Disassembling the front suspension, part 3
I’ve been to the garage several times since the last post, but nothing worth writing about happened. That is, there’s probably a limit to how many closeup pictures of screws and bolts you can take before falling asleep. At the moment I’m still pulling parts from the suspension, cleaning them up, inspecting them and getting them ready for degreasing and primer. In other words: wire wheels, wire brushes and penetrating oil. And then some more of the same. Rinse, lather, repeat.
One thing that baffled me ever so slightly was the dust caps/grease cups at the ends of the “dog bone” which holds the lower A-arm (or “bottom wishbone” if you’re so inclined) to the chassis crossmember. The exploded view in the parts catalogue doesn’t really show how it’s attached, but a question on alfabb.com revealed the simple solution: it’s an interference fit and comes off by twisting and pulling at the same time. They came off in a matter of minutes. The felt washers between the dog bone and the arms proper had disintegrated completely, and I think they’re there to keep the joint greased and at the same time keep it flexible. The joint can move in all directions, not just axially, but I’m not sure why. The joints came out of the arms with a 27 mm socket and a couple of generous punches from a large (1.5 kg) hammer. The nuts on the inside should be tightened to 42 – 46 Nm according to the shop manual. As usual, the grease inside the cups was starting to harden up. Just one more thing that makes a car deteriorate by not being used.
One small oddity here though: the dust caps/grease cups are supposedly a part specific to the Montreal since it has a 105.64 part number in the catalogue (TAV. 75). The rest of the A-arm/wishbone parts are normal 105 series suspension parts according to the part numbers, so I wonder why Alfa Romeo gave the cups a 105.64 number? These cups must surely be the same on every Alfa which have these arms?
Update: the grease cups on non-Montreal Alfas do indeed have part number 105.64.21.358.00. It must be about the only part they took from the Montreal to put on other Alfas instead of the other way around 
I bought some cheap brushes a while ago to clean up bolt holes with, and they were put to good use on the lower A-arm. They cost me about a euro each on a local kitchen supply store.
The parts that are ready for degreasing and paint are slowly beginning to pile up. I will probably have to apply some extra paint to the upper arms before fitting it. It’s been rattling about in the parts bin for a year and a half and has some pretty good chips and scratches in its black paint.
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