Miata Mailing List: April 1998, Message #8

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In a message dated 3/30/98 22:17:10 PST, chadmd72@ix.netcom.com writes:

> I just bought new Konies for my 94R. I was told by PBC to use the
>  stock R springs with the Konies perch on it's lowest setting. I looked
>  at the adjustable perches on the Konies and the rear adjustment only
>  seems bout 1/4 inch lower than stock R and the front seems to be bout
>  1/2 inch lower than stock R.

You have to remember that the spring/shock combo attaches about half way from
the chassis mounting point to the centerline of the wheel.  Therefore a 1/2"
lower spring perch will have about a 1" effect on ride height.

I was disappointed when I discovered the different perch heights on my Konis
but after mounting them and seeing how close the lower spring perch is to the
half shaft I could see why they don't mount lower.

FYI, my stock springed (sprung?) '90 with the Koni's mounted on lower perch
has about 1" less clearance at the front air dam than a '94 with either Racing
Beat or Eibach springs.  I could easily slide my clench fist under the '94 but
cannot do the same on my car...by a big margin.  I don't think I have much
more than 3-3.5" clearance under the air dam.  The rear sits higher when
unloaded but with 2 aboard and some luggage in the boot I suspect it sits very
level.  Personally, I wouldn't want it any lower...in fact I might be in the
market for some newer stock springs...old springs sag eventually.

If you're interested, Fred Puhn in his book "How to Make Your Car Handle" (HP
Books) on page 142, describes an easy inexpensive way to set the height of
your springs using a homemade bracket and  400F kitchen oven.  By changing the
height of the spring without changing the number of coils you will not change
the spring rate...which means the ride is not affected.

Ralph Alder
SoCal 90 Red A...lowrider

Ralph Alder
SoCal 90 Red A