RE: Steering box - 115 Spider

["Ian Lomax" <sfalfisto@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hey Paul,

I had my box rebuilt in LA last year, and if anything it's now too
stiff!  I'm still playing with shims to see if I can get it just right,
but overall it's nice and tight, and the price was right at about $400.

I can't find his card right now, but Tom Sahines recommended him, and
when I mentioned to Tom at the track that it seemed to stiff he offered
to check it out and make it right.

Give Tom a call and talk to him.  If you bought a good used box from
APE, Fabio in LA could rebuild it for you.

As for removing the box, you have to remove your headers unfortunately
to get it out.  Pull the steering wheel, and there are two bolts under
the dash that clamp the tube in place that you'll need to remove.  Undo
the tie rods from the pitman arm, remove the four (three?) bolts that
hold the box to the body, and she'll pull out through the engine
compartment.  Yup, it's a pain, which is why I replaced mine while the
engine was out.

I also got burned after all that work I did, my clutch MC failed and
ruined my new engine bay paint.  Damn...

Cheers,
Ian Lomax


> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-alfa@domain.elided [mailto:owner-alfa@domain.elided] On 
> Behalf Of Paul Irvine
> Sent: Friday, April 11, 2003 10:46 AM
> To: Alfa Digest
> Subject: Steering box - 115 Spider
> 
> 
> As I've been testing the Project Alfa Spider and getting all 
> the bugs worked
> out I was increasingly concerned with the steering. In light 
> of all of the
> improvements and refurbishments I've done it just wasn't up to par. I
> believe the steering box is the only item on the car that 
> wasn't rebuilt or
> replaced during the restoration.
> 
> Well, I think Project Alfa is trying to tell me something 
> because when I
> took it out the other day to do some troubleshooting on why the speedo
> wasn't working I cranked the steering wheel hard left to pull 
> a quick u-turn
> and there was a loud bang. I also completely lost all 
> steering control. When
> I finally got back to the car with the trailer (after the 1 
> mile hike back
> to the house) I found a chunk of the steering box on the 
> street in a glob of
> red triple-A grease. Upon examination I could see that half 
> of the break was
> new but the other half was dirty, The box had obviously been 
> cracked for
> some time. I had taken a pretty good look at it during the 
> restoration and
> didn't notice that it was broken - it looked okay.
> 
> Anyway - I've looked for a new box and they just aren't 
> available. I did see
> them listed on Spider-point.com catalog but for 1,364 Euros 
> (exchange) - a
> bit outside my budget. I should have no problem getting a 
> decent one from
> the boneyard but I was wondering if anyone has had any luck 
> with rebuilding
> one. As far as I know there are just some bushings and 
> bearings in there. I
> could probably find a source for bearings or reuse the old 
> one and have
> bushings made up by the machinist at work. They also sell the seals at
> Spider-point for a more reasonable 20 Euros.
> 
> So if anyone has already gone through this and maybe has some ideas on
> sourcing parts I'd appreciate the input.
> 
> Also, anyone with tips on how to remove and replace the box? It's not
> detailed in my manuals and I've never done it. I'm sure I can 
> figure it out
> but any advice in advance would be appreciated.
> 
> Paul Irvine - Antioch CA
> Project Alfa - So close but not quite there yet
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