Frequently Asked Questions about Alfa Romeos

Q: When I pull my 164's hood-release lever, the hood doesn't completely unlatch. The right side seems to be stuck. What's wrong?

A: Your engine mounts. When the mounts are worn, the engine can tilt forward far enough to crush the sheet metal slot that guides the right latch rod. This can also happen if you loosen or remove the mounts while working on the engine. So if you've just replaced the engine mounts, be sure to check the hood-release rod guide slot for damage caused during installation BEFORE you close the hood.

To open a stuck hood, access the right latch rod by removing the right forward wheel-well liner. Attempt to push the rod end toward the center of the car. If that doesn't work, trying pulling it from underneath the car using a lever pivoting on the forward exhaust. Connect the end of the lever to the latch rod with a metal wire and pull toward the center of the car. This may take some effort.

Once you get the hood open, bend the guide slot back into shape with a pair of pliers.

Q: I'm tired of the slushbox in my '91-'93 V6 164L. How can I convert the car to manual transmission?

A: Here's a summary of my experience doing auto-to-manual conversion. My comments apply specifically to the USA-spec 164L. Your mileage may vary.

I did the entire project in my garage, although I had the used manual gearbox rebuilt by my mechanic and the flywheel resurfaced by a specialist. Definitely have the flywheel resurfaced, and at the very least, replace the input shaft bearing on the donor transmission. These are often a source of trouble.

The following parts are specific to 5-speed cars and are required for the auto-to-manual conversion. Used parts are fine, except for the clutch master cylinder:

• gearbox
• flywheel
• linkage/lever
• pedal cluster
• clutch master, plastic cover, and hard line
• intermediate driveshaft
• intermediate driveshaft support
• left half-shaft
• center console insert
• shift boot

These parts are optional:

• front coil springs
• left-side engine wiring harness
• instrument console
• left-front-forward inner fender liner (the original will have a big bulge to accomodate the automatic gearbox)

I had the gearbox rebuilt, the flywheel resurfaced, and I renewed the clutch, clutch master, clutch slave, clutch flex line, flywheel bolts, shift linkage bushing, rear main seal, engine mounts, brake master, brake booster (you can actually get at it when the gearbox is out), intermediate driveshaft bearing, CV boots, linkage boots, and the shift knob (used ones are usually ratty). While I was in there, I also took the opportunity to replace every wear item in the front suspension: struts, bearings, ball joints, anti-roll-bar links, all bushings and lower control arms. The entire left front suspension has to come off anyway.

Notes:

• You won't need to cut, drill, fold, spindle, or mutilate anything during the conversion except for the brake-fluid reservoir. Extra tubes for the hydraulic clutch are molded into the bottle. They are left uncut on automatic cars.

• Quit scratching your head: the clutch master cylinder goes under the dashboard, above the clutch pedal. It's not altogether obvious without a 164L 5-speed to look at.

• The intermediate driveshaft supports ARE different but appear nearly identical. When installed in the car, they appear completely identical. There's a slight difference in the final machining to account for the different driveshaft centerlines. They are NOT interchangable.

• The lighter 164L 5-speed uses different front coil springs than the 164L automatic (which uses the same springs as the 164S, by the way). After the conversion, my car's front ride height was WAY too high. So I installed brand new 5-speed front springs (and new struts). It didn't help -- the front end was still way up in the air. Then I renewed the REAR springs and struts, and the ride height was back to normal. Lesson: you may have sagging rear springs now and you may not notice until you do the tranny swap.

• The 5-speed engine harness plugs into a big connector at the base of the windscreen and is easy to install. The 5-speed harness has a connector for the reverse-gear switch (and no connector for the auto transmission temperature sensor). If you can find a good one for cheap, this is the way to go. The harness I got from the junkyard was in rough shape, so I wound up using the original and ran my own wire between the reverse-gear switch at the new 5-speed transmission and the reverse-gear switch connector at the former location of the auto shift lever. Everything else works fine.

• I'm told the cycle-counter in the speedometer is calibrated differently for the different speed senders used on 5-speeds. I took apart a 5-speed instrument cluster and an automatic instrument cluster and compared them. The speedometer circuit boards are identical, but there is a configuration switch that is set differently. Flip it (e-mail for specifics). Also, there is no low-beam lamp on automatic instrument clusters. That position is taken up by the automatic gearbox temperature warning lamp. To turn out the light, remove bulb or ground the sensor wire.

• If the speedometer works intermittently or doesn't work at all following the conversion, the culprit is likely a bad sender in the donor gearbox (a known weakness). With the gearbox installed in the car, the sender can be replaced in about 10 minutes by going through the front left wheel arch.

• The single most difficult task is removing the huge and heavy automatic gearbox. Some people opt to drop the subframe. I removed it through the left fender-well, which is the factory-prescribed method. You will need a transmission jack and a special adapter to maneuver it out. I borrowed mine from a friend who had made his own. There's a picture of one in the shop manual.

• Most of the time spent on the conversion takes place under the dashboard.