Scuderia Giallo-How-To

HOW TO MAKE YOUR PERFORMANCE

CAR WORK BETTER!

Some Info that should help your HP ALFA make better performance!

I built my first Alfa in 1966 and the EP Duetto in 1969. It was a struggle to find or build the right parts.

Maybe some of this info can help you!

For more information or Photos click here

LIGHTWEIGHT CLUTCH DISK

The best performance improvement for the dollar!

From many years of experience both racing and in building the close ratio gearboxes & transaxles, the lighter the clutch disk the easier it is for the transmission's synchronizers to function. Their large diameter & heavy weight causes the most inertia that the synchros have to slow down or speed up with EVERY SHIFT! By using a lightweight disk with no wafer springs or torque springs shifting is crisp & quick. For street & racing lighter fixed friction material disk can be built to suit your car & application. This is more effective than gear lightening at 3 times more costly not to mention a teardown. It goes without saying that reduction in flywheel weight is an important factor in getting your engines HP to the rear wheels.

Alfa`s have always had too much flywheel and clutch weight. Stock Alfa flywheels can be modified for aftermarket Clutch assemblies which are far lighter. I`ll attach a few pictures of some modified ones for suggestions.

Below are descriptions of some disk types available:

Steel Plate 4 puck sintered metallic Durable, not the lightest due to puck material (sintered metalic) never use less than 4 puc as PP warping is a problem. More pucs reduce torque capacity.

Aluminum Center High Temp Woven Lining for street or track --- very light & relineable, smooth non-grabby engagement

Aluminum Center with Woven Kevlar Lining--- (lightest) for street or track

This is the ultimate flywheel & clutch application for 116 Transaxle race cars. The complete assembly including flywheel, clutch cover and clutch disk (Tilton triple disk) weigh under 8 pounds.

For 1300/1600:
flywheel with adaptor & Tilton single plate clutch assembly. Fits 105/110 tooth ring gears (1750). Assembly weighs less than 12 pounds. Clutch is rated at 250 LB ft Torque.

PROPERLY DESIGNED CAMSHAFTS!

Not off the shelf junk

These are grinds that have proven performance gains, that work as designed for ALFA motors. They have been built for me by Web Cams' (see Web Cams' link on the links page) for years.

First there are some overviews & comparisons of Alfa Stock & common cams:

V6 12 V Alfa Cams

The RJR 28+2.5-74 4 are the cams I had built for the 10.25 to 1 compression 3.0 liter that is built as a street motor for the tube frame 2 seat RJ-R Coupe . These cams, and the RJR961+6-82 set (farther below) were developed as the highest lift cams that could fit in the V6 12 valve heads without the normal extensive metal removal required for high lift cams. Head modification in the V6 12V heads is far more extensive than in an Alfa 4 cyl. head. Though both sets of heads are ported and chamber shaped, I chose the lower lift as both motors are Fuel Injected (Programable) and are built for TORQUE and HP, with torque being the key word. ("Horsepower sells cars, Torque wins races"). The RJR 28-744 cams are faster ramp than stock, so idle & lower RPM power are not problems as with cams with lots of overlap. Many things acting together contribute to the performance of the high output engine. Overlap in the camshaft design

plays an important role in how the header affects the characteristics of the competition engine.

Today modern cylinder head design has led to less need for excessive overlap designed into the

Comparison of RJR Mildest cam to Alfa Stock Cams

	164"S"	164"S"	Milano/GTV6	Milano/GTV6
	Intake	Exhaust	Intake	Exhaust
	287	277	278	264
Duration @ .050	235	205	222	205
Lift lobe centers	110.5	108.5	108	108
Centerline Spread	109.5		108
Valve Lift "0" Lash	.398 (10.1mm)	.352 (8.9mm)	.358(9.1mm)	.352(8.9mm)

Base Circle Diameter	#28 1.050	744	S-Int 1.080	S-Exhaust	M/GTV6-Int 1.080	Exhaust
.020	264	247	287	228	276	228
.040	245	222	248	210	232	210
.050	239	213	235	204	226	204
.100	214	188	210	174	206	174
.200	170	144	166	96	162	166
.250	147	123	136	124	138
.300	123	102	113	108
.350	90	70	71	64

.380	67	9	20
Max Lift	.408	.383	.398	.352	.358	.352

RJR 961+6/82 Was developed as a track cam with ease of fitment as heads do not require modification. It is the highest lift possible without head mods and a stock base circle.

