Yesterday, the car failed its MOT (rightly so) on the rear tie bar bushes which had started to disintergrate along with the metal washers. I had no idea as the car drove fine and didn't many any noises!

Anyway, bits on order from Rimmers, and whilst the car was jacked up I decided it was a good time to change the rear springs and dampers. Both of which I'd found new on Ebay.

Some may recall my confusion about what springs to fit, as the rear of my vitesse has normal springs and dampers fitted - no nivomats. It must have been conerted at some point, but I couldn't determine what springs were fitted. Rimmer's indicates that the only non-nivomat springs used were standard ride height. All vitesses being 30mm lower than standard and on nivomats.

However, on removing the rear spring this is what I found:



The spring from the car is on the left and the new standard height spring is on the right. Same wire thickness, same number of coils but the spring from my car is definitely around ~30mm shorter.

I'm now completely stumped as to what this springs are. I'd like some more to replace them and keep the ride height vitesse spec!

Ok, time to replace the dampers, anyone see a problem?





Please correct me if I'm wrong here, but I believe the rear shock fitment for all SD1's was the same? If so, these are clearly not SD1 dampers!

One other thing I noticed is that the rubber spring/cup insert doesn't fit - it's too large in diameter and needs to be folded to fit:



Is this normal?

I did wonder if it was a consequence of the springs having been changed. I tried it in a nivomat spring and although the I.D. of the spring was a little larger, the rubber still would not fit.

Your springs might of "sagged" over time? However I have non-nivomat springs for vitesse rideheight also so there MUST BE non-nivomat vitesse springs available (or has been).

The dampers attachments look exactly like my KONI attachment points look like. Your only missing the washers, rubbers and nuts to hold the shocks.





My bump-stop cups didnt have any rubbers for the spring parts.

Lehto, that is interesting about your koni fittings. I have a new set of rubber bushes for the rear shocks, but the hole through the middle is obviously too big for the the new shocks.

I suppose they could be made to fit using new nuts with washers and then some kind of sleeve in the bush to reduce the diameter. However I can't see why anyone would make a standard replacement shock that needed adapting to fit... It makes me wonder if these shocks are for a completely different car. Or perhaps a Mk1 SD1 if the fitment was different for some reason.

I guess I will have to continue looking for some vitesse height springs, although I'm not hopeful as your previous post is the first mention I've ever heard of them...

Nothing is ever simple....

Aren't Vitesse height springs 30mm lower than standard? If so aren't they available from Rimmers?
I've got some new(almost!) springs & dampers for the rear, with decent rubbers too, will let you know how I get on with fitting them....

the original spring from your car could be compressed to make it shorter? it as a common thing to do over here in nz. just be thankful its not cut

btw, what on earth do you guys do to your cars over there? cover the underside of them with metal eating children? that shock and spring are in shocking condition! Rust city.

Mine are still all nice and (dirty) black/blue, and look original as.

We have a strange problem here where water falls from the sky (a dull grey looking mist above us),I'm sure you would find it most disconserting. The major downside to this is it causes rust on all metal surfaces .


Never mind though,its a good thing I got two garages these days

Not only the wet stuff, but whenever the temperature drops near freezing, local authorities spread SALT over the roads to lower the freezing point of water. Resulting in a nice saltwater solution being sprayed all over the bodywork and underside of our cars.

Oh its not great mate,I understand the sky is a bright blue with a giant yellow ball that heats everything up down there?....I seem to remember that sort of thing sometime here in the seventies (the worst part is I was born in the seventies )...Ah well roll on global warming.

Mmmmm, the Seventies......

I dropped my son off at youth group the other night and they were having a 70's theme. I heard them playing "Play that Funky Music", and they were also playing some video clips of the brady bunch and the partridge family

So did you get the spring issue sorted by the way? I had a go at changing the springs on my Vitesse yesterday, only to find that the new springs are standard ride height & way too long for the Vitesse!
So if anybody has and wants to swap some nice Vitesse rear springs(non nivomat) for a pair of almost brand new standard height rear springs, let me know!