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early 33 seeker · Guest

Good evening,
i have been told that the 33 front suspension was revised in 87, different beams i think. what are the major differences between the series one and two suspension, and are any of the parts interchangeable?
I ask because i am considering buying an early 33 but fear i could struggle to find spares for it. would i be able to upgrade with components from later cars?
Any help or advice would be gratefully recieved...

Eddie W · Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 11:15 am Post subject:

Hi
The later suspension has a different front crossmember with lower front suspension pickup points.This helps reduce dive on braking and lift on acceleration. In conjunction with different lower arms (both) it also increases castor for better straight line and turn in on corners. This suspension also requires shorter driveshafts to restore CV plunge as it also reduces the track width slightly.
Regards Eddie
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early33seeker · Guest

so are the struts the same for both setups, or would fitting the later cross member and lower arms reduce the ride height? would i also need the anti-roll bar from the later car?
and how much is the track narrowed by? apart from wheel spacers is there any way of maintaining the original width?

Eddie W · Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2003 8:57 pm Post subject:

Hi
I used the earlier struts when converting my car. The swaybar came with the xmember so I haven't compared with the earlier one but it looks to be the same. The only way to restore the track width would be with special lower arms , spacers or wheels with a lower offset.
Regards Eddie
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early33seeker · Guest

ok so is it the cross member that determines track width... perhaps different widths could be achieved by mixing and matching components... wot would happen if i fitted the cross member from an s3 16v... would it improve handling further? Aaaaargh the pain of inquiry..

Eddie W · Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2003 1:34 am Post subject:

No it's the extra castor . The later arms pull the bottom of the strut forward and in slightly. You could use the earlier arms but you would lose the advantage of the castor increase which not only helps tracking at speed but also sharpens turn in on corners. Extra castor also has the effect of increasing negative camber on lock(ie when cornering hard) without the drawback of too much negative in a straight line with it's consequent tyre wear on the insides. The latter is probably the factory's reason for the reduced track, to reduce the static camber and tyre wear
Regards Eddie
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