Suspension tuning advice

[WildHog75]

Hello everybody,
I have quite complex question about moding Puma suspension. I'd like to strat from that I'm building FRP replica, we have almost done all the body pannels for now but the car needs some mechanical work before finishing the bodykit. I'm going to extend car track with hubcentric spacers for now. They're quite big (45mm front/55mm rear) but I had a test drive on them with 17inch wheels and cars drives actually quite good. Anyway I'd like to make suspension feel more stiffer but not really want to make it lower - I'm going for the rally vibes on my replica So I don't really know what to do now as it's my first project and I'm not a specialist mechanic I have a few options I'm considering after reading through forums but maybe some of you may correct me if I'm wrong:
1. To fit the car with Monroe dampers/shock absorbers + Monroe/Eibach springs dedicated to EC_ Puma and add a full set of OMP strut braces (midium option price wise)
2. Full set of adjustable coilovers from either TA-Technix (the most budget frendly option but unfortunetly not recommended by my mechanic) or AP (midium/high option price wise) - but still I don't know is this stuff lowering the car from the start or you can achive standard Puma clearance with them?
3. Go for a set of polyurethane bushes from powerflux (that are extremly expensive in my country) and just refresh/repair original suspension or full set of adjustable coilovers (probably the last option will kill my whole budget for this car but from what I read is the best)
4. Refreshing/repairing original suspension plus a set of OMP strut braces (cheapest option)

So there are 4 options I consider. My budget is a bit tight but I also don't want cheap out on stuff so maybe some of you guys can tell me some advice I will be very thankful

Also ataching some pictures of my project state for today, looks rough for now but we hope to have it done body and mechanics wise by the end of the summer

 

[grogee]

I got some Monroe dampers but they were really disappointing, cheap and poorly made. In the end I bit the bullet and put Bilsteins on the front, at least the equal to stock suspension if not better.

I have a full set of OMP braces on the car but I couldn't really describe the difference - they've been on for 2-3 years and I can't remember what the standard car was like before I fitted them!

I also did not want to lower the ride height so mine remains standard.

The bit that worries me about your current setup is the wide wheel spacers - they will increase load on the wheel bearings and make the steering heavier.

What I don't know is if FRP used wider bottom suspension arms to give the wider track, or whether the wheels were spaced out like yours... Hopefully someone else knows.

 

[caprixpack]

Mine had some Monroe shocks on when I bought it, awful things.

 

[WildHog75]

I got some Monroe dampers but they were really disappointing, cheap and poorly made. In the end I bit the bullet and put Bilsteins on the front, at least the equal to stock suspension if not better.

I have a full set of OMP braces on the car but I couldn't really describe the difference - they've been on for 2-3 years and I can't remember what the standard car was like before I fitted them!

I also did not want to lower the ride height so mine remains standard.

The bit that worries me about your current setup is the wide wheel spacers - they will increase load on the wheel bearings and make the steering heavier.

What I don't know is if FRP used wider bottom suspension arms to give the wider track, or whether the wheels were spaced out like yours... Hopefully someone else knows.

Yep, FRP uses modified suspension. But unfortunetly it's hard to come by and after test drive with my current set up I really can't tell much difference, car is still pointy and doesn't feel this much heavier on the sterring wheel so it will go for now, just need to get used to wider track. Thank you for your advice What springs do you use on yours? Also Bilstein springs or something else?

 

[WildHog75]

Mine had some Monroe shocks on when I bought it, awful things.

@caprixpack What do you use right now on your car? If I remember good from some of your posts AP setup? How does it feel in terms of daily use and how stiff it is? Something you can get used to everyday or is just better for the track?

 

[caprixpack]

@caprixpack What do you use right now on your car? If I remember good from some of your posts AP setup? How does it feel in terms of daily use and how stiff it is? Something you can get used to everyday or is just better for the track?

Yeah I'm running ap coilovers. It's set at a 30mm drop all round, too many speed bumps around these days and with the omp lower brace any lower would make it impractical. Its firm but in a good way, perfectly acceptable for daily use.

 

[WildHog75]

Yeah I'm running ap coilovers. It's set at a 30mm drop all round, too many speed bumps around these days and with the omp lower brace any lower would make it impractical. Its firm but in a good way, perfectly acceptable for daily use.View attachment 10652

Great info So I might go for AP stuff, probably won't go ultra low with it not to run into any clearance issiues up front Your Puma looks great, can't wait to get main painted yellow too

 

[caprixpack]

Great info So I might go for AP stuff, probably won't go ultra low with it not to run into any clearance issiues up front Your Puma looks great, can't wait to get main painted yellow too

Thanks, it needs a good session with a clay bar and good polishing though as we have a couple of trees in the garden which drop sap on the cars.

 

[WildHog75]

Thanks, it needs a good session with a clay bar and good polishing though as we have a couple of trees in the garden which drop sap on the cars.

Well my Puma had a bad experience with trees She had a major accident including one in 2005... That's the main reason I went for a full rebuild, finishing what my grandpa started and unfortunetly didn't have chance to finish. He loved this car, put it back together in 2013, rode her for a while and she broke... Actually she haven't driven much, original engine was like 100k km on it. That's one of the reasons she had such a nice bodywork with almost no rust spots When I've picked her up she was covered in all kinds of leaves and mold... Almost feeling like I've killed whole ecosystem taking her for a first carwash in years And she needed repaint anyway... So I'm happy to hear yours need just some small touches to look perfectly

 

[grogee]

Yep, FRP uses modified suspension. But unfortunetly it's hard to come by and after test drive with my current set up I really can't tell much difference, car is still pointy and doesn't feel this much heavier on the sterring wheel so it will go for now, just need to get used to wider track. Thank you for your advice What springs do you use on yours? Also Bilstein springs or something else?

Just standard springs. If it's good enough for the Ford engineers it's good enough for me...

 

[WildHog75]

Just standard springs. If it's good enough for the Ford engineers it's good enough for me...

@grogee Thank you for your advice I will consider it

 

[Pumaracer]

Use Gaz Golds, coil-overs. Great suspension.

 

[WildHog75]

Thank you @Pumaracer. Good advice but unfortunetly out of my price range for now :/ And also I'm based in Poland so getting it from UK is like 1,1k pounds plus shipping plus 43% tax (20% Toll + 23% VAT), so it just gets dumb expensive - maight hit 2k pounds price on this set. Well I think I'll stick with AP set for now. They sound like good quality for the price.

 

[Norbert]

If only i have read this post about Monroes... bought a set for the back from Autodoc... and my god first after installing it correctly per the manual i got shock strut pop out in the boot 10 cm out if not longer... then i saw that there is no recess edge to rest the strut bush against shock... so had to do the oposite.

suspend the shock with mount and tighten it install in car realease the scew and then put the top mounting plate and torque it after. (Clip in this case was under the actual rubber mount so that strut wouldt pop out up again...

and now after doing that shocks feel hideous. there is absolutely allmost no difference damping over old once. think old shocks werent even bad to begin with... was the worn out top bush that was slamming against the shock strut because some twats didnt installed a clip at all....

anyway saving up for AP at least now...