscope in my role as a fake MD.. I do recommend staying on guard though.

From what I can see from your reports, you are eating, sleeping and day dreaming Alfa Romeo. I think the Missuz is going to shorten your rope soon. All that loose freedom cannot be good for you.

I am starting to have reservations about the use of a lot of power, especially torque on the factory transaxles. I have killed two in the race car. One a short ratio 4.56:1 and standard ratio 4.1:1. The gearsets are usually fine but the ring and pinion parts get destroyed. So when you refer to a 380hp turbo jobbie, I am wondering what transmission is going to be used? Custom made transmissions are not within my operating budget.

As for using my development information, as you know I am more than happy to freely give this information away if it is going help to improve the breed of amateur mechanics projects. Let's face it, if you want to play mechanics on your transaxle, this site is unbeatable as a resource.

[KevinR]

The look of those pinion teeth match exactly what all those broken boxes looked like when I was racing with way to much power on the standard box .
So as you might remember form ages ago I ran two cars . One with gearbox uprfront keeping dedion with only 4% difference in weight ratio and the other I decided to drive in a much more civil and smooth manor keeping rubber in the prop but just with cages and this was a bit of a saviour with 300 plus na motor . I
had no more failures .
Try use the box with large pinion as much beefier teeth . What our plans now is using technology ie the motec and a drive by wire throttle to deliver different torque curves in different gears .
I a big must is still a much stronger “sandwich” plate in the gearbox to reduce deflections to keep pinion in tolerance . This is in pipeline !
Keep it smooth !!

[MD]

Thanks for your input Kevin. The larger crown type diff in principle should be tougher but in practice it's never large enough. The shredded pinion that looks like it has been through a pencil sharpener is actually a larger type from a twin spark box.

I was thinking on the run about the stiffened sandwich plate and perhaps the simplest way would be to slice the existing one in two with a 10mm reduction in thickness and then replace that loss with a 10mm steel substitute with all the alignment holes transposed from the original. Appropriate sealants applied in the compressing faces and you have a new sandwich plate that even Zamani couldn't chew through.