Just a quick brake job…..

NM850

True Classic
When I bought my 850 from the original owner 25 years ago I pretty much went through it all and since then I’ve been fortunate that its very reliable. Just the occasional carb jet cleaning etc . I recently moved and put the car in storage because my garage remodel took much longer than anticipated, “Covid” delays….
On the drive home I noticed some strong pulling on braking. Either a stuck caliper or collapsed rubber line. Just a quick afternoon project…. But notice the A arm bushings? I couldn’t live with that so……it’s now going to be a full front suspension rebuild. Stay tuned.
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I’m tuning into this. I’ll be doing the same thing to my 600 (w/ 850 disc brakes up front). Where are you getting your replacement parts from, if you don’t mind me asking?
 
I’m tuning into this. I’ll be doing the same thing to my 600 (w/ 850 disc brakes up front). Where are you getting your replacement parts from, if you don’t mind me asking?
I’ve had most of these parts on my shelf for many years but if I need something I usually buy from Obert or Midwest Bayless
 
I bought Mintex NOS rear drum pads off eBay UK just recently. Probably asbestos. I spent a lot of time setting them up and adjusting them and they are simply brilliant now.
 
Progress has been a bit slow. Between work and time at the cabin I haven’t spent much time in the shop. (No hurry really, good 850 driving weather will probably come in September, too hot now.)
Between stuck and exploding bushings and an A arm nut that the impact couldn’t even loosen (heat did it) things didn’t go quickly today either. Just the norm for a 50 plus year old car.
I realized I didn’t have the upper kingpin bushing so had to order those . The good news is the kingpins are fine so I’m not gonna rebuild them. I thought about switching to later brakes but since I have enough parts (seals, pads and rotors) to do these at least one more time I think I’ll just leave them.
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More disassembly. Tried to take the bump stop off and the bolt broke. Luckily there was enough left to weld on a new one. Nothing wrong with the bump stop, I just want to paint the inner fender well while I’m at it. The overspray has driven me nuts for 20 plus years.
I realized I didn’t have Fiat tool 74044 to install the A arm bushing so I fab’ed that up. Took the end of a 124 trailing arm (fit perfectly But wasn’t deep enough so I had to add some tubing. I paint all my homemade tools this color. FA1445B6-B0EE-4758-B86A-198AE4C78B25.jpegC6CEDED0-1AE6-4FE5-AF07-8726BDB783E4.jpeg
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Spring removal. Anyone with experience here? Is it easier to remove the cross member and spring together or does it matter?

Sorry about the jumble of photos, I gotta work on that.
 
Smart on the tool painting, they can get lost and just look like useless junk and tossed.
 
Well it was easy to remove the cross member and spring together. As I saw It would be hard the other way with the tabs.
There was some surface rust where the cross member met the frame so I decide to clean all that up.
The end bushings in the spring did not want to come out. I had to press out the inner part then make a cut in the bushing sleeve , even then it was like they were fused in…
The right A arm took about 30 min to remove, that was after the nuts were off! It was corroded to the rear bolt. Lots of prying and wiggling. I wanted to take it slow as the sheet metal around those bolts is not too thick.
My car has been in the South West it’s whole life, I’d hate to deal with a rust belt car.
The upper steering knuckle bushing I ordered seemed too big When I went to press it in. On inspection it was 0.3 mm larger than the one that came out. I didn’t want to chance breaking the knuckle so I turned it down on my lathe.
Progress is now being interrupted by work so I’ll have to finish up next week.1989C6CD-B861-46D8-877A-6F33199C54AB.jpeg720911B4-CB2C-4A63-9C1B-7BD960643239.jpegA66E1BFD-BB76-4BE0-9B15-820EC73D4872.jpeg
 
Been there too.

I found drilling a series of holes in the rubber between the bushing and its boss seemed to be the key for me.
(Then) carefully slicing with a hacksaw through the bushing the width of a chisel face...and finally steel 'peeling'
with a chisel. Effectively creating a curl to remove the scored strip.

NM850, how many shims did you find on each stud ?

I'm currently setting up caster, camber, and toe and found 4 on each stud with one exception. The count was 6 on the passenger side stud aftmost.

Continued luck !

lezesig
'72 850spi
 
Been there too.

I found drilling a series of holes in the rubber between the bushing and its boss seemed to be the key for me.
(Then) carefully slicing with a hacksaw through the bushing the width of a chisel face...and finally steel 'peeling'
with a chisel. Effectively creating a curl to remove the scored strip.

NM850, how many shims did you find on each stud ?

I'm currently setting up caster, camber, and toe and found 4 on each stud with one exception. The count was 6 on the passenger side stud aftmost.

Continued luck !

lezesig
'72 850spi
Only one shim on the forward right side. I’ll update when I do the alignment.
 
Only one shim on the forward right side. I’ll update when I do the alignment.
This is great, I’d like to know what your final measurements are for camber & caster if you’ll share info.
This work is in my future as well.👍🏻
 
Another few set backs. The Jack on my new HF press failed after 3 uses. Last one lasted 10 years….
One of the Koni‘s that were rebuilt by Prosource decided to leak. Koni says they no longer work on these so…..
had to order a pin tool to disassemble.
Now how much oil do these take? Anybody have any idea in ml or cc? Or will I just have to try trial and error?FD36A4D1-D800-40E7-A8AA-0460C5489218.jpeg
 
Well nobody here could help with the Koni rebuild (nor on the Alfa boards) so I went to some motorcycle forums. Seems they rebuild shocks all the time. Of course each shock is different but I decided to use 10 wt Redline Suspension Fluid .
Started with a 100ml and ended up using 125ml. Shock seems fine and feels just like the “good” one. Only a drive will tell.
Didn’t want to mount the wheels for an alignment until I got the brakes bled. My pressure bleeder doesn’t fit the 850 reservoir and my Chief Pedal Pumper is out of town so that will have to wait . Alignment next.
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Well nobody here could help with the Koni rebuild (nor on the Alfa boards) so I went to some motorcycle forums. Seems they rebuild shocks all the time. Of course each shock is different but I decided to use 10 wt Redline Suspension Fluid .
Started with a 100ml and ended up using 125ml. Shock seems fine and feels just like the “good” one. Only a drive will tell.
Didn’t want to mount the wheels for an alignment until I got the brakes bled. My pressure bleeder doesn’t fit the 850 reservoir and my Chief Pedal Pumper is out of town so that will have to wait . Alignment next.View attachment 65328View attachment 65329
 
Gravity feed works just fine for bleeding brakes. Watch the reservoir, may take several hours.
I hate to admit it but I’ve been doing this for a long time and I’ve never heard of gravity feed. (as related to brakes) but I see it’s a thing. Never too old to learn. Not sure it would get rid of all the air as well as pressure bleeding but in either case she comes home tonight so I’ll go with tried and true tomorrow.
 
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