GAZ GOLD rehauling

[Andrea7]

Hi all.
Finally the car is here and I'm starting to work on it.
First thing I noticed is that suspensions seems to be tired...
The car roll a lot and, on compression, the tail go down so much that the rear silencer kiss tarmac...

Now the good news: under the car I found what it's seems to be a GAZ Gold kit.
So I can rehaul suspension at a competitive costs which GAZ told me already.

I'm considering if change springs also...

Have you any suggestion about setup/springs for a Speed Six Cerbera for road/fast use (for the track I prefer to use my Caterham)?

Thank for your advice and sorry for my "rusty" english....

[FarmyardPants]

GAZ are on the cheaper end of the scale but, given the other costs you have, it would definitely be worth having them rebuilt. You could always upgrade later on.

If the car is bottoming out then likely the springs are tired. An increase in spring rate is a popular choice, in the region of 400-500lb. Others have more experience of this than me though.

Finally, you will probably want to change all the bushes. Rubber is recommended for moving bush joints, poly bushes are better for fixed applications like the diff.

Also before you buy spiders, nice though they look they are very heavy - I measured one at 12.77Kg (28lb) which doesn’t do the ride any favours. Just something to bear in mind. Lots of wheel threads on here.

[Andrea7]

[Andrea7]

FarmyardPants said:

GAZ are on the cheaper end of the scale but, given the other costs you have, it would definitely be worth having them rebuilt. You could always upgrade later on.

If the car is bottoming out then likely the springs are tired. An increase in spring rate is a popular choice, in the region of 400-500lb. Others have more experience of this than me though.

Finally, you will probably want to change all the bushes. Rubber is recommended for moving bush joints, poly bushes are better for fixed applications like the diff.

Also before you buy spiders, nice though they look they are very heavy - I measured one at 12.77Kg (28lb) which doesn’t do the ride any favours. Just something to bear in mind. Lots of wheel threads on here.

Thanks for your help.
Really interested in the right spring rate for a touring/fast road use.
I have 17" wheels and I really like it

[FarmyardPants]

I only mentioned spiders because you said in your other thread that you planned to fit them, but the RL7s are a decent wheel (I think it was the 18” version that had a reputation for hairline cracks) and were an OEM fit so you keep some originality. More money saved

[CerbWill]

What year is this car? It looks like it might have missed the recall for the front uprights.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[Andrea7]

Thanks for the info.
1999.
So It could be....
I'll check as soon as I start to clean and rehaul front and the rear suspension

[Andrea7]

So, if they are good after inspection, I should fit a pair of these?

https://motaclan.com/product/plate-front-upright_t...

[CerbWill]

I've dug back through my photos and found a picture of the recalled hubs I remembered I had. I thought yours were this early design but they're not so yours are fine. Sorry to worry you unnecessarily! Fitting the plates you linked to would be a good idea though.

[Andrea7]

Don't worry...thanks anyway.
Any suggestion about spring rate for touring/fast road?

[CerbWill]

Funnily enough my car has GAZ Gold Pro on it and I'm using 500 lb/in front and 400lb/in rear springs. The front might be a bit hard but after I'd got the shocks refurbed by Gaz it rides well enough and doesn't scrape on our lovely british roads. If your car is scraping the exhaust regularly it could just be because its too low. A lot of owners seem to set their cars up that way and they look great. This stickied thread has some measurements for you to check your ride height against. I'm sure a quick search will come up with lots of other suspension threads where people have posted what works for them too.

[Byker28i]

I had my Nitrons rebuilt with new springs a couple of yesrs ago
Springs were 400 front, 350 rear.
Product code 0900-225-0400S and 0900-225-0350SS 2.25" springs

[Basil Brush]

CerbWill said:

I've dug back through my photos and found a picture of the recalled hubs I remembered I had. I thought yours were this early design but they're not so yours are fine. Sorry to worry you unnecessarily! Fitting the plates you linked to would be a good idea though.

They look like they may be early ones to me, from the gap between the steering arm and bottom of the upright.

[CerbWill]

Basil Brush said:

CerbWill said:

I've dug back through my photos and found a picture of the recalled hubs I remembered I had. I thought yours were this early design but they're not so yours are fine. Sorry to worry you unnecessarily! Fitting the plates you linked to would be a good idea though.

They look like they may be early ones to me, from the gap between the steering arm and bottom of the upright.

