Tell me what I'm missing...

[Silver Creek Sunbeam]

I suspect it's the long rod that is different between cars, over the years, or between different transaxles.

You’re absolutely correct… I have it figured out now I believe and will update in a bit.

 

[husky drvr]

Tod,

You say the new and old cables are the same length. Do you mean the inner flexible cable?

Are both outer cable housings the same length? If not, the LONGER outer housing will effectively make the inner cable shorter by the same amount.

My outer cable housing is about 42.25 inches long.

If you're careful to not damage the inner cable, the outer housing can be shortened at the hand lever end.

Hope this helps,

 

[Silver Creek Sunbeam]

Thanks to Jay Laifman...I finally realized what I was missing...

Because I already had the cable mostly installed on the car, I was unaware the barrel and the sheath that it is attached to is free on the cable because at the point I was in the installation having already attached the sheath to the hand lever, it would not move...at least in the direction I would have needed for it to in order to work.

The previous owner fiber glassed the floor of the car, so the opening for the cable was not exact.
Due to that, the sheath bound at the underside and did not enter the car the couple of inches that would have put the barrel in the correct place and made the cable work.

Once I realized that and corrected it, I was able to install it with no further issue.


Please bear with me….this is my first Alpine and first car on which I have done anything other than basic mechanical work, although I have done A LOT at this point.
Sometimes it's the simplest things that pose the biggest problem.

Thanks for indulging me through this troubleshooting process and as always, I thank you all for your input.

 

[Silver Creek Sunbeam]

Tod,

You say the new and old cables are the same length. Do you mean the inner flexible cable?

Are both outer cable housings the same length? If not, the LONGER outer housing will effectively make the inner cable shorter by the same amount.

My outer cable housing is about 42.25 inches long.

If you're careful to not damage the inner cable, the outer housing can be shortened at the hand lever end.

Hope this helps,

That was EXACTLY the conclusion I had come to and I was about one step away from doing what you were proposing.
Fortunately, I guess, I figured out it was my error that was the issue.
I summed it up in the post I was typing when you posted this one.

Thanks for the input!

 

[Jay Laifman]

Congrats!

FWIW, I also realized that I could add washers or some tubular spacer where the housing goes into the rod, and this will give me an effectively longer housing, and shorten the cable. I won't add much because I don't want the housing end to not be firmly into the rod part. But just a few threads is all I probably need.

Now that you have the other parts correct, you might need that too!

And BTW, what's with that extra spring bolted to the back end of your leaf springs?

 

[Silver Creek Sunbeam]

Congrats!

FWIW, I also realized that I could add washers or some tubular spacer where the housing goes into the rod, and this will give me an effectively longer housing, and shorten the cable. I won't add much because I don't want the housing end to not be firmly into the rod part. But just a few threads is all I probably need.

Now that you have the other parts correct, you might need that too!

And BTW, what's with that extra spring bolted to the back end of your leaf springs?

The springs were that way when I got the car.
I'm guessing that is what is called a 'helper' for springs that were beginning to sag.

Leaf springs and front coil springs are on my wish list...

 

[Jay Laifman]

On the front coils, look around at lots of Alpine pictures. It has always been a pet beef of mine that the front end of the cars sits so high. There is a huge amount of room between the top of the tire and the fender opening. There are a number of ways to lower it a bit (and do the rear to match if necessary). But if you get new springs, you may through it all out of whack again.

FWIW, I have a S3 that has an SV front end, but S3 springs. It lowers it perfectly for me.

Interestingly, the picture of your car in your emails seems to show that your front end is lower than most already.

 

[Jay Laifman]

Here's a picture of the original design of the car before the Rootes family messed with it (it was this picture and the other model picture that ultimately made me switch from flat fins to pointy fins):



Here is a typically too high front end (my apologies to whomever owns this car):

 

[Silver Creek Sunbeam]

Actually...mine rides pretty high in front.

I have seen the suggestion before on the forum about the Series 3 springs.
There's a guy with a website in California that sells front and rear but I can't remember who it is right now.
I emailed him once but never got a response, so I'm not sure he's still in business.
This is the front of my car.

