'69 Spider Veloce Iniezione redline

[JHertzman@domain.elided]

In AD7-1194 Zachary Kator asks about redlines: " My new '69 Spider Veloce's 
tachometer is redlined around 5200 rpm.  I thought that all Alfa 4-cylinder 
engines made from the first Guilietta to the last Spider had redlines of 
6300.  Is there a real reason this was lowered,  i.e. Spica,  or is the 
"real" redline at 6300?"

Skipping redlines for the moment, per Fusi the Giulietta developed its 80 hp 
at 6300, and the Giulietta Veloce 90 hp at 6500; the 1600, with a 7mm longer 
stroke, dropped 'peak' to 6200 for the normale but kept the 6500 for the 
Veloce. (The 1600 GTA 'Corsa' developed its rated power at 7500.) The 1750, 
with an added 6.5mm stroke, dropped the peak rating to 5500, where it 
remained for the 2000. 

The instruments shown in the parts book for the 'Euro' 1750 show a redline at 
6000 (more correctly, a redzone from 6000 to 8000), while the instruments 
shown in the parts book for the 'USA' 1750 show a redzone from 5700 to 8000- 
so something changed affecting the US cars.

The Owner's Manual for the 1750 Iniezione shows the redzone on the tach from 
5700 to 8000, and gives the rated horsepower at 5500. The panel showing 
speeds in gears, with the caption "The maximum speeds indicated should not be 
exceeded or mechanical damage may result. The performances given are related 
to the use of the vehicle in average traveling conditions" lists speeds (1st: 
29 mph; 2nd, 48 mph; 3rd, 71 mph; 4th, 96 mph; 5th, 120 mph) corresponding to 
6000 rpm.

The role Spica plays in all this is a good question. The Spica pump was 
developed from a diesel injector, and diesels are usually lower speed 
engines, but the Montreal, which uses the same basic Spica pumping unit 
doubled, develops its rated horsepower at 6500, so the Spica internals should 
have been considered acceptably reliable for a road car at that speed. The GT 
Am, which used a Spica pump, developed its rated horsepower at 7200 (1970) or 
7500 (1971), so the Spica internals should have been considered acceptably 
reliable for a competition car running in 24 hour races at around that speed. 

So, where are we? If Zach Kator's '69 Spider Veloce's tachometer is redlined 
around 5200 rpm, as he says, it is an anomaly which I cannot explain. By 
Alfa's published figures the car should be able to run at 6000 indefinitely 
"in average traveling conditions" without resulting in mechanical damage, but 
there would be no power advantage running above 5500. The redzone (as opposed 
to a redline) suggests to me that some degree of zone incursion is acceptable 
(and expected?) when going through the gears to get the next gear well up on 
the curve. The drop from 6000 to 5700 for the base of the redzone, in going 
from a carbureted Euroengine to an injected USAengine (when both are rated at 
the same power at the same speed) is an open question; but ARI was seriously 
antsy about emissions testing and corporate responsibility at that time, and 
it seems possible that this may have played a part in lowering the indicated 
base of the redzone for the US cars at that time. If anyone else can add to 
the logic, I too would be interested.

John H. 
Raleigh, N.C.

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