Changes in '86 vs. Older Cars?

[junglejustice]

So, what changes/improvements (like 'em or not), were brought in 1986 to the GTV6, as compared to the early-production GTV6 cars...? This is not a "preference" question, but more of a -what's different- curiosity!

The solid cross-member on the older cars for example - is it bolt-in removable on the ' 86 (as with Milanos?)

How about the plastic side-panels along the doors and sides that I see on some cars - what production years had them? (Seems like the early and late cars did not have them, or did owners add/remove them ad-hoc?)

The seats; when did they go away from the Alfetta seats?

How about shift-linkages - changes?

Final-drive ratios? Did something change along the way?

Any other changes of note?

Brakes? Did the GTV6s ever get the later brakes?

Side-shafts - thick or thin?

Speedometer sender type?

[Hit an Apex]

You forgot the 3rd brake light .

[SamW]

JJ,

Yes, '86 got the removable center cross member. Isotonic shifter mid '85, I think the brake proportioning valve was a mid '85, the upgraded interior was '84 with the Maratona, both seats and the 140 speedo, the '86 got the finned valve covers. I think '86 also had the solid black bumpers instead of the siver with black platic bumpers. '86 has the open dif 4.10. I think the sunroof was standard in '86, but not certain on that... There were different AC systems, not sure which is which... Don't know about the side door molding, my '86 has it, I think earlier cars had none or a thinner one, but that could be dealer stuff.

[bjwhite]

85 and 86 got the "Tropic" AC system. They also got the cool black insert between the taillights that hold the license plate. 86 got the 3rd brake light.

I thought both the 85 and the 86 got the black bumpers.

Only the 84 got the grey painted lower parts of the car, I hate it...mine will be changed.

I think 84 was the first year for the later trim and plastic mouldings. 84 was also first year for the Recaro-like seats. Previous were the Alfetta seats.

81-84 got the 15" Campy "bottlecap" looking wheels.
85 got the cool phone dial Speedlines but are TRX metric sized.
86 got the horrible looking Milano wheel.

81-83 got a wooden steering wheel. 84-86 got leather. I think wood was a dealer option for 84-86.

81-83 got the 85mph speedo 84-86 got the 140mph (Was that it?)

81-85 got some simple "up/down" arrow window switches which I beleive are unlit at night (I could be wrong.) 86 got some much nicer looking ones with a modern window icon and they light up at night.

81-83 got the large rear hatch logo that says "ALFA ROMEO gtv6 2.5"
84-86 got the smaller one that simply says "GTV6 2.5"

[DaveH]

Also: when you remove the dash on a pre-86, there are blanked out vents in the box-section below the windshield. I believe they disappeared in 86.

The pivot at the bottom of the shifter became enlarged to almost Milano-sized in 85.

At some point, didn't the torsion bar cross member mount move? Because the torsion bars' length changed?

In 85, the useless US-emissions wiring was deleted - went from thermostat to ?? Changed timing when car was cold.

What about the location of the HT coil? I believe it migrated to the other side of the engine bay at some point.

[MALDI]

Here is an edited discussion of this topic on alfagtv6.com:

http://www.alfagtv6.com/gtv6_mdl.htm

Would be nice if someone made a model year by model year list of changes for handy reference. Volunteers?

[Belfast Child]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MALDI Here is an edited discussion of this topic on alfagtv6.com: http://www.alfagtv6.com/gtv6_mdl.htm Would be nice if someone made a model year by model year list of changes for handy reference. Volunteers?

[spdrcr]

I used to have an ’83 GTV-6 with all of the ‘84’s features from the factory. Some would say that it was a late ’83, but the build month was 3-83. Sometime around ’84 the ignition changed from a larger (unreliable, from what I’ve been told) box near the coil, to a smaller unit in the same place. Again, my GTV-6 had this smaller unit. I only noticed this once on one of the GTV-6’s that I’ve looked at, so I’m not an expert on this.

There is different gearing on the cars, I’m not sure if there was any rhyme or reason to what gears went into what cars during what years. I’ve test-drove other GTV-6’s and found that the speed in gears/rpm was different than what I was used to. Could be the tach/speedo error, but I also noticed a different sound with the engine.

[Greg Gordon]

There are three big differences in GTV6s for performance purposes.

1. The 1982 and 1983 cars have the 3.42 diff. All others have the 4.10 diff. They messed around with the other gears a bit, but the 1986 is the only one that has its ratios, they are exactly the same as Milano 2.5 ratios. That 3.42 diff is great if you have A LOT of power, otherwise it slows the car down quite a bit.

2. The post 1985.5 cars have the weaker rear torsion bar mounts and removable crossmember. They also have shorter torsion bars.

3. The post 1985.5 cars have the isostatic shift linkage. It has 10 times the complexity of the old linkage and about a 5% improvement.

[Gabor K.]

Some info based on own experience and the Spare parts catalog where there is some guidance.

The first series: 116 C (80-82)

old style seats 80-82 very similar to AlfettaGTV 2000
long torsion bars 80-mid.85 with removable cross member

The second series 116CA (83-86) (edition 83)

new style seats w. net as headrest. 83-86
new paint scheme w. rubber band along the side 83-86
new short GTV6 2,5 badge 83-86
new short torsion bars attached directly in the body in the rear. mid85-86. This mod came together with the introduction of the 75 in May 85.
New gear shift system Isostatica 84-86. This mod came at same time as the Alfa 90 was introduced in 1984.
Also there was a repositioning of the rear brake relief valve and common reservoir for brake and clutch in 84-86

As far as I can tell. If this does not seem to be correct in some cases one should check the chassis number to determine production year because in many cases cars that had been on stock for many years were sold as new.

[junglejustice]

Thanks guys; I just KNEW that this thread would bring up great info!