All, I’m exploring reasonably priced adjustable height shocks. I want to lower my Dino a tad but precisely. There’s a thread in the 308 section https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/front-nose-high-stance-will-new-springs-cure-this.504766/ discussing options. The one that was the most interesting was converting the original Konis with threaded spring perches. It mentioned Carobu as doing these mods. I contacted them and they gave me their pricing with me supplying the Koni cores. For the four shocks including Eibach springs it came to $4800 w/o shipping. That’s way out of my range! I also contacted Superformance as they have on their site reasonably priced adjustable Spax shocks for the 308. They responded back that they don’t have them for the 246 Dino. I’ve now contacted Spax directly to see what they say. Some shock kits require modifying the suspension arms. I don’t want to do that. I prefer a direct no mods replacement or ultimately I would prefer modifying the original Konis with threaded spring perches. I want to ask you all what you have done and to create a discussion around this subject. Thank You!
Hi Freeman, I have exactly the type of adjustable height shock/spring assemblies you describe, on my car. Have had them on for many years now, and I like them a lot. I have them set slightly lower than stock and they make the car look better in my opinion. Particularly the front end looked too high with the stock springs and shocks. They are also much lighter than stock (very important for me, every pound counts!). Probably help the handling too, by lowering the car and reducing the unsprung weight. They required no modification to the suspension, as far as I can remember. They were purchased from Nicks Forza Ferrari in the US. Checking their web site now, I can see that they have removed the shock/spring assemblies - and all 246 items - from their lineup. But perhaps it is worth contacting them to see if they can get you a set. They were reasonably priced at the time. https://www.nicksforzaferrari.net/ Best, Lars
Lars, thanks for chiming in! I had been in contact with them. I went on their site about a week ago on Omgjon’s recommendation and saw their coil overs for 308/328 etc. It said they can do something similar for the Dino. It also showed you have to modify the front upper A-Arm. I’m still looking at all options. https://www.nicksforzaferrari.net/nff-custom-coil-overs.html
This is the way to do it: https://www.birdman308.com/service/suspension/suspension.htm If you go this way, you won't have to modify your A-arms. In my opinion the QA1 units are nicer than the Alden sourced items discussed earlier in this thread. Price is right as well.
Bilstein Japan, sells / sold adjustable perch shock / spring assy's. Ignore if available for Dino? Might be worth a look. Regards, Alberto Image Unavailable, Please Login
YES. I employed this exact setup on the 24 valve car. Current pricing for the bits are slightly higher than than were when Birdman did his, but still relatively inexpensive. I ordered the NFF units first, but the units that arrived were the wrong size. The QA-1 with Verell at Unobtanium's "Paperweights" worked perfectly. There is a wide range of adjustment on the QA-1s and every click on the adjustment is noticeable. Definitely the way to go for height and ride adjustable shocks on a Dino. They are made out of aluminum, so they are much lighter than the stock Koni units as well. No cutting a notch in the top front a-arm or any of that nonsense. If you want to go back to stock, they can be removed without a trace.
Michael, This is great info! Can you confirm what spring rates you ordered as well? Are they the same as on Birdman’s site? Image Unavailable, Please Login
I did a "cut and paste" of the Birdman setup just as you posted and was delighted with the result. The amount of adjustment is incredible. You can go from soft as an old Cadillac to go-cart stiff and everywhere in between.
Here’s Michael’s Dino that sold on BaT: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1973-ferrari-dino-246-gts-9/
How I wound up going with the "Birdman" QA-1 spec coil overs was out of pure necessity. I had a car that had been extensively modified and had been off the road for nearly four decades. The suspension needed to be completely overhauled and I wasn't keen on the stance of the car with the original Konis. I had 2 options: 1- I could rebuild the original Konis and have them machined for adjustable height perches. This would be costly and would effectively destroy the originality of the original Koni shocks. Stiffnes of the rebuilt Koni socks would be a guestimate that would hopefully work. Option 2 was the NFF (Aldan American) units. I ordered those but the units that arrived were way too short to work. NFF were great about the return and refund. Then I came across a thread on FChat about the QA-1 install that Birdman and Verell Boden did on a 308. I liked that I didn't have to cut or modify the car any further for the QA1 install, and I would still have the original rebuildable Koni cores that would be of value to someone doing a 100% original restoration of a Dino that may have lost its original Konis somewhere along the line. Obviously, I sent the original Konis with the car when I sold it.
