Adrian Girling Posted May 29, 2022 Share Posted May 29, 2022 With the body off, to be replaced by a much lighter GRP bodyshell (for my replica 1936 BMW328 posted elsewhere), my Triumph 13/60 sits much higher off the ground, with positive camber back and front. At the back, I understand I can use a rear spring lowering block to achieve less positive camber and possibly remove leaves of the spring as the lower sprung weight would benefit from a softer spring. Thoughts on this also welcome. But if I go for shorter front springs they will probably be stiffer which, for the lower sprung weight, is not ideal. When the time comes I may even try to do some maths on this, but my question is really, where should I go to get shorter softer springs without spending a fortune? There may even be standard springs from another vehicle which would do the job and using a spacer with a spring which is too short would probably be okay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
standardthread Posted May 29, 2022 Share Posted May 29, 2022 When they were first launched in the 70's I built a Spartan based on a 1600 Vitesse, it ran very well without changing any of the springs or spring angles. Later I changed the engine for a 1360 Herald engine (the Vitesse engine needed a recon and I hadn't time) again without changing any of the suspension. If you have the parts why not try what you have before deciding on changing things. I also know someone who built a Gentry shortly afterwards, again he didn't make any suspension changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drofgum Posted May 29, 2022 Share Posted May 29, 2022 Adrian, I believe the lower spring seat on Spitfire front dampers is set lower on the body of the damper than the seat on the Herald damper. Using them would lower he front of the car without changing the springs. Cheers, Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Girling Posted May 30, 2022 Author Share Posted May 30, 2022 14 hours ago, standardthread said: why not try what you have before deciding on changing things. Probably right, it's not urgent, although I'm about to take the whole front suspension off the car in preparation for lengthening the chassis by 90mm so I thought I'd try to kill two birds with with one stone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Girling Posted May 30, 2022 Author Share Posted May 30, 2022 10 hours ago, drofgum said: I believe the lower spring seat on Spitfire front dampers is set lower on the body of the damper than the seat on the Herald damper. Using them would lower he front of the car without changing the springs. Thanks, I'll investigate further. Leaving as is for now, as suggested by "standardthread", may be the wisest move - if everything else is in place I'll be in a better position to work out exactly what's needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
standardthread Posted May 30, 2022 Share Posted May 30, 2022 20 minutes ago, Adrian Girling said: Thanks, I'll investigate further. Leaving as is for now, as suggested by "standardthread", may be the wisest move - if everything else is in place I'll be in a better position to work out exactly what's needed. As built with the 1600 engine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Girling Posted May 30, 2022 Author Share Posted May 30, 2022 3 minutes ago, standardthread said: As built with the 1600 engine Nice 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted May 30, 2022 Share Posted May 30, 2022 On 29/05/2022 at 12:30, Adrian Girling said: With the body off, to be replaced by a much lighter GRP bodyshell (for my replica 1936 BMW328 posted elsewhere), my Triumph 13/60 sits much higher off the ground, with positive camber back and front. At the back, I understand I can use a rear spring lowering block to achieve less positive camber and possibly remove leaves of the spring as the lower sprung weight would benefit from a softer spring. Thoughts on this also welcome. But if I go for shorter front springs they will probably be stiffer which, for the lower sprung weight, is not ideal. When the time comes I may even try to do some maths on this, but my question is really, where should I go to get shorter softer springs without spending a fortune? There may even be standard springs from another vehicle which would do the job and using a spacer with a spring which is too short would probably be okay. pitfire springs will be softer, and if you can find a supplier who has teh correct selection, a mk1/2 spit will have teh softest, shortest. However, really you need to start somewhere, known spring strength and open/closed lenths. Then you can work out the load on each spring, then work out what you want. Removing leaves will work on a rear spring, or again, a spitfire one, or even rotoflex vitesse one may be good (as softer) but again, you need to start somewhere... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Girling Posted May 30, 2022 Author Share Posted May 30, 2022 2 hours ago, Clive said: a mk1/2 spit will have teh softest, shortest. However, really you need to start somewhere, known spring strength and open/closed lenths Thanks Clive. I believe I found a table of free lengths and installed lengths of spitfire springs somewhere, can't find it again right now - but as you say, better to get the whole car finished with known weight on each wheel and then do the maths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
standardthread Posted May 30, 2022 Share Posted May 30, 2022 (edited) 3 hours ago, Clive said: Removing leaves will work on a rear spring, In addition to this you also have the option these days of adjustable shocks, both in terms of shock hardness and spring fitted length to drop the height of the car if you need it. I had a Dolomite with them on front and back, fitted by the previous owner, he had gone over the top with shortened harder springs and adjusted the shocks to match, so much so that he put a crease in both the engine sump and the front sub-frame. I re-built the car with correct length springs and softened the shocks. But, as I found on the Spartan, the suspension set up was fine with an extremely light body, grp wings, 16 gauge aluminium bonnet and cast ali rear cockpit all pinned to a 1” square steel tube frame. Edited May 30, 2022 by standardthread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drofgum Posted May 31, 2022 Share Posted May 31, 2022 20 hours ago, Adrian Girling said: Thanks Clive. I believe I found a table of free lengths and installed lengths of spitfire springs somewhere, can't find it again right now - but as you say, better to get the whole car finished with known weight on each wheel and then do the maths. Adrian, Here:http://auskellian.com/paul/links_files/springs.htm Cheeers, Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Girling Posted May 31, 2022 Author Share Posted May 31, 2022 20 minutes ago, drofgum said: Here:http://auskellian.com/paul/links_files/springs.htm Paul, that is so much better than the table I found - lots of useful information including geometry to give the wheel rate. Presumably the Herald geometry is similar if not the same, so eventually I should be able to do the maths, including the effect of taking out the top leaf/leaves of the rear transverse spring. Cheeeers Adrian P.S. I wonder if a page on this site with "useful links" would garner favour? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.jpeg.b15b81ef10abeea1c3039ae03c4a9f3a.jpeg)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.