> ...........................................................And, the money
> goes
> into a swap gradually rather than in a lump sum, like when buying a
> Tiger. And then the Tiger may still need some additional things--I
> think Steve Sage has been experienceing that--Steve, any thoughts?
>
> .........................................
>
> David Sosna
> 65 S4 GT V6
>
> Scott Donnelly wrote:
> >
> > Was: Expensive engine noises... Then: Engine rebuild...
> >
> > Can the engine be pulled with by unbolting it from the bell housing or
> > does it get separated at the bell housing/transmission interface?
> >
> > Scott Donnelly
> > SV
> > PS. I confess to having unpure Alpine thoughts... Anyone want to talk me
> > in to or out of a V6 or V8 conversion???
Hello David and Everyone:
I've owned lots of Alpines and (now my second Tiger) through the years. A
properly set up Alpine (especially with an overdrive trans.) is a great car
and can be made to go fairly quickly with the original engine. You'll never,
ever be able to beat those hot rods at the stop light, but zipping around
quickly and cruising all day at 85 mph is no problem for one. I had my
previous Alpine really well set up mechanically (fitting the above
description) and if I didn't chance upon my current Tiger, I'd still be
happily driving it and be numerous thousands $$$ ahead. I love my Tiger, but
it gets into a lot of money.
That being said, David is right. Buy a Tiger in the mid to high $$$teens and
you'll undoubtedly end up pouring more money in unless yuou pay $25,000 or
more and get a perfect one. Buy it for less and you'll pour in even more in
the long run. There will be some things about the car that previous owners
have done that you don't like and will want to change, there will be
improvements you want to make (I ended up adding a hi-po 289 and a 5 speed,
paint, a new top, a new dash, etc. etc. and just finished installing air
conditioning...all adding up to plenty of money, even while doing a lot of the
work myself).
To convert an Alpine to a V8 takes a lot of engineering as you don't just pop
in the V8 and the trans. The V6 idea is probably cheaper and easier if you
want to do it. But I second David's suggestion to look around for an Alpine,
in either case, that's already been converted. They do come on the market on
occasion and from what I understand, you'll save yourself a whole lot of
aggravation and time that way. On the other hand, wasn't there someone out
here on the west coast a while back (Sand Diego?) who had developed an Alpine
V6 conversion kit and was selling it??? Maybe that would make the job a lot
easier. In any event, an Alpine V6 or V8 conversion, since you can get a real
nice Alpine for $5,000 or even less (am I still right on this?) and a Tiger in
that price range would be a complete basket case, would still probably end up,
all the above being said, a lot cheaper than a Tiger in the end.
Steve Sage
|