As some of my Fellow Briskodians know, ive had a hankering to own an Alfa Romeo with the proper Busso V6 for quite a while. I have wished to own one for a While, until I bought one last week

 

Here she (yes its a She) is, 1998 Alfa Romeo GTV (Ph2) with the Busso 3.0L V6 24V engine (more on this later), with 112k Miles on the clock, 4 previous owners, an amazing leather interior and most important of all, its Red!

 

Now for those not familiar with the GTV, its name Translated from Italian to English essentially means "Gran Tourer Fast"  (well Veloce), for me, it certainly is fast, 220 BHP, 200 ibs/ft of torque and a quoted 0-60 in 6.7 Seconds, it certainly feels and more importantly sounds, alot better than the Mk1 Fabia vRS its replacing!

 

The GTV came in 3 phases, 1 was from 1994/5 to 1998 (signified by black sills, all black dashboard and a few other minor  differences) Phase 2, (this one) was tidied up, it was essentially a minor facelift, Phase 3 was the biggest change, and IMO a mistake, the styling of the front nose changed too much however they did up the 3.0L to a 3.2L (also found in the 147/156 GTA and the GT, not to be confused with the 3.2 GM lump in the 159 and Brera which is terrible)

 

As said previously this one has a 3.0L V6 24 Valve. Designed by Mr Busso in 1979 and started off in a 2.5L V6 12 Valve guise (over head valve) and through the ages was developed into the 24V Quad over head cam beast as seen here but can be found in 2.5 24V (in the 156), 3.0L 24V (in the 164, 166 and GTV) and a 3.2L (in the 147/156 GTA, late GTV's and the GT). 24V models ranging from 190 to 250 BHP. Its Exhaust note is to die for and a few tunnel blasts have already left me giggling like a little child. Also unlike most modern cars the engine itself is a beauty to behold, which even when its rough, its a sexy beast! Also an italian coincidence but days after the last Busso V6 was built, the man himself died. Spooky! 

 

 

This car came with alot of history and ticked alot of the boxes, it has all of the original Keys, including its "Brown Key" Alfa have Red keys, and a Brown Master key. Which is quite rare for a 17 Year old car, as they tend to get lost, and result in big bills if keys, or immobilisers fail. This one came with alot of recent work on Brakes, exhaust and suspension, including quite a few poly bushes which tend to be the failure point on these.

 

 

She is supposed to be a "4 seater" but i would like to see which contortionist could get their legs behind the drivers seat (in my driving position)

 

I like to think that it was a purely head over heart purchase, but it wasnt, No Alfa ever is, as ill admit you have to be insane to buy one given the part costs and Italian complexity. An example of this is the Oil filter which is positioned in between the rear cylinder bank and the bulkhead, leaving little room for maneuvering.

 

 

With the windows down, and the Ragazzon cat back exhaust, this beast screams like a bat out of hell causing many trouser tents during normal driving, and it is what sold me on the car, the pure Smiles/gallon. 

 

A Cup model (151 made) is generally a desireable model, very similar but with minor aero tweaks and a different ecu map, but in all not much between them, so i this one would do for me. 

 

This however is where the usual Alfa reputation starts to creep in.... 

 

My to do list:

 

First and Foremost, CAMBELT! they have a 72,000 mile or 5 year service interval, its 5 years is up in June (despite only doing 10k miles on the current belt) but with these Alfa's, you dont risk it. a 3.0L V6 24 Valve makes a hell of a mess when the belt lets go, often costing over £1000 in parts alone if it fails. A complex job as it has a "floating valve train", no timing marks at all, also being a V6, Quad cam, introduces a few issues. I will later document them, but long story short; 

Disassemble half of the engine

Set roughly to TDC on Cylinder No.1,

Fit Cam Blocks to lock the valve train,

Loosen cambelt tensioner and remove belt,

Crack loose all 4 camshaft sprockets so they can freely spin about 180 degrees

Use a Dial Test indicator to measure TDC on Cylinder No.1 

then Replace water pump, being careful with a Coolant gallery in the top of the V,

Replace tensioner, 2 idlers and belt. Refit all

with Cam shaft sprockets loose, tension belt (to ensure an equal belt tension, locked cams with locked sprockets has caused many cowboys to cause big bills)

tighten everything up, then put the car back together.

 

Looking at £120 in tools, £400 in Parts, but if a garage was to do it, it can vary from £650 to £1000+ (Book time of 8 to 10 hours)

 

Second to do is the Clutch, the setup on these is a bit peculiar, instead of pushing against the forks, it pulls to release the clutch, which doesnt mean a great deal however a sign of the clutch going is when the clutch pedal becomes "notchy" it may engage a few times fine, however with age and temperature the clutch forks work harden causing them to become stiff, and then worst case, break. This has developed and it will need to be replaced

 

Unfortunately to change the clutch, it is a gearbox out job, but the Need for a cambelt change means that it is the done thing to pull the entire engine and gearbox out and do it in one go (alot easier) 

 

1) Cambelt

2) Clutch

3) Oil cooler (minor leak, common fault)

4) Intake Pipe, (OEM Intake 90 degree pipes, which join straight onto the Throttle body perish and tear, a £75 silicon alternative is on the cards)

4) Rear view mirror (incorrectly positioned and wont adjust sufficiently for my driving position)

5) Paint, although in good condition for its age, Plastic bonnet and rear bumpers fade with age

6) Minor TLC such as handbrake adjustments and so on. 

