Orchid Green Monster - A V6 Project

[Ed109]

Hi all,

I'm sure I'll be pestering you all for help in the coming months but for now just thought I'd put a stake in the ground somewhere near the beginning of my SV resto/V6 project.

Hopefully my record here will help spur me on (ie: embarass me) into keeping on top of things. Maybe I'll look back in six months and think - blimey, that went well. Maybe I'll look back in a year and think - really must get on with that. Who knows?

Anyway - you don't have to read it if you don't want to and I apologise in advance to the OC for clogging your valuable forum space with my diary.

And so to the back story:

Take one lovely 67 SV GT purchased 20 years ago in my late teens, drive for 5 fabulous years until MOT failure, take to mechanic for welding, park it outside the barn where the oxycetalene tanks are kept and wait for tyre yard next door to catch fire... Result, one frontally baked Alpine sponge.

Leave for 2 years to allow for insurance payout, mechanic going out of business without repairing car, reposession of Alpine as part of liquidation (they thought it was his), being 'stolen' back under cover of darkness and finally removed to the relative safety of my parents garage.

Rust in peace for a further 10-12 years whilst I went about having a career, buying house and spending my money on beer. Totally forget about car.

Ripple dissolve to married father of one little Ruby who I can picture driving a lovely British convertible when she's old enough. We have a deadline. This project must take no longer than 15 years to complete. (I've heard worse.)

So, it's down to the parents and into the garage. In little less than 8 Saturdays, voila! One rolling Alpine sans all the bits.

I say sans all the bits but does anyone know how to remove the upper grille finisher without damaging it? (There you go - my first question.)

Anyway, 20 boxes of bits in the garage and the shell is shipped off to a mate of a mate who builds hot rods and sprays cars in his spare time. It helps that in his not so spare time he's a fabricator in the machine shop at Gatwick Airport - this Alpine will be needing a lot of TLC before paint. More on that later.

What this 'spare time job' does mean is that I'm not about to get it back anytime soon. That's not a problem as I've plenty to think about in the meantime and he's charging a very reasonable rate.

And so inbetween poreing over my boxes of bits on weekends (strip the dash here, polish a thermostat housing there) I get chatting with a few people at work who happen to be Mustang and Corvette owners...

I discover the OC Mod forums, both UK and this one, and I start reading about 2.8l V6 engines...it didn't really take long to see the light.

Then I stumble upon some very nice Chris Yendis chap selling a pair of V6 conversion mounts on eBay. I foolishly miss the end of the auction but get chatting...

Ooh - he's got a spare engine for sale!...not for long:

As of last Sunday I am now the proud owner of K 7004 74 TM 6059 AA. (Next question here - do I age it by the "TM" or "AA"? They both appear in the manufacture dating data.)

A big thanks here to Chris - a regular forum poster, I see - for his time and expert advice. I know it's not an easy job I'm taking on but to see (and hear) his completed project car was inspiration enough. Didn't give his Tiger a second look - honest!

Then it just gets better - my paint guy just so happens to have a spare carb and a tranny from a Capri project he did once which I'll get my hands on in a week or so to check compatibility...more Qs for you lot then, no doubt.

Still a lot to pull together (intake manifold - tricky, headers - tricky and expensive) but the whole V6 thing has reignited my desire to get the resto up and running.

One last note for this post on the paint...

You may see from the stripped shell pic that the original 109 code Orchid Green is evident on the front wings. When I bought the car it had been Vauxhall Carmine Red for years but the resto strip uncovered these patches and it got me thinking too.

There's been a fair amount said about desirability of this code but it is apparently rare (late SV only) so I thought it might be nice to bring it back.

I struggled to find any pics anywhere of an Alpine, Tiger or any other Rootes model in this colour so I bought a tin mixed to original spec from good ol' Alpine West Mids.

Initial reaction to colour when sprayed on odd bit of metal in shed - urgh We need to see it in context.

One trawl of eBay later and we have in progress a Blueprinter/ERTL scale Tiger model kit in Orchid Green!

