my car suspension height dilemma...

rx1900 said:
Yes.....there is some confusion here Steve....but I think perhaps you are half right...but half wrong.... :oops:

I do think that.....from the factory....there were THREE different types of rear struts

Type A - used on all 1300 X1/9s worldwide. Yes...these had the "straight" lower bracket. And on the upper shock shaft a 14mm shank portion for the aluminum cone and pivot.

Type B - used on "USA": spec 1500 x1/9s. These had an "angled" lower bracket to provide clearance for the 1500 driveshaft flange. although some say the 1300 bracket has just barely enough clearance to be used. Although I guess not quite enough clearance for the fiat engineers to be comfortable. In addition, at this same time......Fiat re-designed the upper spring perch - I assume as a cost-saving measure - to eliminate the aluminum cone and pivot and washer and seal they used on the 1300 cars. As the rear struts do not need to pivot like the front steering struts do. So the upper shank of the shock shaft is different. You can see that in the pic above.

I DO think the spring perch was in the same - or very very close - place ...on both these struts. And resulted in the same ride height. and can be interchanged if you use the matching upper perch and hardware and bits.

Type C - used on "Euro"' spec 1500 X1/9s. These were the same as Type B...BUT...had the bottom spring perch on the strut....moved up about 30mm or so. Resulting in a HIGHER ride height on the rear. Yes...this seems very odd...as one would think the raised perch would have been used instead on the "USA" cars...to meet bumper height regulations...and to counteract the increased rear weight of the USA EFI bits, converter, A/C bits......

It seems the same rear springs were used on all above....

It would seem the above even confused Koni.......Best I can tell....Koni - being a euro company - were unaware of the Type B strut. and only made Type A and Type C. See the pics below from my old Koni catalog.

View attachment 78242
View attachment 78243

Which seemed to result in USA folks fitting the 87-2171 rear Konis to their 1500 X1/9 finding their rear ride height now about 1" higher...and scratching their heads.......which Steve you seem to agree with........As far as I can tell, Koni never made a Type B rear strut.......

As for other available rear 1500 struts....it seems that indeed KYB figured it out and offer a Type B rear strut ( #233004 ) here in the USA. Note they offer different rear struts in the euro market ( assume Type C ). Eurosport UK seem to have it all figured out correctly and offer all Type A, B , and C rear struts. Those here who have ordered other makes of rear struts from europe have often found they were supplied Type C struts with a resulting increased ride height......

I still reckon that ALL stock Fiat supplied USA rear struts - 1300 or 1500 - result in the same - or VERY VERY close - ride height. As shown in my initial pic in post #16. Guess we will have to agree to disagree about that :(
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And to add to the confusion, your Koni catalog lists 74 - 78 as 1500cc, and 79 - 86 as 1300.
 
Hmmm.... That's an interesting data point. I wish I still had my build notes on the struts. I know I measured several. I seem to remember the OE 1500s being longer but I had so many different cars and parts over the years. That and I built the struts in the mid 90s so long enough ago that I can't remember the details precisely.

I know I ended up using 1300 rear struts on my 1500/5 speed car. I had no issues with the CVs clearing the strut.
 
Yeah....who really knows for 100% sure. Although i "think" I am correct about the Type B being supplied on USA spec cars, and Type C being supplied on "euro" cars........what with the production run being so long....and as I understand it also being "sporadic"...in that I think...especially in the later years...X1/9s were made in batches rather than a slow continuous run.....that it is perhaps possible that Fiat or Bertone may have just tossed on whatever rear struts were available to the production line at the time .....and that the production planners and the factory line and the spare parts guys weren't always on the same page........
 
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well I guess I need to find out what struts I have first, and then just get some stock springs...pertty sure I had to get the 1500 upper part to fit some new kybs I had bought...
 
Kevin Cozzo said:
well I guess I need to find out what struts I have first, and then just get some stock springs...pertty sure I had to get the 1500 upper part to fit some new kybs I had bought...
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Yes. Sounds like you already put some KYB 1500 rear struts in there, and changed the upper spring perch. That will be fine.

Just take a quick look and count the # of coils on the spring. Should be about 6 3/4 coils. Any less means the springs have been cut - you probably dont want that. So yeah, just find some decent used uncut springs. Maybe Pete has some. Toss those in there and set your adjustable fronts to level it out to your liking. Easy.....

But do check the rear upper strut tower is flat and not domed. And that the rubber upper strut mounts are still okay...
 
rx1900 said:
Just take a quick look and count the # of coils on the spring. Should be about 6 3/4 coils. Any less means the springs have been cut - you probably dont want that. So yeah, just find some decent used uncut springs. Maybe Pete has some.
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Well I took a look around and I found 1 pair of springs that match the .482 wire diameter and 4.85 overall diameter, but they had 5 3/4 coils, not 6 3/4. It seems I can't leave anything stock.

Kevin, let me know if you want them.
 
I looked at the tub of struts I have and there were two rear springs. One spring is loose and in good cosmetic condition, you can still see the factory yellow and pink paint marks. The other is still in its original strut assy (the strut is brown and it still has a FIAT factory label on it), but the spring itself is pretty rusty. Can send the entire stut as-is or can disassemble and send only spring. If you think you might want them, I can measure and take pix and send or post. Free + cost of shipping.
 
rx1900 said:
Do you agree...about 6.75 coils and about 11.5" free length ? Any memory of what it is from ?
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Yep, the loose one is about 6-3/4 coils and about 11-3/8" free length. Of course the other one is shorter because it can't expand to its full size while still mounted in the strut assy. These are likely from mike Eastep's blue 1979 X1/9, made surplus when he fitted Vicks' coilovers.

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Dan Sarandrea (Phila) said:
I looked at the tub of struts I have and there were two rear springs. One spring is loose and in good cosmetic condition, you can still see the factory yellow and pink paint marks. The other is still in its original strut assy (the strut is brown and it still has a FIAT factory label on it), but the spring itself is pretty rusty. Can send the entire stut as-is or can disassemble and send only spring. If you think you might want them, I can measure and take pix and send or post. Free + cost of shipping.
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well, I haven't had time to look, and I might take you up on it, but I did discover some springs in my shed, and I will check on those first....right now I have another issue with my intake which broke upon removing to fix an exhaust leak! Thank you for the offer tho....I will pm you if I end up needing them. If I'm lucky, I have another pair, and now I have useful info to identify...
 
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