Yes, KWL82 has it right: the rear springs are fairly easy to remove. Unscrew the nut at the top of the rear shocks, and unbolt the brackets that hold the rear shocks to the circular trays on the rear axle. Jack up the car by the rear axle (differential), support the body with jack stands, remove the tires, and carefully lower the axle again*. This should release the springs enough that you can compress the shock by hand and then pull it and the rear spring out. You may need to slightly compress the springs, but usually you can do this by hand.

*One thing to be careful of: Depending on the length of the rubber brake hose from the body to the axle, lowering the rear axle this way can put too much strain on that brake hose. Just be careful when you're lowering the axle that it isn't left hanging by this rubber hose.

-Bryan

Thanks guys, I’ll give the rear axle a try without the compressor once I get the front wheels on the ground for more stability.

Forgot you need to remove left side of panhard rod. Here is lnik with pics in the thread

http://www.fiatspider.com/f15/viewtopic ... ar+springs

That link is great. I like the rag in the shock tower.

Note that I did not have to remove (or loosen) the Panhard rod when I replaced the rear shocks on my '71. My guess is that for some model years, you do have to remove the rod to clear the differential.

Yes, as you've likely guessed, the rag in the top shock tower is to block any entrance to the "cavity of despair". Anything that goes down into that hole, does not return. Perhaps a wormhole through time and space for all I know.

-Bryan

I made a little more progress on the front suspension today with the shocks and steering arms.

spindle by Dave W, on Flickr

The new bearing races went in easily with a brass drift.

Hubs by Dave W, on Flickr

Are the brake brackets interchangeable? They appear the same but all have different casting marks.

Brackets by Dave W, on Flickr

I am missing three lug bolts which hopefully will turn up. They are unique with an Allen type head. Does anyone recognize these wheels or know where I might find replacement lugs?
Thanks,
Dave

lugbolt by Dave W, on Flickr

WireWheel by Dave W, on Flickr

wheelCasting by Dave W, on Flickr

Hi All,
I found some more casting marks on the wheel and it's a Dunlop size 5.5J x 13 x 22. Also cast are X503 and A5F. I found one Fiat supplier that had a similar wheel out of stock so I sent them an email. These wheels appear to be rarer than the tail lights. Hopefully the wheel bolts aren't as as hard to find although they look purpose made for the wheel.

dunlop by Dave W, on Flickr

A couple thoughts:

On the brake caliper brackets, I think the relevant Fiat part number for all 124s is 4202472, and all 4 of your brackets have this number, so I think you're good. The other numbers and letters are probably production runs, dates, the particular plant or manufacturing line, etc.

Wire wheels, eh? I can't recall I have ever seen these on a Fiat, but it would be cool. I suppose you could have a machine shop make you a few lug bolts on a lathe, but that might cost a fortune. Now that you have the codes for the wheels, perhaps do some research online and see if you can find something on the likes of eBay or such. Sorry I'm not of much help here, and perhaps the missing lug nuts will turn up.

-Bryan

PS: Fiat used a 7 digit number for parts, and the large majority of them start with "4". Once you get a part number, you can Google it like "Fiat 124 spider 4202472" to find out more. Searching images often helps.

-Bryan

Thanks Bryan, on the lugs I found a bag of 8 generic 12-1.25 Lug bolts. Knowing Luca, he was probably planning on machining a set of bushings that could go on the bolts (or press in the wheel) to match the originals. Maybe he was already missing a few. I might get lucky and find a sleeve online that would work. Although if I had three originals per wheel and one unmodified generic it would probably be safe. But ideally I’d like them all to match. Once I get the wheels on I’ll see how true they are. If they need to be adjusted I may just look for some Mags.

Hi All, I finally got the front wheels on the ground. For some reason the front brake discs don't track in the center of the caliper brackets. It doesn't seem to be a problem except that the pad clips are really close to the disc on the inside. I think one of my new tie rods had a burr or uncut thread which led to the darn thing jamming while I was adjusting it, I'm hoping I can replace it without removing the ball joint ends from the car. Tomorrow I hope to get the rear tires on the ground as well.

brakes by Dave W, on Flickr

TieRod by Dave W, on Flickr

WireWheel by Dave W, on Flickr

grounded by Dave W, on Flickr

axle by Dave W, on Flickr

davebdave wrote:For some reason the front brake discs don't track in the center of the caliper brackets.

I've had this problem before, and the cause was worn wheel hub bearings and/or the races. A new set of bearings and races put the brake discs right back in the center of the caliper brackets.

You can live with this issue, but as you note, the discs can run pretty close to the bracket and rub on the anti-vibration springs.

-Bryan

Thanks Bryan, I replaced the bearings and races. I thought it might be the disc offset but I have a set from a different manufacturer and they measure the same. The rear brakes were not perfectly centered either. Strange. At the moment nothing rubs but we’ll see what happens

Well, shucks, Dave, you've got me stumped... I know most of my spiders have had the rotors "centered", but that's just eyeballing it, and I never actually measured them. I did have a few rotors that ran pretty close to the anti-vibration springs, perhaps a mm or so away from it, but no harm seemed to come of that.

It is possible your new bearings aren't totally "seated"? I usually put the hub back together with grease and all, and then tighten down on the spindle nut somewhat tight. Perhaps 20-30 ft lbs but that's just a guess. This usually results in the hub being very hard to turn by hand, but then I back off on the spindle nut until the hub spins freely by hand without any play. Then I stake the nut, put the dust cap back on, and call it a day.

-Bryan

Thanks Bryan, my Haynes manual had me seat the bearings as you described.

On another note I have all four tires on the ground. This is a major milestone! During the install the rear diff leaked some fluid from the front seal and I have one noisy/loose rear axle bearing. I'll do the center section seal before I install the drive shaft but I'm going to ignore the rear axle bearings for now. Based on how dirty everything was in the wheel wells it's probably going to throw some oil. I'll address the axles before I drive at speed, but right now I'm afraid of the job. Has anyone done rear axle bearings?

Dave

rearBrake by Dave W, on Flickr

axleIn by Dave W, on Flickr

4onthefloor by Dave W, on Flickr