[r-mm]

Hi all
I'm about to reinstall the front suspension on my GTV 2000. I'm installing adjustable control arms and I fully disassembled all the tie/track rods for refinishing. The car was in lousy state when I started so I didn't take measurements before disassembly.

I know a lot of you out there did / are doing similar rebuilds. How did you initially set up the tie rods and control arms? I realize that final setup is entirely beyond my ability and I will take the car to a shop, but I want to get it in the ballpark.

For the tie/track rods: I found the attached sheets in the "front end" section of the manual I got from the Alfa Owners Club, but the GTV2000 isn't listed. Is it safe to presume its the same as the 1750?

Any advice for the adjustable control arms?

 

[eedneco]

Hi,
For just an initial setup you don't need to be very exact, don't worry.
My suggestion: set the steering wheel straight ahead first, and try to block it from moving (or at least check it every time you do something). Then start with the castor arm (the front part of the upper a arm), set them so that the I-arm is roughly in the same position relative to the chassis opening into which it goes, on left hand side and right hand side. That at least gives you about the same castor on each front wheel.
(For later on, I try to get the adjustment done to maximize what castor can be had without the I-arm rubbing into the chassis.)
Then you can do a rough setting of the camber using the adjustable I arm, just with a normal bubble level to give you vertical across the wheel rim.
Then the toe can be set very roughly to zero using a tape measure across the insides of the front of the tyres compared to the rear of the tyres. You won't get it closer than a few mm this way, but it's close enough. There's no great need to use a specific procedure for this if you're about to take it to a shop anyhow.

When taking it to the shop for a proper alignment, though, make sure you understand the factory procedure. Lots of threads about that I think. Don't expect the shop to know anything about alfas nor to be sensitive to listening to a customer about how to do the alignment - make sure you know how it's done and insist on them listening.
Cheers
Neil

 

[Andrew]

Centerline has easier-to-read, but not-necessarily-as-detailed specs here:
http://www.centerlinealfa.com/tips/images/p55.pdf

They show 1750/2000 specs same:
3mm toe in
-1/2* camber
2* caster

Those are pretty good starting points.
Andrew