just bought my 1st alfa 88 verde red

[spiderrey]

both seats have knobs on the right side to recline the back.if you think these arent the original front seats. what are the correct front seats like?

[Potenziato]

Recaro seats are universal so there is no left or right. Both seats in this car are non original. The driver's seat looks like an old Recaro Ortho and the passenger seat is not the original. The bolsters are not deep enough.

The proper seats are in the pic below.

[spiderrey]

while that really blows. the 2 reasons i bought this car were the 3 liter engine and supposedly factory recaros. i wasnt even looking to buy a car. but it looked like such a deal. i would imagine finding the correct seats would be more then the car us worth.

[La Voce]

Overall she looks good, she does make a glorious noise doesn't she? Is the reason your gas cap gave you fits that it's not the correct cap for a Milano? You have an Alfetta cap installed in the picture, the correct one sits on your trunk lid in the photo. When was the timing belt last changed, and have you verified oil pressure in some other manner? I notice your windshield washer reservoir is empty, that may be because it was leaking from the low side pump, a common problem. Remove the reservoir and look down beneath it towards the engine exhaust as there's a nicely designed catch basin where the leaking washer fluid will pool and rust will form. Also, remove the long reflector strip on the trunk lid and look for rust underneath.

[spiderrey]

the gas cap gave me fits because i didnt do it quite right ther first try with the key. the next day at home it came off after a few attempts. the alfette cap was on just to see if it would work, it s home is on my 74 x 1/9. it came off a 77 alfa sprint veloce that i parted out due to rust. the iming belt water pump and other bolts were replaced right before i bought it. i guess i need to figure out how to check the actual oil pressure? i havent looked at the reservoir tank yet but i will soon, thanx 4 the heads up. just got the car fiday. just spent the last 3 days and nights at a huge family reunion, almost 200 people, good times.i will also pull the reflector strip and take a look. thanx jim. how difficult is it to source the proper front seats. and whats with the big plastix box in the trunk that says milano?

[mfx8898]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spiderrey by the way, what is rsr enhanced mean?

[La Voce]

I believe someone has the correct seats for sale on this BB, check the Parts for Sale thread, you may have to look back a few months. The correct fabric is difficult if not impossible to source however. The molded plastic trunk box was a dealer accessory item.

[spiderrey]

thanx Jim, two things. i need to check the actual oil pressure since the gauge says its low. whats the best way to verify good oil pressure without swapping in new parts. second, how do you guys lower your milanos? the po cranked up the front a notch because the tires are to big. ill crank it down 2 notches so its a little lower then stock. on the rear, do you use shorter springs? i havent even looked under ther to see what the setup is. im assuming it has struts.

[La Voce]

Wow, you are up in the air there aren't you? I would not normally recommend lowering the front but looking at your pictures it appears someone removed the A-Arms from the torsion bar, rotated them downward one spline, and reinstalled them. You can reverse it by doing the same but remove and rotate the A-Arm up one spline ("notch") on the torsion bar. That should get you back down close to stock ride height. If this is what you mean by "notches" then 2 is too much unless you go to a bigger bar, trust me. You will scrape inner fenders with your tires and exhaust system with the road if you lower "2 notches" in the manner I describe. You can fine tune in small increments, there are numerous threads regarding lowering a Milano if you do a search, I used and participated in the thread "How Do you get the &%$#@* torsion bars out". Lots of experienced and helpful people on this BB.
As far as oil pressure, 7 psi at idle and 50 psi at 5,500 rpm are the absolute minimums. if you are indicating anything less, first check the single wire and connector on the pressure sending unit, it is located on top of and at the back of the engine. If all is clean and tight then you should remove the sender and connect a direct pressure gauge to determine if it's the oil pump, cockpit indicator, or sender.

[spiderrey]

thanx again Jim. this direct pressure gauge, is it something i can get anywhere? the po had the bars adjusted up one tooth because he put the wrong tires on the car. tires are only a month old. can the front be lowered slightly under stock height and still be livable? if so, what is the best way to do this. i read some where some one used dropped spindles?

[La Voce]

For the direct reading gauge I recommend you remove the sender and take it to your local auto parts store and tell them what you want to do. They may be able to match the thread. As far as slightly lowering the front and living with it, it depends on how low you go, the roads you drive, and how much weight you put in the front seats. Personally I would not lower it but a few mm below stock unless you upgrade to stiffer bars. If you want to give it a go, here's a good start as to how to do it: http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/mila...-bars-out.html

[spiderrey]

thanx again jim.

[Grant]

The oil pressure sender is freaking hard to get at. You will probably end up bending a 14mm wrench (or is it 13mm?). It's located at the very back of the V, right up against the firewall.

[Gilles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by La Voce As far as oil pressure, 7 psi at idle and 50 psi at 5,500 rpm are the absolute minimums. if you are indicating anything less, first check the single wire and connector on the pressure sending unit, it is located on top of and at the back of the engine. If all is clean and tight then you should remove the sender and connect a direct pressure gauge to determine if it's the oil pump, cockpit indicator, or sender.

[scott.venables]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gilles my oil pressure before the bearing replacement was around 90-100. Now, after replacing the rod bearings with the engine cold the pressure is around 90-100 psi, however when hot it drops almost to 25..! Questions a) Could the low (hot) oil pressure be caused by a faulty sender, even if with the cold engine the pressure is ok? b) I simply screwed up and left one of the bearings too loose, and I have to do the job all over again? By the way, I switched from 15W-50 to straight 40 oil (w/90+ deg weather) and the oil pressure improoved a bit but still around 20-25 hot...