Will post another pic when it's clearcoated and assembled but I think I like it! Hopefully the model will give me something to stare at to spur me on with the real thing too.

That's all for now other than to say thanks for reading if you got this far and look forward to hearing all your V6 woes and triumphs.

Ed.

 

[jumpinjan]

Good decision

Good call on returning back to Orchid Green. It will be the talk of the town.
Jan

 

[RootesRich]

Ed,
To answer your 1st question, the upper finisher is held on to the body by small nuts. Run your fingers around the inside of the lip and you'll feel them. You'll probably need to soak them in penetrating fluid, but having everything stripped, you should have a slightly easier time getting the finisher off. Can't remember the exact size of the socket, but I think it's 5/16".

 

[Jeff Scoville]

Looks like another RHD V6 in the works!
Great story, wish I had all the Alpines I started with 25 years ago, great to see your interest re-kindled.

 

[V_Mad]

's funny Ed, that engine looks just like the one that was in my garage. Some guy from Essex came over last week and...... oh right, its you!!

Good to see a another fellow posting from the UK. Good luck with your project.

PS I met up with Mark on Sunday. He is working on the other UK based V6 project when he gets the time. I wonder if it will ever really take off over here?

 

[V6 JOSE]

's funny Ed, that engine looks just like the one that was in my garage. Some guy from Essex came over last week and...... oh right, its you!!

Good to see a another fellow posting from the UK. Good luck with your project.

PS I met up with Mark on Sunday. He is working on the other UK based V6 project when he gets the time. I wonder if it will ever really take off over here?

I think it will, because thirty two years ago, when I did my first one, there was a lot of opposition to the conversion. The guys just didn't know just what it would do for an Alpine, so very few were interested. Since then, slowly, more and more guys did the conversion, to the point that more testimonies from happy V6'ers have brought credibility to the conversion. Today, it is accepted almost by everyone. Several guys that were purists, and resistent to it, now own one.

It is such a natural, that in a couple of years, you'll see it done over there on a regular basis. You guys also have the perfect transmission for this swap. The type 9 transmission fits the Alpine without any floor modifications, like the T5 transmission does. This transmission was used behind the V6 from the factory, so it has the perfect gear selection for it.

Since our kit doesn't fit the Euro spec 2.8 V6, and we can't ship the parts over there cheaply, someone over there should make a kit and sell it over there. That is one of the reasons the conversion is so popular here, because with a kit, anyone can do the conversion, without a professional having to do it for them.

Jose

 

[Ed109]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the support for 109 and the tip on removing the finisher.

I too really can't understand the resistance to the conversion over here, Jose.

I may be speaking a little too soon but once the plant is nudged in there it's got to be a great deal easier to run and service.

Maybe it's because I live in the spiritual home of the Ford V6 (albeit not the one I'm using) but as I said, it seems such an obvious choice.

I went down to Burton Power at the weekend just to find some background reading on the 2.8 and the guys in there didn't bat an eyelid when I mentioned dropping a Cologne into an Alpine. I could have almost bought an entire engine in spare part form while I was there - it's so well catered for. (http://www.burtonpower.com for those who may be interested).

Incidentally - I'm certainly no professional and I wish someone did sell a kit over here! We'll see how I get on in the coming months.

Cheers for now.

E.

 

[V6 JOSE]

Hi Ed,

Do you live in Essex? I guess that is where the other V6's were assembled, right?

I really think it will be just a matter of time, that Alpiners begin to convert their Alpines. I would like to suggest that you go see Michael, and ask him if he would loan you his transmission support crossmember. We fabricated a one off for him to use with his type 9 gear box. If he would, it might simplify things for you. The 2.8 Cologne V6, is really more availible there, than it is here. The fact that the tunnel doesn't need to be disturbed, should make it even more attractive.

Since you already know Chris Spain, ask him to give you a ride in his V6 Alpine. I think you would be surprised at it's performabce.

