S5 engine in S2

[beamertwo]

I have been running a S2 Alpine with a 1725 and a modified Hillman Hunter GT inlet manifold without the firewall brace in place. I now want to fit a S5 manifold and reinstate the brace, but there is very little room between the brace and the rear carb - not enough for an aircleaner. Were the brace mounts moved for the Series 5 Alpines? Anyone have a simple solution?
Thanks in advance.

 

[agmason54]

Rick,
SI&II Bulkhead braces are different from SIII-V braces.They have different lengths and are located in different positions on the inner fender support.
I think I saw were Bill Attala made some custom curved bulkhead braces. That would be the only way I can think of to make room for your air cleaner.
Al

 

[chard]

A bit off topic. How much do these braces actually help?

 

[alpine_64]

A bit off topic. How much do these braces actually help?

The braces were added during testing after they took the cars out and experienced scuttle shake on the pave testing at MIRA.

I removed 1 brace to fit twin DCOE's and have always looked very carefully at the front scuttle to ensure it didn't start to get hairline cracks at the joint between the guar and scuttle.. corner it quite hard and no issues in 6 years.

That said I know someone who had 1 missing and when they tried to put it back there was about a 2mm gap to tighten down.. so seems the body had a little movement without it.

beamertwo.. you can make a curved brace as Bill Atalla did, or some people cut the mount off the inner guard and weld it a little higher up then reangle the car.

Also you say a modified Hunter Gt manifold.. from what i understand they are basically a slanted version of the SV stromberg manifold.. so assume someone shaved it to bring it vertical? I have seen a few early alpines with late series engines in and the brace didnt seem to cause a clearance issue.. you go some pics?

 

[65beam]

engine

most alpines had shims between the braces and the mount on the firewall. my series 4 originally had two shims on the left side and one on the right side. we don't have any shims now since it spent some time on the frame rack.

 

[beamertwo]

The only modification to the Hunter GT manifold is that the water gallery has been cut off to give clearance for the exhaust manifold. In the Hunter the carbs are angled as they are in the Series 5 Alpine, so when the Hunter manifold is on the Alpine the carbs are horizontal and not angled.

 

[65beam]

s2

the hunter had the engine set at a 5 degree angle as did the alpine fastbacks. the intake manifold used on the fastbacks here in the states can not be used on a series alpine due to the intake being bolted to the top of the exhaust manifold. the intake has recesses under the carbs to warm the intake for emmisions. it has copper gaskets between the aluminum and the cast iron exhaust manifold. did the hunters sold there have emmision carbs or was it set up like the series 5 alpines?

 

[beamertwo]

Hunter GTs here had seperate manifolds, see the attached picture. On the left is the modified inlet manifold, in the centre is the stock inlet manifold and on the right is the exhaust manifold. The exhaust manifold is a similar design to the Alpine GTs (4 into 2 into 1) with the cast top section and tubular bottom section, although the junction is moved to the rear due the the centrally located engine mounts on the Hunters. The carbs were not of the emission type, as you can see in the photo.
Back to my original problem though, I would rather keep the brace as it is and use a "sock" type air cleaner. Are these always mounted with trumpets and does anyone know where to source them?