‘ In the winter of its life is when the Nord received its most radical changes’
We built a 1489cc Nord engine for a 60s Formula One car a few years ago. I can’ t remember the bore size, but it was obviously a lot bigger than the usual 1300 bore. That made only a few horsepower less than a 1600 and, because the big end journals are smaller, you’ ve got less resistance. You could rev the nuts off that.’
Depending on the sportiness of the car it was in, a variety of different carburettors were used on the Nord, from single Solex to double 40 and 45 DCOE Webers and DHLA Dellortos. In the late 1960s, a mechanical fuel injection system by SPICA was added to the Twin-Cam so that the engine could meet more stringent US emission requirements.
In the winter of its life is when the Nord received its most radical changes. In 1979 the 2-litre, still retaining its twin carbs, was turbocharged for the limited-production GTV Turbodelta. In the late 80s, for homologation purposes, the Alfa Romeo 75 was also turbocharged too. By this point, though, Alfa was making a new mass-produced twin-cam twin-spark fourcylinder but it was the old Bialbero with fuel injection that was called in to power the 75 Turbo America and Turbo Evoluzione.
By 1980 the Nord had earned its place as an iconic engine. But it was about to enter the record books too. A heavily reworked 2-litre Nord engine in the 1980 Alfa Romeo Spider, that would mechanically advance the inlet cam by 14.5 ° at
Piston & liners
Oil dip stick
‘ In the winter of its life is when the Nord received its most radical changes’
The Twin-Cam received fuel injection and variable valve timing in its later years
Front crankshaft Oil seal
30 The Engine Rebuilder Issue 01