Mk2 Cav early spec vs late spec

[arge]

Hi.

In my quest to sort out the clearance issue between my drivers wishbone and chassis on my Cav I made a discovery.

I am under the impression that mine (1984 on an A reg) would be an "early" spec one. Which I am sure would have paralell straight coil springs. However the ones currently fitted are pigailed ones which I thought came fitted to later spec ones.

The issues are: can late spec springs fit early spec struts/shocks?
Is it possible that my early spec car has been fitted with an entire late spec front suspension set up? (The springs seem to fit nicely in the shocks)
Would and could any of this cause the wishbones to bang on the underside of the car?
Would cutting the lowering springs already on there affect the height of the wishbones?

This is all indeed dependent on whether mine is in fact an early spec one.

A million questions. Any advice would be amazing.

[sal]

Your A reg is an early spec.

Early spec X Y A B reg. Brake servo on passenger side. Parallel springs.
Mid spec. B C D reg. Brake servo on driver's side. Pigtail springs.
Late spec D E F reg. Brake servo on driver's side. Pigtail springs.

You're correct that your A reg is an early spec and would have originally had legs with parallel springs fitted. However, the mid and late spec legs with pigtail springs can be fitted to your car if they are fitted as a complete unit. I had an A reg car fitted with later legs so you can't go with registration on its own I'm afraid as its possible bits may have been swapped at some point.

Springs are not interchangeable but as above the legs are.

It's possible this could cause wishbones to bang on underside of car. I had a set of 60mm springs fitted to a cavalier when I purchased it and the wishbones hit floor even though they were the correct fitment for that car. However, there are plenty of folk running -60mm springs on cavaliers without an issue.

Cutting springs will make wishbones sit higher as they will pivot upwards on their bushes to account for the shorter leg.

[arge]

Do you have any suggestions as to the next course of action Sal?

I want to lose about 10mm (ideally more though) at the front and for the wishbone to sit more level so as to avoid the banging.

Is there a logical next step to take? Was thinking (based on advice from the mk2cav forum) on getting a shocks and springs kit from German eBay, but am not sure if this would sort it?

[sal]

It's hard to give a definitive answer without seeing the car. I saw comment on cavalier forum that the springs were not for a mk2 cav so I'd be looking at finding a correct set of springs if that is the case.

How low do you want the car to sit? I've got mine on minus 40mm springs using standard shocks and there are no issues with wishbones hitting off floor. I bought those springs off UK eBay for around £100.

I think you need to fit the correct springs for car tbh mate as it appears a previous owner has messed around with your suspension.

[mjphotography2016]

when i had mine she was dropped 50mm (Spax i called them and they made me a set took about 4 weeks) all the shocks where decent original replacements only problem i had was the cv joints went but they where original (90k miles)

it sounds like yours has at some time in its life been fitted with the later strut set ups, is there any play in the wishbone bushes? i cant remember if it was the one side or both sides early or late spec but some wishbones came weighted are yours weighted if so is it the weight causing the issue?
if yours is lowered how much by and are they the correct lowering springs for the struts?

[arge]

I want it as low as possible ideally which is a little disheartening when it isn't, in my eyes, that low at the moment and the wishbones are already hitting!

It is currently on what I think are -60mm springs that are pigtailed at the top but seat themselves fine.

I think a new shock and spring set are in order then go from there. At least they will be correct for the age of the car...

[arge]

No weights on the wishbones either.

It seems that due to the angle that they sit at, one edge hits the chassis.

Gah

[sal]

Sept 21, 2015 8:33:09 GMT arge said:

I want it as low as possible ideally which is a little disheartening when it isn't, in my eyes, that low at the moment and the wishbones are already hitting!

It is currently on what I think are -60mm springs that are pigtailed at the top but seat themselves fine.

I think a new shock and spring set are in order then go from there. At least they will be correct for the age of the car...

It's the bottom that should be pigtailed. As far as I remember the top of them is parallel so sounds like you either have wrong springs or they're not fitted correctly?

[mjphotography2016]

Heres what mine looked like on 14's with a 50mm drop
i cant find any pics of my struts but bound to of taken some

[sal]

This is the lowering spring that's on mine



It's just a slight pigtail that goes to bottom of suspension leg. The top is as wide as middle of spring and has a rubber insert that goes in between spring and top cup of leg.

Few pics of them on car

[arge]

Hmm the plot thickens.

My springs look very similar to that, only with the Pig tail installed at the top of the strut...

link

Could it be that they are just upside down?!

[arge]

[arge]

[arge]

On a separate note, what tyre sizes are you guys running?

[mjphotography2016]

i cant remember what mine had was some time ago now,
your spring should be sitting in the rubber not through the middle the last coil is to tight,
sal has probably played with cavs alot more recently than me but i'd say thats upside down

[sal]

That springs looks upside down to me. The tighter coils should be at the top of the strut and the pigtail at the bottom. You appear to have the complete opposite.

As mattnlisa says the rubber in the top cup should fit the spring perfectly. It doesn't do that in your photo as the pigtail has made it too narrow. I'd turn those springs round and see if the banging goes away as it could be the sound of the springs moving in the strut your hearing and nothing to do with the wishbone.

[arge]

Excellent.

Thanks so much guys, very much appreciated. Will report back when I have swapped them round with the result. (And undoubtedly another problem that requires advice!)

Cheers