Alfa 159i info required

["John Fielding" <johnf@domain.elided>]

Hi everyone,

I just found your list on the www and thought I could get some advise on my latest
project.

I am in the process of purchasing a 1985  159i which I will be converting for use in
hill-climb events.  Up until now I have been using my road car, a Fiat Uno Turbo (1998)
which is not really that suitable.

One of the other competitors uses a heavily modified GTV with a 3.4L motor and twin
turbo's.  As I have been studying the most suitable vehicle for this class of racing the
front engine /  rear transaxle setup seems ideal.

My first question is this.  The vehicle has the 1800 motor but Weber carbs ( 2x 40DCOE I
think) the original injected motor was replaced by a previous owner.  How much can this
engine develop without sacrificing the realibility?  I would like eventually to replace
the motor with maybe a GTV 2.5 injected and turbo'ed at some later stage.

Second question:  How much punishment can the transaxle take, in other words what would
be the safe HP it could transmit without destructing?

Third and last question (for now anyway):  I have obtained a set of 12" wide ali rims to
fit.  What would be a good choice of tyres size for hill climb and track racing and would
I be better off with lowered suspension.  The front looks simple by moving the torsion
bars, but the rear I guess would need the coil springs changing.

Sorry for all the dumb questions, but this is only my second Alfa, the first was a Sud
but I don't really count that one!

If you would like to reply off list that's OK with me.

John  - from Sunny South Africa.

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