These cams were originally designed as .375 lift cams to meet SCCA`s restricted prep rule when the GTV6 was allowed into ITS. With the .375 lift cams on a stock FI 2.5, well prepared motor, rear wheel HP increased from 165.8 to 185.3 at 5900 RPM, and torque from 138.6 to 158.6 at 5600 RPM. . The increased lift and duration was added to provide additional breathing for larger motors & higher RPMs.

The RJR 616/481 was the best of the cams developed for the 3.0 GT2 motor. The cams dynoed at

Lift & Duration Orig GT2

RJR 961+6 / RJR 82 RJR 616 / 481 RJR 231 / 481

.020 295 297 299 289 300 289

.040 277 270 282 272 280 272

.050 269 256 276 262 273 262

.100 240 227 256 228 248 228

.200 191 168 210 172 206 172

.300 136 123 160 127 160 127

.350 100 83 127 91 124 91

.400 46 10 88 24 102 24

.425 20 76

Maxlift.402 .410 (at valve) .443 .414 (at valve) .470 .414 (at valve)

in mm)10.2 10.4mm 11.28 10.4 11.95 10.4

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Comparisons of popular Alfa Factory Cams1054800320051 and 1054800320001 these cams were applications by Alfa Romeo in the 1750 & early 2000 in Europe. The "51" cam has been relatively unknown in the US but several examples are known. It was a factory application in the 2 liter ROW cars. They are a factory marked cam and not a reproduction/regrind as some have suggested. Lobe shape indicates good application for F.I. cars because of shorter opening ramp than stock 105480320001, & early flank's duration carried into the nose, would suggest a good HP Street/Track Day application. Much better lobe shape than the "01" cam. Seating (lash) area is profiled at .014 to .022 from base circle. Seating (lash) area is profiled at .014 to .022 from base circle. Because of old ramp design suggest lash settings of .020 for the intake & .021 for the exhaust to reduce "wasted ramp duration" bleeding off effective use. Note: The "51" cam is a different profile from the 115010320032 cam everyone refers to as the GP 1 cam (10.9 lift 246 @ .050). These cams were around before those, and have a much better profile. The "32" cams were flat flanked cams that were "hammers", that would not make good HP Street / Track cams like the "51" cams. Statements from people who have driven the "51" cam confirm its excellent performance & drivability, unlike the "32" "GP1" cams which were very flat except at high RPM. Understandable as the "32`s" were designed as "lower performance " race cams. Alfa Romeo 10548 03200 51 Cam 10548 03200 01 Cam Data "115010320032 GP1"

Lift at Cam Duration at "0" lash

	"51"	"01"	"32"
.020	284	278	278
.050	252	230	246
.100	229	211	232
.200	185	173	180
.200	137	118	126
.400	68	10	76
.425	43	32	max
Max Lift	.434	.401	.429

These were designed to work in the Alfas' valve system to optimize intake & exhaust flow in my race & street/track motors. These cams all had their design based on the premise of HP and TORQUE to make a better performing engine for the street and or track. REMEMBER "Horsepower sells cars, TORQUE WINS RACES". A wider HP and Torque band makes a much better driving race car. Too much overlap will cause an extremely "peakey" or high RPM only motor.

Cams can be used in either intake or exhaust position, not only the place I have suggested.. Just be aware these are good proven matchings. If you think you need more Intake or exhaust, help yourself! Be sure you have piston to valve clearance. There is no absolute regarding cam lobe centers for high performance Alfa 4 cylinder motors.

RJR#51 a long duration all out racing cam for well prepared high compression racing engines.

A 12mm lift cam with moderate ramp rate. Paired with the RJR cams below the power band can be tuned to a broader range than with paired cams of equal duration without loss of upper end performance. Power band 4000-8000 RPM. (DO NOT confuse this lobe design with the 1054800320051 cam!) RJR#125 and 796 are a fast ramp cam that works well as a racing exhaust for all out larger race motors. It would however as well be a good intake for a track cam for moderately well prepped motors. RJR#796 is covered below.

