Springs - Again !

[B@man]

Hi All,

Here we go again - (Sorry in advance !)

Im about to dig the Stylus out of hibernation, before it hits the road I need to sort out the springs (never got around to it over the winter ) I have the original Powell 130R/180F set up at the moment and I want to try fitting 225 Lb/in springs up front and move the current 180 Lb/in to the back, While its in bits I may also modify the link arms to lower the suspension while retaining the Standard 13" shock.

My question is the current springs are 9" front & rear can anyone who has done the "cheap option" confirm what the free length of springs they used up front 9" or 8" ?

Thanks in advance !

[se7ensport]

I'm running 180lb 9" rear spring on a 12" shock and 240lb 7" front on a 11" shock. a 9" will go on a 13" and a 8" will go on a 12" as I've used these in the past.


Cheers

Alex

ps Hi all, it's been a while since i've been on here and posted - work, family and other commitments have been taking priority.

[B@man]

Cheers Alex,

Thanks for the info, Looking at the weather forecast Bank Holiday Monday is going to be a garage day so Hopefully i should be able to swap the current springs and make some measurements.

P.S. I know what you mean about being busy, I've not been on here for at least 6 months !

[B@man]

So After a day up to my elbows in EP90, Bent Axle shafts and dodgy diff's...

The shocks fitted where actually 12" with 8" springs, I've now transferred the front shocks & springs to the back, taken off the "toy" 130 Lb/in springs and placed an order with Rally design for some 8" 225 Lb/in, it also looks like it will work without resorting to the welding set

Now I just need to drill out and retap the seized bottom spring cup locking screws....

[jefferybond]

Now I just need to drill out and retap the seized bottom spring cup locking screws....

I lost some of the locking screws from my shocks, but I found that the spring platforms tend to stay put without them, provided there is still some compression in the spring when the shock is fully extended.

Jeff

[B@man]

A Bit of an update :

The car was put back together on Wednesday, the front springs are a little too long so I hope the ride height will drop a bit as the springs settle as the spring platforms are at the lower limit so I can't go any lower

The rear still needs to come up a little to get the required wedge, at the moment I have approx +15mm at the rear.

Having been out for a blast during the week with the local TVR petrolheads (yes It kept up with the 500's) I can confirm that the handling is greatly improved, the back end no longer bottoms out when ever you drive over the leaf and the handling is much better than with the stock setup. All in all it's vastly improved and all for £40 ! - OK it's probably nowhere near as good as can be achieved by changing the rear suspension arms, shocks, front rocker arms & springs but as a budget mod its worth the investment !

I now have 12" AVO Shocks (as supplied), 180 Lb/in springs rear, 225 Lb/in front.

[Werner Van Loock]

How long are the front springs?

[B@man]

Hi Werner,

Front's are 8", looking at the shocks I reckon I could have used 7" and wound the spring platforms up by 20mm or so. Anyway it's a vast improvement and at least the front tyres miss the headlight shells !

P.S. This is a 1999 chassis with the "Fibroform" front rocker arms....

[Werner Van Loock]

fibroform??? What's that supposed to be?

[B@man]

Sorry Werner,

Fibroform was the company who made the Chassis for SSC in the late 90's and early 00's, they also made parts for Midtec, Ginetta and several other companies.

The owner of fibroform was actually much more helpful than Pete and have the advantage of being 25 miles from where I live !

Sorry for the confusion !

[stylussprinter]

Fibroform ----------- h'mmmmm I adjudged him to be a complete pratt
WHY
My chassis from him was 10mm out of line with the rear. Pete came to look and said he couldn't see anything wrong with it The guy himself came on my insistance and said '' well , it's not a formula 1 car --- what do you expect
You do not want to know my first reply however , I did say was that if these were his standards then he would never be likely to build one
On closer inspection he could see the 10mm and then said what do you want me to do about it
I wont go through the whole story BUT he then tried to force the ' jig ' which he brought with him into the front end of my chassis --- it wouldn't go so he asked if I had a sledge hammer

So the fact that he manufactured for 5 other companies doesn't impress me

Rant over

[B@man]

Hmmm,

Interesting ! I had problems with the front wishbones, top ones jammed on their bearings and the lower ones ate the ball joint rubbers, Pete sorted out the top arms but used the "no one else has complained" excuse on the bottom ones (maybe no one else had Sierra Uprights ?) Dave at F/F sorted the lower wishbone issue out by adding a kink (like the Fury) I have the feeling if I'd have been stuck with Pete's "solution" the lower ball joints would have lasted weeks !

Personally I've used Fibroform for various other projects as well (Disk brake conversion, Injection Plenum, sump modifications etc) and while the owner can be a little blunt ( OK a lot) I found him far more helpful than SSC. I think there where serious issues with the SSC contract which may explain why FF had such a poor attitude to SSC customers.

Anyway you are welcome to your opinion and I can fully understand why !

[Pete&Matt]

i cant honestly say that our chassis from Tim was much better! Things dont fit without moddification becuase things are out of alignment etc etc. bit poor really!

[jefferybond]

My chassis was a fibroform one, and it was a bit crap in places too. Nothing that was very hard to put right with a grinder, but sloppy anyhow. Stuff like brackets being far from square, holes not round or even big enough, etc. Welding and powdercoat looked OK, but just general carelessness in it's assembly.

Jeff

[stylussprinter]

My chassis was a fibroform one, and it was a bit crap in places too. Nothing that was very hard to put right with a grinder, but sloppy anyhow. Stuff like brackets being far from square, holes not round or even big enough, etc. Welding and powdercoat looked OK, but just general carelessness in it's assembly.

Jeff

But did you string it out to check front to rear in line