Re: Spider front springs.

[JHertzman@domain.elided]

In AD7-758 Pat Farrell asked: "Lore is that spring length (or ride height, 
presumably altered by spring length) was raised by 1" for US spec spiders in 
75 or so.  Is this true?  Were spring rates held constant, or was same guage 
coil wire used, just more turns, or just different initial length?"

In AD7-760 Dana Loomis replied: "The change was in 1971 and was a way to meet 
provisions of FMVSS 108 minimum headlight elevation.  The springs are the 
same, however.  All they did was put spacers under the spring to raise the 
car body relative to the lower spring pan."

I believe Dana may be referring to Recall Campaign 861007 in March 1972, 
which was indeed responsive to an instance of a single lowered car which did 
not meet FMVSS 108 requirements for headlanp minimum height. However, that 
campaign affected ONLY 1971 1750 GT Veloce coupes, not Spiders. Whether a 
production change was then incorporated in later cars I cannot say.

In AD7-759 Godfrey DiGiorgi had replied "The ride height was definitely 
raised between my original '71 1750 Spider and the '76 versions onwards to 
accomodate bumper height regulations. I don't know about '75, but probably 
so. Exactly what was changed I'm not sure ... seems to me my '78 and '79 cars 
had spacers in the front spring seats and longer rear springs, the front 
springs were probably different as well. The upper control arm on the raised 
cars is also different, to keep the geometry of the front end constant."  

My information on Spiders is very spotty, as I am a roof-chauvinist, but 
coincidences leave me with some. My 1985 Bosch Spider shop manual identifies 
the front spring as 105.03.215.05.00; my 1750 GT Veloce/Spider Veloce parts 
book identifies the Spider front spring as 105.03.21.505.00; and my 1600 
Spider parts book identifies the front spring as 105.03.21.505.00. Someplace 
along the line Alfa repositioned its periods in its part numbering 
conventions, but I believe 215.05 is the same part as 21.505; if that is 
correct, probably all 105/115 Spiders from the first to the last used the 
same front springs, which would answer Pat Farrell's initial question..

As always, Alfa lists several different spacers, using different spacers in 
the coupes and Spiders in initial production and using any as needed later to 
adjust the suspension to stock specs. Godfrey DiGiorgi is certainly correct 
that his '78 and '79 cars had spacers in the front spring seats; all stock 
Alfas do. I would doubt that "The upper control arm on the raised cars is 
also different, to keep the geometry of the front end constant"; the earlier 
Spiders and coupes had different ride heights, but the spiders, coupes and 
sedans all used the same upper control arms. Whether there was a production 
change in the spacers used to meet bumper height requirements around 1975 I 
cannot say; I am not aware of a bumper height requirement change, but there 
may well have been one.

John H.
Raleigh, N.C.

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End of alfa-digest V7 #761
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