Motor conversion

[aggie57]

Aggie and Sheldon, how was your experiences with doing these conversions?
Did you encounter very troublesome problems along the way or did you have relatively free-flowing success with the engines?
I guess, research, time, patience and money will get you a good job!
Also Aggie, do you the details of Hugh? 

Had no real issues that I can recall either with the conversion or later with the engine in the car.  I did it in 1996 so the 3.0 engines were relatively rare and it was one of the very first conversions done locally.  All I did was take my time and fit, adjust, re-fit etc. until it was right.  The engine ran reliably for the 8 years I had it after that, in two different cars.

What I did find though was that much of the talk at the time about different ECU's and different AFM's etc. was incorrect.  The early 3.0 engines used exactly the same ECU, injectors and AFM as the 2.5 engines.  Alfa put different part numbers on them but the Bosch part numbers in most cases were the same.  Obviously later motronic systems were different but not those early L-Jetronic's. 

The real differences in those engines are external and relate to the need to package it for FWD, with many of the changes needed being made not just to the engines that went into 164's but also later 75's and Milano's. Examples - all later engine blocks are machined shorter than early 2.5 ones and the crank is also shorter.  Also, the distributor drive on a 164 is taken from the rear of the left hand head, off the cam.  On the GTV6 and 75 it's from the front of the right hand head directly off the front drive.  So on 75's you see a blanking plate on the rear of the left hand head.  Saves them casting different heads for the two installations.

I was lucky at the time in having a 2.5 GTV6 engine, a Milano (75) 3.0 engine and a 164 3.0 engine on the floor at the same time.  Which meant I could compare directly and where necessary measure different components.  Which is how we ended up with the 4mm spacer for the flywheel.

[BradGTV]

if u go on http://alfagtv6.com/ on the left side of page click technical then 164 3.0 into gtv6, it is a word document with all u need to know, i used it when i converted my 3.0 for rwd just need to finish other projects before it goes in 

[hmd]

Look to me like Alister had done everything there is to do in a 116.

And look at what he ends up with a 911 

[aggie57]

Look to me like Alister had done everything there is to do in a 116.

And look at what he ends up with a 911 

I do like my 911 but I spend my time talking to people who drive Alfa's.

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Aggie and Sheldon, how was your experiences with doing these conversions?
Did you encounter very troublesome problems along the way or did you have relatively free-flowing success with the engines?
I guess, research, time, patience and money will get you a good job!
Also Aggie, do you the details of Hugh? 

I didn't have too many problems when I did mine, certainly nothing that hadn't been experienced by everyone before, and was easily fixed by googling the problem.  I think my only major problem was trying to get the engine out on my own; that took me a week, and apparently it can't be done on your own...well, I'm here to tell you it can, but it's not much fun!!

Other than that, I went through everything methodically, and it all worked reasonably well.  I had issues taking out some of the studs from the engine, but some borrowed Wurth product fixed that.

Apart from that, I had to look at the valve clearances after the first couple of times I used it, but this was to be expected really;  the engine came from an auto 164, so probably had a pretty easy life, and then suddenly it's getting thrashed to within an inch of it's life for 15 minutes at a time, 5 times a day.

Since I'm still using the intake and exhaust from the 2.5, the 3.0 does feel a little breathless when the revs get high (over 5000rpm).  The torque increase is very noticeable though, and I would certainly do this mod to any road 2.5 I owned.

For what it's worth, the engine alone made me 4 seconds a lap quicker around Phillip Island.  As anyone that's been at Phillip Island would attest to, 1 second there is hard to come by, let alone 4.

Oh yeah, and I should just add....  I'd done mods to my brakes and suspension before I did this transplant.  My brakes and suspension are more than good enough for a 3.0 12V.  It's the old story, power should be the last of your considerations, concentrate on brakes and suspension before anything else.

[gtv6sv]

at the moment the 12V seems to be the safer and cheaper option, a good 3 litre with a slightly tuned engine or turbo charging seems like a good way to get power:) although suspension and brakes must be the most important to upgrade first!
Will try to speak to a few members in club meetings coming up
Definately got a lot of help thanks heaps everyone!

[Jekyll and Hyde]

Are you planning to buy a GTV6 to do this to?  As I see you now have a 4 cylinder - makes things a lot easier if you start with a V6, since you don't have to chase up individually all the little bits and pieces required (some of which are getting harder to find).