southwind25 Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 The ride height of our se7en has seemed a little high...Ok so i took off the front AVO shock to measure it eye-to-eye and i got a dimension of 328mm, The printable manual says 294. I am guessing this is supposed to be the unladen free length. We can see that the collar will set the ride height but it is already "unscrewed" as far as it will go and still have full thread engagement on the shock. So at this point is spring length the limiting factor at lowering the car so it doesnt look like we are doing a baja run? The suspension simply looks way too high. As far as we know these are all stock parts -springs-shocks but the assembled parts wont give the stock dimension we are looking at in the manual. what am i missing here?http://usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/817045054_shock2.jpghttp://usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1643005117_shock1.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davemk1 Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 Looks to me like someone put the wrong length springs in. My Birkin has 8" front springs. Could yours be 10"? Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBH Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 Yep...looks like the springs are the wrong size. Best way to lower the car (more than a fraction of an inch) is by changing to shorter springs. Then use your spring perch to fine tune ride height and cornerbalance the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbanker Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 Robert, Are your lower 'A' arms parallel with the ground or do they angle up to the pick up points on your frame? Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southwind25 Posted April 4, 2008 Author Share Posted April 4, 2008 8" oh cripes. .I measured mine at about 9 1/4" between the top & bottom shock collars with the car on jacks. it's probably a bit longer free length. The bottom arm angles UP to the body at about 5 degrees. sooo,,uhhh....it came with the wrong springs?...oh great.:banghead: what rate-length should i have on this thing wth the 1600 x-flow in it?. Who is a good source for the correct springs? the rears seems to be in spec with the manual from what i see for collar height. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davemk1 Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 I don't know about how your engine weight compares to the Zetec I've got but I can tell you I've settled on 350# in the front and 175# in the rear and it's wonderfully balanced and not harsh. Put some 8" springs on it and you'll be fine. If they are over 9" installed they must be 10" free length. dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southwind25 Posted April 4, 2008 Author Share Posted April 4, 2008 Dave, who did you use for a supplier? what model # springs? (anyone is free to answer this query) There seems to be ALLOT of cornfusion on the birkin yahoo group over all this. people bending A arms with the wrong spring-shock combo?...but it seems very few correct answers mostly wrong ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davemk1 Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 I got my springs from Woody at MSI. He should be able to give you good advice concerning the spring rate and A arm bending. As I recall (I'm not the expert) the bent arms were a result of the spring/shock bottoming out resulting in a big spike load to the A arms. St the ride height correctly (294 mm) and you should be fine. dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eVox Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 either get some shorter springs or some at a lower spring rate. Or add cinder blocks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soareyes Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Robert, I partially answered on the Birkin list before I saw this thread, but to recap: 1. Give Woody a call. 2. The 294 mm measurement eye-to-eye is with the shocks on the car and driver's weight in the car. It sounds like your springs are too long, so this may not be possible. This sets the correct front ride height, then adjust the rears to get the car level. 3. My Zetec Birkin has 300# springs front, 175# rear, by Woody's advice (I got them from him). 4 Give Woody a call! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southwind25 Posted April 4, 2008 Author Share Posted April 4, 2008 Does someone have a phone # for Woody? We will call him. thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soareyes Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 MSI Motorsports (Woody Harris) 707-448-3322 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 Perhaps try Dick Brink at Texas Motor Works? He's listed at the links section of this Forum under "dealers & distributors". He sells Birkins and seems knowledgeable regarding all aspects of the make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanG Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 Dick would be a good contact. He has a wealth of knowledge about Caterham (being former dealer) and Lotus as wel as Birkin. Also, he has been racing and doing track days with on Se7en for quite some time. He was at 777 and has been at many LOG's. I've always had good dealings with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southwind25 Posted April 8, 2008 Author Share Posted April 8, 2008 how difficult is it to get ahold of Woody? i have placed several unanswered calls (voicemails) and theres not an e-mail i can find. Any suggestions? i am not close in ohio. I looked into the Eibach springs website but there seems to be several options if i go that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
11Budlite Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Robert, I sent you a PM. On my Birkin, the front springs were 300lb, 8" free length, with I think a 1-7/8" ID. In fact on the springs themselves they were ID'd as such (less the ID dimension). Bruce :7drive: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southwind25 Posted April 8, 2008 Author Share Posted April 8, 2008 Cool thank you SO much for the info! ((hey kudo's to this site, i seem to get faster-more info from the members here than the same from other places thanks guys!!)) I found both a set of eibach and afco springs this size-length-rate, but until i am more knowlegeable it's awesome getting confirmations that i am looking at the right stuff. Thank you!:thumbs: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjslutz Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 Robert, try this site: http://www.roadrace-autox.com/bbs/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=421&posts=156&start=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southwind25 Posted April 20, 2008 Author Share Posted April 20, 2008 As a follow up, we got our 8" springs on (after a hassle getting the 10" off!) surprisingly...maybe it's our imagination but the car just seems to have a tad bit better ride taking the abrupt bumps. we set the shocks at 300 MM not the 294 just for good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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