Possible Engine Change

[SCOTTY]

I currently have aHawk HF3000 With a Alfa Romeo 12V fitted. I might have the opportunity to obtain a 3.2 GTA engine box etc.
Does anybody know if this would be a fairly direct fit ie using existing engine & gearbox mounts .Are there any major problems in wiring the ECU ie any anti-theft devices that need to be overcome. I would be gratefull for any imput or advice or pointers
towards any potential pitfalls that i may not have already thought of.

[roger001]

I'm not sure but thinking back to the road reports on the GTA it has a myriad of "safety features" anti-skid/anti-crash etc which may be a problem, definately worth a careful look, maybe David May will know.
Bryn Griffiths raced a 156 diesel last year and every time he went in to a corner the ECU thought he was going to have a crash and politely cut the engine for two secs!
He found a way of disabling these features by putting in to permanent "rolling road mode". So It may be possible but not too straight forward.

[David May]

I'm afraid I've not had my hands on a GTA, but if the donor car had an immobilise (now standard in almost all markets) you'll either have to have the whole kit (ECU, immobiliser, antenna, keys etc) from the donor or start looking at alternative ECUs.
My 1995 16V ECU works fine (as long as you ignore the warning lights) without the 4WD controller but if the donor had ABS you are in trouble - it will probably go into limp-home mode if it can't find the ABS on the CAN bus. It's almost certainly got a drive-by-wire (motorised) throttle which will need wiring correctly. Recent ECUs are a lot fussier about having the correct emission control gear fitted and may well not work properly without the original lambda sensors, EGR and cannister valves.
It might make sense to avoid the new electrics completely and get an earlier 24V ECU and sensors. The 3.2 is only a long-stroke 3L and the older ECU may well not notice the differerence!
You will doubless have to muck about with the plumbing since the latest cars bring the water pipes out over the gearbox, but that's a minor job.

Dave May

[kens]

Browsing through the Alfa parts CD provides good insight on 3.2 engine mounting. The 3.0 block and heads are identical, in order to yield 3.2 liters, the crankshaft, rods, pistons and liners were changed. So, no mounting difference at all.

The injectors and intake runners are the same as the 3.0 24V engines. So, I would think that an early 24V ECU and wiring would work. Possibly increase the fuel pressure to offset the additional breathing capacity.

Ken Stevenson
Dallas, Texas