Alfa Romeo Spider 3.7L 24V V6 Build

[street]

Spider Weighs In

Been THRASHING the Spider over the past 3 days and testing all the gear. The suspension issue has been solved, corrected and now being fine-tuned to perfection. Springs on the coilovers are just on the verge of being too soft, but they are now working very well - compliant, smooth and supportive.

Just wrapped up tonight's beating and swung by my Bro's scales. With a full tank, she comes in at 2755 (1250 kg). With stock being 2500, the Spider is only 250 more than that with over 3 times the power. Now, a lot have requested the weight and I always make a point of informing them that the Spider was built with no real consideration to weight.



I added what I wanted and whatever it came to, that was that. In the future, I will shave it bit down here and there if I see the need for it. But for now, the only area that will see reduction is in the doors. More specifically, the window regulators and their wiring.

Went into the city earlier and what can I tell you about that? It was very eventful. We were even forced to stop in the middle of the road while some whipped out their iphones to take a few shots, then let us pass!!

Too funny!!

I can't even begin to describe the sound that comes on when I roll 2nd from 2500-6500...the cams, the ITB's, the exhaust...MAN!! Then do it all over again for third and forth?? Understand this, THIS is what I built her for. She looks just as mean as she sounds and performs. All the thumbs up and straight up respect I get on the road and at gas stations is beyond what I could ever of been prepared for.



This one guy even got out of his car when he caught up to me at a light, put both his arms up in the air and bowed!! He then said, "I would kill to hear that again. You built that? Guy, you matched the body with the perfect sound!!"



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[street]

Replys.

Thoughts on front plate solutions?

Not gonna run one.

street

This thing is just... unreal.

Thanks MLM!

street

Just wanna give you my props for doing such a great job on this car !! truly inspiring..
Really like what you have done to the car.. love the exterior mods the engine the wheels the fitment.. everything.

Respect..

Thanks Frank! It's taken more time that I would of liked, but I kept at it for basically 7 years. If the future me had paid me a visit and sat my ass down to inform me of all the impending hell I would have to go through, I gotta tell you, I very well might not of done it!!

street

You good sir, have created perfection.

Thanks Hayden! It's a very difficult thing to do when you go this far. The car is COMPLETELY unsorted from the beginning. Mine was simply a bare rolling shell. You have to build and tune everything. It's just not the same when you slightly modify a factory built car. They have all the refinement built in. Not this. You have to create that. And THAT is what takes so much time. Once you get past all the integrated concepts, now you must host testing parties and make them get along and work together. Not easy.

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I'm not going to lie I look for this car every time I drive around haha.

Hey Dave! HAHA! I'm out very late. Just listen!!

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[Dave_The_BMXER]

I'm not going to lie I look for this car every time I drive around haha.

[Hayden]

You good sir, have created perfection.

[FRANK_NL]

Just wanna give you my props for doing such a great job on this car !! truly inspiring..
Really like what you have done to the car.. love the exterior mods the engine the wheels the fitment.. everything.

Respect..

[MommysLittleMonster]

This thing is just... unreal.

[nykwhy2]

Thoughts on front plate solutions?

[street]

Spider Playground

This is a small section of a circuit that I've used for testing the Spider. Normally, I would continue down the course, but obviously u-turned it for the filming.

What I wanted to convey was the setting - no music added. Just the ambient sounds and the Spider brakes being tested. Some runs were straight braking, some were downshifts, some were a combination.

This went on for about an hour with 20 min done within this video's section. I could not fade these 13 inch Girodisc rotors and the 4 piston Rotora calipers performed beautifully. Very easy to modulate and I am surprised at how quickly I got used to the closeness of the brake and clutch pedals.

Only issue that developed was a small leak now at the left rear caliper. Could be a couple crush washers needed or a loose banjo bolt fitting. Will take care of that and run her again.

Maybe next time I should slide the plenums off let the trumpets and ITB'S scream their loudest!!!

So hit play and sit back. Wait for the build-ups see her in her element, finally, after so many years being built!

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[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwOgOFZ2Q3I&feature=plcp"]Alfa Romeo Spider - 3.7L 24V V6 Part 9 - Brake Circuit Testing - YouTube[/ame]

[street]

Reply.

got damn that ass, that face. You ever thought of doing automotive design>?

I would love to!

street

[fresh.gen]

got damn that ass, that face. You ever thought of doing automotive design>?

[street]

Update

If you've been a fan of what I'm doing here with the Spider, then you will understand all the time spent getting her looking the way I wanted her to look. Make no mistake. I will get her performing now in that very same fashion.

During this stage, I want to continue to keep things "raw". What I mean by that, is how I have guided this build - zero fluff. Nothing is done randomly. Nothing is done without careful thought. That includes all the shots and latest series of videos.

You may not have noticed, but from the last vid (Part 8), the raw concept continues. This is the way I want to present the Spider, in her environment - where she gets tested, evaluated and tweaked. Bottom line, this is where it was built to be - the street.



Presenting cars today and general advertising is obviously for sales numbers. I'm not selling anything here. This is real life and real sounds on non-closed off circuits. In the future, I will edit them down a touch. But only for major time lapse sake if need be.

At this moment, I'm awaiting a vid to finish cooking on YouTube. This latest vid will deliver sights and sounds of not only the Spider, but of it's environment -

The vid is about 4.5 minutes long. Hit play and let it play. Take in the location, visuals and ambient sounds. It's just a small part of a day in the life of tuning the Spider. Until then, here's a screen grab.

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[street]

Night Testing.

Had the Spider out for some more daytime testing to push the new rad's limits further. Today, more traffic and longer idles were on the docket as testing continued into the night.

Here we are on a cool down lap with the fan off to see the numbers. All went well posting the same as yesterday:

180-190 highway
180-210 street w/traffic - recovery back to 180-190 within 20-30 seconds.
Oil Temp 140-170 Day 140-160 night
Daytime Air Temp - 34
Nightime Air Temp - 28



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[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__9r6ocEQ9A&feature=plcp"]Alfa Romeo Spider - 3.7L 24V V6 Part 8 - Night Testing - YouTube[/ame]

[street]

Reply.

It's just so beautiful

this car is amazing!
awaiting more photos

Thanks Bros!

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[brat]

this car is amazing!
awaiting more photos

[Raarasutra]

It's just so beautiful