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The old tuning ways


paulhardwell
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Just wondering just how many members and the oldies can remember just how we used to tune the engines, new filters,points plugs, distributor cap, maybe even a sun crypton tune if you could afford it, now them times have passed and its all plug and play with the obd port, wow the storys that could be told about our old ways, and the horid storys which can be told about the new ways, and the mess of the ecu that some tuners can cause,( oops ) not any of these tuners on this forum they seem great as im looking around, but a few storys about the young ones,well best be off now got to spend a few £££££££ on some tyres,,,,oh yes before i go,,im new to this hi everyone +++ hope to chat, learn and tell some storys, and if possible help others out:D

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In terms of performance tuning (the old fashioned way), the most modded car I had back in the day was an AlfaSud Ti Cloverleaf, the mods included-

1.7 block from alfa 33 (replacing 1.5 original block).

16v big valve heads.

Pocketed pistons (required to stop piston and valve meeting).

All lightened and balanced, crank etc.

Auto Delta cams & valve gear, uprated valve springs.

Flowed ported and polished.

2 Twin Weber Carbs (38's i think, seem to recall trying 40's and not being very successful).

Replaced Magneti Marrelli electronics for Lucas (I think it was that way around, much better spark anyway, and a lot more reliable).

No air filters, yes you read that right, ran it without air filters, sounded amazing, never caused any probs.

Bespoke exhaust.

Outboard disc brakes (& hubs etc) from Alfa 33, replacing original inboard front discs, with uprated pads (dunno who's bright idea inboard discs were, great for unsprung weight, sh1t for stopping).

Home made quick shift kit (not home made be me I hasten to add).

Koni adjustable shocks and springs.

Teledial alloys (think they were 15" which was big at the time)

Large Alfa graphics down the side (obviously accounting for most of the bhp increase).

All of which took the power from the original 95bhp, up to an estimated 170bhp, which was a bl00dy expensive way of gaining 70bhp compared to modern chip tuning, but given how light the car was, it was fecking fast, and handled fantastically, none of the hot hatches of the time could get anywhere near me.

If I still had one, how would I tune it differently today? I'd drop out the original boxer engine, and replace it with a Subaru Turbo Boxer, for an instant 200+bhp and a shed load cheaper, and it wouldn't destroy the dynamics of the car either, as being an aluminim lump & gearbox, even with the turbo, it'd still weigh less than the Alfa flat 4.

Edited by Tipex
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You realy seem to know about your cars, you done a lot to them, to improve it the way you want it, for your satisfaction,well done 10 out of 10,, you could prob teach me a few things, even now,, my brother in law and my brother both had there cars remapped the other week, 1 went fine seems ok just about, the other is off the road cus the tuner or so called tuner who done it fecked up,and it wont even turn over now,, guess ill have to have a look, and im going to give myself out of 10 , maybe 1/2 cus of the obd and ecu, oh well ill keep you up to date or maybe put it in a dif bit of this forum,,,,, cheers for the reply,, have a good day,

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We still tune that way on our rolling road, most of the time its some big valve 2136cc Pinto engine in a kit car.

So much more fun tuning the old skool way, apart from getting a wack of an HT lead as we can adjusting the dizzy at 4500rpm under full load. Its been made eaiser over the last 10year with systems like that Innovate Wideband lambda.

Nick

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  • 5 weeks later...

So many memories of tuning the old ways, reading the above posts makes me smile, gone are the days, of the smell of raw unburnt fuel spilling from the oversized carbs, as we used to try to get the engine to fire up, then if the timing was slightly off, we got a flash back fire in the carb, and those of us brave enough would simply continue to wind the engine over, sucking the fire back in, hoping she would start without another carb burp and the possibility of an engine bay fire! Oh how we can laugh now.

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So many memories of tuning the old ways, reading the above posts makes me smile, gone are the days, of the smell of raw unburnt fuel spilling from the oversized carbs, as we used to try to get the engine to fire up, then if the timing was slightly off, we got a flash back fire in the carb, and those of us brave enough would simply continue to wind the engine over, sucking the fire back in, hoping she would start without another carb burp and the possibility of an engine bay fire! Oh how we can laugh now.

Seen many a singed eyebrow due to burping carbs, standing over the engine, pouring neat petrol into the carb, trying to get it to fire is not something I miss to be honest!

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I can remember when we used to pop down to the scrape yard to obtain a larger carb off a car bolt it to our car start it up adjust the distributor by hand until it ticked over and thought we'd done a good job, thing wouldn't go well so we'd end up putting the old 1 back on haha.

When I became an apprentice mechanic things changed it then was down to blue printing, balancing, gas flowing, better exhausts and filters. God how the memories come flooding back. THE GOOD OLD DAYS. laying out in the rain under the car because we could. That bit I don't miss my back wouldn't take it lol.

I do miss the old days sometimes, it was an adventure when you'd tweaked your car and you were off on a long journey not knowing whether it would get you there or not!

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