At 07:41 AM 2/2/99 PST, Keith Burns wrote:
>Hi all,
>I am also working on the front end.
>What I really want to know is how do I determine if I need to replace
>the front coils? I would rather not replace them as my wallet already
>has a large hole in it from all the other front end parts. Is there a
>unsprung height measurement?
>Thanks soooo much for your help!
>Keith
>71 Spitfire (rising from the ashes)
Hi Keith,
Just so happens I have my '80 Spit's OEM front springs out of the attic.
They have ten coils (not counting the flat ends) and they measure 12.6".
I had installed the pre-71 springs in my '79 but with the 5 mph bumpers and
other weight the car is riding about 3/4" too low in front. It scrapes
the road, so I'm going to raise the front a bit. The fitted ride length
now is only 7" even.
My advice is, unless your front end was uneven for some reason, there is no
need to change your springs. But if you find a measured difference between
the two, put the 'long' one on the drivers side.
++++++++++
I have saved an old post regarding springs, here is the gist of it:
>From Barry Schwartz:
>> I happen to have
>the spring information for the springs in question. The Spitfire spring
>(Spitfire part number 209685, 12.59" free length. 7.80" fitted length
>at718 lb fitted. Spring rate/150 lb./in. So it was an easy task to
>measure the 'new' fitted length and reverse calculate the increased weight.
> The Herald spring is rated ( part number)208056, free length 12.08".
>Fitted length 8.18" at 790 lb. rate203 lb./in You can see that if the old
>spring is compressed 5.29 instead of the normal 4.79 inch, and that spring
>rates remain constant and linear than the load in this application is 793.5
>lbs (150 x 5.29)- pretty close to the fitted length of the Herald spring.
>
Atwell Haines
79 Spitfire
Succasunna, NJ USA
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