GTV-6 ride height adjustment saga

[Jake Thomas <jakest@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Regular digesters may recall that I was attempting to restore my GTV-6's
ride height this weekend.  Given that I'm a newbie where suspension matters
are concerned, it may come as no surprise that the car is still in the garage.

Very little about the job has been straightforward - in fact, the only
simple thing was the torsion bar adjustment itself!  Even jacking up the
car was difficult; the front was so low to the ground, the jack wouldn't
fit underneath.  But I'll save the story for later; for now, if I may, I'd
like to heretically take issue with the factory instructions while asking
for more advice.

The esteemed Mr. Hertzman wrote:
>What the shop manuals will tell you is:
>1. Jack up the lower suspension arm until the upper arm moves away from the
>rebound stop.
>2. Undo the castelated nut, then using a balljoint separator disconnect the
>lower suspension arm from the stub axle carrier.

Never having used a balljoint separator, this probably should have inspired
me to take the car to a mechanic.  Instead, I went to Sears and purchased
the only one they had.  It has a 15/16" fork opening which, as the manual
may well mention, is the wrong size.  It looked like the right size though,
and as I couldn't get the boot off to see what was underneath, I went ahead
and disconnected the lower suspension arm (a story in itself) and trashed
the balljoint boot seal rim and the boot.  Fools rush in, etc.

Fortunately the damage is minor on the side I investigated; the balljoint
(hmm, better not abbreviate that) seems OK and, having bent back the rim,
the rubber will cover the tear and maintain a good seal.  There's still the
boot, though.  My 2 local places did not have it and Alfa Parts says that
Alfa does not sell this separately from the balljoint assembly!  They are
sending some from an earlier model - I think it was the GTV, rather than
the GTV-6 - which "will probably work OK."  I hope so.

I'm happy to stand corrected on this but it looks as though even the right
size of separator would still have damaged the boot.  There simply isn't
enough room to avoid it.  Now that it's apart and I can see what's going
on, I think the balljoint separator is the wrong tool for the job.  Much
better would be a 2-arm gear puller; applied from below, it would pull down
on the stub axle carrier while pushing up on the balljoint stud, completely
avoiding the rubber boot and not putting any unnatural stresses on the
balljoint itself.  Can anyone tell me why this wouldn't work?

While waiting for the new boots, I was hoping to put it all back together
temporarily and make sure the height is right.  But with the torsion bars
in their new position, I can't jack up the A-arm enough to clear the stub
axle carrier.  With about an inch and a half to go the car starts to lift
off the jack stand.  Now, I'm guessing that this is partly the anti-roll
bar's doing and that, if I can borrow another jack and lift both sides
together, it will behave itself.  Having been mostly wrong so far, though,
I'd welcome suggestions.

Anyway,
                                  Jake

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