They are, but fortunately not from my car. Mines a 96 and was/is without the recall sticker that was added to the VIN plate of completed cars so I'd done some research a while ago into whether it was a problem I had to deal with. It turns out my car had some very early (pre-recall) machined billet hubs, and this was long enough ago for me to forget what the recalled hubs looked like.

[url=https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=6&t=513177] More uprights discusion here, including Jools explaining what happened.

Right, I'll stop derailing Andrea7's suspension thread now!

[Andrea7]

CerbWill said:

Funnily enough my car has GAZ Gold Pro on it and I'm using 500 lb/in front and 400lb/in rear springs. The front might be a bit hard but after I'd got the shocks refurbed by Gaz it rides well enough and doesn't scrape on our lovely british roads. If your car is scraping the exhaust regularly it could just be because its too low. A lot of owners seem to set their cars up that way and they look great. This stickied thread has some measurements for you to check your ride height against. I'm sure a quick search will come up with lots of other suspension threads where people have posted what works for them too.

Thanks a lot.
Many useful information.
Next week I'll check everything and let you know what I'll find...

[jules_s]

Andrea7 said:

CerbWill said:

Funnily enough my car has GAZ Gold Pro on it and I'm using 500 lb/in front and 400lb/in rear springs. The front might be a bit hard but after I'd got the shocks refurbed by Gaz it rides well enough and doesn't scrape on our lovely british roads. If your car is scraping the exhaust regularly it could just be because its too low. A lot of owners seem to set their cars up that way and they look great. This stickied thread has some measurements for you to check your ride height against. I'm sure a quick search will come up with lots of other suspension threads where people have posted what works for them too.

Thanks a lot.
Many useful information.
Next week I'll check everything and let you know what I'll find...

I've had a couple GAZ Gold sets on another vehicle. Good vfm as mentioned previously but they do need overhauling more often than higher spec units. What helps them immensely is that Warren is brilliant at after care (or was a few years back anyway)

One thing to note - and it may not apply to a Cerb - was that there was a consensus not to offset the spring weights more than 50lb front to rear.

[Andrea7]

jules_s said:

Andrea7 said:

CerbWill said:

Funnily enough my car has GAZ Gold Pro on it and I'm using 500 lb/in front and 400lb/in rear springs. The front might be a bit hard but after I'd got the shocks refurbed by Gaz it rides well enough and doesn't scrape on our lovely british roads. If your car is scraping the exhaust regularly it could just be because its too low. A lot of owners seem to set their cars up that way and they look great. This stickied thread has some measurements for you to check your ride height against. I'm sure a quick search will come up with lots of other suspension threads where people have posted what works for them too.

Thanks a lot.
Many useful information.
Next week I'll check everything and let you know what I'll find...

I've had a couple GAZ Gold sets on another vehicle. Good vfm as mentioned previously but they do need overhauling more often than higher spec units. What helps them immensely is that Warren is brilliant at after care (or was a few years back anyway)

One thing to note - and it may not apply to a Cerb - was that there was a consensus not to offset the spring weights more than 50lb front to rear.

I know that GAZ are not on top of the notches....but I really don't care: I want to use the Cerbera as a "tourer", fast road car.
So I'm ok with a compliant and predictable ride.
Don't need a super precise handling or a track car.
If a Gaz gold kit well manteined it's enough for this, I'm happy.
I found a lot of topics which speaks in fact about 500front, 450rear.
But, in truth, a lot of 500front, 400rear also....

[Byker28i]

I have mine set soft and high as I like it as a grand tourer rather than a race track car. 500/400 might be too stiff?

[Basil Brush]

CerbWill said:

Basil Brush said:

CerbWill said:

I've dug back through my photos and found a picture of the recalled hubs I remembered I had. I thought yours were this early design but they're not so yours are fine. Sorry to worry you unnecessarily! Fitting the plates you linked to would be a good idea though.

They look like they may be early ones to me, from the gap between the steering arm and bottom of the upright.

They are, but fortunately not from my car. Mines a 96 and was/is without the recall sticker that was added to the VIN plate of completed cars so I'd done some research a while ago into whether it was a problem I had to deal with. It turns out my car had some very early (pre-recall) machined billet hubs, and this was long enough ago for me to forget what the recalled hubs looked like.

[url=https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=6&t=513177] More uprights discusion here, including Jools explaining what happened.

Right, I'll stop derailing Andrea7's suspension thread now!

Sorry, I meant the OP's not yours. I didn't mean to quote your picture!

[Andrea7]

Byker28i said:

I have mine set soft and high as I like it as a grand tourer rather than a race track car. 500/400 might be too stiff?

+1