Replacing springs and shocks: DIY or too hard?

Hans I have recently done all of this and more on my GT4 including removing and refitting the steering rack after it was rebuilt,a replace all the A arm bushes front and rear,new sway bar bushes front and back,new uprated rear sway bar,new tie rod ends and upper ball joints,new front shocks,recoed rear shocks with new shock bushes.
Ok removing the front shocks and springs isn't that hard of a job.The spring compressors I found weren't very useful(maybe the pair I had were a cheap pair)The one thing you will definately need is a 9 ton press or bigger.You can bring the shocks and the bushes to a machine shop and let them press them in for you.They are a real pain to get out and back in again.Before you replace the springs have them load tested.Mine were in spec.I dont know if they had been replaced in the past though.The shocks are almost as cheap to buy new than have them recoed.I only recoed the rears because apparently they are really hard to find and are discontinued.The fronts are available as they are also the same as the GTB but the rears are slightly longer or shorter,I cant remember.Have the A-arm bushes been done as yet?This is very important to do especially if they are the stock 30+yr old bushes.If you have to do the bushes as well then I reccomend you buy a bearing press.By the time you bring all the parts to be pressed in at a machine shop it would be cheaper to have bought one.I modified my cheap spring compressors so that I could use them with the bearing press to removed the springs from the shocks.If you do a search there are some write ups.Lastly you must do a 4 wheel alignment when you have finished

 

Hans if you dont alreay have the shock bushes here is where you can get them from.You need 8 of them.I have personally dealt with this seller before with good results
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FERRARI-308-328-KONI-shock-absorber-bushing-ref-100809_W0QQitemZ200114360840QQihZ010QQcategoryZ34200QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

As repair jobs go it's not that difficult but you might need a few new tools.

Disassembly of the spring/shock assembly will require the use of a "spring-compression-thingy-tool". This is the scary part.

Never underestimate the power of a compressed spring. If you get it wrong, it can be bad.

 

Hans,

Are you going to keep here original?
I'm asking cause if you don't mind then, get new shock/spring combo.

You still have to compress the springs to shocks and push in new bushings but you will also get a little more diameter room.

I don't know if the setup is somewhat the same on your Fcar then mine but i just removed mine to put in new QA-1s.

I'll write about it in my "550 wheel upgrade thread"

Good luck.

Chris

 

QA-1 and other aftermarket shocks are also ADJUSTABLE... both for right HEIGHT and rebound/compression. I went with Varishocks (design by Hal Lees, the guy who used to own QA-1) because I liked the idea of a more robust shock head, similar to the Koni setup, but there's certainly nothing wrong with QA-1s.

See http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39712

 

The pics in the early part of the thread were lost in an FChat server crash, but they're all reposted later in the thread with lots of new pics added.

Love the setup... VERY glad I made the changes.