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Old 26th September 2019, 10:50
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Hi Deni.

You're right about height adjustment on the GAZ shocks - wind the adjustable spring-seat down the shock to lower the ride height and wind it up the shock to raise it.

As for spring rate, that really depends on how you want the car to behave and where you're going to drive it. 330lb. springs work great on a race circuit, but would throw you into the nearest ditch on the fen roads of East Anglia where I drive. As your car is likely to be 2-300kg's lighter than the donor, standard 180lb springs should give you a firm but still compliant ride.

The free length isn't too critical as you have about 5" of adjustment on the Gaz shocks, with a light car I'd say the shorter the better. Just don't go so short that the spring is free to move up and down between the top and bottom seats at full extension. They don't need to be under much compression, they just shouldn't be able to move. I'd measure the distance between the inner faces of the top and bottom spring seats at full extension and add 1" as a minimum spring length (I hope that makes sense).

One final thing worth mentioning, you might find that the inside diameter of the spring is narrower than the raised portion of the lower spring seat that it's supposed to slide over to locate it laterally.

I had to grind about a mm all round from the spring seat to get the (standard Spitfire) springs to fit and I don't think I'm the only one who's had that issue with them.

Ultimately, suspension and wheel alignment/geometry on these cars is very much down to owner preference and trial and error testing.

Good luck!

Last edited by Mister Towed; 26th September 2019 at 10:53..
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