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Guest

Hi there,
I think I have been screwed by a local garage. I took it in for a steering alignment (the steering wheel is off centre driving straight) and when I picked up the boss said the car has "non adjustable camber" and so they couldn't do the alignment, but did the "toe-in" and charged the full amount anyway. I said I will check with the dealer about adjusting the camber and get back to them. They are talking rubbish right? How do you adjust the camber to get the the steering wheel straight? Any help appreciated! Jon 1987 1.5 33 4c.

gritsop · Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2004 11:33 am Post subject:

Hi,

Yes they are right. According to the workshop manual "camber and caster angles cannot be adjusted" - in addittion rear wheels angles cannot be adjusted also.

However in order to place the steering wheel in centre one should extract it and place it in the centre.

Hope this helps,

Regards,
_________________
Thanassis Gritsopoulos
1991 Alfa 33 1.4 IE
2001 Alfa 147 1.6 Distinctive

http://www.alfa-restoration.co.uk
Parts Shop: www.alfa-restoration.co.uk/shop

paddy granger · Alfa Sprint Joined: 12 Aug 2003 Posts: 248

Is this only for the early models?

Our series 3 33 was re-aligned a few months ago, and this is what was changed:

Front

Camber angle
Caster angle
Toe-in

Rear

Camber
Toe-in

The car had a problem as the steering didn't self centre with the 15" wheels. They used the 16v specifications as a guideline, and the problem was fixed. General handling was improved as well.

Eddie W · Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2004 3:18 am Post subject:

Steering wheel position is adjusted by toein or removing and replacing as above. Castor couldn't be adjusted without the use of hacksaw and a welder Razz

Camber can only be adjusted by slotting the holes at the bottom of the strut or by drilling these holes way oversize and fitting eccentric bushes,neither of which is likely to be done by an alignment shop. Rear toe/camber could be easily adjusted with shims where the hub bolts to the axle.
Uneven wear on the tyres can result in the steering wheel being in a different position. In any case you would want to know the reason that has changed it. It can also happen after changing tyres.
Regards Eddie
_________________
A LITTLE FURTHER A LITTLE FASTER

Joninaus · Guest

Thanks for the replies guys.... I will hold off going back to the garage to give them a piece of my mind!

Could somebody take me through removing the steering wheel and replacing it on centre please? I have tried removing the centre horn button with no success.

Thanks

gritsop · Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2004 9:34 am Post subject:

Hi,

As far as the steering wheel is concerned, it is removed as follows:

Take out the cover and you'll see a nut securing the wheel to the column.
Undo it and use a puller to take the wheel out.
For DIY owners I recommend the following which I have done to my car with success.
Cut a small piece of steel bar (a suitable one is from the hardware used in the wall of gardens), a small sized bolt & nut and a small metal tube which will play the role of a washer.
Put the bar in the centre of the wheel, next to it the bolt and the tube/nut.

As the pressure is very very high the steel bar is essential for not to bend - by doing the nut , the bolt's head will apply pressure to the bar which in turn apply pressure to the wheel and will eventuall push it out.

Hope I transferred my thoughts effectively Confused

Regards
_________________
Thanassis Gritsopoulos
1991 Alfa 33 1.4 IE
2001 Alfa 147 1.6 Distinctive

http://www.alfa-restoration.co.uk
Parts Shop: www.alfa-restoration.co.uk/shop

paulhide · Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2004 9:46 am Post subject:

Hi Thanassis, do you have a picture of this steering wheel "puller"?
_________________
Owner's Club 33 Registrar. Now from P4 & S2 1.7 QV
http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=5188

gritsop · Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2004 10:52 am Post subject:

Hi,

Here is a photo of the puller

From left to right you can see.

1.The metal bar tied to the bolt (notice that the bolt's head is not hexagonal but with edges)
2.The small tube
3.The washer
4.The nut.

So when you need to take out the wheel you place the nut in the centre of the bolt and as you wind it up, actually the small tube is against the steering column, it pushes on and on and eventually the wheel will pop out after some turns of the nut.

Hope this helped

Regards,
_________________
Thanassis Gritsopoulos
1991 Alfa 33 1.4 IE
2001 Alfa 147 1.6 Distinctive

http://www.alfa-restoration.co.uk
Parts Shop: www.alfa-restoration.co.uk/shop

paulhide · Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2004 10:53 pm Post subject:

That’s brilliant, thanks. I’m not totally sure what you’re doing, but I get the gist of it and I think it will become more obvious when I actually start to take the steering wheel off of an old 16v to put in my new series two 1.7 which is being resprayed this week. Have used a hammer in the past which is bloody hard considering the amount of room behind the steering wheel you have to play with. Then I’ll have three 33s! Just got a digital camera and will post up a picture sometime. Interestingly I just changed the front lowered/stiffened suspension of my P4 (which the previous owner had put on) with some decent standardish front kit and realize what a mistake the previous owner had made. I suddenly have a load more grip at the front!! Moral of the story, I think, is don’t just grab any lowering kit you can find.
_________________
Owner's Club 33 Registrar. Now from P4 & S2 1.7 QV
http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=5188