SPRINGS ON A SPORT COUPE.. PARTICULARLY THE 75 CC

[italisti]

I have been reading posts on springs all morning. I still can't decide if I should cut a coil or two out of my springs.
I guess first I need to know if the springs are the same on the 75 coupe as they are on the spiders? I don't see any flexibility on the coil seats.
My Coupe does seem to be pretty high in the back. I am not sure I want to cut anything or even remove my front springs mainly because I tried yesterday wrestling for about 3 hours with a big spring compressor and couldn't figure out how I could get the springs out.

All I know is that I have my rear springs out for now and feel the itch to do something to make them better before re-installing them.
Man this is frustrating!

[Redline]

I've always been more a fan of (relatively) softly sprung cars with (relatively) long suspension travel, but very good damping. This was always Lotus's philosophy, and not surprisingly the favourite car I owned was one of their products. My second favourite is now my BC Coupe, which just had its suspension rebuilt. Stock springs, all new (rubber) bushings and Spax adjustable dampers. Not crashy, well controlled and looks ok (to me). However, it's European and perhaps someone with more knowledge will come along and tell me that the American CC Coupes were raised up on tip-toes to meet federal bumper height regulations.

Read this also for some good ideas about Coupe handling, lowering etc:

http://www.turbo124.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6855

[124JOE]

well i dont know much
how ever when lowering a car you want to do the front springs first,you want the spring compresser that gose inside the spring where the shock is .what you want is just above center.not below at all.
put it all back together and mesure the ride hight in the front
then go to the back and mesure the diferance at ride hight
but listen to the other posts also as the rear sits difently aparently side to side


if you cut 2 inches you will be sorry.i dont mean to kill your ideas,

[italisti]

Ok, thank you guys for saving me extra work to do. Redline that was a very interesting and convincing post that you referred me to as well. I read the entire thing and now I am convinced to just leave my car at stock height. I hate the idea of modifying and cutting springs would just be an additional thing to worry about and take more time. I really want to get this thing going but I keep finding other things to do to modify it or improve it. I feel like if I don't do these things now, I probably never will.
So now I am thinking about leaving the rear springs as is besides some sandblasting and powder coating.

I keep reading about these "SPAX" dampers and I am wondering if Damper is just a euro word for shock.. kinda like boot and bonnett is the hood and trunk?

How do spax compare to koni? Not that I feel like going out and buying either one.. I plan to use my car for everyday..or many day driving...

[Redline]

Yes, dampers = shocks.

Are Spax as good as Konis? I don't know. I am quite impressed with the build quality of the Spax, and like the fact that you can adjust them on the car, rather than having to remove them to adjust them like the Konis. They are also a touch less stiff than the Konis, I've heard. Mine is also a daily driver, hence the desire to keep the stock springs and ride height and just button up the damping a bit. They are pricey (about twice the cost of non-adjustable premium shocks) but for me not outrageous.



This is the ride height on the stock springs and Spax:

[Daniel]

Hey Redline what did the Spax shocks set you back if you dont mind sharing ? i'm in the market for some shocks .
btw your coupe looks amazing !

[Redline]

With shipping to Switzerland, they were £325 for the set. That's about $530 today, but currency exchanges are rather transient... Over here, Konis or Bilsteins would have been about 25% more.

[italisti]

Man those are some nice dampers! Even nicer coupe!! Wish I could get a hold of some spax. Where are those made??
By the way..
Any easy shortcuts on how to get the front springs out?
I don't know if you have a front trailing arm like the one on mine though..

[Redline]

They are made in the UK. You can order them direct:

http://www.spaxdirect.com/

Shipping is sometimes surprisingly cheap, even across the Atlantic. I know that someone in Australia just ordered from them. The prices you see are with VAT (value added tax), which is something like 19% in the UK. They subtract that before shipping to non-EU countries.

I used the easy method to remove mine. I paid the man.
Not much help, I admit...

[italisti]

Anybody with other shortcuts or detailed tutorials removing front springs on the cc coupe?

..Also I am pretty sure that the spax would cost me the same as Konis but that website answered my other question about how people were switching to coilover setups.

[Redline]

I was told that you need to reinforce the shock towers if you plan to use coilovers.

[italisti]

Makes sense... no thanks.
I am sticking with stock... just need to know how to take out these front springs... I think I am going to have to remove the hub assembly first?? Man I don't want to do that.

[Daniel]

the Spax Shocks listed for the rear only goto 76 and the front are for the coupe who knows if the coupe and the spider
share the same front shocks ? and what rear shocks would be the proper set to choose ?