New suspension upgrade

[HealeyPassion]

Okay guys, I'm pretty excited about the latest suspension upgrade. Why? Because I think I may have the first AH with these on my car, oh and they work great. If you know differently, please set me straight. They are anti-twist shocks... or active radius control arms if you'd rather. In any case, I have Udo Putzke to thank for them.

I've added the explanation and description of them to the end of my project paper on <span style="text-decoration: underline">Suspension and chassis upgrades</span>... so if you've already read my ramblings on my other upgrades just spool to the last paragraph for the bit on the anti-twist shocks.

Suspension and chassis upgrades


Cheers,
Steve
1963 Austin Healey Works Rally replica w/efi and mods

 

[Genos2]

Latest? Look just like my Koni setup I put on my '63 BJ7 in'71. Rear mounting looks far superior to the Koni adapters. I never liked nor used them. Plus Ive got a frt spare set I'll be putting on my '67 BJ8 soon.Still have set of new Konis in self I bought in '70s. cheers genos2

 

[HealeyPassion]

Genos2, well okay then... I'm impressed, can you direct me to a website to see pics of your setup? Why didn't you like them? By the way, when I said "latest" I meant "my latest" since I just put these on. I'm sure there are guys that have adapted more sophisticated suspensions to their Healeys, i.e. independent rear suspensions, etc. I'm very happy with my setup (meaning my whole suspension package with mods), it rides nice, firm but not harsh, feels connected and sure footed.

I just reread your note and you mention "frt spare set" you'll be putting on your 67 BJ8. Are you talking about the Koni shock absorb kits from the 70's? I had a set of those back in the day. My original post had to do with the <span style="font-style: italic">radius control arms </span>on my BJ7, not my Bilstein shocks (although the anti-twist control arms are custom valved Bilsteins). I had a radius control arm kit from Cape Int'l which I have now changed to the active radius control arms... is that what you installed in '71 or was it shocks?

Cheers,
Steve

 

[mjobrien]

Now that's one nice set up! I sense some hot rod background...

 

[HealeyPassion]

Ah Michael, you saw right through me... yes, definately some hot rod background rearing it's head :crazy: Sometimes the darkside can not be denied!!

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Genos2]

HealeyPassion, the frt kits are great. I was referring to not liking the Koni rear kits(in particular, the upper mounting points) they mounted to the sheet metal below the jump seats. I had my own import repair shop back then & bought the kits from BAP/GEON,as I remember they were distibutors for Koni, Redline(Weber),& OEM pipes & gaskets. Never had any trouble with stock lever type rears. cheers Genos2

 

[HealeyPassion]

Genos2, I think I still didn't explain it very well... my first post on the topic was not about the shocks (mine are Bilstein), the post was about the radius control arms... more specifically the variable length radius control arms.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[HealeyRick]

I suspect I'll need some traction enhancement as the "Exploder" moves on to completion. I'm starting out with the cheapie mod here: https://www.britishv8.org/Articles/Easy-Traction.htm If that doesn't work, I was planning on looking at Caltracs: https://www.calvertracing.com/caltracs.php I may have to look at Udo's mod, too if things get that far.

 

[Genos2]

Now I got it!! Didn't scroll down far enough, my '53 100 has some very similar, don't think mine are adjustable,haven't looked in a few years. Genos2 P.S> my '53 had a corvette V-8 in her at first, now stock

 

[HealeyPassion]

Rick, I saw a Caltrac installation on a V8 MGB and it worked great. I thought about that for my Healey but never really got to the design stage when Udo came up with these variable length radius control rods. The Caltrac addresses the same problem, i.e. differing pivot points for the leaf springs and radius control arms that is the source of the stress in the configuration. The Caltrac arrangement is an innovative way to solve the problem but you have to have room for the pivoting mechanism, I wasn't sure if I could fit that in my Healey. But, as I said, I never really got to the stage of trying to adapt the design to my BJ7.

Cheers,
Steve