Suspension

[*Sinbad*]

Hi,
I’ve acquired a half started project, in essence a kit car, so figured this may be a good place to ask some tech questions. What I have is a triumph herald chassis/running gear and a glass fibre body shell. I’m ok with reworking some of the chassis in order the get the body to ‘sit’ right and I’m reading up on fibreglass repairs etc…good ol’ google is a great help.

My question relates to the suspension and more over the difference in weight of the old steel body and the much lighter glass one. Short of filling the chassis with lead, I assume I will have to alter the springs/dampers etc. Any info or suggestions on how or what is needed, would be helpful.

Thx in advance, *Sinbad*

[chrislandy]

For the moment, keep the standard front coil springs and shocks but you need to take 2 or 3 leafs out of the rear spring and keep taking them out/putting them in until you get the correct ride height/camber on the wheels - don't forget to put coppergrease between the leaves to stop the squeaks.

hth
Chris

[*Sinbad*]

Thanks Chris,
I guess the weight of the engine helps the front end, and I suppose as I need to reset chamber and toe in etc (after total strip down) I can adjust to compensate for differing weight. Would the springs not be to stiff though? is there a calculation or rule of thumb to find the correct ...errrr tension/weight setting? I'm guessing its possible to buy different springs.

As I'm altering the springs what about the dampers? would it be a good idea to swap these?

I want to get in clear in my mind so I understand it, so I can make it as stable as possible. Lets face it heralds weren't known for their handling to start with.

Any one reading this got a herald based kit car? what setup have you got?
any info please is useful.

Thanks again *Sinbad*

[chrislandy]

Are you talking front or rear? by taking the leafs out of the rear spring you reduce it's stiffness therefore reducing the spring rate. You might be able to find a parabolic rear spring which is slightly different to a leaf spring but from memory the hearld rear chassis uses the spring to locate the top of the rear hub so the softer the spring or more shims/lowering blocks under the spring will increase the +ve camber of the rear wheels and lower the ride height. For the rear shocks, measure the open and closed lengths and just buy some aftermarket adjustable ones (you don't need to spend much on these) eg Gaz or Protec etc

Best bet is to re-furb everything, have a talk to rimmer brothers and see what they suggest (suppliers of all things britsh they look like they do an uprated front spring and shock package) then suspension setup is usually set by feel once a baseline has been set. The hearald, like the mg's and tr's always benefit from a concrete block in the boot...

I'll try and find a book on triumph tuning i have at home and scan a few pages in

[chrislandy]

Just found this:

[MartinClan]

When I built a Triumph based Marlin many years ago, I used Spitfire front and rear springs. The fronts were shortened (1 coil?) and the rear had one leaf removed. Use the later "swing spring" rear from the MK IV spitty if you can - it reduces the risk of the famous tuck in on hard cornering. Also don't get carried away removing leaves from the rear as the spring tends to settle a lot after a few miles.

Robin

[*Sinbad*]

Thanks very much for the help, that's helped me understand it a little better. I'm a bit off final build yet but I'm sure I'll be back with a few more questions.

Thanks again, *Sinbad*

ps. .... please feel free to add further comments.

[cswagon]

Hello Sinbad
Do you know what kit it is that you have please as there were quite a few Herald based ones around in the 70's.
Mine is a JC Midge ('64 Herald 1500 engine) with a ply tub and ally front end.
Cheers
Graham.