105/115 Alignment: it lives!

["Mark Battley" <m.battley@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Yes, the white machine is (finally!) on the road again, complete with metal
to attach the front antiroll bar and keep the sides of the car apart, and
new front bushes/balljoint/dampers etc. And it feels GOOOOOOD! Okay, it's
noisy, that gearlever is a long way away, and the steering is heavy, but it
really is fun.... 

I'd be interested in hearing what alignment settings people are using or
have tried, particularly castor. The (more or less) relevant data that I
have so far is:

                         Brooklands/Autobook               CRH              
             Mine
                                 1750/2000              GTA       1750 GTV  
     Left      Right                  

Camber (deg)           +20' +/- 30'               -2.5             -1       
       -0.1        -0.9

Castor (deg)             +1.5 +/- 0.5               +1              +1      
       +2.0        +1.5

Total Toe (mm)         3.0                             3                  3 
               1.5 total

Obviously the CRH settings are intended for track conditions, ride height,
spring rates and tyres. But why do (did) they use relatively low castor?

The settings used on mine are as recommended (and set) by the local 105
suspension guru. The slightly higher LH castor is to compensate for the road
camber (we drive on LH side here). He prefers to maximise castor, and
minimise toe. I don't have adjustable upper arms: the -ve camber is a result
of the lower ride height... and there is evidence of a RH smack sometime in
the car's past which may explain the difference from side to side. The front
end does grip very well, but the steering is heavier (and loads up more)
than I really like. The steering actually "felt" nicer before I had it
aligned: when it had less castor. I'm tempted to get the castor reduced by
half a degree or so and see how that feels.

Any comments? Anybody experimented much with alignment settings?

Thanks,

Mark Battley
Auckland, New Zealand.

1974 Alfa Romeo 2000 GT Veloce
Alive and well.

Alfa Romeo 105 series Bertone Coupe home page and register at:
      http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/1806/105GTV.HTML
Which has suffered from a lack of maintenance in favour of the real car
recently: Its time is coming.

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