Just a little clarification-
The axles on the 71 and 72 MK4 are the same length as those axles on the
MKIII. This means that they have the same track. Got a pair of each. The
difference lies in the flanges. The MKIII has smaller u-joint flanges than
the 71 and later cars (which are the same as the GT6 by the way). It is
not as simple as just changing to the later axles as it involves flange
changes on the MKIII and earlier cars (or diff swaps another good idea) and
radius rods as well as changing the body mounted pivot brackets and brake
hoses/hand brake cables etc. The axles on 1500's are longer by one inch
hence the two inch longer rear track. The springs however, for the MK4 and
the 1500 are the same. Same length, same part no. I can verify all of
this as I have done just this swap (and much more over the years) on my own
72 MK4. The old (broken) spring and the replacement (MK4 1500) spring were
the same length. Given that the MK4 axles are the same length as the
MKIII, but the MK4 introduced the swing spring, it is therefore very
possible, simple and beneficial to replace the old spring with the new
swing spring. You SHOULD also replace the sway bar with the thicker
MK4/1500 bar to compensate for the reduced rear roll stiffness. The
handling improvement will only be noticeable at the limits where the
tendency for the rear wheels to tuck under WILL be reduced, and the
tendency for the car to suddenly swap ends WILL be almost eliminated. The
increased axle length is an added benefit that will help handling all
around which involves a little more work, but is well worth the effort.
Happy Thanksgiving to all here in the states, Rosanne and I will be going
over to my parents house to celebrate with family, no snow here, but a
little wet so I may have to take the truck :-(. . . . ENJOY-
Barry Schwartz (San DIego)
bschwart@pacbell.net
72 V6/5sp Spitfire
70 Spitfire project
70 GT6+
|