GTV-S2000 (warning not for the Alfa purist)

[tibones]

Truly unique!!! This is what I want to see! Hehe. The car is going to be amazing.
Good job man! Can't wait for updates.

[Keven]

A little progress. I made some spacers for the mount plate bolts.
I used 304 stainless rod, drilled and tapped for M10 bolts 10.9's
Then I welded a cover over the end. On the other side I welded
a plate to the top of the brace, and tacked a M10 nut.

Bolted it all together, and trial fit it. Well, there's always some
problem, right? The passenger side frame rail slopes downward, and
when I trial fitted before bolting it all together, it seemed to fit, but
when the bolts were tightened, the passenger side is not about 2"
above the frame rail. I'm thinking of welding on a tapered square
section to the frame rail. The passenger will lose some comfort, as
the slope for his/her legs will be less than before.

I'm thinking of buying new front floor pans from Wolf Steel, and modifiying
them to fit my set up. I think this will save me a ton of time, and will
look somewhat stock. Any opinions?

The tranny tunnel will have to be a custom job, more on this later...

[dretceterini]

250 RELIABLE horsepower in a '71 GTV should be quite inpressive, and you could call it an Alfa "Special", in the same vein as the Nardi Alfas, etc...

[Keven]

Some more slow progress. I tacked the tranny mount in,
and checked if the propeller shaft was centered. It was
not Luckily I had built in some adjustability at the
motor mounts, and was able to remove about 4 washers
from the passenger side and add them to the driver side
mount, and this centered the prop shaft perfectly.

I also placed the seat in, and sat and tried the location of
the shifter. Seems perfect. Sat in the seat dreaming of the
day she will roll

On the advice of the body shop, I am going to finish welding in
the new floor, then have the car dipped. I am mocking up the
floor using cardboard. More to come...

[Shire_GTV]

Hi Kev,

Any more progress?

[Keven]

Adam,

Yep, been a while. I have been really busy with work and family
obligations. But have been squeezing in some time to work on
the Tomato. I have been making the tranny tunnel and new floors.
The floors have been no problem, but the tunnel has been harder
than I thought. I made a rectangular tapered tunnel with some
16 gauge sheet metal, but am not happy with the results. Looks
ameaturish. I have been contacting a few hot rod parts builders
to get dimensions of thier tranny firewall/covers/tunnels, but most
look to large for my application. I am going to give it one more
try on my own. We have a large metal bender here at work, so
I will try and bend up a new tunnel, and post some pics if it
looks descent.

Sorry for taking do long guys, but I want to do this right... stay tuned...

[slyalfa]

I think the tunnel is a key structural part of the car. so it is worth doing right.

[PSk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by slyalfa I think the tunnel is a key structural part of the car. so it is worth doing right.

[sono veL.O.ce]

I agree, By cutting the old tunnel down the center you can make it wider by adding sheet, in a similar fashion you can add sheet to make it taller as well. The result will be something that at least 'sort of' looks stock, and shoudl swallow the s2k tranny without too much hassle.

[Keven]

Guys,

Yes, conventional wisdom would be to reuse the original tunnel
with some modifications. But, being strictly an amatuer car
builder, I managed to bugger it up when I cut it out

I thought of fiber glassing a tunnel, but I do think the tunnel
does add to the Alfa structure (albeit very slightly), and I
want some steel between me and the 9000RPM I plan on doing
with the S2000 motor/tranny!!

I was actually pretty impressed with the heftyness of the stock
tunnel, there is some gusseting, and some relatively thick steel.
The tranny mount is very stout, and ties the two lower sills of
the car via a very thick metal plate.

You all inspired me, and last night I bent up a tunnel on the bender
here at my work, and will be making some mods to fit into the new
floors I made. Hopefully I will have some pics next week.

[Mikes4C1300]

Now this should dispel those myths you've heard about no bottom end torque in an S2000 ...

[GoldCloverLeaf]

sure, tell us another one

[Keven]

Finally some progress. I made the tranny cover/tunnel from a single
piece of 18ga steel, using a band saw and a bender (at work )
I think it came out pretty nice. I then fit the tunnel with the floors,
and made some L brackets to join them at the seams. I hindsight,
I should have bent seams on the tunnel to begin with, but it all should
weld up nice and strong. I am going to add a small lip where the tunnel
meets the firewall for added strength, and will add a couple of bent
tube braces to the inside of the tunnel for rigidity, and to prevent any
vibration or oscillations while driving. I then carefully measured the
distance to the S2000 shifter, and cut a hole for it. I ordered the
stock S2000 shift boots and brackets to make it all nice and weather
proof, and quiet (see the S2000 parts diagram below). Will now begin
tacking it all in, and it's off to the dipper!!

[Mikes4C1300]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keven ...and I want some steel between me and the 9000RPM I plan on doing with the S2000 motor/tranny!!

[GTV-GR]

Keven awesome perfectionist work!