Removing a spider's center console

["Scott Johnson" <scott@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Those of you who think the center console of the kamm-tailed spiders is
just there for looks are in for a surprise. Earlier model spiders, without
center consoles, had metal dashes covered with vinyl. The metal dash was
strongly attached (bolted? welded?) to the car and (according to several
road tests I've read) formed part of its structure, helping to counteract
"cowl shake".

When Alfa placed a foam-core dash in the car, this was no longer the case.
There were many complaints in later road tests that cowl shake was much
more evident because of this.

When taking apart the dash in my old car (for replacement), I noticed
several things: 

1) The front-top part of the middle panel of the center console attaches to
the dash via two screws, and then the lower part of that panel attaches to
the floor via
two screws. These are largish and come with noticeable washers.

2) The side panels also attach to this very same point. On the inside of
the
side panels, there are (or should be) two long metal strips. The screws go
through these strips, and then the bottom of the strips also screw to the
floor.

3) On most console side panels I've looked at, these attachment points have
been destroyed, usually by tearing through the top of the panel and the
strip behind it.

To me, it would seem that alfa went to a lot of trouble to make the center
console a load-bearing member of the now weakend dash. If this were not so,
the screws needed to attach the thing into the car should've been much
smaller. Also, since most of the side consoles I've seen are torn up in
that area, it would seem that Alfa failed in the long run (at least in
early models), since the stresses over time destroy a portion of the side
panels. 

Finally, I can attest that during this dash replacement, cowl shake was
*noticeably* less when I finally screwed everything down on the center
console. Before, the dash would shake *very* violently when I went over a
railroad crossing or pothole. It would still shake pretty badly after it
was all tied down, but nothing like before.

So, while you still may be able to remove the center console and relocate
its more obvious functions, it will probably be much more difficult to
replace its most important (but least obvious) function as part of your
dash board's structure.

Scott Johnson
Alfa Spider FAQ Author

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End of alfa-digest V7 #162
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