Technical GT camshaft

[Dayjw]

I'm in the process of buying a GT off one my friends (hopefully) but he goes through camshafts every couple of months due to him not shimming them up, is there anything I should be wary of?
Thanks

 

[DaveMcT]

Why is he over/under shimming it? what else has he messed up?

 

[shawzy]

I'm in the process of buying a GT off one my friends (hopefully) but he goes through camshafts every couple of months due to him not shimming them up, is there anything I should be wary of?
Thanks

a heavy right foot!correct oil?oil level?oil pressure?
i have two gt,s one gets loved the other abused,ive never had a problem with worn lobes or clearences,maybe a n/a camshaft has accidentley been fitted?cheers.ad

 

[Dayjw]

He did a rebuild himself and instead of shimming the new cam up, he just plonked it in. Heard it the other day and sounds very tappety. Other than that it's a mint car, minor oil leak though.

 

[shawzy]

what sort of rebuild?
internals or just a light seeing too?

 

[Dayjw]

Just the top end I assume, comes on boost fine, just needs the cam setting up I think. Would there be any side effects to them keep breaking?

 

[shawzy]

could be a clogged oil way or a bit of gunk in the oil pump,do you know what camshaft was fitted?was it reground or fresh out the box?also where does it leak oil from?cheers.ad

 

[DaveMcT]

It might be ok but anyone who just throws the cam in without doing valve shim clearances isnt too fussy.

Budget for a full engine rebuild.

 

[Dayjw]

I think they were reground, not had chance to look at the oil leak yet. Would assume it's from one of the gaskets though...

 

[DaveMcT]

Get the price to include rebuilt engine or walk away.

 

[adamski1]

Get the price to include rebuilt engine or walk away.

Dont be silly you can't have a fiat without doing some sort of work on it,all it needs is shimming correctly,it's usually the end lobe that wares down for some reason,but only after around 70k,check on the head to cam box bolt/threads arnt stripped as theres a good chance due to being off a few times,shims about £2 each i had a right job when fitting a piper cam:bang: All is fine now tho'.

 

[DaveMcT]

Not silly at all. The GT is known to be highly strung even by Fiat standards. If the engine has been tarted up its going to need some major work which wont be cheap.

So budget for a rebuilt engine (i.e. get the car cheap) or find another GT that's in a better state.

Cam lobe wear is usually silent you only notice because the power goes off. A rattling cam means excessive clearances either in bearings or buckets & shims. The latter might be ok, but worn bearings mean a new head.

If the owner isnt bother about a clattering engine what else has he ignored? So, as said before budget for a new/rebuilt engine - knock the price to a low level so it makes sense to do the work. If the price is too high walk away and spend the money on a GT that's not been abused. Expensive, of course, but probably cheaper in the long run.

 

[adamski1]

The main problem i found with gt's after buying 9 is that some people whap the boost up and dont realise the damage,pistons melt,turbo seals and h/g failure all due to not realising the "danger zone" of an engine,remember theses are up to 17 years old. the engines are good if theyve been looked after,but with age you have to contend with rust,bushes gearbox trouble,like sei says try and get the car as cheap as possible a cam shaft fitted correctly at a garage would be around the £500 mark.The less you initially outlay on a gt the more you can mod it!

 

[DaveMcT]

Look on Cardata at the comparative weights of the GT and the HGT. Then compare the basic Mk1 and Mk2. The weight difference is pretty much down to the heavier Mk2 bodyshell.

If you want some serious modding, turbo (lightly) the HGT (see Puntopower) or fit the 2.0TS Alfa engine (155bhp). Its the same basic engine block as the HGT, but some Alfas have twin variators and they fixed the oil drainage issue that so plagued earlier models and Punto HGT.

The snag is the Punto wont really cope with much over 150bhp it will just understeer and wheelspin. Mine is a standard HGT but I can feel the TCS pulling down the power if I do a quick getaway.

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo_Twin_Spark_engine"]Alfa Romeo Twin Spark engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:TwinSpark2.jpg" class="image" title="Alfa Romeo Twin Spark engine"><img alt="Alfa Romeo Twin Spark engine" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/61/TwinSpark2.jpg/250px-TwinSpark2.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@en/thumb/6/61/TwinSpark2.jpg/250px-TwinSpark2.jpg[/ame]

Alternatively get one of these - The GTA uses the 3.2 V6 [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo_147"]Alfa Romeo 147 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:2001-2005_Alfa_Romeo_147_Selespeed_Twin_Spark_5-door_hatchback_03.jpg" class="image"><img alt="2001-2005 Alfa Romeo 147 Selespeed Twin Spark 5-door hatchback 03.jpg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/13/2001-2005_Alfa_Romeo_147_Selespeed_Twin_Spark_5-door_hatchback_03.jpg/250px-2001-2005_Alfa_Romeo_147_Selespeed_Twin_Spark_5-door_hatchback_03.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/1/13/2001-2005_Alfa_Romeo_147_Selespeed_Twin_Spark_5-door_hatchback_03.jpg/250px-2001-2005_Alfa_Romeo_147_Selespeed_Twin_Spark_5-door_hatchback_03.jpg[/ame]

 

[adamski1]

Alfa more problems more money!And NOTa GT as the op was asking about,im sure alfa's arn't that bad but nearly all people i know have killed a gearbox or the brakes have gone kaputt.Has this GT been purchased yet?let us know the price and condition and then you will know if its worth it,The most i have payed for a GT is £400 and that was my red abarth,i have done work on them myself to keep costs down but mainly head gasket,turbo swaps,exhaust,brakes,rear arms bushes,any welding was left to a pro.Sold a 1999 turq gt for £1300 and a 1999 black gt for the same,the less modded the better with these,i would expect to pay between £600 and £1,000 for the average 100,000 mile 12 owners gt.

 

[Dayjw]

Well i'm about to pay £750 for it in the next few days. It's been seb2'd with all the mods like fmic, decat, s/s free flowing exhaust, air filter etc. Found the oil leak was sorted awhile ago.
It starts fine except sounds really tappety because of the cam, the lad said it would be a around £800 if i wanted him to get the cam fixed for me.
Checked the bodywork and it looks mint, few minor scratches and a bit of rust bubble from one of the wings but nothing i can't handle

 

[DaveMcT]

Agree to the £800 and get it with the cam belt fixed.