I have seen pictures of coilovers installed in the front of 84-87 fieros, but I can't find them. Does anyone have some that they can post? I will be attempting (maybe buying a kit for) this in the near future and I would like some reference material.
I know that the following companies sell front coilover kits www.heldmotorsports.com (no installed pictures) www.shelbycustom.com (webpage down?) RCC dwayne9.addr.com (no installed pictures)
Anyone have these installed? Are there any others?
------------------ Martin D. White 86.5 GT 3.4 pushrod (dual TB intake in the works) on 88 cradle (2.5" coilovers), gt-40 style hood vent, recessed lights, GA brakes on held drop spindles. 2610 lbs and on diet...
I have the weight jacking parts but I have not had the time to install them, or permission to buy the needed springs....wife and two kids....I am in need of a fiero project or two this summer and am looking at 11.25" brakes with 88 calipers for my held spindles and either the weight jacking or coilovers.
To decide on coilovers vs. weight jacking I would like to see some installed coilover pics.
I've only got one picture off hand... and I'm not sure how much it shows. I believe Purple Reign has HMS (Held's) tubular system with coilovers all the way around on his supercharged car.
I shot this pic this past weekend at our world-of-wheels show:
Let me know if you change your mind and go with coilovers... I might be interested in taking the weighjacking parts off your hands
I am pretty interested in this weight-jacking issue; can you tell me a bit more? I am doing coil overs on all 4 corners and trying to figure out how to make the height adjustable for track and street; ie a built in 1.5" drop or so. Do you have pix? I have a coil over setup for my front but it is ....... 'custom'......... so don't know if I should get into that; it involves some fabbing and cutting etc. I am replacing my stock stuff with a single shortie coil over; I KNOW I am sacrificing ride quality but that is a given. back to you!
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11:07 AM
utahfiero Member
Posts: 244 From: Kingsport, TN Registered: Jan 2002
Weight jacking and coilovers are multually exclusive (you either use one or the other, not both). Weight jacking is basically a big bolt the attaches the top of the spring to the frame. By adjusting the bolt you can raise and lower the top of the spring in relation to the car, thus changing the ride height.
fiero308 -- can you post pics of you 'custom' coilovers?
Weight jacking and coilovers are multually exclusive (you either use one or the other, not both). Weight jacking is basically a big bolt the attaches the top of the spring to the frame. By adjusting the bolt you can raise and lower the top of the spring in relation to the car, thus changing the ride height.
*added for further clarification for anyone who isn't familiar with coilovers*
Exactly... whereas with a coilover shock you adjust the ride height with the the spring perch that is threaded around the shock body itself. (a weight jack system has the coil spring in a separate location from the shock absorber itself).
ok so you are talking about weight jacking that is more or less like the stockers use then.....??? I am familiar with that, I was wondering if you had come up with something new and different that worked (ie) with the top coil over mount or something like that. I am trying to do exactly that with my rears; I am in the midst of surgery on the back suspension..... '85 frame and I am working on unequal length A arms with coil overs all around....
somewhere between reconstructive surgery and a total transplant Maybe frankenstein would be a good descriptive term if that gets the idea across......
I will dig up some pix and put them up; keep in mind that this stuff is not on the road yet but I don't see how the front end will be much different than stock GEOMETRICALLY speaking, I am not changing any pivot points. Just removed the stock spring and shock and plugged in a coil over...... that's not really rocket science.....coming up with some mounts is the biggest deal.
The REAR is a different story so let me get it a bit further along before putting anything up and then leading people off in twenty different directions....... :
[This message has been edited by fiero308 (edited 03-31-2004).]
ok; some of the fiddling I am doing with the front: I don't suspect things will vary too much from what you see here; the main issue will be adding solid reinforcement to the suspension members and frame to make sure that I 'put back more than I took away'........ which shouldn't be too hard. When you start to look critically at this stuff (thickness and quality of the steel used etc) it is an eye-popper that these little cars have held together so long!! anyway; a shot showing a mockup of the coil over in place inside the former spring housing: then the shock only (no spring) in place to check clearances to the outer members (ok); and to line up the bolt holes etc: obviously I disconnected the steering to swing the rotor assy that far over; by the way, that isn't the final brake assy I will be using before anyone starts chasing that; it will be ......... somewhat different from that. I want to get the suspension all done first. -g
just to clarify this is a SHORT and (will be necessarily) very stiff shock; very short travel. To go with something more comfortable would change this situation a lot........ here is the shock I am using: yup it's a shortie......... but that is where I am going with this project. I am sure it won't be for everyone and I doubt I will put a lot of mileage on it myself. just fyi etc
that looks very nice..... is that the whole cross member kit? I am guessing? have you had it on the road yet? (this may be an opportunity to cross link to the 'skid-pad' thread......)
looks VERY nice, you must be pleased.