 

 

So yes it is a 17 Year old Alfa with some problems (Rust not being one of them). But I love it  even with these problems, i will prevail!

 

Hope you all like it too

Nice car Taylor, I have subscribed to your thread and will be watching with interest.

 

 Keep a cool head when you attempt the jobs on your to do list and I am sure you will have a mighty fine car when you have done the jobs!

Thanks James, the things to do are pretty big/major, but before anyone comments, I saw a GTV of similar age for £500 less than what i bought mine for, which had been standing for 18 months, suspension was completely shot, endless problems and was due a cambelt by 7 years and was in a very bad condition, this one is pretty good bodywork wise but just needs a bit of TLC.

 

I think i did well to buy this one. and cant wait to get her sorted!

Sounds like you've got your work cut out already mate! Good luck! 

 

What's happening with the VRS? How long until its up for sale? 

At the moment the Fabia is uninsured in a garage, so will need to go soon, but im not going to take silly offers on the price. I am however pottering about in a Green Hippo at the moment just to save driving the Alfa until i get the work sorted.

Lovely car mate, subscribed and looking forward to updates

Fantastic. Looks like a beauty.

Will follow this with interest

Thanks chaps, its weird as im slightly nervous about completely leaving VAG with this car, but excited about the new surroundings

Probably the best written first post on a car thread I've seen.

Be interesting to see how you get on with this.

You are a braver man than me!

Well ive had enough time to plan what to write  

Joking aside, looks a very nice car and I know you have wanted an Alfa for a while.

Hope the rust and electrics hold up.

Well ive had enough time to plan what to write

Whilst waiting for the AA?

Dont get me wrong it will have some kind of electrical fault, early models had problems with the cable gauge used on the rear heated screens, caused overheating and fires in some, just by pressing the heated rear screen button.....

 

bit daunting.

 

But at the end of the day its still meccano for adults, there is always a normal way then an Italian way to do things and the work is still do able 

Whilst waiting for the AA?

 

Wheyyyyyyyyyyyy!!! and the time for the First Alfa joke is 1hr 46 Minutes! 

Wheyyyyyyyyyyyy!!! and the time for the First Alfa joke is 1hr 46 Minutes!

I'm only joking to make myself feel better about driving a **** heap whilst you've got that :P

A brave choice but it sounds like you know what you're taking on. You certainly aren't going to lose money once it's done. Keep us updated.

I have stressed myself no end trying to save up while still enjoying myself and its only because really i have been lucky to land on my feet at work that im able to start to afford things like this.

 

I feel i have worked hard, more hard work to come but i have earnt it

 

Just want to get out there and start turning spanners, but i need to order parts first!

I do like a gtv. I saw a stunning dark blue metallic at a local garage. I had to walk really slowly every time I passed it

The day i bought it, i saw another Silver GTV (also a V6) going the otherway. A guy at work has a 2.0L twin spark GTV  and wanted a V6 but couldnt find one close enough, cant wait to park up at work with both of them next to each other

A really nice car and looks like you have a good plan with what you need to do and sounds like it will be one of those cars that will become part of the family. With my luck with cars I don't think I would ever risk owning an Alfa!

Nice one Taylor, got the right wheels as well. Looking forward to seeing it at the meet. Need a hand give us a shout..

Nice one Taylor, got the right wheels as well. Looking forward to seeing it at the meet. Need a hand give us a shout..

 

At the meet? so you are expecting it to be done before April? LOL

 

I think this may have a longer lead time than your V-Storm :P But not as long as the Citigogogo

When I worked for Subaru we had a local bodyshop that was trying to sell a red 3.0 GTV. It was all faded and needed some attention but I took it for a spin and it was great. I was only 19 and the insurance was bonkers or I would have had it. It even had the plate B4 GTV on it. That comes back as a blue one now..so either the new owner got fed up sorting the red or it had its plate transferred.

Great car!! Nice choice!

At the meet? so you are expecting it to be done before April? LOL

 

I think this may have a longer lead time than your V-Storm :p But not as long as the Citigogogo

 

If you want to speed things up a bit one of these might help..

 

hahah I would love to build a Stratos Kit car

 

perhaps with all the experience ill gain by working on this engine, i might build one one day

 

 

Some Progress, Found the typical Alfa thing of the 3.0L Clutch kit is no longer really available, its recommended i change over to the 3.2L Clutch as seen in the GTA, mainly because they are more common and a bit cheaper....... That said the 2.5 and 3.2's dont have Duel Mass Flywheels, the 3.0L does.

 

just over £400 for the SMF conversion excluding the £160 clutch kit and £60 Clutch bearing. 

 

Makes me laugh when people complain that their VAG cars are expensive to maintain LOL