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Re: Leaning Spits

To: spitfires@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Leaning Spits
From: Michael Hargreave Mawson <OC@46thFoot.com>
Date: Thu, 3 May 2001 06:32:22 +0100
In article <3ADE30CE.A960EF8@erols.com>, Nolan Penney
<npenney@erols.com> writes
>Michael Hargreave Mawson wrote:
>
>> I think I understand this. Are you saying that swapping the springs will
>> only help solve the problem if one is weaker than the other, and that if
>> the problem remains, then the springs are fine, and I must have a
>> twisted car?
>
>If the problem is caused exclusively by mismatched front springs, then the 
>problem
>will promptly reverse itself when the spring&shock units are swapped to the 
>opposite
>side.  However, your weight in the drivers seat may well compensate.  As I 
>recall,
>Triumph used a spacer on the drivers side of the American market GT6 to 
>compensate
>for the weight of the driver now being on the same side as the gas tank.

There is still no news on this, as Carly is in several pieces at the
moment.   The rear spring was certainly part of the problem, but whether
it was responsible for the whole problem will not be ascertained until
she is put back together and placed on a flat and level surface.
>
>Personally, I rather doubt you will see any change when swapping the front 
>springs
>and shocks to the opposite side.  Certainly there is a chance that the springs 
>are
>mismatched, but I'd consider it to be a rather remote possibility.

We'll try that if there is still a problem, but I won't hold out much
hope, given what you have said.   If it still doesn't work, I can move
on to checking the anti-roll bars and/or adding a spacer.
>
>
>> Allowing for the fact that both doors are a less-than-perfect fit, I
>> have perfect parallelism.
>
>Don't look at the body, look underneath at the frame rails themselves.  You're
>looking for damage, crash damage most likely.  Be slow, as this can be 
>difficult 
>to
>detect.  It wasn't until I had the body off a wrecked GT6 that I saw the frame 
>was
>wracked the full length.
>
>If you've got a friend with a "good" Spitfire, try to spend some time beside 
>that car
>comparing things between the two of them.  This can help greatly in 
>identifying 
>a
>problem component.  As in "hey, my spring tower doesn't sit at that angle" or 
>such.

Once Carly is up and running again, I hope to visit Richard and Daffy,
and will compare and contrast the two cars then.
>
>It is possible that you'll ultimately find a damaged rear spring is indeed the
>culprit.  But I'm of the camp that would rather find out definitively that X 
>is 
>the
>problem, and fix X; not simply go replacing parts in hopes that something I 
>throw at
>the car fixes the problem.

Oh, I agree.   But the rear spring was knackered anyway, and had to be
replaced.   If doing so solves the leaning problem, I shall be very
happy at the unexpected bonus.

ATB
Mike
-- 
Michael Hargreave Mawson, author of "Eyewitness in the Crimea,"
published by Greenhill Books on 28th March, 2001:
http://www.greenhillbooks.com/booksheets/eyewitness_in_the_crimea.html

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