RE: [alfa] Zat Tensioner Vs Hydraulic in non-hydraulic mode Vs...

["Brian Shorey" <bshorey@xxxxxxxxx>]

> Okay, I might have misspoken when I told Orville and Wilbur it would
> never fly, but when that German car came out in the 60's with a
> reinforced rubber belt rather than a good old timing chain, said,
> "There's gonna be nothing but trouble with that set-up."

The Goggomobile was intruduced in the 50's, not the 60's, right?

<snip>
> Even though I do have a shop manual for the GTV6 / Milano I'm not going
> to bother looking at the engine stuff - but if someone could come up
> with a case completely enclosing the timing "area" (carbon fiber?),
> change sprockets, install a simple chain tensioner as found on the
> 4-cylinder's, and figure out how to get oil to it all - wouldn't life be
> so much simpler?
>
> Sure, you'd have a little bit more noise going on under the hood, but
> how many of you V-sixers wouldn't exchange a little metallic racket for
> the piece of mind knowing the "belt" should now last almost until
eternity?

I hate timing belts, much prefer chains.  I think the above is not quite so
simple a mod.

At any rate, belts do have an advantage, chains rob some horsepower, belts
rob less.  I was reading a section from Bradens last book, Dr Tenney (our
very own Grinch) had written a few pages to Pat concerning Alfas,
modifications, tuning, etc.  One of the things he pointed out was that in
tuning he had spent a lot of time removing areas where HP was robbed, rather
than looking for ways to increase HP.  One thing he did in an old chain
driven twin cam Alfa was replace the double width timing chain with a single
width one, and watched the HP go up.

An interesting way of looking at things..

bs
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