1987 Alfa Romeo 90, UPDATE 06/05/2007

[boxerman]

I have this car 2 years now, and had wild plans with it
so it just had to wait until my other projects were finished.
plans included fitting an 1.8 turbo engine from an alfa 75 ;D

but...........................................

last week I got the news that the 90 had to move from the barn it was staying in within 4 weeks

so the plans changed a bit........

i've stopped my alfasudproject for a while, to get a dutch registration for the Alfa 90 and then just drive it with its original 2.0 carburetted engine, not really a punishment
the easiest way to get dutch registration is to go for it with a completely original car, but it won't stay original of course

I partexchanged the alfa 90 when I sold my 1988 alfa 75 1.8 Turbo




as you see, the alfa 90 is just like it rolled out of the factory yesterday.

at the moment the alfa 90 is 150km away from my home, as soon as I have the time, I will collect it and prepare it for the RDW, that's the dutch equivalent of the englisch DVLA more or less.
they will thoroughly check the car's technical state and of course the identity.

over the past 2 years i've already found a lot of interesting parts to bolt on the 90 ;D
- it will be lowered of course,
- a set of 16" wheels,
- a set of bilstein shockabsorbers,
- a pair of K&N airfilters
- a steel tubular exhaustmanifold
- a supersprint backbox
- electric operated rearwindows
- remote control for the central locking

and in the future the 1.8 turbo will have to go in ;D

[twinspark]

Very, very cool.

Always wanted a 90 myself.

Many years ago, I nearly bought one, but was put off by the rarity. If I'd realised that they were essentially a 75 with a longer nose and boot, I'd have bought it.

Bargain price, too - like £200 with 12 months MOT.

I still regret not buying that.

[boxerman]

it's the rarity that attracts me

i just hate to see another car that's exactly like mine.

so if a car is not rare, i'll paint it in a unique colour for example

[twinspark]

Not sure I'd go down the 75 Turbo route for the engine - never driven a Turbo, but they don't really appear to offer much over the 2lt TSparks.

What it needs is a 12v V6 with SZ cams, a couple of banks of carbs from a Triumph triple bike and a 75 TSpark transaxle - for it's LSD (don't think the 90s came with LSD, did they?)

<evil grin>

[mrj]

oooooh fantastic; i had a 2,0l fuel injected one back in 98, it was a fantastic car... mine was white, a re-imported example from italia... nice to drive, no-one knew what car it was, except of the italian pizza guys, who were handing over the backdoor cash when you parked in front of the Pizzeria ;D ;D ;D it had some cool features; the Alfa suitcase (for the back door cash) which was fitted inside the dash board, the automatic front spoiler, the aircraft handbrake etc... good luck with the lowering (torsion bars, but you already know this) and enjoy this car....

[mrj]

twinspark said:

Not sure I'd go down the 75 Turbo route for the engine - never driven a Turbo, but they don't really appear to offer much over the 2lt TSparks.

What it needs is a 12v V6 with SZ cams, a couple of banks of carbs from a Triumph triple bike and a 75 TSpark transaxle - for it's LSD (don't think the 90s came with LSD, did they?)

<evil grin>

in italy they were available with the "small" V6 with 2,0litres; a good way would be to use the 2,0 V6 turbo from the 164, this is (in my opinion) the best V6 from Alfa.... though you need to change the whole drivetrain for a V6 conversion (double-clutch at the rear, pain in the ***)....

[boxerman]

@ twinspark, i've had a couple of 75 turbo's
my red 1988 red example was completely stock, factoryspec
i also had a 1987 black one

standing side-by-side ;D

the black one had an estimated 180bhp and 300+Nm
and was very fast

even faster then a 3.0 V6

and reliability is also no problem, the black turbo had covered 365000km's with its original engine, and used half a litre of oil every 3000km's

besides, in Holland it's not easy to change to an engine with more cilinders

[twinspark]

Ahhh, yes, Holland. Looks like you're stuck with a 4-pot, then.

Ref: V6 conversions...... you can use a 2lt clutch to replace the twin setup from V6s. Cost to change a clutch is then £200 vs £600 or so for a proper V6 clutch. The 2lt clutch is plenty strong enough for the V6, too.

[boxerman]

it's possible to convert from 4-pot to V6, a mate of mine had a 1983 alfetta saloon with a 2.5 V6 in it, it also had the GTV6's bonnetbulge, and a 90 V6's digital dash fitted.

it also involves a lot of surgery to the car, the enginemounts have to move forward and down

the double-plated clutch was only used in the GTV6 2.5, 90 2.5 V6, 75 2.5 V6 and the first 1.8 Turbo's, later turbo's and the 75 3.0 V6 used a bigger single-plated clutch
with a V6 or turbo conversion it's not the clutch that worries me, the driveshafts really have to be uprated to thick turbo or V6-ones

[Tarka]

Wow - Did we even get the 90 in the UK?? I have never ever seen one, not that shape anyway - I've seen the older Alfetta thing but not with the 33 esque nose.

[reallyloud]

Did we even get the 90 in the UK??

A few made it but seemingly UK buyers were not convinced.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I'm totally convinced!

[boxerman]

update,

finally got the car delivered at work about 3 weeks ago.

got it tested at 5 pm
and it FAILED!!!!!

- badly rusted rear innerwings, the triple-plated section on the inside
- sticky brakes, probably blocked flexi-hoses and rusty discs
- broken driveshaftrubbers
- worn lower balljoints
- and some electricityproblems


got working on it last week
so far i've completed the to-do list, just the brakes need to be done now, but i haven't got all parts yet

got my camera at work, but the batteries went dead
so no pictures unfortunately

[boxerman]

finished work on the Alfa 90 finally

took me a while to locate new rear-calipers
and bleeding the brakes is a nightmare

now waiting for some cash, to get the dutch registration

pics will follow

[DarrenW]

boxerman said:

pics will follow

Excellent ;D

I don't think I've ever seen one in real life!

[berendd]

succes bij de rdw kerel...

[boxerman]

finally another Update

got a dutch registration 23th of january
and i've been using the 90 daily since
and started collecting bits to improve it

so far i've collected
- Bilstein sport shockabsorbers
- 17" PCW alloys with 215/45/17 Pirelli P7000
- original foglights
- electric operated rearwindowmechanisms
- central locking with remotecontrol
- K&N airfilters
- Supersprint exhaustmanifold and backbox
- MOMO leather steeringwheel
- RECARO interior

in the meantime i've been busy repairing an accidentdamaged Alfa 145 1.6 TSpark '99 for daily for my wife


almost finished now, so then it's time to optimize the 90