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  #16 (permalink)  
Old 05-23-2008, 05:54 AM
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Alfar7 Alfar7 is offline
Richard Jemison
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Something not to do

180OUT:
Please don`t suggest something you haven`t done

Do not use copper head gaskets in an Alfa motor they wont work.
Won`t seal for any length of time regardles of compounds or layers. Warp liners on torqring, & retorquing. Good for "few run" motors only. Not for road race and not an option for street at all.
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"you don`t have to listen, but you won`t win the argument"!
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  #17 (permalink)  
Old 05-23-2008, 12:14 PM
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reuven reuven is offline
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In the end I bought from Pertronix the ignitor and the 40K coil and mount it in an old Bosch distributor 0231110045. I changed the advancing springs inside the distributor to the strongest I could find that still fits.

This works very nice, no pinging any more. I am using 99 octane.

Look at my videos and my favorite videos on youtube (reuvenso), you will find some nice things.

Reuven

Last edited by reuven; 05-23-2008 at 12:17 PM.
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  #18 (permalink)  
Old 05-23-2008, 07:09 PM
180OUT 180OUT is offline
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Quote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfar7 View Post
180OUT:
Please don`t suggest something you haven`t done

Do not use copper head gaskets in an Alfa motor they wont work.
Won`t seal for any length of time regardles of compounds or layers. Warp liners on torqring, & retorquing. Good for "few run" motors only. Not for road race and not an option for street at all.
Richard, I don't recommend things I haven't tried or have no personal experience with unless I clearly point out that said comments are conjecture, nothing more. I purchased a copper head gasket from Alfa Ricambi when I built my 10:4 c/r street motor. At the time I bought it because Alfa Ricambi sold it as a way to slightly reduce the compression of 10:4 pistons to about 10:1 or so. I'd had to have the head cut a little so I was worried about pinging on the 91/92 octane gas being sold then.

Perhaps it was just dumb luck on my part (although I had some pretty experienced Alfa engine builders looking over my shoulder when I built that motor) but It worked just fine.

I don't know where Ricambi bought the gasket, but it was nicely made and fit perfectly. I ran the car exclusively on the street as one of my daily drivers for about 3/4 years and about 30k miles with no head gasket related problems, aside from some minor oil seepage which was/is common with 2L motors. That motor's been in storage for about a decade with the copper head gasket still in place. I've been wondering, in fact, if it really is resuable when/if I decided to freshen that motor and start using it again.

Do I think moden head gaskets are better? Yep. Would I use a copper gasket in place of a modern head gasket? Probably not. As for giving copper head gaskets a general recommendation for building Alfa motors, I don't know of anybody who now uses copper head gaskets in newly rebuilt Alfa motors---not even the racers who might actually have a need for one.

All I can report is that I tried one and it worked. I used it specifically to slightly reduce my motor's compression ratio. It did that. That was really the only reason I used a copper gasket over a modern gasket. I mentioned it to Reuven because he appeared to be having a similar problem.
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'70, 1750GTV, 2nd series
'62, Lancia Flaminia Zagato3c, 2nd series

Last edited by 180OUT; 05-23-2008 at 07:22 PM.
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  #19 (permalink)  
Old 05-24-2008, 08:36 PM
180OUT 180OUT is offline
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Addendum

For those who are interested, I should have mentioned that the gasket I purchased from Alfa Ricambi was not a solid piece of copper. It was made with two copper faces sandwiched between what appeared to be standard gasket material. Except for the copper faces, it was identical in construction to an OEM head gasket including, for instance, the aluminum sealing rings which fitted between the liners and the head, etc.

It was obviously a manufactured product which probably explains why it worked so well on my car. A solid copper gasket would undoubtedly have the disadvantages Richard mentions.
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'70, 1750GTV, 2nd series
'62, Lancia Flaminia Zagato3c, 2nd series
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