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In
addition to servicing classic Alfas, Autorapide is often
asked to undertake more involved
projects. Below we provide details of example current
and past projects that will provide some insight to what
is avaialble
at Autorapide. |
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lovely Alfa Romeo 2000 Spyder just arrived
out of its Winter storage, ready to have some interesting engine
mods before the Spring. We have been speaking to Paul over the
last couple of months on various performance related items, and
how we can make his Alfa Romeo go a little quicker and provide
a little more grunt in the mid to top end range, but without sacrificing
the nice drivability that these Alfa Romeos have. |
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We have decided to remove the cylinder head and start with inserting
different valve seats, not only to enable him to use unleaded
fuel but also because we are going to be fitting fast road cams
and
therefore need to be sure that the basics are in tip top condition.
Additionally, this will be in conjunction with new valves, springs,
cam buckets and shims.
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As we progress
with the modifications to this Alfa Romeo, we will be documenting
its progress here on the website so please be sure to return at
regular intervals to catch up on this and other ongoing projects
at Autorapide!. |
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Here
we can see a rather tired looking engine bay
(not due to owner we hasten to add!). There
has also been a liberal use of black Waxoyl which does nothing to
help the look; Waxoyl is great stuff and we use it all the time but
only in the right places. Definitely room for improvement here! |
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Here
again we see the Alfa Romeo twin cam engine showing all its
internals. This part of the engine will be checked and
attended to as needed. In this case, as can be seen, there’s
a nice consistent build up of carbon on each piston top and no apparent
wear on the bores. The liner protrusion will be checked a little
later. The head studs, on which some Alfa Romeo engines can give
corrosion problems, are in very good condition.
You can also see the distributor unit that will shortly be modified
to accept a Petronix electronic ignition system, which will improve
starting and reliability.
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This time we see the
old Alfa Romeo cast Iron exhaust manifold, soon to be replaced
by a tubular set up specially designed for the Alfa Romeo twin
cam engine in conjunction with the fast road cams. It's not an
exact science knowing how much extra BHP this setup will give,
as there are too many variables, all we like to say to the customer
is that these Alfa Romeo twin cams do respond very well to this
kind of engine tuning. |
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Here we
can see that this Alfa Romeo is running twin
Dellorto carburettors.
These will be completely stripped before
chemically cleaning and reassembling using genuine service kits.
One good reason for overhauling these Alfa Romeo twin carburettors
is it makes them easier to tune, as you are removing years of built
up grime inside and by replacing all the needles and jets you are
bringing the whole set up back to its original spec. This is a
job we carry out not only on Alfa Romeos but also Ferraris and
Morgans
too as it is a sure way of meeting the very strict emission regulations
these days for the older cars.
If you have an Alfa
Romeo, Ferrari, Morgan or any other type of Performance car that
is running a Weber
or Dellorto Carburettor set up and you think it may benefit from
this treatment then give Andreas a call and we can discuss your
requirements. |
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Here we can see the cylinder head stripped and ready to go off
to the machine shop for insertion of new guides, valve seats which
will be cut 3 angle and of course head face skim. |
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Here we see the typical state of these heads when removed completely
coked up and valve seats starting to recess into the head. |
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Here wee see the head having had it's machining carried out and
the valves being test lapped before its final clean. |
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Finally
we see the head assembled with its new Colombo & Bariani cams
ready to be reinstalled into the vehicle. |
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Previously
Autorapide has had this Alfa in the workshop to have all
its suspension sorted by ourselves after coming in with the wrong
springs fitted and the back end sitting almost an inch lower than
the front! In the more recent past we have also undertaken a
gearbox rebuild prior to a succesful trip around France. |
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This
Giulia Sprint GT is expected to be competing in the Top Hat
Masters race series in 2007. Here we were installing
a Safety Devices rollcage.
Amongst other things the car runs a fast road 1600cc engine,
rebuilt by ourselves, converted to hard valve
seats and balanced bottom end. Suspension
is Harvey Bailey all round with larger anti roll bars and lowered
all round. |
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