Springs

New Springs on the rear

Replaced the rear, very dead rubber cones with new springs today.  The springs are called the SRP-200 (Red, firm).  I started in the back, since most say it is simpler.  However, removing the old springs from the struts turned into a 2 hour job of cutting, chopping, heating, grinding, sawing and a few other choice actions.

This is what Jane's struts looked like.  The top one has the remnants of the old rubber spring.  The bottom one has had it cut away with a angle grinder.

Here are the new springs.  (C-SRP200 from SRacer).


Also, realized that the knuckle joints on the structs were in need to new protective covers during all of this.  The knuckle joint provides rotational flexibility for the strut. Shown here, the top seats in the frame and the strut slides on the post at the bottom.



The front left spring was rather easy to replace.  It required just one trip to Home Depot to get the parts to build a spring compressor.  A 2' piece of 1/2" all-thread, some nuts, a few washers, and for $7, a Mini spring compressor was born.  Worked like a champ.  Removing the upper suspension arm was easy by simple removing the cover plate from the shaft for the arm, taking off the two 3/4 nuts on each end and simply pulling the shaft out.  Took all of 10 minutes.  Once the new spring were compressed, the arm went right back in place.   The front knuckle joints were in good shape, so they just got repacked with grease and sealed-up.

The old rubber spring was a mess but it did separate from the trumpet much better than the rear ones.  A few hits with an old chisel and the spring separated from the trumpet strut.

The right side is going to be trickier since the new electric motor sits right in front of the upper suspension arms shaft cover plate.  Looks like the motor is going to have to be raised out of the way.  

With the new springs in, the front-end sits about 2 inches higher than the rear now.  Makes for an interesting look.  Hi-Los are on order to bring down the front and level the whole car.  A Hi-Lo is just a adjustable strut that can be extended or retracted to raise or lower the suspension.  I guess the reduced weight of the engine missing, does not compress the springs enough to keep things level.