On Wed, 15 Feb 1995 FMarrone(at)aol.com wrote:
> What are your experiences/knowledge pertaining to the 1500/1600/1725 Alpine
> engine mortality? The word in general seems to be that these motors don't
> last long. I hear about and am experiencing an oil pressure problem. Are
I don't remember how long ago I rebuilt my motor - it's been at least 7
years. I have one of the early 3 main bearing motors in my car. This car
has been my daily driver on and off since I got it, and I have experienced
very few problems with it. I basically purchased it as a parts car, along
with several boxes of engine parts. I don't even know if I have the
correct block, a newly bored block with new pistons came with the car and
I just used it. I didn't have much money to fix it up at the time, so
some of the things I did to save $$$ I have to worry about now.
I had the crank and cam reground, and the rods reconditioned. Bought
a new timing chain and gasket set. I was missing the vibration damper,
couldn't find another, so I bought a complete series V engine from a
guy in Watsonville - he told me I could have the damper for $100 and
the complete engine for $125! I ended up using the series V head on
my car, after just lapping the valves. I had to get special step down
studs to attach the series I tube headers.
Now get this - I used the old oil pump because I couldn't find a new one
at the time. I don't know how many miles there are on this engine now
since I have never had a speedometer, but at least 50K I guess. Oil
pressure has never been that great, especially when hot. I have always
used Castrol 40wt in it because it seemed to keep the pressure up.
Anyway, it has survived so far and I am using it again as my daily
driver since I am starting the Tiger rebuild this weekend. Hopefully
I will do a less bogus rebuild on the Tiger engine!
> the 1725 motors any more reliable than the others? How long might any of
> these motors last, in miles, under hard use? What sort of reliability with
> mods like the Holbay (Tony, Steve)?
I did drive it from Santa Cruz to Redding and back again once during
freezing weather - I had taken the thermostat out for some reason and
had quite the chilly ride. OTOH, the oil pressure was pretty good ;-)
> Will a 1725 bolt up in place of a 1500/1600? Can you use the 1500/1600
> transmission?
I believe so, but I'll have to confirm that when I dig out my collection
of engine blocks this spring!
............................................................
Kevin Meek (kevnmeek(at)netcom.com) Sunbeam Tiger B382002202
Santa Cruz, California Sunbeam Alpine SI B9011324
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