Milano body flex, etcetera

[JHertzman@xxxxxxx]

In AD7-480 Zamani wrote:

>>When going over bumps at speeds, the car shakes as if it's not welded
properly (it doesn't feel like it's sturdy). The steering column for one feels
a little bit wobbly when going over bumps at high speed. I'm making a
comparison with my 155 which is more composed over bumps. It's kinda hard to
describe but I'm thinking the Milano chassis' inherent lack of rigidity is the
cause here. Which plain sucks! I can't close the door properly when the car is
jacked up from the front crossmember. Is this a common trait? Should I just
throw in a Roll Cage?<<

In AD7-481 Doug Sedon added

>>i also have to think it's the chassis' inherent lack of rigidity - much as i
love my werde, it flexes more than any other small sedan i'm aware of.  i'm
sure that the 1st crack in my werde's windshield (occurred w/in 6 months of my
ownership) was caused by body flex.  it started in the upper left-hand corner,
came down a couple inches diagonally, then straight down, paralleling the a-
pillar.- - - i'd be wery interested in an under-body brace, similar to what
don eramina has done for the spiders - anyone? <<

In AD7-483 Lawrence Gowin added "That is the exact same crack that I've got in
my Milano.  Anyone else?"

In AD7-485 Adam Doherty added to the database by reporting that his Platinum
doesn't seem to really have that much flex at all, although he throws it
around a good bit and has 205/50/15 tires.
 
Also in AD7-485 Steve An reports that his windshield crack started at the
bottom, going up, but also by the A pillar on the driver side.

Then in AD7-486 Doug Sedon, prodded by Bill, elaborates that he gets no cracks
on the 164 or gtwe6 windshield, while Brian Shorey says that both of his
verdes  seem quite rigid to him. 

Zamani's "I can't close the door properly when the car is jacked up from the
front crossmember" surprised me, followed closely by Doug's "it flexes more
than any other small sedan i'm aware of" and the references of both to "the
chassis' inherent lack of rigidity". Having sold my Giulia Super in moment of
lapsed sensibility in 1972, the only small sedans I own are a couple of
Berlinas, a couple of Sport Sedans, a Milano Platinum and a 164. The Milano
platform is based on the Sport Sedan (Alfetta/Giulietta Nuova/90/75) with
stiffening refinements, notably the "under-body brace, similar to what don
eramina has done for the spiders" which Doug wished for, the two 30mm square
tube compression struts linking the center crossmember to the rear floor. (I
won't go into what they do and how they do it, but that is what they are-)

I note also that when the GTV-6 was introduced in what appeared to be a
restyle of the old Alfetta coupe hull there were statements that there had
been multitudes of imperceptible structural refinements, a gusset here, an
increased thickness there, a flange along a flexing edge, and so forth. I
would assume that the same structural detailing would have been done at
various points in the evolution from Alfetta to Milano, resulting in what
should be a much stiffer structure.

So I went out to the nearest of the Sport Sedans, a '79, and jacked up one
corner by the spindle until two wheels were off the ground, and guess what?
All doors open and close perfectly, unlike Zamani's car. I did not take feeler
gauges to the door gaps, but to the nekkid eye there was no difference in gap
between normal level and the three-point suspended state. I did not check the
others, but I certainly never noticed any sign of a lack of torsional rigidity
in the Giulia Super, Berlina, Sport Sedan or Milano, either on the road or on
a corner-jacked state.

One does hear that hard-used GT Veloces loosen up over the years, presumably
as spot-welds here and there pop, and that continuous seam-welding can
increase the stiffness of some body structures to an appreciable degree.

Apart from the question of torsional stiffness, there are the cracked
windshields. One variable is that the Milano windshield is glued in, while the
Sport Sedans, late Alfetta coupes, and GTV-6s all have the windshields hung in
rubber gaskets, which probably would be more forgiving, but my '71 GT Veloce
and '72 Berlina had glued-in windshields (perhaps with a more flexible glue
than the Milano's), and I have never had a cracked windshield in thirty-two
years of Alfa sedans.

Probably doug will say I don't drive hard enough-

John H.
Raleigh, N.C. 

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