Re: Just Your Average Nightmare of A Weekend

From: Kevin Meek (kevnmeek(at)netcom.com)
Date: Wed Jul 05 1995 - 09:51:05 CDT


> This III GT has twin Zeniths. I thought the III GT had a single Solex. The
> guy insists
> that the Zeniths are the original setup. Is this possible?

I believe that the early S3 cars had the twin Zeniths, then they
switched to the Solex in the middle of the production run. I like
those Zeniths; have 'em on my S1 and never have to mess with 'em...

> He said that this car has thrown three rods. He said if the car is driven at
> around 70 MPH
> for any length of time, I will make it four. He suggested driving by oil
> pressure. If this
> is true, what is the best remedy? He suggested an oil cooler.

I once took my S1 on an extended road trip, traveling at 65-70mph
for several hours with no problem. That being said, I would strongly
recommend having that 3 main bearing engine *balanced* if you decide
to rebuild it. Several people tried to convince me to do this when
I was trying to rebuild my S1 engine on a budget - I didn't have it
done and I regret it now. BTW, I have always used Castrol GT 40w
oil in my Alpine (seems to help keep the oil pressure up...)

> How about
> retrofitting an
> overdrive unit?

This would be the best bet for extended freeway driving. I had
to have the S1 rearend rebuilt, and opted to put in a ring and
pinion ratio (3.889:1) that would bring the rpms down a little
on the freeway. The tradeoff is that I lost some of that low
end "oomph" in the process...

Congratulations on your purchase, and good luck!
............................................................
Kevin Meek (kevnmeek(at)netcom.com) Sunbeam Tiger B382002202
Santa Cruz, California Sunbeam Alpine SI B9011324



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