Alfa Romeo Forums banner

WTB - trunk spring from an S

1K views 17 replies 6 participants last post by  Del 
#1 ·
Hey all, I could really use some trunk springs from an S with a spoiler. I'm going work with Del, finally, to get my trunk fixed up. He did a spring conversion that is pretty slick. Maybe sticking with struts would "keep it original" but heck...

So if you got a line on some spring I would appreciate it.

Kevin
 
#4 ·
Springs and hinges go together.

I replaced struts and hinges on my S with springs and hinges from an L.

Installed L deck lid, too.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Yup all it takes is springs and lower arms, either from B/L if no spoiler, or S if have spoiler. No need to change the entire arms, just the lower part which attaches to the lid, and then make a small clip for attaching the rear of the spring as like the S. I made these two rear clips from angle aluminum and mounted them with flat head bolts to the trunk opening side troughs. Sealed with silicone goop.
 
#7 · (Edited)
You can use springs from the B/L in the meantime til you get S springs. They will not be strong enough, but will work some, using a stick to hold the lid up. That way you will be set to install the S springs when you finally get some. You can install helper springs from the hardware store to simulate the S spring strength. Just clip on those springs to the coils of the B/L springs.

I haven't looked up to see if new S springs are available somewhere, part numbers: 60565369, 60565370,

or what they would cost. The old eper say maybe $15 ea? Both diFatta and Jason get shipments from Europe, so maybe they might be able to order them. diFatta has gotten parts for me from Europe.

Remember, you also need those lower lid arms w/spring attachment clips which just bolt to the bottom of the upper hinged arms you do have. Those you can get from any B/L/S lid which had springs.
 
#13 ·
Not sure what this is all about. I've had several 24v cars ( Half a percent of USA import actually!) and have no issues with trunk struts /etc. 100% stock.

Rear speakers on 24v car come out from the top, 2 minutes tops.
 
#14 · (Edited)
"I've had several 24v cars ( Half a percent of USA import actually!) and have no issues with trunk struts /etc"

But some have, including Steve, with the tops of the struts bowing outward due to overloading/damage, due to perhaps being too forceful opening/closing the lid, of the weak hinge attachment in the roof rear side pillars. The clearance is very very tight at the top of the strut with the inside of the fender, and eventually the plastic top of the strut can migrate outward when the lid is closed with some force, and wear/dent the inside of the fender. It can wear a hole in the fender itself. The design as to how the rod attaches to the hinge arm is a bad location, resulting in significant overload deflections of the arm attachment in the thin sheet metal above.

My LS has a little bulge in the right rear fender at that location where the strut was hitting. As a temporary fix on our trip to see you, I used a long nylon load tie down strap looped/tightened around the two lid hinges, pulling them together a little to prevent rod contact with the inside of the fender.

Changing the rod setup back to springs as with the earlier B/L/S allowed me to remove those struts and avoid further damage.

PM sent to jckevin.
 
#15 ·
Could one of you please post pictures of the hinges so I can work out how my 24v ones could be modified to accept springs. Do the 24v cars still have a mounting point in the trunk to attach the other end of the spring?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#17 · (Edited)
For the 24V car, you do need arms from the B/L/S which attach to the trunk lid. At least, that's what I did (got the lid and arms from Richard2, which is how I first met him. You don't need the hinged upper arms which attach to the inside of the car above. No need to remove those. Just add the lower arms which attach to the lid itself and bolt to the bottom of the upper hinged arms. Piece of cake.

Then you also have to make two aluminum angle clips, 1 in x 1 in x 4 in long with maybe 4 spring tension adjustment holes, mounted 16 inches aft of the lower outboard corner of the rear window glass, which duplicate the rear spring retainers the B/L/S have at the rear of the trunk opening under the side rain troughs. Those clips just bolt under the rain troughs and sealed with silicone. I'll try to take pictures of what I did.

Then, you just hook in the springs (you do have to remove the struts, lol). I was able to pull them enough to hook them, but some remove the tail light to pull with something else through the hole.

It is interesting that the Fiat eper shows a separate piece which just bolts onto the bottom of any of the lid arms, B/L/S/LS/Q, but I found that the arms I got off an S didn't have that option, just arms with an integral fitting. And yet, the arms on the lid of my 91S do have those little pieces as shown in the eper, bolting up to the arms on my car's lid.

So, I guess use whatever you can find.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top