Temptation and idle hands got the better of me and I have followed Sid’s lead above and cut 20mm from the rebound springs of my ’90 Plus 8. My initial thought was to remove sufficient length from the rebound spring so that it just touched the underside of the stub axle with the car static. To this end, having removed the rebound springs I reassembled the suspension, replaced the wheels and let the car stand on all four wheels so that I could measure the length between the underside of the stub axle and the bottom lug. It was immediately obvious that without shortening the main springs the front of the car would sit too high, so Plan B was to remove just 20mm from the rebound springs thus still pre loading the main springs a little bit. I used a cutting disc in the angle grinder to slice through the spring laterally (slowly so as not to produce too much heat) to give a fairly even contact face. After reassembly the car sits about 13 or 14mm higher at the front, not really noticeable.
First impressions are of a significantly less harsh ride on uneven surfaces and possibly a smoother ride on good roads. The steering was already surprisingly light and doesn’t appear to have changed. The proof of the pudding ride wise will be next time my wife is a passenger...
I followed Spanner Juggler’s procedure for removing the rebound springs, very straight forward, thanks Colin. My only addition to the procedure would be to arm yourself with several pairs of disposable gloves and copious amounts of rag before you begin. There was 20 years’ worth of grease packed into and around the springs which transferred itself to hands, tools, floor, overalls and door knobs!
To me the result is well worth the effort.
