Voice of experience requested: engine R&R, 105 Coupe

[Scott Fisher <sefisher@domain.elided>]

Well, I'm FINALLY getting a replacement engine for the 1300 GT Junior in
a couple of weeks.  And while I have some generally decent workshop
manuals for the 105 series cars, I wanted to ask a few specific
questions of the list and get the voice of experience on a few subjects.

Background: I've never pulled an Alfa engine before (I did the job
several times on MGBs when they were Flavor of the Month).  I've pulled
this Alfa's transmission from underneath, including removing the
bellhousing to fit the bushing necessary for the later gearbox I ended
up using, so I basically remember what the underside looks like.

My questions:

1 - Is the job easier with the engine and transmission hooked up as a
unit, or am I better off to pull just the engine and leave the tranny in
place?  Fiddling the splines on the input shaft doesn't bother me, not
nearly so much as crawling all the way under the car to undo the
transmission bits.  But what *don't* I know that might make the other
choice better? 

2 - I'll be replacing the 1300 with (take a deep breath...) a 1750. 
(Yes, now I too will be able to weigh in on the 1750 vs 2000 prattle,
and I can compare them both with the *real* Alfa engine, the 1300! :-) 
I've heard from several sources, including Alfa Parts Exchange (APE) and
several on the Digest, that the 1750 is a "bolt-in" replacement in the
earlier cars.  But what does "bolt-in" REALLY mean -- what does and
doesn't line up (bellhousing? flywheel? etc.)?  I'd love to hear some
"been there, done thats" from Digesters who can tell me what I have to
change to make this fit.

3 - Throttle linkage?  I've seen ads for kits to convert from Spica to
Weber linkages, but... I'm nuts and am currently planning to use the
Spica that's on the 1750 engine I'm buying.  The '67 has the
all-bellcrank, all-ball-joint Weber carb linkage -- I haven't looked at
it in a while, but I don't remember *any* cables in it at all, just the
rods and ball joints to push on the Weber throttle levers.  Is there an
easy answer, such as "get a linkage out of a 196X whatever" that I can
call APE and ask for?  Or is it linkage engineering time (or should I
just give up and have the 40DCOEs rejetted for the larger engine)?

That's all I can think of for now.  It's Thanksgiving in the U.S., a
time for reflecting on and acknowledging all the good things in our
lives.  I think we'd all agree that we can be thankful we have these
cars, and that we have the Digest to keep the cars going!

- --Scott Fisher
  Sunnyvale, CA

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