 

[Jay Laifman]

Ugh, sorry, that's what I think is so odd.

Some people take out the thicker rubber donut above the spring and replace it with a Ford Capri one that is thinner (of course loosening the A arms to settle again before tightening). But I don't know how much that really helps. It's cheap and relatively easy.

I do think the S3 springs may be a tad softer than late springs (maybe). So rather than hunting for hens teeth, it might be better to get a sense of what compressed dimensions you want, and then see if you can get the custom springs made to be stiffer but to settle at about that height. But be mindful not to get Tiger level stiffness. Not a plus in the Alpine.

I did post on this site ages ago a comparison of all the factory springs. I don't know if that would help.

On mine, my first car was a very very late SV. Drove it through high school and college, and later restored it completely, including all Holbay stuff. Then I got T-Boned. I found a S3 shell, had it painted, and swapped over everything because it was all new - including the SV front end. But since I had a S3 sitting there, I had the springs. So I used them. That's how I ended up with S3 springs. Otherwise, might be impossible!

 

[sunalp]

Series V's did ride higher in the front, maybe different springs or spacers. I know that Green SV very well, did lots of
work on it. My SV also rode higher, but I took the insulators off of the springs and use S3 front springs which brought it down
to where I thought it should be.

 

[Jay Laifman]

Did you take the insulators off completely with no rubber in between? The Capri ones are pretty thin. But I did always wonder if it really mattered. Seems the spring itself should take up most of the vibration and shock.

 

[mikephillips]

For those who may be wondering, the difference in height between the earlier and later cars was due to US federal law setting a bumper height requirement. Initially the Alpine was considered too low and this was supposed to make bumpers the same so in an accident neither would go under the other. Rootes was in financial difficulties in the mid 60s and did not want to change the basic shell to raise the bumper to the required location so used springs to raise the car.

 

[Jay Laifman]

Here is a picture of my car from the side.

 

[Silver Creek Sunbeam]

Here is a picture of my car from the side. View attachment 24322

I would be VERY happy with that stance...nice looking car.

 

[Silver Creek Sunbeam]

Ugh, sorry, that's what I think is so odd.

Some people take out the thicker rubber donut above the spring and replace it with a Ford Capri one that is thinner (of course loosening the A arms to settle again before tightening). But I don't know how much that really helps. It's cheap and relatively easy.

I do think the S3 springs may be a tad softer than late springs (maybe). So rather than hunting for hens teeth, it might be better to get a sense of what compressed dimensions you want, and then see if you can get the custom springs made to be stiffer but to settle at about that height. But be mindful not to get Tiger level stiffness. Not a plus in the Alpine.

I did post on this site ages ago a comparison of all the factory springs. I don't know if that would help.

On mine, my first car was a very very late SV. Drove it through high school and college, and later restored it completely, including all Holbay stuff. Then I got T-Boned. I found a S3 shell, had it painted, and swapped over everything because it was all new - including the SV front end. But since I had a S3 sitting there, I had the springs. So I used them. That's how I ended up with S3 springs. Otherwise, might be impossible!

I've studied that post/thread before. Very informational and when I get to the point of the springs, I'm sure I will refer back to it regularly. Actually, I think I saved it as a watched thread. Lol

 

[sunalp]

Did you take the insulators off completely with no rubber in between?

Yes, they are completely removed. You'd never know it as the ride is exactly the same, even over bumps and uneven pavement.
I'm glad I took them out and used the S3 springs. By the way, I bought them new from VB about 12 years ago!
Here's a side shot of my stance. Of course, I have 15" wheels on it so it's a bit different.
Cheers!

 

[Jay Laifman]

I'm adding another picture with a full on side shot. Note how on this car even the pointy fins are not pointing up. This is how I personally think they look best.

 

[Silver Creek Sunbeam]

I'm adding another picture with a full on side shot. Note how on this car even the pointy fins are not pointing up. This is how I personally think they look best.

View attachment 24351

I agree. A tad higher in the back wouldn’t bother me but that’s fine and it’s definitely the look for the front.

 

[alpine_64]

I was happy with the stance on my tiger.. Lowres front and rear but brought arches to consistent distance a round the tyres