Re: DeDion thoughts

[Brad Porter <bporter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Enzo,

Thanks for the info, and welcome to the list.

At 03:32 PM 10/28/98 -0500, cubrr@domain.elided wrote:
....
>number is (510) 525-9435. BUT BE WARNED! and you can ask Jon or Ruth, as I
did, and they will tell
>you candidly (which I'm very grateful for) that some people have had
problems.  Seems that as the
>ball rotates within the bearing that sometimes it will "snag" indicating
that the surfaces of the
>ball and race weren't machined properly and tend to catch on each other.
>        They also told me that the parts are on a 7 month back order and
there's no telling when
>they'll get them. But if you're still interested, the part #'s you'll need
are: 605-52102
>       605-52378
>       608-00730

Well, in light of these issues, maybe it's better if I just make my own
all-metal deDion bushing.  Let's see, first I'll need a trailer hitch and a
hacksaw, then I'll just...

>On this same site you'll also find a nifty front suspension upgrade to
replace the caster arm
>bushings for a ball joint setup taken from the 105-115 Alfas.

	I've been thinking about this upgrade for a while, also.  Since you're
doing it, maybe you'd like to try another idea I have floating around my
head.  One of the problems I have with this upgrade is that you have to
grind alot of metal away to make the ball joint fit, which means that you
can never (easily) go back to the original bushings.  It seems to me that
an aluminum spacer between the ball joint and the body could be used so
that the bushing hole doesn't need to be enlarged.  The spacer would have a
hole the size of the "top" of the ball joint, and would be thick enough
that it moves the ball joint rearward just enough so that it doesn't
interfere with the original sheet metal.  You simply drill the mounting
holes in the spacer and the body sheetmetal, and sandwich the spacer
between the body and the ball joint.  This seems like such an obvious
alternative to grinding the sheetmetal... is there some reason this will
not work?

	Regards,
	 -Brad Porter		Williamston, Michigan USA
	  http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/5300
	  ICQ: 3011142
	  83 Silver Alfa Romeo GTV6 (The Good Twin)
	  85 Black Alfa Romeo GTV6 (The Evil Twin)
	  88 Pontiac Fiero GT (The Italian-American Step-sister)
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