New engine into Alfetta

Victor Lee · February 18, 2009, 05:11:23 PM

Hi all,

An Alfisti friend (who wants to remain anonymous until it is finished) sent me a pic of his latest engine transplant project.

Cheers

Mat Francis · February 18, 2009, 06:43:13 PM

Looks good to me! can't wait to see it finished.

david sammartino · February 18, 2009, 09:55:21 PM

by the looks of that front crank puley im presuming its a 2.5?

Sam · March 08, 2009, 10:42:20 PM

I almost took this on (actually an imported 24 valve 3.0lt engine) but was told not to bother.
I thought to check with Vic Roads first. They put me onto their preferred Engineer, who told me it's not worth the cost. If the car didn't come with a V6 then it would cost many thousands in compliance and maybe even then he may not allow it, if he feels the car is not capable of talking the power.
I thought not to risk it in the end.
Sam

Barry Edmunds · March 19, 2009, 10:03:24 AM

Sam

What right does anyone, apart from the owner of the vehicle in question, to make a judgement on whether any project is worth the cost. What has cost/value got to do with anyone except the owner of the vehicle involved in the project. I would be tempted to find another engineer. After my experience with VicRoad's so-called approved engineers I came to the conclusion that some of them do whatever they can to justify their existence. When I had to find one of these engineers a few years back I tried to contact one that VicRoads recommended and discovered that he had not been at that address for 6 years.

Barry

hammer · March 19, 2009, 02:34:44 PM

When I bought my first Alfa in 1991 I took it to an approved RACQ inspection station and the mechanic there told me that if I bought an Alfa Romeo I may as well take my $4000 and "throw it off a cliff". He told me that I was nuts to buy an Alfa and that I should go and look for a used Ford Laser instead!

k76 · March 19, 2009, 03:24:40 PM

I have a habit of getting into things that aren't strictly worthwhile if you start counting hours and dollars. I call it character building!

Shame about the Laser hammer, you missed out on something big there. Just imagine, you could have been president of the Laser club by now

Sam · March 21, 2009, 11:19:00 AM

Hi Barry,
Yes I agree the value vs. cost is up to the owner.
The engineer gave me an indicative figure of a 'few grand".
He was non committal, so I guess that price could turn out to be anything once I was 'locked in' to his services.
Given that I was doing all the work and he only had to approve it, I thought it was a bit much.
Vic roads only approve of a handful of these engineers, so there isn't much competition between them.
I don't know if it's mandatory to use a VR approved one or not, be interested to fine out.
Bottom line, if the engine has a larger displacement then the original one, it will need an engineer's report.
I was hoping to hear of a more sympathetic engineer, does Victor's friend found one?.
I presume he is aware an enginer is needed.

dehne · March 21, 2009, 10:11:06 PM

hi i know this is prob to late but a friend of mine got his reg as a 2ltr then changed it to 2.5 v6 after a couple of years he went in and said he blew the motor and put another in they did not inspect it he just gave them the eng no
this may work again the other way is do not tell them

Sam · March 21, 2009, 10:51:10 PM

Hi Dahine,
In my case the car was not registered at the time.
I would have had to take it to VicRoads to register and get the car on the road.
I'm sure they would have picked it then.

BTW, don't you think your friend is taking a risk?
What happens if he wants to sell the car?
Doesn't the Rego sticker mention the engine displacement? What if a cop pulls him over?

Sam

dehne · March 21, 2009, 11:03:46 PM

he has had it that way for years now the cops where i live dont know where the engine numbers are so you dont tell them if he gets caught they will only put a canary on the car and he will have to get it done then i toldhim if that happens just race it

1750GT · March 22, 2009, 10:28:31 PM

Hope he has told his insurer about the minor change as he wouldn't be covered for himself or more importantly the damage he does. Just because the roads corporation mucks up or doesn't check it doesn't mean that you are covered in the event of an accident and in fact this is where most people come un-stuck causing a great deal of pain, sometimes many years after you've got one over the authorities.

1750GT

Mat Francis · March 23, 2009, 10:32:55 AM

no where does it say this car is intended for the road- there is a lot of wild assumptions here. Maybe the owner enjoys fiddling and is going to have a fun track car? Who knows.

Sam · March 23, 2009, 07:50:51 PM

Mat, last few messages were about Dehne's friend. The car we are reffering to is on the road :-)

1750GT · March 23, 2009, 08:38:53 PM

Thanks Sam, glad someone is keeping up. On reflection I was getting a bit serious so I can see the point mat was trying to make, but only out of concern. From your earlier comment I presume you were talking about converting a 2lt to a V6? With the cost of 2.5's versus 2lt's (sometimes the 2lt present with higher prices because there more likely not to have been mucked with and many of them have been driven as a family car and looked after), I reckon your better off just buying the 2.5 and I would have thought that the jump from a 2.5lt to 3lt wouldn't be so much of a problem? if done legally.

1750GT