[105&SPRINTLUVR]

Hi All ... in parralel to my work on Sprints my dear old 105 needs open heart surgery... so I am doing an engine rebuild... with a lil help from a friend.

I need Pistons, rings, sleeves, bearings and gaskets... HELP!

Some of this I can buy here in Australia... but I am lead to believe I MUST have an original Alfa Romeo Head Gasket and the bearings should be Vanwall...

Any advice re this... or advice where to collect my bits... I love the old girl... and I don't realy want to put a 75 twin spark engine in there.

thanks
Mark

 

[crashmctavish]

www.classicalfa.com

 

[Alfajay]

105&SPRINTLUVR had written: "...but I am lead to believe I MUST have an original Alfa Romeo Head Gasket and the bearings should be Vanwall "

That's sort of like writing "...but I am lead to believe that the best religion is ___". You could ask 100 people these questions, get 100 different answers, and find every respondent CERTAIN that they are correct.

If you want my opinion, any high-quality gasket or bearing will work just fine. A poor job of fitting a Vanwall bearing is going to yeild a shorter life than an excellent job of fitting a no-name bearing. Ditto with the gasket, oil pump, rings, ... Ask the machinist who grinds your crank to source the bearings, and make him responsible for getting the journal diameters to match the parts he supplies. Ditto for rings - ask what he has has found to work with the honing pattern he provides.

German-made Reinz headgaskets have a good reputation, but again, head flatness, application of sealant, and lack of overheating will have a LOT more to do with reliability than German vs. Italian origin.

 

[Damo105]

Mark

You may find that importing the parts yourself is cheaper than buying them locally, but shop around. All local Italian specialist workshops could tell you where to source parts locally.

If you import them, don't buy all the parts in one transaction or you'll have to pay duty ($1000 threshold).

I find the UK guys (Alfaholics, Highwood Alfa and Classic Alfa) are an excellent source of 105 parts.

Consider the US suppliers too, as we have a free trade agreement with the US, and the Aussie dollar is still pretty strong

 

[Gary Williams]

You may want to read the following before fitting your new Reinz -- or other -- head gasket: http://greend.com/reinz_head_gskt.htm