Twin Spark Berlina

[Divano Veloce]

Thats only half of it! its 6 portal frames wide with 3 of them being the workshop. Im standing in a large carport taking the last photo. It is an enviable shed and is one of the reasons why we (I) decided to buy the place.

The car is going very nicely since its undercarriage work. The list however grows.... A big swaybar, new exhaust, steering wheel with column spacer are on the cards, also decent tyres.

What I forgot to mention is my workaround for the rear brake pressure regulating valve. Mine was stuffed and I was quoted $150 to repair or $150 for exchange for a rebuild item. I instead installed a rear brake pressure regulating valve from a VW. Its a PRV labelled 3/35 which i am told means that it has a cutin pressure of 35bar and a ratio of 3:1 for further pressure rise above this point. The alfa unit also has a 3:1 ratio but i have no idea of its factory set cutin pressure.

I have tested this PRV insofar as the rear brakes do not lock up before the front. I have not been able to lock the rears in my limited tests so it could be over-regulating.... It would be good to test an alfa unit on the bench to determine where its cutin pressure is.

[LukeC]

Take a good look at the lower control arms. A lot of people miss this but there are front ones and rear ones. I cannot tell from your pics but you should make a check to ensure that the rear one has a a machined scollop running around the inner end (this may vary from model to model... long time since I owned a 105). This is to ensure that there is working clearance for the tie rod/drag link ends. Note also that the original Alfa links ends were smaller in certain positions. These design nuances are to ensure that there is no binding/contact of steering parts.

Nice work on the box. I also have previously used tapered bearings. From memory, it was a early box without a steering lock so I used them top and bottom.

[Divano Veloce]

the leftover bits

but it still managed to get to spetaccolo

[cjheath]

the leftover bits

It seems you'll need to do that a few more times before you have enough leftovers to build a second car.

Looking great, lovely work.

[Divano Veloce]

Its been a while since my last update.... since then I've done a couple of sprints. At Winton the car wouldnt turn, on the fast entry corners i could trail brake but the cows tits were a screechy scrubby hell... So i installed Vins top ball joint extenders (and new top arms amongst other bits and pieces). THe difference is remarkable! At Broadford on the weekend I had no trouble whatsoever with turn in or front end grip, but the rear is a bit lively.... I also picked up a pair of red leather seats from Pickapart for $100, very comfy and good on the track.

[Divano Veloce]

1:20.5 at Broadford with ordinary street tyres and no tacho (hence the short shifting)

http://youtu.be/8jhn27Sx5ac

[GTVeloce]

Love the seats! They look kinda familiar...

Short shifting? But it's a twin spark - it has a built-in rev limiter! 

[AikenDrum105]

Awesome !

[Paul Byrne]

The seats look great. Re those upright extenders; I have them on the tarmac rally car and they do a great job. I did find that they introduce a big bump steer isssue, as you would expect. Ran a Targa tassie with the extenders but no bump steer fix and although it was good I never felt entirely settled when braking, especially on bumpy bits. Checked the bump steer and it was massive, 10mm toe in per wheel at full bump! (dotted line on the pic)

As you can see in the picture changing the vertical position of the pivot points of the track rods fixed the problem (solid line). Next tarmac rally and the difference was amazing-- and we moved up the placings.
Word of warning though. If you use a rose jointed track rod kit to get bump steer adjustment be very careful that the angular limit of the rod ends is not exceeded under all bump, droop and steering angle conditions.

[Divano Veloce]

Thanks guys!

the seats are out of a 156 twin spark. For $100 i couldnt resist.... the old seats were very nice and comfortable but had no headrests and not much lateral support. I dont like red leather interiors in a 156 but am surprised at how good they look (albeit a bit modern) in the Berlina. The pleats even match the back seats!!!

there was no reason to use 5th at broadford, i was being unnecessarily cautious after the rev limiting/pinging symptoms i'd had.... the car still pulled really well in 5th though.

as for bump steer, is there a cheap (ie, non AH) kit that can be adapted to suit the alfa steering arms? It seems like something that could be fairly universal between makes of cars that use the same/similar track rod ends....

[Paul Byrne]

The AH Rod end based kit is pricey. Now that we know what the issues are maybe a way to go would be to leave the centre rod alone and just think about the track rods. Basically the inner pivot of each rod needs to be lower and/or the outer one raised. 2 ltr steering arms are already swept up and maybe a further upsweep is all that is needed? If so the ball joints could probably be retained--unless they run out of angular travel.
The required difference in outer vs inner pivot height seems to be about 15 to 20 mm. A temporary mock up with the springs removed and a $5 laser pointer attached to the hub should sort out the approximate positions needed.
Then bending (carefully!) of the arms should do the job? If spacers are needed to lower the inner pivots then it gets a bit more complicated bacause the ball joints are tapered fittings.

[njh1964]

I also picked up a pair of red leather seats from Pickapart for $100, very comfy and good on the track.

Hi Divano,

Do happen to recall whether or not the 156 seats bolted straight to your existing floor mounting points, or did you need to make modifications to the seat runners or floor mounts?

Regards,


Nick

[LaStregaNera]

The seats look great. Re those upright extenders; I have them on the tarmac rally car and they do a great job. I did find that they introduce a big bump steer isssue, as you would expect. Ran a Targa tassie with the extenders but no bump steer fix and although it was good I never felt entirely settled when braking, especially on bumpy bits. Checked the bump steer and it was massive, 10mm toe in per wheel at full bump! (dotted line on the pic)

As you can see in the picture changing the vertical position of the pivot points of the track rods fixed the problem (solid line). Next tarmac rally and the difference was amazing-- and we moved up the placings.
Word of warning though. If you use a rose jointed track rod kit to get bump steer adjustment be very careful that the angular limit of the rod ends is not exceeded under all bump, droop and steering angle conditions.

Hey Paul, do you happen to know how much you moved the track rod ends by?

[Colin Byrne]

Hey Paul, do you happen to know how much you moved the track rod ends by?

as he said he dropped the inner down about 15-20mm from standard.  When i did it on my car i had combination of a bent up outer arm and a spaced down inner arm of similar values.

Definitely worth checking for yourself though as you may be running different camber, caster or ride height, also we both did this with the risers in place), you'll never get it perfect its a matter of getting it the best you can in the used area of suspension travel

well worth the effort though!

[LaStregaNera]

as he said he dropped the inner down about 15-20mm from standard.  When i did it on my car i had combination of a bent up outer arm and a spaced down inner arm of similar values.

Definitely worth checking for yourself though as you may be running different camber, caster or ride height, also we both did this with the risers in place), you'll never get it perfect its a matter of getting it the best you can in the used area of suspension travel

well worth the effort though!

I read that as there being a height difference from inside to out of 15-20mm, not a height change of 15-20mm - just wanted to get a rough idea of the change.
I've got Vin's risers on my car too - 2l uprights/steering arms - works nicely, but occasionally bumpsteery.