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Bugeye height adjustments?

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ichthos

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I haven't taken measurements, but the left rear in my Bugeye seems to be slightly low. I completely restored the front suspension but left the rear springs alone. Is it a matter of putting in new rear springs or is there some adjustment that can be made to level out the rear? Your thoughts/suggestions would greatly be appreciated.
Kevin
 
Not quite sure why you would ignore your rear suspension on a 50 year old car? Well in any case a disassembly cleaning and full inspection of your components will reveal wear and tare after 50 years of use. I would inspect the spring clamps after cleaning and comparing the arches to each other. And last you will find the leaf spring bushing will be deteriorated since they have rubber in them... Replace bushings and if you still have an issue with the car still leaning in the rear you will have to shim the spring to compensate.
 
Swap side to side and see if that helps.
 
I had the same issue - so now I'm on a diet.
 
I know it may have been foolish in retrospect, but I did a visual, everything looked fine, so I thought I might just luck out. Besides, the front suspension was frozen in place, so I had originally thought that that was the probable cause for the slight lean (the left rear is 3/8" lower than the right) In addition, it didn't look like any of the parts I would need to make any adjustments were available from Moss. I did replace the bushings in the radius arms, put in new rebound buffers, put in new rebound straps, and had the shocks rebuilt by Apple. Moss does offer a new heavy duty spring with new bushes, but I am not sure I want to go that route since the catalog says it will raise the ride height. So, is there a source for any parts I would need? What would I need to make any adjustments? Should I just swap springs and see what happens? If I take the springs out, would it be obvious that one is curved more than the other? Now that I know it is a problem, what do I need to do to do this right? Sorry for all the questions, but I have never done this before.
Kevin
 
Remove springs compare the height on each spring. If one is shorter locate one from a donor car, preferably RH side, spring rates should be the same or close then. Sprites primarily carry only one passenger, IE driver so that’s why you would choose the RH side less ware and tare. Also check spring box for rust and possibly damage, very important for proper spring positioning. Or you could buy racing springs from Winner’s Circle which would lower the car some provied better handling due to a softer spring rate. Winner’s Circle use to offer offset springs which I was going to use on my car, but they do not supply any more so decided to go with coilovers.
 
Thanks Blue Max.I do have a second Bugeye, so I do have other springs to choose from. Could you give me some quick tips on removing the rear springs? I am at work on break, so I don't know if my manual tells how to do this. I will check out the companies you suggested and the internet to see who carries what in the way of rear springs and parts. How far does the winner circle springs lower the car? Would I then have to lower the front? Is this an easy thing to do? I recently rebuilt the front end and added an antisway bar.
Kevin
 
email Colin Dodds in Australia. He will guide you/give you tips on how to re-adjust the heavy duty 1/4 elliptical springs. His email address is colin@spriteparts.com.au

I have installed heavy duty springs according to his instructions and the ride height is identical to standard springs. Basically, it involves taking the 2nd and 4th longest leafs and fitting them to the bottom of the spring pack. Colin can explain the physics of this fix.

dave in University city, MO
61 AH BE
04 Mini Cooper S
05 Vespa ET3
09 Triumph Bonne SE
 
That’s good that you have a donor car. Jack the car up letting the rear springs relax. If you’re only going to change the one spring all you will need to do is remove the ubolt and spring plate. Support the diff housing with a jack stands and remove the bottom bolt on the diff housing where the spring is attach. Remove the spring bolt and take a large screw drive or pry bar to pry the spring away from the diff housing. Inspect the replacement spring next to the one your taking out, it should have more bow to it. Install your new bushing, clean all your parts and spring box and reinstall. You may have to disconnect the strap to bring the diff down to the spring for the reinstall. Pry the spring back into the housing and install the bolt loosely. Bring everything back up and have every thing in place then tighten everything well. That should do it!
 
Leaning left - bachelor lean - is a persistent issue with these cars so don't sweat it too much
 
By the way, JP. This is more than mechanics. You know when you say something and you immediately wish you could pull the words back? My wife was taking the Bugeye out for the first drive and I was standing behind the car. As I was looking at the exhaust from the rear of the car, I quickly commented how the driver side sags considerably with her in the car. She is a good looking woman, but believe me, I need to make this ride perfect now. And that's all I have to say about that.
Kevin
 
Try this, it's a fairly effective solution.
Solution

It's worked for me
 
Whoo, open mouth insert foot.
 
Nice work, Kevin. :devilgrin:
 
Hey Kevin,
I lowered mine with wedges I had made. You could place a different angled wedge in each side to adjust the lean.
 

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markberry said:
Hey Kevin,
I lowered mine with wedges I had made. You could place a different angled wedge in each side to adjust the lean.
Click to expand...

Mark,

How did you make the taper on the wedges? Belt sander or mill?

What are the dimensions?

Thanks
 
Look like nice work don't they.
 
Hi gerard,
I had 4crawleroffroad.com in San Jose make them for me. they are four inches long, two inches wide, 1/32 or so thick at the thin end and 3/8 thick at the thick end. the angle works out to be 4.5 degrees. I marked the spring locating pin holes with the wedges in place where I wanted them then removed them and drilled them on a drill press.
The formula you would use for figuring the amount of lowering on a bugeye is: The length of the spring(from the forward mounting holes in my case)to the attachment point on the axle housing divided by the length of the wedge(four inches in my case)
X the thickness of the wedge at the thick end + the thickness of the wedge at the thin end.
Or: Total drop = (spring length) X (T2-T1) / (Wedge length) + T1.
I used 16.5 inches for the spring length then played with the above formula to get the amount of drop I wanted. I then sent my dimentions to 4crawleroffroad for manufacturing.
Let me know if this helps. I can try to find the reference for the lowering formula if anyone needs more clarification.
Mark
P.S. thanks Jack!
 
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