Bob Sykes wrote:
>
> Michael Galloway wrote:
>
> > just finished a full front end rebuild on my 78 spit:
> > poly bushings, tie rod ends, ball joints, wheel bearings,
> > shocks, trunions, etc ...
> >
> > now the front end is riding way too high. did i do something
> > silly putting her back together?
>
> Possibly not - I have a friend with a '78 Spit who experienced
> the exact same thing. We measured the front end as being about
> an inch higher than my car (although it looks even higher).
>
> Many years ago, when I had the original shocks (only) replaced
> on my car by a "professional" garage, the front height increased
> by approximately the same amount. The garage could offer no explanation.
> I drove the car for a long time like this with no problems. I have
> since completely re-built the front suspension using new shocks
> and some springs off a '74 parts car. This caused the front end
> to return to the original "lower" height.
>
> This is a mystery that still puzzles me & some one else I know.
> Perhaps it is unique to the 1978 model year Spitfire ;-)
>
> --
> Bob Sykes - - - __,@_\____ s1500@worldnet.att.net
> '78 Spitfires - -- }-0-----0-` s1500@aol.com
> "I am certain that, however great the hardships and the trials which
> loom ahead, our America will endure and the cause of human freedom
> will Triumph."
> --Cordell Hull
Michael;
If you also changed the front springs, you should know that there is
more than one part number for them, or, to put it another way, they
come in different sizes...
I have a '74 Spit, and installed new springs years ago...when I was
done, the car was too high in front. Research showed me that the front
springs for my '74 and for the Mark4 had the same part number, so I
threw
away the new springs, and installed used ones from a Mark4 and, olay,
everything looked normal again. It's been a long time, but I seem to
remember that there may be more than one part number for the '75 to '80
model years. One thing I do recall, however; when the front end was
sitting too high, the coil springs were bound or kinked sort of, around
the shock absorber; an indication that they were too long. Another way
of describing it, is that some parts of the coils in the spring were
closer to the shock absorber than other parts; the coils should be
pretty
much equidistant from the shock all the way up and down.
A year or two after I got it right, I received a promotional mailing
from The Roadster Factory, and noticed that they had apparently
addressed
the problem by offering several different coil springs for the
respective
model years. For what it's worth, the part number for the Mark4 and '74
is 214144, and one other Spitfire coil spring number is TKC1884, though
I've no idea what the appropriate model year is for that last number.
Rick '74 Spitfire
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