Spitfire 1500 rear spring

[aar0sc]

I'm recommissioning my Spitfire after being hidden away due to the lockdown and a lack of cash to look after it, and the main job after the brakes is sorting the rear suspension out. It's on the original spring, and about 7 years ago I replaced the original (or at least very old) shock absorbers with new original style ones - which was a mistake as they're rubbish. The car now sits very low at the rear, and as I've moved to Wales and live on a steep, cobbled street, it needs to be higher. Any suggestions for what to do, allowing for my student budget? 

 

Cheers, 

Aaron

[glang]

well the shocks wont make any difference to ride height so it sounds like the problem is with the spring. Somebody could have installed a lowering block (worth having a look between diff and spring) but the most likely is that it has weakened/straightened out over the years. In this case the only solution is a new spring.

In the meantime you can remove the shocks to check their damping action which should be firmish and uniform but they may have suffered due to the weak spring...

[aar0sc]

No lowering block, so I guess it must be the spring. I suppose 40 years and 100,000+ miles have taken their toll! 

Rimmers have one for £111, does anyone have any thoughts on that? 

[glang]

you need to be a bit careful here as I know theres been discussions about the whats available for the early shorter half shafts (spring 159640) and later longer ones (spring 159654). In fact your car, which should have the longer shafts, if fitted with a shorter spring would probably sit low!

As for supplier, all the springs probably come from the same manufacturer and then each stockist adds their mark-up so its worth looking around.

You can either search for more info or wait until somebody knowledgeable comes along....