On the road again

["Eric H." <ejham@domain.elided>]

What a major event for my GTV6! In two days (12 hours labor) I
replaced the water pump and hoses, thermostat, hydraulic tensioner (it
was distinctly bad, by the way -- thanks to all who responded), timing
belt and covers, numerous corroded-in bolts,  set the exhaust valve
clearance, and cleaned up numerous underhood messes. What fun! A big
thanks to Alfa Bill at Mastro...all the Alfa parts were there when I
needed them. Cheaper than mail order, I might add, and they all came
in that wonderful orange and black packaging.

Tip for GTV6 owners: remove the hood and the radiator to get real work
done. I envy Milano owners their 'traditional' hood -- it makes it
real easy to get at the front of the engine. Re-aligning after removal
takes some time but I can't imagine a better way.

I'm now perplexed by the fact that the car is not running as well as
when I started out. But I'm sure I'll sort that out soon -- with so
many changes to components controlling timing (i.e.: removing the
distributor and its drive pulley, setting the timing correctly,
replacing the hydraulic tensioner with a mechanical version) I'm
pretty sure the problem lies there. With the stage 3 heads, it's hard
to figure where everything should be set. I'll tinker with it.

It's odd to the see the car run this hot, but I'm sure it's more
healthy...150 was too cold, 175-200 is about right.

Don't ask me why I felt the need to post all this...I guess it's
fatigue euphoria or something. I've got to lie down now as my back has
had enough for today.

Anyone who has the power to look up the camshaft number (119
00.05200.25), please feel free to do so. It would help greatly with
tuning if I knew they were stock or something else.

- -- Eric Hambleton, Clearwater, FL (motto: "Use anti-seize compound!")

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