How low should I go?..
 

Hi all,

I'm restoring a '68 1800 and don't want to fit standard new springs. Looking at an unmessed with original car, they tend to sit noticeably lower anyway due to the wear on springs etc. and I want to replicate this stance as I think it looks much better than standard. I seem to remember fitting 40mm lowering springs in the past and they looked good and the car certainly handled better along with a stiffer front ARB, but I see 60 and even 100mm lowering springs available now. I don't want to make the car look like it has been 'bagged' or 'slammed' (?) and I don't want to grind the exhaust on traffic speed bumps if at all possible but I might want to go lower so has anyone got photos of their 1800 and comments on their experiences driving them after lowering?
Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Gordon

First thing to keep in mind is that when you alter ride height by shortening the springs there are three other 'things' that change
- the front camber goes more negative which may or may not be a bad thing (steering effort will increase)
- the panhard rod will push the rear axle off center which may necessitate changing the length of the panhard rod
- the angle of the rear U joint flange in the static loaded position changes and will no longer match the front flange. You may need to alter the torque rod lengths to rotate the rear axle to get them back into alignment.

With small changes in ride height these three factors may not be a material issue. Larger changes can create problems.

Second thing to keep in mind is that shorter springs typically come with higher spring rates. With a shorter spring you have lost wheel travel and need the higher spring rate to keep the suspension from hitting the bump stops all the time. On my 142 I had some short single rate Lesjofors springs (25 mm drop in ride height) and they were brutal. Any sort of traffic control strip would get the rear end air born unless you slowed to around 10 km/hr. Keep the spring rate in mind when you select springs. If you install shorter springs with a higher spring rate do not install ARBs at the same time. Test first. The higher spring rates will give you an automatic increase in roll stiffness and adding ARBs may make the car brutal on anything less than perfect pavement.

Amazon Cars UK has some road springs for the 1800 which drop the car about 20mm and are progressive so 'not as brutal'. A 20 mm drop may eliminate the need to fiddle with panhard length and drive shaft angle. The 20mm drop is minimal and your 1800 will not end up looking like it is pretending to be something it isn't. I ditched the Lesjofors on my 142 and installed the Amazon cars springs for the 140 on my car. Much more pleasant to drive.

Agree with 142 Guy
I have -40 springs on my wagon and I’m just waiting for the -20 springs to come from Amazon cars, at -40 the panhard rod is ok but the car bottoms out on the rear axle and I think the ride quality has suffered

I was under the impression that Amazoncars springs were no longer available, at least for shipment to the States? Don’t mean to hijack the thread but I had planned on ordering a year or more ago and was disappointed to hear they were retiring…? Is that not true? The captcha does not appear to be working…

I Spoke to Emma yesterday, but I do believe they are winding down which was one of the reasons I got my springs ordered as I believe they have them made to their own spec developed from years of rally preparation
They are open for business and taking orders at the moment

Thanks for all the replies, but does anyone have a photo of their car they can post to show what a 60mm (or any other) drop looks like on a P1800?

40mm ones from Classic Swede.

That's great, thanks. Nice car and the picture has helped me decide to go with 40mm. In my book it just looks right compared to the standard height.

Are Amazon and P1800 springs the same?

Some time after getting my springs from Amazon Cars I was told by a friend (that I had recommended the product to) that Amazon Cars elected to stop shipping the springs to North America. He said they cited liability / compliance issues. I don't know whether that applied to all their products or just the springs. My understanding is that the springs are / were still available to owners on the east side of the Atlantic.

I suppose that if you really wanted them you could trans ship them to an agent in GB who would forward them to you to get around their delivery address phobia. That is extra work and expense for what are already expensive springs. I run into the same issue with some companies in the US who will flat out not ship to any address that is outside of the 52 states + territories.