1982 GTV renovation

[Anth73]

A short update this month as the COVID induced global supply chain crunch meant the 298mm Tarox big brake conversion kit I ordered from Gazella Racing UK in mid August took almost two months to be manufactured by Tarox Italy, sent to Tarox UK then to me. Despite the delay it was well worth the wait and it will be a shame to get brake dust on them!

Orger Engines have also finalised all the porting and polishing work on the heads. However they were still completing the balancing work on the crank, having bolted it all up complete with front pulley and flywheel. Hopefully the block, balanced crankshaft and heads are returned this week so Monza Motors can get stuck into the reassembly work.

Fellow forum member Julian (GTVeloce) has been kindly assisting me with my air conditioning specifications. We've agreed on a modified layout from the factory GTV6 setup to enable a cleaner installation and plan to install the hoses from/to the evaporator before the engine is fitted as this will be much easier done beforehand. Julian's dad worked in the AC trade and his knowledge in this area has been a blessing. Hopefully my AC setup proves much better than factory with a significantly enlarged condensor and modern components.

Lastly my GTV6 extractors and engine pipes originally purchased from EB Spares have come back from being ceramic coated. This is a must due to the substantial engine bay heat load problems experienced with the GTV6 engine bay, particularly with extractors, plus they look so damn sexy!

One question I'm trying to answer is if I'll need to have catalytic converters installed for the engineering (VASS) certificate. Though my GTV is an '82 model, the engine is from a 75 which did require catalytic converters to be fitted. I've checked VSB 8 and VSB 14 and it's inconclusive. I've also enquired with VicRoads but have yet to receive a response. Any thoughts from other AROCA members who have VASS certified their conversions e.g. fitting a 24 valve busso V6 into a GTV6?

[Anth73]

Finally I'm happy to say that my motor has come back from Orger Engines in Kilsyth with a long list of work completed, namely:

• Ultrasonic cleaning
• Heads checked for thickness, straightness, hardness, threads and valve heights
• Valve seats CNC machined
• Valve guides honed and fitted
• Heads surfaced
• Heads ported and polished
• Ultrasonic cleaning of crankshaft and rods
• Crankshaft journals sized and finished
• Main and big end bearings fitted, checked and sized
• Full engine balance

Work is now underway at Monza Motors with all the engine reassembley and my reconditioned power steeering rack and pump also arrived today. So after a number of delays it's all hands on the tools from now and throughout January.

You may also recall me laboring over the cleaning, painting and polishing of my valve covers and plenum mid last year. In discussing options to securely fit the coil-on-plug ignition coils it looked more and more likely that I would need to redo this process due to the welding, drilling and thread tapping required to provide a mounting bar on each valve cover for each COP to be screwed into. I didn't really want to go there so have opted to revert to the usual distributor, coil and high tension leads approach, though it will be a locked distributor from a later GTV6 as my Motec ECU will handle all the ignition timing.

Look out for a "For Sale" ad for the AHM Motorsports distributor drive cover plate and the six COPs with connectors I purchased a few months ago.

[shiny_car]

Nice update.  Plenty happening there!

Hmm, I'm a long way off working out COPs for my 75, but I don't imagine it's too hard to secure them (depending on what model COP you use).  Press-fitting them could be unreliable I guess, but if they need to be fastened down, sure you could tap directly into the cover?  Seems a pity to sell those nice parts.

[Anth73]

The cover is pretty thin. One approach I have seen in photos is to use small lengths of threaded bar with nylon locknuts at both ends. I wasn't keen on that approach. The alternative was to weld a mounting bar onto the valve cover but I'd already painted mine so that was scratched.

[Anth73]

Here's a couple of pics of my freshly reconditioned power steering rack and pump. So looking forward to fat 225s all round without needing Arnie arms to park! 😀

[Anth73]

Work has progressed really well with the engine reassembley over the last month. Crankshaft, rods and pistons are now all best of buddies in the engine block and my heads are now complete with Colombo & Bariani "road maximum" cams, reprofiled valves and new valve guides and seals. We did have a minor issue with the SZ / 75 Potenziata spec water pump supplied by EB Spares. It's actually a 164 pump body with a machined removable pulley as needed on the SZ and 75 Potenziata cars. The pulley didn't quite have enough machined off the back to align properly with the crank pulley. It's been a little trial and error pulling the water pump pulley off, machining it, refitting it and test fitting to get it just right but it will be on the car later today.

