Berlina questions

["John Hertzman" <johnhertzman@domain.elided>]

Ian Ruinaard asks about the fuel tank in his 1971 Berlina: "The car has been
fitted with a bigger tank by the PO (70 litres I think). The tank is higher &
takes up more space inside the trunk. Was this a factory option or is this a
hybrid tank that was specially built?"

The standard tank in the sixties (I believe for all 105s, although differing
in filler details) was 46 liters, but for the GTA both 60 liter and 90 liter
tanks were optional, and they could be fitted in other 105s as the tank/floor
interface (and gasket) were constants. At least one, and I believe both, of
the large tanks had a large filler inside the trunk, but modification to fit
the standard filler location would not be difficult. The 2000 Berlina used an
appreciably larger tank than the 1750, 53 liters. Either a specially built
tank or a modified stock tank should be fairly obvious on examination; all of
the factory tanks had a single top pressing joined to a single bottom pressing
at the mounting flange, and any welded seam would indicate a non-stock part.

Ian also asked about starter-swapping: "I would like to find out what starters
will fit a 1971 105 series Berlina. It is has been fitted with a 2000 engine,
but as far as I know the 1750 starter was retained. Will the starters from an
1800 Alfetta, Alfetta GT or Guilietta fit ? Alternatively can I rebuild the
Berlina starter using bits from the above cars (My armature has a segment
missing from the commutator)"

The 1750, 105 2000, and Alfetta used three different starters, with no shared
critical parts as far as I can tell. The problem with starter-swapping among
the 1750 and later cars is in the starter pinion meshing with a matching
ring-gear. Earlier cars had two mounting bolts for the starter, and a
105-tooth ring gear. The 1750 had a three-bolt mounting for the starter, and a
110-tooth ring gear. The 105 2000 ring gear has 130 teeth, and the Alfetta has
a 131-tooth ring gear and a larger starter with its axis 1 mm off of the axis
of the earlier 2000 starter. While the changes in the number of teeth may not
seem consequential, the effective diameters of the meshing surfaces of the
starter pinion gear teeth and the ring-gear teeth also changed, (as did the
sizes of the starter casings, etc) and mismatches can result in rapid (and
noisy) wear and/or broken starter mounts. Some of the mismatches can be
ameliorated through the use of specially machined eccentric bolts, but the
consensus is that it is best to use matched starters and ring gears and, when
using the Alfetta starter on a 105/115 engine, to follow the service bulletin
recommendations on grinding the block as needed for clearance and on using the
added support bracket for the outboard end of the starter.

The subject is covered more thoroughly in an article by the late Herb Bridge
which was reprinted in the Alfa Digest V6 #46, 13 Mar 1998, in a thread which
ran from V6 #43 through V6 #50. The U.S. Service Bulletin covering fitting the
Alfetta starter on the 105/115 two-liters was ARI Service Bulletin Group 05
#02, October 1975; I assume it was based on an Alfa Romeo SpA original, and
similar local versions undoubtedly appeared in other countries at around the
same time.

John H.

Raleigh, N.C.

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