Another vote for Spica, and an idea.

["Paul Witek" <shempmodin@domain.elided>]

I'm a fan of Spica, because it adds another "cool" factor to Alfas.  Someone asks about your car in a parking lot:

them:  "What kinda motor she got in it?"

you:  "2 liter, twin cam all alloy inline four with crossflow heads, hemispherical combustion chambers and fuel injection...." 

(wait about a heartbeat or two)

you:  "...that is, *mechanical* fuel injection."

It never fails to impress.

On a totally unrelated note, I recently had an idea that no doubt others have had before.  While comtemplating rebuilding a few cylinder heads, I was running through the steps, making up a parts list, etc.
What struck me was this - to set the valve clearances, you're putting the cam in, measuring, taking it out, measuring the shims, calculating the difference, installing new shims, then putting the cams back in again.

Well, if you're going to take the cams out once anyway, why not eliminate one step, all the math, and the need for a micrometer?  Just buy some shims in the thickness that you want your final clearance to be, say, 0.45mm.  Put those on, install the cams, and the clearance for each valve is the thickness of shim you need to buy.  When you take out the cams to install the final shims, toss those others in a baggy and into your toolbox.  At around $2.50 a shim, this seems like a much cheaper alternative to a micrometer...

So, would this work, or am I missing something vital?

- - Paul Witek

  





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