Increased ride height and progressive springs

[grrrdot]

OK,
I have a '67 124 Sedan that I recently swapped out an OHV engine for a DOHC. I live in New York City where the good roads are like this:


I am guessing the DOHC weighs more as the car feels more planted but like there is little to no suspension travel, I'm also nervous about hitting the oil pan on some of the deeper potholes. Here is a pic of how the suspension sits unladen:


SO, has anyone ever increased the ride height of their Fiat without messing up handling?
Are there progressive springs out there that would help smooth out the pockmarked streets of NYC?

-G

[InfinityAero]

Cool idea, I've thought about doing the same with a couple of my cars (current Genesis Coupe and previously-owned 325iX). I would guess a 1-2" lift would be OK for most cars, but you rarely see it done.

The spiders received taller springs starting in the mid 70s, to meet US crash safety regulations. I'll bet you could swap on a set of those, or a set of "stock height replacement" springs designed for the later year spiders. Otherwise, you're probably stuck ordering custom springs, which from what I've seen runs about double the cost of factory replacements or performance replacements.

Either way, maybe raise it an inch and go with a larger tire diameter so you've got some rubber absorbing the impacts too. The roads are terrible up there, last time I drove back from NYC to DC I hit a pothole so bad on the freeway that the headlight assembly on my genesis coupe popped out of it's housing. I didn't realize until I got back home and had to pop it back in.

[lanciahf]

Geoff if you get some 2L springs they should jack up your car nicely. Someone should have some laying around afetr converting theirs.

Ralph

[brackie1]

I went from the standard 13" wheels to 14" wheels with 195 70's and it raised my car up almost 2".

Gene

[djape1977]

from your pic, right now you have a pretty much perfect suspension geometry. upper edge of lower suspension arm sitting paralel to the ground.

however, that's not how your car left the factory. people go to great lenghts to lower their 124's and you have the opposite, yet common problem. springs get soft over the years, and twincam is definately heavier than old ohv.

now, you're in for a bit of experimenting that involves several front springs swaps if you don't get it right the first time around.
my sugestion would be to get a pair of new front springs for lada. cheap as chips, ride height about 20mm higher than original 124 1200 ohv. however, lada engine is considerably heavier then fiats 1200ohv, with fiat twincam, they're just about right if you chop off one circle from them.

you can also get a pair of used springs from an US spec 124 spider. they weigh about the same, already has a twincam, and they sit pretty high to begin with.

my 1979 lada 2103


front springs are lada OEM shotrened by one circle
rear springs used OEM off a 35yr old fiat 132
tyre size 185/60/13

the ride is soft, excellent bump absorption, yet not unpleasant as contemporary 70's american cars. combined with OEM two way oil filled shocks and 20mm OEM sway bar, there's no excessive body roll

if you decide to go for spider front springs, grab a sway bar also. late year 2lts spiders hould have thicker sway bar then yours

also, bad roads being common problem of eastern europe, sump guards are available, bolt on to lada, and i suspect also bolt on to yours 124. i have one on my car, and a spare at the workshop. i'll dig it up and take pics

is your twincam 1.6, 1.8 or 2 liter? 1.6 and 1.8 have shalow sump that sits about the same heignt as lower edge of crossmember, and 2 liter dips about 12mm lower, leaving it very exposed.
ruskies solved this issue by making the lada sump out of 1.5mm sheet metal, instead of italian 0.8
unfortunately it doesn't fit fiat engines...

[djape1977]

recently i decided to eliminate bodyroll completely

http://imageshack.com/i/paca6056j

[grrrdot]

recently i decided to eliminate bodyroll completely

http://imageshack.com/i/paca6056j

Double anti-roll bars?! How's the understeer?
-G

[djape1977]

No ill effects as far as i can tell, and i do push it quite a bit. Although, i do run wheels that are widest possible on 124 shell without cutting the bodywork 7X13, et-11 (negative offset) with very sticky falken tyres 185/60/13. Wheels so wide cause noticeable bump steer.

if anything, the car has become somewhat tail happy. It's easier to induce oversteer then before double sway bar. Just flick the steering wheel and throttle at same time and ear to ear smile is an instant result.
If i drive tru a tight curve very fast, i can now feel that rear end starts to lean and front inner wheel wants to lift of. Solution is to add a rear sway bar. I've got 20mm one, just can't get round to install it yet.