In response to Frank's message about reliability of the Alpine
engines, I can only speak from first hand experience about the
1725. Mine has performed very reliably for a number of years.
It has been serviced in a timely and regular fashion. Of course,
the car also sits idle for long periods in bad weather and is
used for many short trips. Does that all balance out? I have never had
oil pressure
problems. My only complaint is that the car needs a little more
pep, hense my consideration of the Holbay options. As for what
I've read, the opinion of the Alpine engine in England, where
Alpines are more highly regarded than they are here, is that the
engine is very reliable even when tuned for better performance.
Numerous examples exist of individuals
getting over 100,000 miles between rebuilds. I have never heard
of any differences among the engines from a reliability
perspective. This information is based on articles from
magazines like Practical Classics and from the Sunbeam Alpine
Owners Club. My own view, though this is just speculation, is
that the alleged oil pressure problem is not really a problem at
all. It seems that the "normal" pressure readings published in
service manuals and the like are not really normal. I don't have
the data with me today, but I'll post the more realistic numbers
when I remember to bring it in.
I'm still hoping for some comments on how much difference the BHP
and torque increases provided by the Holbay mods would make for
street use. Any thoughts?
Steve Semeraro
Series V Alpine
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