(Spitfire) Front damper question?

[SpitFire6]

Hi,

 What are the differences between the GSA 385 and GSA 366? 
I want for GT6 Mk3 Rotor.
Are there others?

Cheers,

Iain.

[Colin Lindsay]

One is for the front, the other ones for the rear.

These are standard ones so the price may vary slightly depending on the supplier; otherwise you can go for all kinds of uprated ones like Koni Gaz or Spax, but you'll pay far more.

[SpitFire6]

Hi Colin,

 Thanks for that. They were both advertised as front  & looked like the front.

There is only one type for the GT6 front & that's the same for Spitfire?

I just want OEM 1970's quality. So if India or China will be the same or better. I think most of the price comes from labour. 

Wouldn't you know the correct code for the damper on a GT6 with rotor flex for the rear?

Cheers,

Iain.

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2018 by Spitfire6
the rear

[Gully]

GT6 rotoflex rear are GSA280.

Gully

[SpitFire6]

Thank you, Gully.

Cheers,

Iain.

[SpitFire6]

Hi,

Now there seem to be different dampers for GT6's.

I have 1500 Spitfire dampers. I have Canley Classis CC kit and a bracket on the chassis to allow minimal camber change.

Clearly, the Spit1500 are wrong types. Are GSA280's still correct as the kits with the chassis bracket show a different type!

Confused,

Iain.

 

[Clive]

There is a thread on one of the forums about the "special" shocks used with the rear bracket conversion. I can't honestly remember who sells them, maybe jigsaw? or even the club shop??

They may be Mini shocks with different bushes, or that could be my memory playing tricks.

Regarding quality etc, unless you manage to find some 40 year old NoS shocks, you can only get what is supplied, ie one shock fits all models. Up to you what quality (or not) you buy. But with a car that is "used" why wouldn't you fit the best "off the shelf" shocks (Koni) Or if you want std quality type, there are KYB ones about on ebay.

[Nick Jones]

16 hours ago, Spitfire6 said:

Hi,

Now there seem to be different dampers for GT6's.

I have 1500 Spitfire dampers. I have Canley Classis CC kit and a bracket on the chassis to allow minimal camber change.

Clearly, the Spit1500 are wrong types. Are GSA280's still correct as the kits with the chassis bracket show a different type!

Confused,

Iain.

 

Use GT6 rotoflex dampers ONLY if you are still using the shock brackets mounted on the inner wing.  These are too long for use with the chassis extension brackets or direct to the chassis  and will run permanently bottomed out (or very nearly so) giving a terrible ride.

Ian, as yours is a Spit 6 I'm presuming you have either the chassis extension brackets or use the original shock towers on the chassis (quite possible with roto if running CV shafts).  This means you need the shorter dampers as used on the swing axle cars so 1500 ones should be correct.  They are not 100% correct (still a little bit too long) with the chassis extensions but have worked ok for years for me on the Vitesse.

Nick

[Clive]

Hmm, I had assumed we were talking the damper extension brackets... Maybe not!

I have spitfire rear dampers on my spitfire fitted to the normal chassis mounts, fitted with CV rotoflex etc and rather lowered, all working just fine. 

[Gully]

23 hours ago, Spitfire6 said:

Hi,

Now there seem to be different dampers for GT6's.

Are GSA280's still correct as the kits with the chassis bracket show a different type!

Confused,

Iain.

 

No - as outlined above, they will be too long as the rotoflex GT6 shocks mount onto the wheel arch. 

Gully

[SpitFire6]

Hi,

 Took a picture where the top of the damper is mounted.

The dampers are the ones that were fitted on my 1500 rear end. They saw diffs exploding, wheels separating from the car and UJ's clicking.

Now the same dampers are fitted CC rear end, new CC spring, Quaife, brackets on chassis for rear inboard wishbone mounting and GT6 inboard mounting for adjustable wishbones.

So I need 1500 ones?

I ask as I bought some cheap Indian ones and the garage said they could not fit as bushes were wrong type + bushes on the car were wrong and was probably causing the take-up knock..

 Apart from stroke, is the size of bushes different then?

 

Cheers,

Iain.

[Nick Jones]

As far as I know, the bushes are the same on all variants. The stroke is the same on all variants apart from the roto cars using the wheel arch bracket. I don't know whether there is any variation in damping rates from the factory. There will surely be some variation in damping rates between the various aftermarket dampers available today and probably some in stroke too.... though hopefully not enough to matter.

Nick

[Clive]

I concur with Nick re bushes etc. all the same.That is not to say some aftermarket may have odd size bush housings.....

And yes, your setup is essentially the same as mine (and I think Nicks) with CV shafts, the stanpart rotoflex uprights and "normal" small chassis dampers.

[Nick Jones]

I have chassis extension brackets as I still had actual rotoflexes in place when I first fitted the telescopics. This has the effect of slightly reducing the bump travel and slightly increasing the effective damping rate due to the reduced working angle. Not much practical difference.

Nick