autoMilano longevity

[JHertzman@domain.elided]

Howard Warren, custodian of the 1988 Milano, automatic "SnowHawk", 156k miles,
asked a question about average life expectancy of the automatic gearbox. I
don't have an answer, but do have some peripherals. 

I have 2.5 automatic Sport Sedans, one a '79 and 1.5 '78s, and knew that they
have the ZF 3HP 22 gearbox, and I also knew (from an old J.C. Whitney catalog,
for goodness sake) that a single rebuild kit covered the Alfa, BMW, and
Peugeot automatics of that era. 

So, while looking for something else I browsed the Winter 1987 issue of
"Quadrifoglio" (the Pfanner/Morningstar version, not the Italian original) and
found a brief article about the introduction of the automatic Milano, citing
Alfa Romeo buyer demographics- ("55% 35 or older, 75%
professionals/executives, and used to driving automatic-equipped Mercedes,
BMWs and Jaguars") and going on to say that the new gearbox was the ZF 3HP 22.
I had assumed that the Milano box was similar to the Sport Sedan's but
beefier, not exactly identical. So the Quad article was of some interest, as I
had been thinking of stuffing a V6 in one of the Sport Sedans. So I asked Don
Black about the boxes, and he confirmed that the Milano box and the Sport
Sedan box are identical, that the innards are identical to the Peugeot/BMW
automatics with a different case for the transaxle application, and he then
characterized the ZF box as, and I quote, "DAMNED NEAR BULLETPROOF". Don was
merely Technical Director for ARI from 1963 to 1970 but from 1970 to 1987 the
title was Director, US Engineering Office, and his responsibilities included
everything to do with certification, long-term testing, etcetera etcetera, and
I take his "damned near bulletproof" to be tantamount to "bulletproof".

So, I can't say that the average life expectancy is 156,100 miles, but given
reasonable care the longevity should be equal to that of the commonly
respected (by others) cars from the north. Also, that if it ever does fail, a
box from a rusty Sport Sedan should fit, if one wants to stay automatic
without springing for a rebuild.

Howard also asked "If the auto tranny should go boom, is it easy to convert it
to five speed, or are there significant differences in the body around the
driveline?  A rebuilt auto tranny from Alfa is $2400, which is more than I
paid for the car."

Before answering the question, I will question the relevance of first cost
and/or resale value. The thing which kills more Alfas than anything else is
owner reluctance to spend $3,000 on a paint job (or on you-fill-in-the-blank)
for a car which has a market value of $500, or even $2,950. If you don't want
to sell the car, maintenance costs and resale values should be irrelevant.

Preach over, converting an autoMilano to a manual should be quite similar to
the Sport Sedan conversion which has been done often by people who despise
slushboxes as un-macho. On the Sport Sedan the sheet-metal in the floor at the
shifter is different, so one usually gets shift linkage and immediately
surrounding floor, removes seats and carpets, and does some cutting and
welding. In the Sport Sedan there are a few other sheet-metal parts underneath
which differ in the parts book, but in ways which I could not pin down without
side-by-side comparison. The crossmember at the front of the rear seat, the
floor-pan from there to the bulkhead, and the bulkhead are identical. The
trunk floor behind the bulkhead is not. The crossmember which anchors the two
ends of the Watt's link is identical, but the piece which boxes in the bottom
of that member is not. All of these differences which show up in the parts
numbers probably (but not certainly) relate to the self-leveling system.
When/if push comes to shove I can photocopy the relevant pages in the parts
book. 

Cordially, 

John H.
Raleigh, N.C.

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