Lift	Duration	Duration	Duration
	#51	#125	#796
.010	326	292	298
.020	311	288	278
.050	289	261	254
.100	266	234	230
.150	244	218	209
.200	223	187	188
.300	175	140	141
.400	113	72	72
max lift	.472	.435	.437

RJR 136-785 matched Set Race Cams 12.15mm Intake, & 11.32mm Exhaust . These cams were made to go in my head I built for the 2 liter motor I was going to put in my Giulietta but changed direction. These cams are a matched set designed to work most effectively in a moderately high revving (7500RPM)1750 or 2 liter Alfa, providing more torque & drivability than most race cams. Designed to make good cylinder pressure between 2500 and 7000 RPM so you don't have to rev the motor out of the engine bay to make power. ****

RJR 796 Excellent as a Race intake cam for a 1600/1750 with fast lift and good mid & upper flank & nose duration for effective breathing. Shorter overlap design but enough early ramp to start initial flow critical to intake velocity on small motors. Designed to be used with RJR 590 as an Exhaust cam in Race Application. Cams design is to provide wider power band and more torque. Effective power range with matched exhaust 3000 - 7500. Can be used in 1600 as well with high compression dedicated race application. I suggest using RJR 776 as exhaust on 1600 CC race application. This cam would be a excellent exhaust cam for 2 liter HP / Track Day / Race applications where RPMs are generally under 7000 RPM to enhance overall power range.****

Cam 796 Lift & Duration
Lift Duration
.020     280
.050     256
.100     231
.200     189
.300     141
.400      72
.436 Max . Lift

RJR 221-776 matched Set of New RJR High Performance/Race Cams for Variable Intake Setup. Intake is 12.0mm lift with faster ramp and 1mm more lift than "International" design so more duration could be used with Spica or EFI and still be drivable. Exhaust is again a faster lift with less duration at low lift but more in the nose of the lobe where the valve is open higher and is breathing better. The Exhaust grind 776 would be an excellent exh. cam for larger displacement Race motors with longer duration Intake cams (like RJR136).
Intake 22 Exhaust 776

Lift Duration Duration
.020    281       271
.050    257       246
.100    234       221
.200    195       180
.300    152       135
.400     98         74
.450     56
.477 Max .445 Max

RJR 590 Cam designed for Alfa 1600/1300 use as HP Street / Racing intake, or larger motor exhaust. Fast ramp, much more open valve duration than old style race cams, with less wasted duration (overlap) to bleed off power. Fast ramp & early flank make cam a good application for lots of Street/ Track Day / High Performance use where desire for low & mid range power in large displacement motors is wanted, as well as upper RPM punch. . This is a better version of the 105480320051 factory cam. An all around good performer.

Cam 590 Lift & Duration
Lift Duration
.020      277
.050      252
.100      225
.200      180
.300      134
.400        69
.437 Max . Lift

Dropped Spindles & Steering Arm Modifications

The correct way to lower without crapping the roll center!

The most "drop" that can be done, is dependant "physically" by the clearance of the lower ball joint body in a 750/101 suspension, and the ball joints' threaded taper & nut on 105/115 and the 116 type cars.

Optimally, the suspension would be designed so that with the lower arm level (key to suspension design), the rotational part of the ball joint would be barely clearing the designed rims' inner shell. (see pictures of the RJR GT-R on my website) However, doing this requires the rest of the suspension points be designed into the car so that geometry is functional.

The other consideration is body clearance which is also an issue, & that has to be accommodated. On my wide body 101 racecar the spindle drop is 1.5 inches. Typical drop is a 1 inch drop as they go on a lowered, stock fender vintage car. The steering arms are dropped to eliminate bump steer since most are lowered to get the arm level by shorter high rate springs. The amount of steering arm modification is dependant on the total drop of the car. The Ackerman is adjusted as well, so that the car does not need to be set with initial toe out to eliminate initial understeer. The toe can be set at "0" toe for less wear, AND better braking stability ( a big plus!).