lower my Fiat

[5pdrman]

I am a new member and have just bought a 1978 Fiat 124 Spider. I am wondering what are my options for lowering my car without affecting the handling qualities. I know that I can start out by cutting down the coil springs, but I don't really want to stiffen it up to get the ride height that I want.

Are there any kits or "tricks" I should be aware of in dong this?

5pdrman

[azruss]

simple way is to buy a set of springs from an early spider. 70 or 71. Fiat put tall springs on the cars to satisfy federal headlight height requirements and it hurt the handling of the car.

[narfire]

Expensive way, but love the handling difference, is to swap to Koni's. I found my car settled about 1/2 to one inch. Had KYB's on prior.
Chris

[5pdrman]

Great advice, thanks a lot. I am an Alfa Spider guy and just bought this 124. Looking forward to do some hi-performance stuff. Will be asking for that advice soon.

5pdrman

[DocGraphics]

The various parts suppliers all carry performance springs that lower as well as increase performance.

Here's a link to Vicks Auto Sports version
http://www.vickauto.com/newstore/index. ... ts_id=3020

[124cso]

simple way is to buy a set of springs from an early spider. 70 or 71. Fiat put tall springs on the cars to satisfy federal headlight height requirements and it hurt the handling of the car.

Does anyone know if the springs out of an BC or CC Coupe are the same as in a spider ?

[opus10583]

The various parts suppliers all carry performance springs that lower as well as increase performance.

Here's a link to Vicks Auto Sports version
http://www.vickauto.com/newstore/index. ... ts_id=3020

Hi Don,

Those springs did not lower my '78 CS1.

Thanks,
Mark

[deacon]

Yeah the Vick's springs did not lower my 78 either. I have not found any aftermarket springs that will. Kind of back at cutting....

[DocGraphics]

Vick's says in their discription that IF you have removed you tube bumper that they won't lower your car, but they will cut them for you.

Quote from Vicks about lowering:
"These springs are however made for the "tube bumper" cars being from 1974-85. If you have an earlier car (1968-74) you will need to remove some of the spring to accommodate for the weight difference. This also applies to all cars that no longer have the "tube bumpers". If you cannot cut the springs yourself please ask us to cut the springs before shipping and we will do so free of charge"

Old tired spring might account for not bringing the car down too, but the performance of the new springs should still be there & you can cut new ones to get the stance you want too.
(FYI this is all from what i have read, I am cutting my stock springs at this point in my resto/mod of my '78 after removing my bumpers to get the height back down)

[opus10583]

Vick's says in their discription that IF you have removed you tube bumper that they won't lower your car, but they will cut them for you.

Hi Don,

I still have the tube bumpers and shocks, and at least 30pounds to lose.

I spoke with someone at Vick's who gave me the disclaimer one on one.

When I retrofit the '74 bumpers I'll have a real off-road 124.

Ciao,
Mark

[124ADDHE]

Cut those springs! its cheap and effective, put the car where you want. Fronts are a PITA but have to be removed no matter which course you take....i did read of a guy on one of the forums who cut the springs in-place - i wouldnt try though

http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic ... &start=105

I cut 1 coil front (A-arm is nice and paralell to ground now) and 2 in rear (still a bit high, it sits level and i really liked the look of my stock 74' where ther back end sat a bit lower than the front, it actually looks really good on the spider..

[maytag]

I also cut two in the rear and 1-1/2 in the front. Here's what that gave me:


It looked great, but was forever hitting the bump-stops, and gave me a rough-ride.
this time I've cut 1/2 coil less on both ends. But I've also discovered that the shocks I removed to make room for my KYB GR2's were like TRUCK shocks! So I COULD end-up cutting those 1/2 coils back out again. I'll let ya know once I'm back on the road.

[valmontej]

That's really irritating to find out that Vick's is now offering to cut the springs prior to delivery. When I bought their springs when they got the original shipment (about 2 years ago) they sent me the X1/9 coils. They corrected the error but when I installed the coils for the spider, like others here, I found that they DID NOT LOWER the car at all. I called them to complain about it and they said, give it time to settle. Well folks, it's been over 2 years with both tube bumpers on and the car still looks like it's on stilts! Well, I finally had my mechanic cut them - 2 coils in front and 1 1/2 in the back. He did it with the springs mounted in the car using a dremel. I wanted the slightly nose down look and it came out really nice looking except now it handles somewhat weird. Not as nice around the corners as it was before the cutting was done. I will be getting a professional wheel alignment and new shocks to see if I can get back the fantastic handling I used to have. I'd post some photos but still haven't figured out how to do that.

[narfire]

I finally had my mechanic cut them - 2 coils in front and 1 1/2 in the back

Yikes... my opinion only , but that seems like alot. I have IAP reds on and with the kyb's seemd a bit high front and rear. However I've seen here numerous times that for best handling, the front "A" arms should be as parrallel to the ground as possible. I thought the cutting of the fronts to get the look would comprimise this so I cut one coil out of the rears only. Car looked fine and handles just fine. Now I have koni's on and that has settled the rear another inch but still looks ok I guess. If one starts to cut the front springs, that will change the geometry and as you have mentioned a trip to the alignment shop is in order to try and get things back to spec.
Good luck with this and hope you achieve the handling you once had

[BEEK]

while this was used for racing purposes. but i have done this on street cars as well. cutting the stock springs works nicely, if you still have oem shocks, and they are good, keep them. adding a heavyer front sway bar works well. i do cut the bump stops off so the suspension has more room to travel., the upper a frames have contacted the shock towers on the sides some, have never broken anything from doing this. the sway bar is a must if you lower the car, as it will reduce front body roll, very important. i was never a fan of a rear bar, have used them many times, and just end up disconnecting them. over the years i have purchased new "lowering springs" i have never been happy with the results. just my opinion. i have also modified crossmsmbers and moved the inner lower pickup points up to help compensate for the lowered car, correcting geometry problems. by not moving the upper points the camber gain is better for hard cornering. just remember when you just lower a car you are affecting the front end geometry, the car will not respond the same or drive the same, in my opinion the fiat front end is too soft (spring rate wise) but i like to drive my car, not ride in my car.