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Small DYI on Sprint.....

45K views 579 replies 36 participants last post by  Greek 
#1 · (Edited)
Well , since i am about to start making small changes on my sprint since i dont have to do a full restoration i think it is a nice chance to create a thread of thinks we all can do to our cars.:thumbs:

Well , first think was that i replaced the original airbox with one of a 33 QV. The advantage is that the iron fence stays on the box and not on the removable metal cover so even if we remove it there is small protection against rubbish..... as for the cover i painted using red color which was heat resisant . Before that i used 600 & 800 sandpaper to grid it and the final result was guite impressive:

Air box Panted

As for the air intake i bought one 65mm ventilation tube from a shop that had industrial products which was quite cheap. It was a perfect fit on the one mounting point end and needed only a small modification to the airbox :

Air Intake industrial Tube

Also in order to increase the ammount of air i removed the cover on the intake mount behind the grill:

Removed air intake protection cover

I also started polishing all the metal and aluminum parts in the engine room. I used a soap that it is used to polish metal and aluminums which is quite cheap. The procedure is quite good and here are the first tests on the water cap and on the magneti marelli restrictor:

Polisted Water cap
Polished Magneti mareli

if someone else has something similar is free to post it here...;)
 
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#398 ·
Wow, has it been that long?

Well , some updates.
First of all lets talk about consumption.
Last month we had strikes from gas station owner so i had to fill with fuel just in case . So i spend 50 euros which were almost 35 ltr of fuel. Those lasted for about 230klm so i had almost 14ltr/100klm which is like having a 3.2 GTA. To be honest , i had couple of courses were i had top speed for about 15 min each ( 30 min of top speed on high way is bad for consumption) plus rest of the time i drove like usual which means like i was chased by police.

I was impressed with the numbers so i decided to repeat the experiment . This month we had again another strike (still have) from truck owners so i had another 50 euros (35 ltr) of fuel but this time i drove normal meaning i didnt pass 5500 rpm most of the time. I managed to make 270 klm which is about 12ltr/100klm which makes more sense since we have 4 carbs. I think i can make less but then it will not be like driving Alfa romeo.

Another funny incident happened to me 2 or 3 weeks ago. I was in a main street waiting on a traffic light and next to me was a Ferrari which of course i was admiring , especially front brakes. While i was thinking if i could fit similar to my Sprint , i happened to look direct to the driver which was at the same level as me ( very rare to happen with modern cars). He was watching me admiring his car , then he looked at what i was driving and made an underestimating face (grimace).Thats was it, i took my head outside the window and here is what happened:
Me: Can i ask something?
Him: Hmm , what???
Me : Are these good cars? Because i read on the Internet that they have problems with fire and i dont see many of them on the street.......:cool:
Him:...........:mad:

.... said nothing , his head became red and started to burn rubber as soon as the traffic light went green.

On other news , my cooling fun went wrong. As i said before , while i was trying to achieve better mileage i was cruising at low speeds with low rps . At some point the car started to tremble and vibrate along made a strange noise. I though that i lost right cam or worst but the car was accelerating ok , no smoke or fire and the noose didnt change as revs . I didnt check it , as after a while it stopped. After that i was driving fast and this never happened again. I tried once more to go slow and it occurred again. I stooped , opened the hood with engine idling and fount out that the fan was the problem . So now i am in the process of replacing it as soon as i find one.
 
#399 · (Edited)
OK , some fresh stuff.

I mentioned previously that i had a problem with the cooling fun. Well the problem got worst and almost burn the car.

Friday i had the task of picking son from kindergarten because wife was ill. I got the kid and 500 meters before home i bumped into traffic due to an L driver. Surely the fan kicked inn and after 5 minutes the vibrations stopped on the car and the noice was gone too. BUT i had a fading battery light on the dashboard ( first sign of shortcirquit) with small smoke under the hood ( second sign although it could be the oil fumes). I said that we could make to the parking sinse i was only 300 meters away and temo was about 95'. Well the smoke got worst under the hood (forth sign) and i was starting to get worried due to fire hazard since i had the kid on the car ( sleeping) and no fire extinguisher (yes i know :cry::rant: but i have a wire cutter). Things got worse when smoke started to come in through ventilation so i parked on the spot , opened the hood fearing for the worst but it was only a melting fan . I removed the cables with the wire cutter , closed the hood and went home.

Here are the results:
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k25/xGreekx/Cooling Fan/IMG_0062.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k25/xGreekx/Cooling Fan/IMG_0061.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k25/xGreekx/Cooling Fan/IMG_0059.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k25/xGreekx/Cooling Fan/IMG_0058.jpg


So today i called towing service to get the car to Workshop. When i tried to start the car , battery was little weak probably due to the incident so i asked the towing drivers to use the battery kick tool to start the engine. When we placed the cables and went to start the car i discovered that i didnt have any warning lights on the dash plus no spark although the engine was turning. We removed the battery and we got the car on the truck by dragging it .

Here is a photo outside the workshop...



Well the first part was easy , we replaced the old melted fan with another one that JKBsprint gave me from his stock. Here is the melted one..

And here is the replacement on the car...

As for the other part, the car not starting , we have checked every fuse , every cable , we used bypasses , nothing. We were about to order a new steering lock when Alexis decided to move a little the connection on the positive pole of the battery. As a miracle we got readings on the dash and we could start the car instantly. Someone would say that was odd but since i know the character of my car i would say that she had nervers on me and wanted to give me some hard time.
 
#403 ·
How do you think i am getting 15ltr/100klm consumption?

