2000 GTV Suspension Rebuild

Feb 19, 2007 update to the Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV project car

We’re starting the rejuvenation of our Alfa’s suspension this week. We’ve got parts sourced from Vick Auto and International Auto Parts to make the suspension look and perform better than new.

With the arms, springs and shocks out, we’ve got to decide whether we are pulling the entire rear. We will, so we can freshen the LSD and repace the trunion bushings.

We went on to completely disassemble the rear suspension to its basic parts. We spent several hours scrubbing the axle assembly before unbolting the axles from the aluminum differential carrier. The differential is now out and the factory limited slip will be shimmed back to spec. Some paint and fresh bushings will be added to the mix to complete the rear’s rejuvenation.

We spent about an hour working on our limited slip differential at RML Automotive and we improved the “action” of the unit from just about nonexistant to having about 100 ft.-lbs. of breakaway force. We did this all for a whopping $2.

The trick was using a flywheel shim for an aircooled VW. We purchased several of these $2 shims in varying thicknesses and put them between two of the cross plates. We settled on a .36mm shim that gave us quite a bit of locking action. The friction plates looked fine, they just needed more pressure to work correctly.

Next up, we’ll be reassembling the entire rear end and then we’ll get started on the front.

The rear axle of the Alfa went back in, hanging from refurbished control arms from International Auto Parts and bushings from Vick Auto. With the springs, shocks and axle shafts in, we can move on to the front.