It's pretty easy (even for a liberal arts major) to calculate the effect of
cutting coils
off a spring. Not only does cutting the coils lower the car a bit, but it
increases the
the effective spring rate.
Say I cut one coil off my TR4A front coil spring, which has seven coils. (Don't
count the
"bound" coils at the top and bottom.) This would increase the spring rate
14.28% or 1/7.
I think the stock coils are 280 in./lb (can't remember if that's front or rear)
so this
would increase the effective rate to 319.76 in./lb. this would seem like a nice
comprimise between the stock "softies" (ha!) and the way hard, heavier front
TR6
competition springs which range from 380-490 in./lb.
The best way to cut these seems to be with one of those "multi disc" type
bonded cutting
wheels. Don't even bother with a hacksaw. Don't use a cutting torch -- the
spring
will loose it's temper. Spring steel is VERY hard. SECURE the spring, including
the
portion being cut off so it doesn't take a piece out of YOU when it comes off.
Cut the
spring perpendicular to its axis and you wind up with about 2/3 of a circle as
the
"seat". This isn't quite as good as the bound coil used on new springs, but it
seems to
work.
Check out: http://WWW.GRMOTORSPORTS.COM/coil.html
You might want to check out Paul Geithner's beautiful autox Spit:
http://www.annap.infi.net/~geithner/spit.html
Merry Christmas and Happy new year, y'all!
Christopher M.Lillja
Marketing Associate
Princeton University Press
Tel:609 258 4900
Fax:609 258 6305
|