Ted writes:
"Alpine and Tiger springs look identical but Tiger spring is stiffer to
support the HEAVY V8 on top of them. How much stiffer I am not sure. The
springs that CAT sells are A LOT stiffer, something like 325 in-lbs. This
may be enough to shake the car apart. I would not recommend this setup
unless you are going full race."
From what I understand from Rick, although Sunbeam made the Tiger springs
of thicker rod, they made less revolutions per inch, or visa versa or
something like that, resulting in the springs doing about the same thing.
He said Sunbeam intended for the Tiger to squeeze the springs more than
the Alpine and have a lower front end.
Now, let me see if I have the height problem correct. With my car I
installed the CAT rubber isolator on top of the spring, which I now
understand raises the car a little. The reason is that the rubber is
thicker, which causes the spring to compress more, which causes the spring
to be more stiff, which reduces the effect of the weight of the car on the
suspension, which leaves the car up a little higher -- which all makes
sense for a Tiger that sits too low, but not an Alpine which was just
right in the first place. Right? There are two options: 1. get the
Sunbeam Specialties rubber which is the right size (but which will
soften the front end by loosening the springs), 2. get some Ford piece
which is a little smaller yet - it's listed in the CAT Shop Notes.
Jay
Jay S. Laifman
Pircher, Nichols & Meeks
1999 Avenue of the Stars
Los Angeles, California 90067
(310) 201-8915
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