RE: Help with '83 Spider Handling

["Mark Battley" <m.battley@domain.elided>]

>In the name of 'not overlooking the obvious,' I contribute
>this question/answer: do '83 Spiders have the same steering
>gear as my '79 did? If so, have you tried tightening that
>center bolt in the steering box yet? I seem to recall it
>dampening the steering play.

There's another nut to check on the steering box: the one that holds the
steering arm onto the output shaft. If this is loose you can get a lot of
slop. 

To check it: reach under the car and rest a finger on the arm so it also
touches the side of the nut. Get a helper to wiggle the steering wheel. If
there is any movement you will feel it. Tighten the nut, and check again: it
is possible for the nut to be tight but the arm to still be slightly
loose...

What can happen (been there), is that if it has been loose for a while (it
is normally a castellated nut with a split pin so it can be loose without
falling off) the splines will wear enough for the arm to slide far enough up
the taper that the nut "bottoms out" on the end of the splines before it
pulls the arm completely tight. It's not hard to fix if this is the problem
(get a new arm, or put suitable washer under the nut, or machine a relief
into a nut). 

Mark Battley
Auckland, New Zealand.

1974 Alfa Romeo 2000 GT Veloce

Alfa Romeo 105 series Bertone Coupe home page and register at:
      http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/1806/105GTV.HTML
    

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