Anyone know how this was done?

[cbmeadors]

I ran across this Spider photo on Flickr I'm in the process of planning on my suspension, and I think this is exactly the look i'd like to achieve. Does anyone know how this stance was achieved?


In case the image doesn't work: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2528/417 ... 404d_b.jpg


Thanks- Christopher
'77 Fiat Spider
'72 Alfa GTV

[TulsaSpider]

Very nice Spider! I am just assuming it's a combo of lowering and tire/wheel combo.

[Daniel]

Hey Christopher

They cut the springs i am thinking about 2 coils in the front and 2 1/2 rear fiats2000 Eliado has
a spider that is about that low look for some photos of his he could tell you what he did, there
is a existing post alreadt called (springs ) ((i think)) has a bunch of photos with lowered cars .

[MichaelEgan]

Daniel:

I've owned the green '73 Spider since 1976.

I installed shorter, stiffer springs all around about 20 yrs. ago. They originally lowered the car about 1 1/2 in. but have since settled over the years to about 3-4 in. lower than stock and very firm.

I am also running Koni yellows, a 1 in. front sway bar and a 5/8 in. rear. The wheels are BWA 14 x 6, polished, with Dunlop 14 195/55 series tires. 1/2 spacer on rear, no spacer on front

Corners dead flat, no body roll, very little spring travel and one very low oil pan.

Running original 1592 with dual Weber 40s, header, hot intake cam and oil cooler.

Regards,

Michael Egan

[fiatS2000]

I raised the front to match the rear after this picture was taken. I do not remember how much of the spring I cut.

This is how it looks right now.

[cbmeadors]

Thanks guys- just the info I needed.

@Michael - I think you have what I would consider a perfect spider (low oil pan issues not withstanding). Now I just need to delete my trunk rack and sell a kidney so I can convert to the early bumpers.

[baltobernie]

(removed)

[mdrburchette]

How is the ride comfort on your car, Michael? I would think the stiffer springs and no room for travel would hinder the ride. Beautiful car, btw!
I cut 2 coils from the rear springs on my Lemons racer and ended up replacing the springs with another set due to the back end hitting the stops with a full tank of gas. Something that should be considered by anyone planning to cut springs.

[MichaelEgan]

The ride is great on smooth roads, a bit rough on mildly uneven roads and terrible on very rough roads. In my opinion though, the ride v. handling tradeoff is well worth it.

Very rough roads are best avoided altogether, but that’s so for most cars since many California roads have degraded to the point of being nearly undriveable.

Nonetheless, I have taken the car on a couple of 700 mile trips recently which I couldn’t do if the ride was truly objectionable.

I would guess my springs are nearly twice as stiff as stock. Presuming the cutting of two coils reduces spring length by 20%, compression resistance will increase by 20% if my understanding of coil spring dynamics is correct. This is likely just not enough spring resistance for the new short length. Any engineers should please feel free to elaborate or correct me.

I still have a couple of inches of suspension travel and the unmodified rubber bump stops in place. I believe the Koni’s have some compression resistance as well.

The worst bumps will cause front to bottom out first, occasionally followed by the rear. However, given the short spring travel and Koni’s high level of rebound control, the occasional bottoming out is over with almost immediately. Just a really quick hard bump. The car settles down on its suspension almost instantaneously.

There is an occasional controllable bump steer issue hitting a bump on the tightest of fast turns. I think 1 ½ degree of negative camber helps here and all ball joints and rubber bushings are kept sound.

Thanks for the compliments. I hope this information helps others out there considering suspension modifications.

Michael Egan

[Daniel]

Michael Egan

Your Car looks really good ! I'm not a fan of Green Cars and never been a Fan of Dark Green 124s but yours
just works for me ! I thinks it's the wheels and black top blending with with that color 2 thumbs up ...