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I’m the proud owner of a 1988 2 litre Twin Spark. These cars seem to be known as Milano’s in the rest of the world. I bought it in tatty but usable condition. Much to my surprise, it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable cars I’ve ever owned. I’m hooked!

Given that I cannot go back to front wheel drive, I’m spending some time, effort and a little money to get the car back to good condition. I’ll be recording progress here, in the hope that some of this info might be of use to fellow Alfa enthusiasts…

Tip: The 75/Milano is mechanically very similar to the earlier Alfetta. The Haynes manual for the Alfetta is an excellent starting point for most of the mechanical details.

Engine

The engine is suprisingly high-tech. It’s all alloy, with wet liners. There are two spark plugs per cylinder, and Bosch Motronic engine management with variable valve timing. Exhaust valves are sodium cooled. This remarkable four cylinder unit makes close on 150HP, while producing excellent midrange torque. And it still manages over 30 miles to the gallon on unleaded…

When I got the car, the engine was low on power. Careful maintenance and enthusiastic driving have improved things immensely. Peak power is still a bit down (~5000 RPM), but given the car’s mileage this is no bad thing. Despite the wear, it will run happily at 80-90MPH for hours, and it hardly uses any oil.

I treated the fuel with some injector cleaner. After several long, high-speed jouneys it seems to have had an effect: emissions are down and miles-per-gallon are up! There is still blow-by into the sump and compression is a bit low. It could really do with a full overhaul, but this is looking expensive. The current plan is for a head job and maybe some new rings, that’s all.
The car is quick enough, but it’d be interesting to experiment with the engine. The standard head flows pretty well, and 10:1 compression is plenty for unleaded. Even the exhaust seems fairly well designed, although aftermaket manifolds and systems are available. More power is available by playing with the cam timing. I’m investigating this. If I’m happy with the results, I’ll let you know what I found.