Ok , another video . John checked the car and found that it was missing the under-pressure connection from carb to timing system so he installed the missing parts. No the car really pushes on all rev ranges . Now i can start the car without pressing the acceleration petal and i have a lot of current on high revs.

Here is the video...

YouTube - Sprint Boxer engine Sounds
 
#404 ·
This weekend we had our celebration of 100 years Alfaromeo. On Saturday , we had Alfas on track (ok plus some Lancias and Fiats) and on Sunday official National gathering of Alfaromeos on Athens with the support of official Alfaromeo italy.
We had most models of Alfa and lots of lots of people. I even found another 3 Sprints and little more owners which didn't bring their own, thats a first.

It was the first time i had a really good time talking about the car and boxer series production to lots of people ignoring what was boxered engined models. Also i had good chat with other Sprint owners.


All started when i popped the hood and people started to come and take photos of the engine and ask questions about it , then the first Sprints owners starting to approach. Spent almost 3 hours talking about it and if i hadn't to pick the family i would have stayed another 3 hours.

It was great.
 
#407 ·
Some other photos from a friend (Marinos)....

http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq28/sorotosmarios/Alfa Romeo 2010 ATHENS/IMG_9936.jpg
http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq28/sorotosmarios/Alfa Romeo 2010 ATHENS/IMG_9941.jpg
http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq28/sorotosmarios/Alfa Romeo 2010 ATHENS/IMG_9960.jpg
http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq28/sorotosmarios/Alfa Romeo 2010 ATHENS/IMG_9984.jpg
http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq28/sorotosmarios/Alfa Romeo 2010 ATHENS/IMG_9989.jpg
http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq28/sorotosmarios/Alfa Romeo 2010 ATHENS/IMG_0001.jpg
http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq28/sorotosmarios/Alfa Romeo 2010 ATHENS/IMG_0002.jpg
http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq28/sorotosmarios/Alfa Romeo 2010 ATHENS/IMG_0019.jpg
http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq28/sorotosmarios/Alfa Romeo 2010 ATHENS/IMG_0024.jpg
http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq28/sorotosmarios/Alfa Romeo 2010 ATHENS/IMG_9882.jpg
http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq28/sorotosmarios/Alfa Romeo 2010 ATHENS/IMG_9906.jpg
http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq28/sorotosmarios/Alfa Romeo 2010 ATHENS/IMG_9915.jpg
http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq28/sorotosmarios/Alfa Romeo 2010 ATHENS/IMG_9917.jpg
http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq28/sorotosmarios/Alfa Romeo 2010 ATHENS/IMG_9920.jpg
http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq28/sorotosmarios/Alfa Romeo 2010 ATHENS/IMG_9921.jpg
http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq28/sorotosmarios/Alfa Romeo 2010 ATHENS/IMG_9931.jpg
http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq28/sorotosmarios/Alfa Romeo 2010 ATHENS/IMG_9932.jpg
http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq28/sorotosmarios/Alfa Romeo 2010 ATHENS/IMG_9998.jpg
 
#410 ·
It would be a great thing if you knew how to drive a Sprint,:cheese::cheese:, just use the parts i gave you (engine block, steering rack....). Greek you have the most rust free Sud or Sprint i've ever seen. Take good care of it. And have a respray. Guys give him advice and help him, because he is a nutcase. :lol: Treat your Sprint well, or i'll come out of the hospital and give you a good spanking......:p
 
#413 ·
Well , i had a very peculiar incident.....

For the past couple of weeks i was listening a slight but repeatable knock behind my seat when on the left side when the road was bumpy. First i though that it might be rusty leftovers from rear window mechanism. Then 5 days ago the sound got worse and i thought that it could come from some parts on the luggage space . 2 days ago i got mad with the sound and i stopped , opened rear door and went to rearrange the parts in order to stop the knocking sound.

To my surprise all parts where so stuck that they wouldn't knock each other so i got curious and started looking around with my hand (was dark due to late evening) and this is what i found.....:eek:
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k25/xGreekx/Problems/IMG_0116.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k25/xGreekx/Problems/IMG_0117.jpg


As you can see there is no dumper!!! Since i didn't have any visibility , yet, i thought that a possible reason was a very rusty metal piece departed along with the dumper. After some dismantling i saw that just the bolts where off somehow and probably on a hard cornering the dumper went lower than the car and stayed there leaving the sprint doing all the job.


Luckily , no damage on the car or on the Koni , i managed to find somewhere on the trunk the bolts and the mounting rubber and put them back together tightening them again.

Tip of the day : Check all your bolts regularly , even those that you consider impossible to get loose.
 
#414 ·
That could only happen to you!!!:cheese: Have you tried exorcism????:cheese::cheese:When we checked the car it was just fine. What did you do again....??????? :lol: Apart from the laughing part George you ought to check them every now and then, it's an old car you know, with a hard suspension......
 
#417 ·
Ok , quick question...

What will happen and what are pros & Cons of installing mech tappets from 1.7 to 1.5?

I can understand it will increase capacity but it will lower compression. As for gain will i have some? Will the engine become more "lazy" due to lower compression?
 
#419 ·
No , i mean heads with mech tappet from 1.7 (which i have) to my 1.5 with also mech tappets.. I know that i will lower compression but i will increase burning chamber maybe reaching 1.6 but i dont know the results. For example there is the race car Sud which is 1.4 with 16v heads but we are talking about racing specs and things change a little....
 
#420 ·
You will not get a 1,6 with that operation. You need either a 1,7 with a 1,5 crank or bore the 1,5 block to fit the pistions from a 1,7 to get 1,6.
I really don't see the point with the heads from a 1,7.
I would go the other way and raise the compression and give it a set of C&B cams.
 
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