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02:45 PM
FierOmar Member
Posts: 1647 From: Glendale, California, USA Registered: Dec 2001
You may want to look at the custom front adjustable coil spring package on Gerald Storvik's autocross roadster. See it at: http://www.8shark.com/33.htm
yeah; thanks; had a look. took me a minute to figure out what he is doing, but he has put a spring with adjustable sleeve in place of the stock spring, to allow easy adjustment of the spring height and preload. Nice idea and prob pretty easy to do. I guess I will end up with the same effect but less range due to my short overall shock length. But that is ok with me (at least right now ) The proof will be in the driving and that is coming - slowly but surely..........
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03:45 PM
utahfiero Member
Posts: 244 From: Kingsport, TN Registered: Jan 2002
Did you mount the lower end of the shock in the a-arm or on-top of the a-arm? I can't tell from the pictures.
Are you using the colivers to also lower the car, and that is requiring the shorty shock use. I have drop spindles so I could do the same thing and use a shock that was 1.5 inches longer and get the same ride height, right?
Did you look at totally removing the old spring perch and rebuilding it so that you could use a longer shock and spring?
hi Martin; a few different factors at play at once, I guess, in my choices; This is a 308 rebody so I wanted it to go, stop and corner like it looks like it should. Lots of other upgrades slowly in the works, but the suspension is first on the list. first I wanted to go for handling and cornering; and comfort was probably not on the list at all. Secondly, I already had two of these units from another project so I just matched them front to rear in an attempt to standardize but also....... why not? Anything the front hits, the rear will hit too, I would guess...... so either they will be enough or they won't. I don't intend to drive gravel roads....... and will get out and CARRY it over puddles...... LOL I DID consider removing the spring mount but a mod is all I need to do; I will be reusing the upper 'brace' or bracket - with a bit of modding to strengthen it; it is actually quite convenient for me. I am mounting the bottom of the shock in the lower control arm; it also is fairly convenient. Not finalized yet but I have been focussed on the rear susp a lot lately. I suspect that by the time I remove the old spring perch (already gone) and other materials - spring, old shock, etc - and then replace it with this new lighter unit that I may "brake" even (sorry ) weight-wise with the brake upgrades I am doing. We will see.
I am slightly confused on the useage of coilovers up front..
So hal makes shocks with threaded bodies up front.. and you get coilsprings to put on that.. what happens to the current springs that are between the a-arms? just remove them? Or do you get shocks with coils that fit where the current spring is?
Someone got a pick of their coil over setup on a stock suspension for a non-88? fully assemballed with out the wheel?
Edit: Part numbers would be cool too
thanks! James Z
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[This message has been edited by SplineZ (edited 04-04-2004).]
James: sort of a..... situation that arose that way - for lack of a better explanation. I "happened" to have those shocks - left over from another project..... (let's just leave it at that ) and they fit my requirements perfectly. Pure fluke. I am building (or at least trying to) build a good handler FIRST and everything else would be secondary. Like comfort and ride, etc.... Anyway, I figured that the best location for them was exactly in the original spring location; it gives great geometry for the shock (I like it better than the angle the stock unit is in) and not really too much fuss (but not exactly done yet... I am working on the rears first). Eliminating the stock spring, perch, and shock etc DID get rid of a lot of weight, which will help. This whole unit is only about 3 lbs or so; it is amazingly light and has 12-15 settings. They aren't HAL anymore, by the way; they are now "QA1" Motorsports.
anyway I am hoping in the next couple of wks to make a lot of progress on the suspension so will take more pix as I go. I don't want to post stuff and then take another 180 in my approach so I want to be sure that my postings will follow a single path and direction without a lot of backtracking.
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07:59 PM
Apr 5th, 2004
utahfiero Member
Posts: 244 From: Kingsport, TN Registered: Jan 2002
To put coilovers on the front of a fiero is a pretty serious undertaking. If you remove the stock spring and don't put a spring back in its place, you will have a very unsafe fiero. The spring force for the front suspension needs to act directly on the front leg of the lower a-arm.
In most cases the whole front lower a-arm is replaced. Fiero308's is an example of the problems you will encounter trying to use the stock front lower a-arm, the lower mounting point is too high.
I think you could use stock car parts to build a nice lower arm and bolt it is without much fabrication. I will let you know if I get to the point where I know part numbers.
Martin D. White
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12:47 AM
FieroGT87 Member
Posts: 3195 From: St. Louis, Mo, USA Registered: Jul 2001
I've been considering the RCC kit. How do you like yours so far? I assume it uses the stock spindles so I can still use my 11.25" brake upgrade. I don't want to tap another set
------------------ Earl Rice 87 T-Top GT 5 Spd 3400 Gen III Turbo in progress
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12:53 AM
May 9th, 2004
utahfiero Member
Posts: 244 From: Kingsport, TN Registered: Jan 2002
Maybe frankenstein would be a good descriptive term if that gets the idea across......
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