Anything and everything Vitesse.

Suspension and steering

I have a 1968 MKI Vitesse convertible,
I also have a new rear anti-roll bar/camber compensator of the type originally made by Triumphtune (I think) which I will be fitting during a full suspension/chassis rebuild. It's the flat bar type centre mounted to a bracket bolted to the diff. with each end rubber mounted to the bottom of the vertical links.

Question 1 - Has anyone else fitted one of these to a MKI Vitesse? Does it work well? or cause problems?

Also I have a 5/8" anti-roll bar from a swing spring GT6 MKIII which I would like to fit in place of the standard 3/4" bar.

Question 2 - Has anyone any experience of this larger bar fitted to a MKI Vitesse? Does it improve the handling? or make it too stiff?

To my way of thinking the combination of larger front bar and the new rear bar should improve the overall handling and safety of the car, with the change at each end balancing each other.

Question 3 - Anyone agree with me? Or am I talking complete rubbish!!

Any and all comments welcome before I make a mistake.
Many thanks - Ricky.

"Also I have a 5/8" anti-roll bar from a swing spring GT6 MKIII which I would like to fit in place of the standard 3/4" bar."

Oops, sorry got the size's round the wrong way, I want to fit a larger front bar to standard,
5/8" std up to 3/4" from the GT6,
I think the size's are right, open to corrections.
Thanks again, Ricky.

Ricky

What you've described is a camber compensator.

If you don't want to spend any money, I would do it - I always thought the Mk1 rear suspension issue had been overstated until I had a brush with it on a roundabout in my GT6. But it will reduce your ground clearance.

Otherwise I would go with a swing spring conversion as advertised by Canley Classics particularly as, by the sounds of it, you are going to have the body off the chassis

I have the Camber Compensator fitted and it works well.

The larger front anti-roll bar is a good mod but it will make the front stiffer. It is personal choice.

The Swing Spring is worth consideration. I choose the chamber compensator because it did not reduce the load carying capacity. Again personal choice.

Regards

Dave

Mucho thanks to both Andrew and David,
After some thought and money counting I've decided to fit both the camber compensator and the larger front anti-roll bar simply because I have them already.
Has anyone actually driven a car with both mods fitted?

Thanks - Ricky

There is a story! Having run my Herald 13/60 Estate for many years with Mk1 Vit running gear with a tweaked 1500 engine for power I was encourged to fit the whole of the 2 Litre set-up. Well this I did, including the correct front springs and damper settings. What a surperb car it made, a bit like a smaller version of the big old Volvo estated with the 2.5L V6 engine. Very smooth and quiet. The only problem was the road holding at the back so on went the camber compensator, I remember these in the 1960,s when I used to tune Heralds/Vitesse or as in those days Hot them Up! As in the past it work like a dream and no limitation on the weight capacity, which was a problem with some of the other rear mods. An important point if you use the car to carry more than two people and maybe some weight in the back or even tow.

Well at that stage the front then look like it could also be improved, I obtained a Triumph Tune anti-roll bar but have not got round to fitting it get as other things took up the time. But I would say form my past experience the larger front anti-roll bar should help.

The main reason I did not fit the larger anti-roll bar was lack of time. Because I was after more MPG I re-fitted the 1500 set-up and I also wanted to trying one or two things out on that type of engine.

Points I would raise about fitted this kit is that it will make the ride hard and though road holding will be improved you will have to watch out for the break away point as this will happen very quickly.

Regards

Dave

Section : Suspension

Anti-roll bars - front & Rear

Followups :

Anti-roll bars - front & Rear

Anti-roll bars - front & Rear

Anti-roll bars - front & Rear

Anti-roll bars - front & Rear

Anti-roll bars - front & Rear