Jose

 

[skywords]

Go Ed
That should be a very nice car. I like the color and that engine is sweet. Keep your nose to the grind stone. Looking forward to updates.

 

[Ed109]

Cutting a dash...

Well, not much news on the conversion other than to say my 4 week search for a carb manifold came to fruition last week - 2 days before one appeared on eBay (typical). Lots of other bits from the same seller which may prove useful too...

In the meantime I decided to look at the dash that's been hanging in the shed for a while. Having already sourced a nice bit of walnut burr, this weekend gave me a chance to stick it on and trim it out.

Simple enough? Oh no.

Firstly you will note I have the bakelite 'part dash' that doesn't include the glovebox surround (another bakelite piece) and in this respect my task was dissimilar to the couple of Alpine dash restos documented on the wibbly web. It also has the annoyance of the lip around the lower and left-hand edges which caused some issues (ie: swearing).

So wood glue is out and epoxy is in. Except I bought the wrong one and found myself with less than 5 minutes to glue up the whole dash! Last bits brushed on a bit lumpy but I had my cunning sandwich press ready to gum it up good...(the holes are drilled for the rear of the heater controls which stick out)

You can never have enough clamps. And I didn't. Or at least not any long enough to get a good pressure to the middle parts of the sandwich.

Never mind - only 3 hours of painful peeling and regluing under the bubbles followed by another 4 hours of hacking and sanding with a mixture of improvised tools (sandpaper round the chuck of a variable speed drill is a good one if you're careful)...

Another tip here for anyone else foolish enough to try this at home - veneer cuts an awful lot cleaner when its covered in epoxy. The bits I'd not glued too liberally were the hardest to cut as they cracked all over the shop regardless of how sharp my blade was. When it's caked in gum it's not a breeze to slice but it doesn't shatter quite as much. Found myself adding more epoxy around the tricky parts and got much cleaner results.

Anyway, got to say I'm rather chuffed with the result so far. Gave it a quick lick of white spirit to clean it up and got a glimpse of how it might come up with varnish (planned for next weekend)...

Will post final result when done. Even thinking of attempting to veneer the GT door rolls next week (not original, I know, but wtf - there's a V6 going in there one day).

Hopefully be off the woodwork after that and back to some proper grease and grime.

Until then - Merry motoring.

Ed.

 

[weaselkeeper]

VERY nice panel. Great work. You guys just keep giving inspiration! thanks.

 

[Ed109]

So, ripple dissolve Scooby-Doo style by about 2 years and I'm shortly to be reunited with my SV body shell. (Woo hoo!)

It'll be resplendent in 109 Orchid Green (after much umming and ahhing) and have most serious parts of the Cologne V6 conversion done (engine & gearbox mounts, tunnel mod, twin pass-thru).

I'll probably pop the V6 straight out and park it while I do a quick refurb on the rear axle and front suspension but once they're back on I'm wondering what next...

The shell is bare - I mean stripped to the bone. Beyond steering column, not a wire, brake line, bracket or piece of brightwork remaining. I was thorough. (And, of course, have forgotten where everything goes back.)

I'm not in the position to be able to buy everything required to rebuild straight away and I'm 30 miles from where the car will be garaged too so it's going to be a long slog - but I thought I'd try and get a plan of action together for the rebuild as follows:

1) Electrics - New wiring loom install.
2) Brakes - Pedals in, new brake line runs, refurb master and servo.
3) Clutch - Sort new clutch scenario. Somehow.
4) Lump - Pop the V6 back in.
5) Cables - sort accelerator linkage
6) Cooling - fit rad and heater set-up / run hoses
7) Fuel - Tanks sealed and back in. New fuel line run, pump & filter.
8) Liquids - Fuel, Oil, Water...Try and start it.
9) Frustration - Take it all out again and work out why it won't go.
10) Goto 9
11) Interior - Leather, glass and shiny bits.
12) Remember I don't have a propshaft yet...

Would welcome any suggestions of ordering or priority from those who have rebuilt from this far down...V6 or otherwise.

Looking forward to bugging you all again soon.