Hi Anthony

The spring pans are a step in the right direction, I still feel the springs are a problem, The free length of the spring 14.25" the compressed unladen length 8.75".

When new the springs should give a 2" clearance under the bump stop,the car unladened so given that the Repro bump stops are on the large side, 40mm clearance is a best guess estimate.

The compound errors, spring length, is 6 mm (1/4") short, and the bump stop is too big,by,about the same, so 12 mm (1/2")is accounted for, and "if " the spring rate is incorrect( too soft) it all starts to add up to the problem you seem to have. Interesting situation.
Kind regards
Trevor

HI Trevor,

I rang NTG and they where very helpfull, i had to wipe out the spring and measure it all checked to the measurement they said. 14 inches not compressed. I checked the new little spring pan which bolts to the lower arm which i had brough new and found it to be flat and not rasied up on one side. I changed the one i had off to the old one which i took off as the other one was very rusty when restoring it. Butting the car back on it wheels and it was 20mm higher. I have now got hold of an other old spring pan for the other side so hopefully this might help. I have got to ring NTG and let them know about what i found so they can check there stock.

Thanks
for your help

Anthony

There should be more clearance under the bump stop approximately 40mm minimum , the new repro bump stops are bigger than the originals, these seem to vary quite a bit from batch to batch.
My guess is the new springs are incorrect, this is normally due to poor manufacturing, incorrect tempering of the spring steel, which allows to much compression.
The springs are rated in load ratings, and the early ZA and the later ZA/ ZB have different free lengths and the ratings are different.

May I suggest you try to obtain a set of good used springs or some properly made new springs. try This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. he should be able to help you.
I would be tempted to talk to NTG as they supplied the poor quality item.
Trevor

PS if you look under read and collect on the website then click on mag reprints, there is a brilliant article by automobile engineer, worth reading, great detail and explaination.

Evening, when putting the magnette to bed afew weekends ago she had to straddle some bits of wood on the garage floor, so i checked that she was missing the wood. I then noticed that the lower front suspension arm was just touching the bump stop. The car has always looked low, the springs are new in 2011 and got from NTG. Is mine running low or do they all do this??


picture included.