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[StescoG66]

Hi Folks

Have a long-ongoing Sprint resto project, mine is a 1988 on F plate.

Bought new front shock recently so obviously dismantled the front suspension. However getting it all aligned when putting it back together is proving a bit tricky. I know the spring pans are sided, but just can't seem to get it to sit correctly. From what I can work out, the end of the spring should sit at 90 degrees to the inside of the arm that the steering rods attach to. Equally the notches on the top suspension mounts should sit at 45 degrees pointing rearwards. A cherished advisor also told me that the shortest overhang of the bottom spring pan is the forward facing part. For the record - the Haynes manual is fucking useless on this count as it says the usual 'reassembly is the opposite of dismantling' ......... Last night I reattached the struts then tried to fit up the bottom arms but the alignment is miles out. Does the suspension strut and arms need to be put together as one then married to the body?

Anyway, there are a series of notches and cutouts in the various mounts that are self explanatory when putting things back together. However there is one notch on the top mounts that serves no purpose other than seemingly being an indicator.

Can anyone give any helpful hints/tips?

[RFlower]

It's a long time since I last dismantled the Sprint front suspension, but I do remember doing one side at a time, so I could check reassembly was correct by looking at the opposite side. This also avoids any possibility of mixing up parts between the two sides.

I don't have my Haynes manual here at the moment, but I think there are reasonably good diagrams in it showing the correct orientation of the springs and pans, in case you have problems with this, and have no assembled units to look at.

One problem I remember was one thrust bearing getting misaligned on reassembly, which resulted in its destruction. This was avoided subsequently by simply being very careful to keep them in the right position when fixing everything together.

Another problem was getting the four bolts for the hub bracket to line up with the holes in the hub. On disassembly I had found some of the threads stripped in the hub, due to someone forcing the bolts in when not lined up. I repaired the threads with thread repair kits, a lot cheaper and easier than finding replacements.

Since then have I always made sure to get the holes perfectly lined up, so that I could run the bolts in by hand, by using wooden blocks, levers, and a jack to get everything into position.
I think I may have also used a spring compressor to take some of the load off the strut so that the lower end could be moved around more easily.

I hope this is helpful, and not just more confusing!
_________________
Dick Flower, Nr. Carcassonne. '94 Trofeo 1.4 ie (F), '93 Imola 1.3/1.4 ie (now for breaking) (F), '91 1.7 ie (GB)(spare car), '86 Sprint 1.5 QV (F). '87 VW Syncro camper (F), '73 NSU Ro80 (F), '99 Fiat Seicento (F)

[paulhide]

Have come across a few 33s where the suspension has not been put together properly by an owner because they have used same sided replacement parts for both sides, especially spring pans and the top indented rubber ring mounts. There were also two types of spring for the 33 which started/ended in different places and therefore had different top rubber ring mounts.
Hope your suspension was correct beforehand.
_________________
Owner's Club 33 Registrar. Now from P4 & S2 1.7 QV
http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=5188

[StescoG66]

And now - thanks to the help and advice of GTCoop from the other side - the front suspension is back on too. I must remember to not be scared to be brutal . . . . .