Hugh also mananged to source a 75 Potenziata crank pulley with the required three V-belt grooves so I can run power steering in addition to alternator and A/C compressor belts. Rare as hens teeth! This will be balanced to match the current 2-belt front pulley so we will retain the correct engine balance.

My tailshaft has also been overhauled with new doughnuts and a lovely front dougnut cage from Chris Snowden Racing. It is being sent away to be balanced as a complete unit. Next week the power steering rack will be fitted and then the engine goes in....yay!!!!

[Anth73]

Nice photos of the C&B cams, heads and Carwood Brise competition starter motor.

[Anth73]

Very happy with the paint and polish I completed on the valve covers! Nice photo of the 60-2 timing ring on the 75 Potenziata crank pulley and the SZ spec water pump with removable pulley. The polised doughnot cage does remind me of a pie tin

[Anth73]

A bit late with my update as there's been a lot going on at home and work to keep me busy. There has also been a lot going on at a jam packed Monza Motors...my engine is finally in! It's a very tight squeeze with the extractors and the EB Spares engine mounts needed some adjustment to sit the engine just right as they are about 10mm taller than the factory originals. Judging by the gaps either side of the extractors I think Mick got the engine positioned perfectly!

The A/C and alternator mounting brackets also needed a tweak to get the belt alignment spot on. I'm thankful for the attention to detail that Mick and Hugh have applied to this critical phase of my project. This is also demonstrated by the beautifully fitted and finished GTV6 pedal box, bonnet catch and wiper motor. We decided to keep my GTV brake booster as we know it is in perfect working order and should work well with the upgradred Tarox brakes.

The focus over the next few weeks will remain within the engine bay to complete fitting out the plenum, fuel injectors, radiator and wiring loom. Happy days!

[Anth73]

Photos of the pedal box, bonnet catch, brake booster and wiper motor.

[julianB]

Looking excellent!!!!!!

What motec are you running?

Are you going to convert the dizzy to a hall effect, so you can run sequential, or are you just going to run semi sequential?

[Anth73]

Looking excellent!!!!!!

What motec are you running?

Are you going to convert the dizzy to a hall effect, so you can run sequential, or are you just going to run semi sequential?

I believe it will be a Motec M84 with a timing pickup in the dizzy, stil sorting thorugh the final details with Hugh and MPC as COVID has caused a lot of stock issues.

[Anth73]

Activities since my last update have been focussed mostly under the car thanks to a pair of lovely, big, beefy 298mm Tarox brakes with six(!) pot calipers up front and a pair of Chris Snowdon Racing vented rear discs courtesy of Richard Melvin. The shortened Alfa75 tailshaft was also fitted and then Hugh remembered that my original GTV gear selector rod won't clear the larger donuts in the GTV6 tailshaft. No wondering why Alfa Romeo were losing money in the 80's with so many parts variations across their very similar models!

As my GTV body shell is the earlier long torsion bar type, going to the isostatic shift rod creates a few well documented problems due to lack of clearance with the cross beam and the rear floorpan. Initial thoughts were to address this with the usual gearbox input shaft swap, floorpan modifications and grinding of the cross beam given complete isostatic setups are pretty easy to come by. However the prevailing opinion is to go with the non-isostatic setup as it does shift better compared to the isostatic setups once they're slightly worn. Just need to find a non-isostatic GTV6 gear selector rod...

We also fitted a little more bling in the engine bay via a custom polished stainless steel expansion tank that was part of a small batch organised on the Alfabb forum and a polished alloy GTV6 radiator.

[Anth73]

More photos...why does the forum persist with the 1024kB limit???

[Mick A]

Well done Sportiva!

If only everyone was as knowledgeable and amazing as you!

I read your post before you censored yourself.

"I would have a higher respect for you if worked on the car yourself." (Your words)

What a nasty thing to say to someone, not everybody has the ability/skill/facilities, for various reasons, to work on a car themselves.
Anthony is doing a fantastic job as project manager, sourcing all parts himself and doing his research, and being kind enough to document and share his journey for others to enjoy, and all you can do is criticise and cut him down.

You should be ashamed and embarrassed.

-Mick.