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rebuild?

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1K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  gazza82 
#1 ·
hi guys,

sad day, alfa not well, she left me by the side of the road! (and to all you alfa nay sayers out there, thats only the 2nd time in 5 years and 60k miles!!!!!)

being opened up tomorrow at the garage, but im 80%+ its thrown the cambelt.

happened at 20 - 30 mph

i threw it into neutral as soon as i saw the engine light come on

putting car in 2nd gear and rocking seems to show no cam movement (thats as far as we got on side of road)


so onto the meat of the question:

my engine had done 102k miles (1.6 120ps)

to be honest, there was a tad of a bottom end rattle, plus a shot variator, and an increasing amount of oil use over last 20 miles.

so whilst i am happy to get my guys to source a head, put some shells in and start building her up, im just thinking in your experience what may be the best option?

heres the best bit (and i kid you not) i already had the cambelt full kit on the shelf ready to fit! last done at 64k, now 38 since the change- was dropping it in next week for MOT & cambelt!!!!!!!!!
 
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#2 ·
I would rebuild it if you are keeping the car for a long time, if not its probably worth fitting a second hand engine which will be cheaper.

My ts blew up at 74k miles and got it rebuilt although it needed doing again a year later! (oil leaks, drank water and headgasket went!). But i suppose u could have that happen with a used engine.

If you can do most of the rebuid work yourself that is best as you know exactly what work went into it. Mines on 40k now and I used the failure as an opportunity to upgrade the ts (cam shafts, porting, lightweight flywheel)
 
#3 ·
Hi, sorry to hear that, think that's the all fears to Alfa drivers,
how many years was it since your last cambelt change? and what was the noise like you say about the 'low end noise'
i think if i had the chance i would completely strip and re-build the whole engine, given time, space and money.

there are plenty of threads on here with T.S. rebuilds:

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/motoring-images/290806-biffas-gtv-project-2.html

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/motoring-images/168718-my-new-project.html

hope you get her running again, all the best
 
#4 ·
thanks guys, she has ben opened up, and yes it was the belt, no teeth at the bottom.

Low speed (20mph) seems to have meant its not all in bits!

Looks like we might get away with a few valves and guides, and a skimmed head.

My dads mechanics (he has a mazda dealership) are going to tackle it - they are great mechanics, but not alfa specialists

so i just need to make sure they are aware of as much as possible, taking into account our (your!) experience!

I have bleated on about big end shells after reading on here, but the next question is : what else do we replace given that i would like to keep bella for another 2 / 3 years.

The water pump is 2years and 20,000 miles old.
Obv will have a new belt kit & variator

anything else?

Appreciate your experience and help!


paulos
 
#6 ·
guys,

as title suggests - do you have to remove engine to do big ends - or can you drop off the sump?
No, but you do need to loosen one bolt and remove other got get the pickup pipe out of the way before it comes off.

Have a little look at my GTV thread it has loads of helpful pictures.
 
#7 ·
If you're changing shells and the head is off, surely it's worthwhile replacing the piston rings if it's using lots of oil. Depends on bore condition but if not worn new rings might give it a new lease of life. Probably a bad idea to hone with the crank in situ, even covered up, but removing the glaze with wet and dry paper will do.
 
#11 ·
You can buy a tool to do that ... fits on a drill and is much much quicker ... better at getting fine scratches out. Deep scratches will probably need an overbore and moving up a size on pistons, etc.
 
#8 ·
You shouldn't need to skim the head unless it's warped or was loosing coolant. Don't add to the cost when it's not necessary.

Definitely on the piston rings and get the bores honed/glaze busted to remove any fine scratches, etc. It's these that cause some of the oil use on the TS. After I had mine done, oil consumption went to zero.

Fit a new water pump. Mine went after 40000 miles. Possibly a new oil pump? After the mileage yours has done it might just be worth it.
 
#10 ·
shop4parts, EB Spares, AlfaWorkshop, AlfaShop, Alternative Autos, and then general motor factors like buypartsby, carpart4less/eurocarparts, FPS (Ferrari Piston Services), etc ...

Dealers sometimes have deals and often offload excess stock on ebay, etc.
 
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