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Spending my Holiday money on susp rebuild


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Suffered a failed trunnion yesterday on a narrow country lane which created a long major recovery  !!

anyhow ive decided since i am doing the trunnions, and vertical links plus all sundries associated it may be opportune to fit new springs and coils 
will save labour costs  i guess.

so any thoughts on Koni, Spax or Gaz or leave as standard ? polybushing all round seems a good option as well i guess?
anything else i should replace whilst in pieces hub bearing kits? 
i seem to be able to get all bits from Rimmers rather than piecemeal buying from various suppliers  . shame no one does a complete kit  😞 
any  general advice would be welcome please   bit new to this ........
brian

 

 

 

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There are other excellent suppliers, some of whom supply rimmers with parts (who mark them up accordingly)

That aside, have a think about what you want from the car. The cheap shocks are fine for a good few years if pottering about,  but if you are driving ghd car hard you may want better. Koni are the best, gaz and spax very similar (I think designed by the same chap) the latter offer height adjustabity at the front too if you buy the ASP versions. 

Playing with shocks is a bit of an art, most set them midway  and thd handling can be compromised, so unless you understand what you are doing, get standard.

Poly pushes a no brained. Chris witor sells the best.

New springs. Make sure the seller can tell you the spring rate (check it against the factory spec) and the fitted length. Some sell one soring for all spitfires and heralds, which is just rubbish. You heed the correct springs.

Wheel bearings, only buy Timken. Accept nothing else. They are available.

Brake discs if your are at all worn, cheap and often make the car better. 

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bif,

I've had a trunnion fail, a chastening experience! :o

I agree with everything Clive said except, I got Gaz shocks from the club shop, better than standard even when pottering. :)

Plus  Mintex 11/44 brake pads, a dramatic improvement. Don't be tempted by grilled and grooved discs, they're NOISY, standard are fine.

The club shop sell shocks and springs, they will know what's required. 

Rimmers are reassuringly expensive, I think they might be owned by Waitrose. Canley Classics are cheaper and supply a lot of Rimmer's stock.

Doug

 

 

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27 minutes ago, dougbgt6 said:

 

I agree with everything Clive said except, I got Gaz shocks from the club shop, better than standard even when pottering. :)

Plus  Mintex 11/44 brake pads, a dramatic improvement. Don't be tempted by grilled and grooved discs, they're NOISY, standard are fine.

The club shop sell shocks and springs, they will know what's required. 

 

Hmm, i would disagree about teh shocks. You probably replaced knackered old shocks with new gaz. But what if you had fitted new std shocks? I have just had a pair of cheap shocks in my hands, and the damping is about the same as what I have my Konis set up to. I doubt most people will get teh shocks hot enough to tell te difference (a bout of hard use is when Konis show how good they are, and when you will notice te difference between them and the gaz/spax design)

The club shop may not be as good as you think about springs. After all they cocked up with uprated springs, 20% harder but RAISED ride height. Do they sell different springs for each spitfire ? (mk 1/2, 3 and !V are all different lengths and strengths)

Yes, mintex pads are a great idea, and again, std discs are the ones to get. 

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2 hours ago, clive said:

Hmm, i would disagree about teh shocks. You probably replaced knackered old shocks with new gaz. But what if you had fitted new std shocks?

But Clive, they're so shiny, they've got to be better? 

I didn't get the spring adjustable ones, too much fiddling about, just standard. I chose GAZ because the standard Monroe (was it?) were being made in China and had developed a bad reputation.

Doug

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