re: Spider alignment

[Godfrey DiGiorgi <ramarren@domain.elided>]

I went through this with several iterations and changes a year or so back,
particularly since I went from stock springs to the IAP springs which
lowered the car an inch. After finally comming up with a front end setup
that felt right to me, that month an article appeared in Overheard Cams by
a noted Alfa specialist/tuner that relayed just about exactly what I found
by the seat of the pants, trial and error. 

1- Replace the upper control arms with ones that have been modified to
   allow camber adjustment. 
2- Check all ball joints, tie rod ends, pivots and bushings for wear,
   replace any which are out of spec.
3- make sure the steering box lash is adjusted properly. 
4- For street use, set the front end geometry up at -1 degree camber, as
   much positive caster as clearance will allow (depends to some degree on
   what tire/rim combination you're using as well as the upper control
   arms you've got, I managed to get 2.3 degrees positive caster), and 
   about .5-1mm toe-in. 

The result is positive steering with good feedback. Autocrossers seem to
dial in an additional degree negative camber, but I think you'd find this
wears the tires unacceptably on the street.

According to my buddy at the dealership, Alfa's factory spec for the front
end setup on the Spider changed a bit over the years, going to less and
less caster as the cars got heavier and people complained that the
steering was too heavy. When they went to power steering with the last
series cars, the caster went right back up to near max again. I've never
found the steering to be objectionably heavy. 

Godfrey

>I just put new tires on my '74 Spider and am looking to get the
>alignment taken care of. I'm curious about what the collective
>thought is on caster angles. One book I have states that the 1750
>and 2000 Spiders spec at 1.30deg. Is this considered the best
>setting? I'm thinking handling and steering quality here and am
>wondering if there is a better setting. My inclination however
>would be to tighten things up a bit but there isn't really much
>room here to play before you move into the negative area....

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