[Alfaguy35]

I'm finishing a Twin Spark Conversion on a '71 GTV for a friend. I know that most people are using the BMW Thermostat but I'm not sure how it gets plumbed. Which ports on the thermostat connect to which ports on the motor? My next item is the throttle cable. What cable are people using?
If someone who has done this conversion would post some pictures of these areas it would be a great help.

Thanks

 

[lgowin]

I couldn't get the BMW thermostat to work, so I retained the stock TS thermostat.

For the throttle linkage, I used a cable housing from Centerline and bought a cable from a bike shop that had the ball attached. I ditched the Centerline cable and used the longer bike cable. I also had to fabricate a couple cable stops. A brass top hat bushing and some JB Weld made it work.

Regards,
Lawrence

 

[Bruce Colby]

I used the stock TS thermostat in both my conversions. BTW, the photos I've seen which incorporate the BMW thermostat seem to use an inappropriate plumbing configuration.

 

[Capp]

The following scenario applies only if you're using the original stock Twinspark intake manifold. I too used the stock TS thermostat because using the BMW 2002 stat. would have required plumbing the inlet to the outlet or some such bass-ackwards trickery as I recall. It may or may not have worked O.K., but didn't want to chance it on my newly rebuilt money pit....., er. Twinspark motor. Looked kinda goofy too. Also I relocated the radiator top inlet neck farther away to the left so as to use a longer straight section of hose that allowed some flex between motor and radiator as opposed to an otherwise short coupling. I'm pretty sure I used a throttle cable assembly from a Fiat X-19. This required shortening the cable core only on the throttle-body end to recieve a Nico-press fitting (crimped barrel or sleeve fitting) as a stop. Whatever was on the other end was cut off and the bare cable inserted into the car's stock throttle bellcrank fitting at the firewall. This arrangement requires that you curl the cable assembly into a full loop and route it around the stock intake runners up to the throttle body. This is an excellent quality teflon lined cable assy' , and the loop causes no perceptible increase in pedal effort or sticking. Hope some of this helps.

 

[crashmctavish]

I used the original stat & made a cable from and old volkswagen electric window!

 

[iachella]

Here is my thermostat repositioned. I used a GTV trunk cable for the throttle. I retained the cable ends from the Spica throttle cable. I havn't crimped or glued them, but they don't seem to move.

 

[Alfaguy35]

T/S Throttle Cable

Thanks for all the help and suggestions.
I figured out how to plumb the thermostat and got that to work.
For the throttle cable I found that a Milano throttle cable is the perfect length.
All one needs to do to make it work is enlarge the hole on the throttle quadrant so that the cable end fits in, enlarge the hole in the throttle cable housing bracket that bolts to the intake plenum so that the cable housing will fit.
Next cut the throttle pedal end fitting off the cable and remove the cable from the housing. The fire wall end of the housing has a rubber bushing that needs to be removed, after that is removed there is a plastic end on the housing that need to be shortened so that it will fit in the original throttle cable bracket that is mounted to the firewall. Install the cable back in the housing carefully and you are ready to go. Once I figured out that this cable would work I did this whole job in less than an hour and I liked the fact that I was able to use an off the shelf part with only a little modification.

 

[iachella]

Any pictures? It's a little bit hard to picture what you did.

Thanks,

 

[Alfaguy35]

T/S Throttle cable Pictures

I was down helping my buddy finish this project and took some pictures of the throttle cable installation. Hope this helps. I'm pretty sure this would work on any car that was originally a Spica car.

 

[iachella]

That is very nice. Can you find out what the cable came from? It's short, is it a motorcycle throttle cable? Also, how does this tight turn perform? Does the cable slide well through the sheath? Any friction or binding?

Also, it seems he is missing the lock nut on the firewall side of the bracket holding the cable. Not sure how critical it is.

 

[Alfaguy35]

Throttle Cable

The throttle cable is a Milano cable with the end at the firewall modified.

 

[iachella]

In Line Thermostat

This is an old thread, but I came across this thermostat housing. It's inline, but doesn't have a bypass outlet. Some discussions on other forums suggest drilling a small hole in the thermostat to let a small amount of water through when closed so that the water doesn't remain stagnant in the head - hotspot and warpage issues. I was thinking, what about a T connector before the thermostat. When closed, it would force water down to the water pump bypass, but when opened, I'm not sure how much would flow to the radiator and how much would flow out the T. Any comments?

 

[69alfa]

iachella I think all inline or normal thermostats like the one in your photo have a small hole to start with. If not they would take a very long time to start to open. I do like the bypass type because it starts moving the coolant right away.
But I wonder how much difference it makes.Where is that setup from? I would like to clean up the plumbing and this may be the way to go. If you look at the cars Alfaholics puts together you can see they don't use the bypass type.

You can see the way they do it here Alfaholics GTAm Twin Spark Cam Cover Last photo on the page.

I like it! Clean!

 

[Alfajay]

The recent thread at http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/engine-rebuilding/159521-ts-rebuild.html#post823724 also discusses components and plumbing for TS conversion cooling systems. Many of the folks who have contributed to this thread have also weighed in on the thread in the engine rebuilding section.

My conclusion from reading both threads, and surfing the Autocomponenti and Alfaholics sites, is that there is no concensus on how to cool a TS mounted in a 105.

 

[69alfa]

Found a link for that inline thermostat housing.
K-Tuned In-Line Thermostat Housing with T-Stat K-Tuned

 

[Trav]

throttle cables

Pegasus Racing supply custom makes throttle cables. A step up from trunk or bike cable and lots of different ends to choose from. I have one and its worth the money.

 

[iachella]

Yes, I was getting ready to post that link.

 

[MIaGiulia]

The solution for the throttle cable is really simple.
Only required material is a motorcycle cable (with a 90 degr fixed end) and a alu profile of approx 100mm. With this you can use the original lever and pul mechanisme.
Have to look for the pictures to ilustrate the story, but really it is soooo simple and cheap. Plus it alows adjustment to the position (hight) of the peddle. In my Giulia it works perfectly since September 2006 and over 10000 km.

 

[iachella]

Arthur:

Which pictures are you talking about? Be aware that the throttle linkage in the US is different from the rest of the world. Since we got the Spica fuel injection, the linkage from the pedal to the bell crank is different.

 

[MIaGiulia]

Arthur:

Which pictures are you talking about? Be aware that the throttle linkage in the US is different from the rest of the world. Since we got the Spica fuel injection, the linkage from the pedal to the bell crank is different.

The pictures I was refering to were these;

however as Iachella was mentioning, the US throttle linkage is different from EU version. But for those who are looking for suggestions, do your benefit with this set up.