Arna front subframe

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920
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Arna front subframe

Post by 920 »

Hi folks,

I'm currently trying to revive a scruffy, dog-eared Arna 1.2SL which needs plenty of TLC but is generally quite sound. Apart from it's front subframe that is... which was completely rotten. I have one spare which is not all that good either. Does anyone know if this part is the same on a 'Sud or Sprint? Doing some picture googling suggests that it possibly is, and as Alfa had to make this car with the change they had left in petty cash at the time, I'd wager they tried to make as few new parts as possible. Here's some pics of an Arna subframe...

Cheers
-Ed
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PETROLHEAD
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Re: Arna front subframe

Post by PETROLHEAD »

Looks very sudlike to me so far :)

Also looks retrievable with enough effort
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Alfasud 1.7-16v, Charade Turbo SR, & The Dirty Diesels - GT Cloverleaf, 159 Ti Sportwagon, Saab 9-3 Sportwagon

Simonsud
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Re: Arna front subframe

Post by Simonsud »

I'am sure they are the same as I worked on a Arna and a cherry Europe some time ago when my sud was my daily driver and we compared all the things shared with a sud and front end was all Alfa but rear axle was all Nissan
Front turrets and upper cross member for engine mount and battery was nearly identical to Alfa

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920
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Re: Arna front subframe

Post by 920 »

petrolhead wrote:Looks very sudlike to me so far :)

Also looks retrievable with enough effort
It is, but not a simple one as it's the reinforcing inside that's rotted away. I could fabricate new reinforcing pieces but to weld them in I'll have to separate the two external pressings all the way round the seam. I don't mind doing that for my Ti as the whole car is utterly borked anyway but I'd like to get this one on the road soon-ish!

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920
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Re: Arna front subframe

Post by 920 »

Simonsud wrote:I'am sure they are the same as I worked on a Arna and a cherry Europe some time ago when my sud was my daily driver and we compared all the things shared with a sud and front end was all Alfa but rear axle was all Nissan
Front turrets and upper cross member for engine mount and battery was nearly identical to Alfa
There is something different on the rear end as the Arna has more negative camber than the N12 Cherry, but I've not figured out yet if it's the rear arms or the mounting points that are different. I guess it's necessary to make the trailing arm rear suspension work with the 'sud front end sufficiently well. I suspect the mounting brackets are the different part, as they'd be cheaper to make tooling for than rear arms.

Simonsud
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Re: Arna front subframe

Post by Simonsud »

Negative camber is most probably just in the stub axle and brake back plates I can't remember what PCD the wheels are I think they are 98 like Alfa so it would make sense for flanges and stub axles to be different from Nissan

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920
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Re: Arna front subframe

Post by 920 »

Simonsud wrote:Negative camber is most probably just in the stub axle and brake back plates I can't remember what PCD the wheels are I think they are 98 like Alfa so it would make sense for flanges and stub axles to be different from Nissan
They are 98mm instead of Nissan's 114.3mm PCD. The part number for the drums is a Nissan one rather than Arna specific part which indicates it's not a locally made part. I'd imagine they were shipped to Italy from Japan undrilled. By finishing them in Italy they could claim it as a locally produced part.

The stub axle is welded in one piece with the arm but could still be different as both the arms and the crossmember they mount to are locally produced parts going by the part numbers.

It seems the the 80% local content requirement was based on part count rather than volume, so it didn't matter if the parts were large or small. What Alfa cared about most was cost as they had so little money to spend. So pretty much every imported part is one that would cost a lot of money to tool up for, like the huge plastic dashboard injection moulding and large body pressings. Where they could, they substituted Nissan's injection moulded trim for vacuum formed parts and deleted anything they could get away with to reduce costs, such as the pillar mounted radio aerial. I'd love to know how much the development cost them compared with the 33.

Alfasud-parts online
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Re: Arna front subframe

Post by Alfasud-parts online »

Hi Ed

I have a mint arna front subframe, the difference compared to Sud / Sprint 1972-89 subframes is that it does not have anti roll bar bracket extensions, I have an Arna ti and the 93 aroc championship winning Arna.

Are you the person with the white one at mitcar last year?

Please give me a call on 0792 8748150 or at Alfasud-parts online if you want the subframe, it is excellent condition

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