Mike's Sammio Spyder
 

Back in 2011 I spotted a Spyder advert, went to see Gary, bought a Herald 13/60 ( legal ) drove it from Essex to Surrey then on a trailer to Gary's place where he and Mike turned it into a Sammio........all over the Christmas break.
Did a bit of work on it in early 2012 then life took over and it has been hiding under a cover until last month.
I have retired from real work and moved to Somerset, rebuilt our Stag which we have had since 1981, sorted the house and now at last I am restarting the Sammio build. HOORAY.....

So she is up and running just finishing the suspension, MGB wires fitted at last and looking good.

My question is what rate front springs give the desired ride height???? I have cut mine down by 4" and the car sits right but they unseat when jacked up and don't go back right.

I have been through all the forum threads on this subject and it seems I need 12" free length, 2.5" ID BUT... what lb rating will give me the same ride height as cutting 4" off the originals. is it 140lb or less?? can anyone help?
thanks Guys Mike D

MIKE , Welcome back ....would be great to see some pics of your car ...I can't help with the spring info ..but you know someone will be along shortly that will know ...

Welcome back to the forum.

I fitted Spax adjustable suspension with up rated front springs 200 lbs, free length 280mm with a 1" lowering block on the rear, the ride height is as low as i dare go with out catching any speed humps.

This link to the page is http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/foru...t=4861&page=23 may be of help.

Mike - Life often gets in the way, but good to hear you are back on the build. :cool:

DaveCymru posted some suspension info here:
http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/foru...&postcount=133

Hope it helps, Paul. :)

PS
We want to see photos! :icon_wink:

Hi Mike, welcome back.

I experimented with various cut-down springs and my MOT chappie always passed them, but... always with a frown and a long pause before agreeing to allow them. Then a colleague secured a conviction for 'causing death by dangerous driving' after an enthusiast modified vehicle with cut-down springs went out of control and people died.

At that point I stumped up for a pair of Gaz ride and height adjustable dampers and fitted them with new, uncut Spitfire 180lb springs -

http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/...psu8cqfuif.jpg

http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/...psh4xmdk1r.jpg

With a straight six up front, that made the ride just right for the road and the car was much faster in real terms than on harder springs because the front wheels stay in contact with the road instead of hopping about.

At the back I ended up with no lowering blocks fitted and removed the three loose leaves from the rear spring stack, plus the first 'fixed' spring leaf also went. Again, with bog-standard Triumph shocks, that made the ride at the back far more compliant and the car was far more controllable.

I also have a Spitfire front ARB fitted. It's a larger diameter, I can't remember the exact size but it's the one that comes with the swing spring conversions and was about £15 from a Spitfire breakers. The larger clamps and bushes needed fitting too of course, but they were cheap as I recall. Oh, and I have blue polybushes throughout btw.

I know that Phil J has a much firmer setup on his car, but he's set built his car with use on the track as one of his primary considerations, while mine is 100% a road car.

Oh, and finally, we both have solid aluminium rack mounts fitted in place of rubber or poly bushes - it makes the steering feel much more positive without any noticeable increase in vibration at the wheel.

Good luck getting it set up how you want it. :)

Hey Mike,

Paul has saved me the faff of digging up the link to my spring fun-n-games (cheers matey)
I originally put cut down springs on my Sammio but unlike Towed my MOT man wouldn't even consider passing the MOT with them fitted so i went for height adjustable shocks.

This time around with the Miglia i went for the same height adjustable shocks but also some shorter springs from Merlin Motorsport as they are reasonably priced and they do them in just about every length and strength you can think of!

I suppose you could keep the original shocks and just fit after market springs in order to give the desired result at 'not too-much money' ?


p.s. it's nice to finally see another Somerset member, as i was getting lonely! :)

Life huh, really can get in the way of these builds believe me I know..
Also bought my kit in 2011 and now finally reaching paint stage, good to see you back on it and will be watching your progress.
pops

Hi Mike did you ever sort out springs for your build? Think I'm going to have to got the height adjustable route, might just to even up the slight difference across the bulk head too.

Hi Psycho yes I did with a pair of Woodheads from the Spitfire Graveyard, don't know what springs are on them but there are more coils than the originals and the car now sits with 5" front chassis clearance which seems about right with wheel arch gaps etc - I have 14" MGB wires. Importantly no loose springs when jacked up.
Car does look a little down on the OS rear but his is not chassis but body and very small.
I think the advice from Mr Towed is really the way to go then you can set it where you want it to be

Hello,

After an extensive engine rebuild I am finally back on the road!
When my car was at the drive way the first time after nearly a year it appeared to me that i had far too much camber on the front wheels.
I read the comment from Mr.T about his experiences with the frontsprings.

I have Spax hide ride adjustable shocks but even with the special tool I can,t think of an easy way to adjust them because there is no space for the tool.
Finally I took out the shocks and springs adjusted them and put things together again,but I think this should not be the way......(at the moment it,s alittle too high:mmph:

Anyone?

Rob

Sorry Rob, I had the same problem and there isn't an easy solution.

I tried a lump hammer and drift to try to drive the adjusting rings round, but that just started taking chunks out of the rings and the springs stayed resolutely put after about a quarter of a turn.

I just had to bite the bullet and remove the spring and shock units each time I wanted to adjust them, that's the main reason why I left them in the 'wrong' position for so long.

One tip for getting the job done quicker is to take the shock units out as an assembly rather than trying to compress the springs in-situ. That then allows you to relieve the tension on the springs and adjust the ride height adjustment rings on the bench. It's obviously a good idea to work out how much you need to move the adjusters before you start though.

If you don't already know, to do this, first disconnect the steering rack ball joints from the hub control arms and remove the two bolts that attach the lower 'A' arms to the mounting brackets on the chassis. Then undo the three small nuts holding the unit in at the top and the lower bolt at the bottom of the shock. That will allow you to swing the lower 'A' arm out of the way and drop the shock/spring assembly out from below.

You may find that the lower bolts have been fitted with their heads inboard of the 'A' arms so they can't fall out if the nuts come off (that's how mine were on the donor). If that's the case you'll have to cut the heads off with a junior hacksaw and pull the bolt shafts out to release the lower arms from their brackets.

In true Hanyes Manual style, refitting the shock units is just a reversal of the removal process, and if you then fit new bolts with the heads outboard of the suspension arms it'll make it a lot quicker and easier if you need to adjust the ride height again, and you'd have to remove the mounting brackets to get them in from the inboard side anyway.

I hope all that makes sense and once you've got the lower 'A' arms parallel with the ground I think you'll be amazed by the difference it makes to the handling. I was.

Oh, I got the information on suspension settings from this article, and the author really seems to know his stuff -

http://auskellian.com/paul/links_fil...hancements.htm

Mr.Towed:thanks for your reply,I thought i missed something...
So now I,ve to lower things a bit,anyway the wetter is getting colder so less driving and more tinkering.

Ive got a set of Spax adjustable shocks on mine and as per MrT says its easier to adjust them out of the car.

I did make a couple of C spanners http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/foru...t=4861&page=23 which at a push allow adjustment in the car but to be honest its still a pain so i set mine up on the bench in a vice.