Alfetta exhaust mods

[graham.hilder@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (Graham Hilder)]

Thanks to all who replied to my query about possible mods to my
Alfetta exhaust. The general summary was that my existing
exhaust was probably just fine and that not much would be gained
by rushing out and fitting aftermarket parts, considering that the
car revs pretty jolly well as it is right now. That's just what I
wanted to hear.... it means I can leave the Alfetta alone and get
stuck into something else instead. 

The most recent post on the subject was from Mark Thornton, in
AD V7 no.10 (I'm a bit behind with my digesting). Mark made
some interesting points.  For starters, Mark described the typical
early non-cat Alfetta 2000 system as including the forward unit,
centre expansion chamber and rear silencer under the trunk, and
this was said to be a good low-loss system....... OK, this is just
what my (aftermarket) system looks like, which indicates it may be
a fair replica of the Alfa original.  Good.

Next, regarding the quality or not of the exhaust manifold design, I
had said that a lot of people reckon it's not much good, and go for
aftermarket ones. Mark suggested  this could refer to the
catalyst/air pump type, whereas the cast iron Euro type is a good
design which is sought in the States as a replacement.   Well, on
this, I'm not sure..... I know a lot of people in NZ toss out their
Euros claiming they're not much good. I think that Jim K's "How to
Power Tune....." book was a bit scathing about the Alfetta
exhanust manifold too, but I'm only working from dodgy memory
on that!     You heear a lot of conflicting opinions.  I guess that
one thing I must bear in mind is that the people who toss out the
Euros are generally people wanting to modify and probably race
their cars, whereas mine is still basically standard, and I tend to
agree with the view that the Euro manifold is probably just fine in
these circumstances.   

The bottom line is, the car goes pretty jolly well as it is now (well
enough for me anyway), and most folks are saying there's not
much bang for the buck to be gained on a standard Alfetta by
deviating from the original Alfa Euro design, so I'll leave the whole
exh system as it is.  

Thanks again for everyone's comments. It really helps to hear from
other people who've already tried these things or have the info as
to what works and what is un-necessary spending.

Regards all,
Graham H.,
N.Z. 
77 Alfetta GTV 2.0

P.S. In my original query, I mentioned that the car revs to six and a
half quite freely and doesn't feel restricted by the exhaust. And
Mark commented "Yeeoww.  I don't recall going as high as 6500 in
any of my Alfas".  Well I should note that I don't make a habit of
using six and a half....... it's just that until recently the Alfetta
would run out of breath at around five or five and a half...... I'd
lived with this for the 10 years I'd owned it..... and now that I have
only just recently got it so it DOES rev properly, I'm so overjoyed
that I can't resist the occasional burst up into the red.  I guess this
new-found excitement will wear off over time......

G.

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