Engine Back in the Duetto

The Duetto has a 1600cc TwinCam again! Last night Kathy and I dropped the rebuilt engine back into the repainted engine bay (See AlfaBB thread on the repaint ).

Others have discussed the best way to drop these back in, my thanks to those pointers. By using the 2nd set of head bolts to mount a spare lifter brace, it allows the engine to hang almost vertically. That allows everything to stuff back into the bay without too much interference. My engine lift needs to pass under the wheel hubs, so I jacked on the cross brace and removed the wheels.

As required, the steering cross-chassis rod was dropped. A cardboard sheet was placed against the firewall to protect it (and the valve cover) from scraping. I should have left the hood latch assembly off, and re-installed after.


Most importantly, I enlisted Kathy to assist. She has great eyes for spotting approaching interference! Boy, that whole thing is tight. Makes one wonder how it was done in mass production!


I left the shifter gimbal mechanism out of the transmission to allow a bit more clearance. A jack was needed under the transmission to level thing out as the drop progressed.


The Duetto was originaly built with a similar 1600cc engine, but the first owner replaced it with a newer one years ago. While I am not a big sticlker for originality, this piece seems appropriate.