Various question on a 69 spider

["David Bokaie" <bokaie@domain.elided>]

Guys,

Working on a few projects and was wondering if I can get help from you guys.
The car is a 69 Spider Veloce.

1- Spring and shocks

The back of the car has sagged and the shocks look like their shot.  Not
much rebound and noise coming from the rear shock tower.  I have bought rear
shock and springs to replace the existing ones.  I would not mind lowering
the ride of the car just a tad bit to close the space in the wheel well
between the tire and the fender.  Does it make sense to cut the springs.
How and how much to cut.  Obviously this means that I have to replace the
front shock/springs.

Also my repair manual says that I have to take apart the rear axel to
replace the spring.  Given that the straps are limiting how far the springs
extend, can I remove the strap and replace the spring.  I would appreciate
any gottacha that I should watch out for.

2- Smoke

Every time, I drive this car, top up or down, my cloths and hair stinks from
exhaust fume.  I just replaced the exhaust from the header down to the rear
exhaust pipe.  Was hoping that this would reduce the problem.  Unfortunately
this has not helped.  I know I had quite a bit problem getting the seal
between the exhaust pipe and the header to seal tight.  Is the smoke coming
from there or is coming from the rear exhaust pipe and because of the back
pressure coming into the cabin.  If so, why putting the top up does not
help.

3- Adjusting the timing.

I would like to adjust the timing via turning the distributor.  With all the
hoses intact, I can not get my  box wrench to fit around the distributor
nut.  Is there a special wrench that I can buy for this purpose.

Thanks a lot,

David
--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided