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finny05

Gta Nigel's Autolusso Built 3.8 Finally Goes Bang!

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I know my patience would have been tested to the limit by now

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Not sure if this is generally known, but GTA Nigel has finally reverted back to the stock 3.2 engine.

 

It would be interesting to know how much all this cost? Certainly an expensive guinea pig R&D exercise, if you can call it that :cry:

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That's why I have hit a stumbling block with my GTA, always wanted to go 3.8 and supercharged but I just don't think the engine can cope with such modifications for road use. Shame really but it's still a great car as standard

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Lol you wonder why a certain persons posts are left up???? They are a paid up trader on said site ;)

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Hello mr-mac, good to see you in more friendly surroundings!

 

I read somewhere the factory was considering in 2002/03 a 156 GTAm version, with an uprated 3.5 Busso V6. Apparantly that was as far they were prepared to go with the block. So perhaps 3.8 is possible but only with considerable expertise and investment?

 

Either way 3.2 would do me!

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Yeah I heard that 3.5 was the biggest it could go.

I've heard it's down to gaskets and water pathways being blocked. I'm sure mr smaky will be along soon

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3.5 has the same bore size as the 3.7/8 though so there is not much difference. In much the same way as there is not much difference between the 3.0 and 3.2. Bore a 3.0 out to 3.5, fit 3.2 crank and you have 3.7/8

 

At least thats what i'm led to believe, sure Alex will confirm

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I know I'm an old schooler but after many years have come to the conclusion (with the odd exception) that car companies spend a lot of time and effort doing extensive testing and retesting a lot of which is to do with what's sensible for reliability in mass manufacture.

They would probably have done things like this with the GTA if it full filed all the criteria sitting in traffic, hot weather / climate , cold running , service requirements , parts cost . Ie producing several different bits and development cost and liability should it not work or blow up.

I think cars like this are more for the person who can take it to a track day for sheer entertainment.

If you notice pud at auto lusso recently put a lot of his cars for sale GTA sw 147 and GT v6 all of them the main selling point was (and I think it's right from my experience) that they are all standard original un molested and unmodified cars.

This is an important thing to remember if you intend to keep an Alfa to be a future classic what ever model or spec originality counts .

There are acceptable upgrades such as bushes S/Steel exhaust systems as these are viewed as longevity updates rather than mods.

 

What ever you got cherish and enjoy. ;)

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Lol you wonder why a certain persons posts are left up???? They are a paid up trader on said site ;)

 

They own that site, that's why I am banned from it. And welcome S95.

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Adies cars are fully race prepped, from what I've seen on on Nigels it was a backstreet attempt by simply replacing the pistons and liners into a modified 3.2 block with a subtle exhaust mod and remaped poorly which left it running lean, nothing else seems to have been opened up to allow it to breathe better and thus produce the power it could have.

 

These "Adies cars" is there any info on them online ?

Any pics, build or specs ?

Thanks :)

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Ah, I see.

I know their site, but sadly it is a bit lacking, apart from the pictures of the parts themselves, which dont tell the whole story :(

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And if you look at the images of te 3.8 conversion you see the lack of space around the liners, so coolant volume is not sufficeint and flow is too fast to collect the heat which I think is a main contributing factor in all the blowing engines....that and people who don't know how to build one.

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As a follow on to this, I have also recently replaced the gearbox on Nigels GTA, I suspect the the power from it when it was a 3.8 was too much for the box which as already being used t it's maximum rated limit, another oversight by those claiming to be specialists I feel. And the faults and poor fitted items I found whist doing this had my OCD on overdrive !!

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I am not surprised Nigel is moving on to a classic

 

What i am surprised at is that his GTA is still going. Has it not had another new engine yet? Must be due one

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Well, that is a story, so far there has been 3 x 3.2 engines since the 3.8 let go, the last one though was so poorly fitted that all the wiring down the back was rubbing off the manifold, not just things like the oil sensor feed but the main charging lead from direct from the alternator, 12V 1AWG cable connected directly to the battery, along with all the bent steering pipework and exhaust leaks I'm surprise it hadn't popped, so 4 weeks ago whilst replacing the gearbox I sorted all that out for him, if any of you have seen the car at the shows this month then that is how the wiring should be routed.

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Cam belts aside, the V6 is not known for being particularly unreliable, is it? Therefore, you have to question the quality of the work done by the garage in question. Its all very well blaming this part and that part but is it really that part or is it the fact that you dont actually know what you are doing?

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There's nothing wrong with the cambelts, they just didn't listen to the advice they were give from R&D and said that if belts had to be done every 3 years then no-one would buy a V6.

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