Re: [alfa] non-Alfa project for the truly ambitious

[George Graves <gmgraves@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Pardon me for chiming-in so late on this one, but would somebody please 
explain to me how a cam-drive chain can be located in the CENTER of a 
V-6? Seems to me that there is either going to be two pistons in front 
of the cam chain location and 4 pistons behind it, or, there's going to 
be 4 pistons in front and two behind. I can see how a center mounted 
cam drive could be possible on a V-4, a V-8, or a V-12 or a V-16,, but 
not on a V-6.

George Graves
'86 GTV-6 3.0 'S'



On Jun 3, 2004, at 10:27 PM, alfa-digest wrote:

> Date: Fri, 04 Jun 2004 00:32:45 -0400
> From: Mark Denovich <mark@domain.elided>
> Subject: Re: [alfa] non-Alfa project for the truly ambitious
>
> Joe Elliott wrote:
>
>> This has puzzled me for as long as I can remember, and while totally
>> off-topic, I have to ask--why is the timing chain on the Merak/SM 
>> engine
>> in the freaking middle of the engine?  It doesn't seem like a weird
>> thing to do on a prewar straight-8 with a two-piece block, etc, but 
>> why
>> on a modern V6?  (I guess the Honda Hurricane 600cc 4cyl also has a
>> central timing chain, but it never struck me as so weird.)
>
> The previously mentioned link explains that in an effort to keep the
> motor short (it was supposedly 16" long without accessories) they used 
> a
> jack-shaft to drive the cams, with the cams driving by timing chains in
> the middle of the engine.  (the engine would have been longer if the
> cams were driven on the ends like in our dear Alfas.)  The main timing
> chain (that drove the jack shaft) was on the end of the crank and 
> lacked
> a tensioner.   It was also only accessible by removing the engine.
>
> - --Mark
> The Alfa Wiki:  http://alfa.denovich.org
>
George Graves
'86 GTV-6 3.0 'S'
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