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MK Indy ride height
RK - 25/3/12 at 09:18 PM

OK, I have reinstalled softer, shorter springs. The rear end is much much better. The front no.

I have a little over 7 cm clearance to the chassis on both sides at the front (about 3 cm clearance for the oil pan), and about 9 cm at the rear. I have 13" wheels, so lower than standard anyways. I used to have long (8" long) 600 lb springs on the front and back, except it was hard as a rock, and undriveable as a result (not handling at all).

The ProTech dampers are 11" eye to eye at the back and 10", when compressed (engine in), at the front. I have screwed the collars about 1/2 way down at the fronts, which does not leave a huge amount of travel for the front springs. I know I can adjust the rebound control to slow fully extending on droop.

So to have a bit more clearance: Bigger wheels are on order.
What else do people do? Do I just keep preloading the springs until there is no travel left, to get more height?

[Edited on 25/3/12 by RK]

Madinventions - 25/3/12 at 09:44 PM

I had a similar problem and spoke to Protech who supplied me with some extended top eyes (+20mm iirc?).
I'll see if I can find a photo...

Ed.

Madinventions - 25/3/12 at 09:46 PM

Turns out they were +25mm from my notes. Here you go...

RK - 25/3/12 at 11:09 PM

Excellent! Thank you very much for that. I will get in touch with the ProTech people. They are always helpful.

dhutch - 26/3/12 at 09:33 AM

7cm? Thats nearly thre inches, fair too much.....

Seriously thats about all ive got on the westfield! But assuming your not about to start hitting the droop-stops I see no harm in adjusting the spring seats a little to compensate for a slightly shorter spring.



Daniel

snapper - 26/3/12 at 11:23 AM

Read on

quote:

about 3 cm clearance for the oil pan


That's only 1 1/5th inch

RK - 26/3/12 at 12:32 PM

Yes it is. Hence the concern.

procomp - 26/3/12 at 12:58 PM

Hi

As standard Mk supply 13" open length dampers which should be OK for use with both 13" and 15" wheels/tyres.

However what you want to do to get the best setup is work backwards. Start by chocking the chassis with wood or packers Etc to the desired ride height you require under the chassis. Then measure the distance between the damper mounting point's. All you need to do then is ADD the extra length required to give the correct amount of rebound travel remembering to take into account the fact that the front dampers are on a high angle so it is not a case of 1" chassis movement = 1" on damper. it will be more like 1" of chassis movement in height will only require 1/4" of extra length as such.

Cheers Matt

MkIndy7 - 26/3/12 at 01:37 PM

quote:
Originally posted by procomp
Hi

As standard Mk supply 13" open length dampers which should be OK for use with both 13" and 15" wheels/tyres.

However what you want to do to get the best setup is work backwards. Start by chocking the chassis with wood or packers Etc to the desired ride height you require under the chassis. Then measure the distance between the damper mounting point's. All you need to do then is ADD the extra length required to give the correct amount of rebound travel remembering to take into account the fact that the front dampers are on a high angle so it is not a case of 1" chassis movement = 1" on damper. it will be more like 1" of chassis movement in height will only require 1/4" of extra length as such.

Cheers Matt


Excellent info and a well explained method of obtaining the measurements (I presume this is the ( "open length" )..

But could you explain how you would know or measure "the correct amount of rebound travel"
Do you just arc the wheel up as high as it can go and then re-measure? (giving the closed length?)

Cheers, Ian

[Edited on 26/3/12 by MkIndy7]

dhutch - 26/3/12 at 02:48 PM

quote:
Originally posted by snapper
Read on

That's only 1 1/5th inch

Yeah, which is a bit tight. But at the same time i did the last three years with 3inchs to the chassis and 2 to the sump before fitting a shortened sump at the end of this winter.

Daniel

RK - 26/3/12 at 04:03 PM

I'm afraid I will run out of useable coil length if I crank on any more collar. FIY, ProTech charges 12 pounds each extension. I will fiddle around the Matt (Procomp) method prior to springing for any more equipment (he said). I am 100% sure that my shocks are not 13" free length, eye to eye.

I'm very interested to know different people's setups and experiences. Keep them coming, please!

Not Anumber - 15/5/12 at 09:27 AM

Is there a basic setup / adjustment guide anywhere for Protech shocks on an Indy ?
The front shocks were replaced and setup by HandyAndy when he rebuilt the front end recently but I'd like to check and adjust the rears as theyve been on the car since it was built 8 years ago. Ive orderd a C spanner and been reading various threads but no idea how to adjust or whether the adjustment is for rebound rate, height or both ?
The car is a fairly standard build throughout (Pinto, type 9 etc) so I suspect the shocks will be the bog standard length Protechs supplied by MK at the time.