Need assistance on shock choice for older model CMC Speedster

Basic cheap oem type oil shocks, gas are too harsh.

The KYB Gas shocks are stiff for a light replica.  Many recommend a cheap oil filed shock for road driving comfort - EMPI makes one as does OEM company Sachs/Boge. 

If you have a sporting bent, the KYB GR2 are not too harsh. I ran them for years with no issues and thought they were great.

Thank you everyone. You have all been very helpful. Greg

Would you recommend the following shocks - EMPI VW Front Link Pin Stock Height 11.75" OIL Shocks Type I II III? 

That would depend on whether you have a link pin front spindle or a ball joint spindle.  You’ll have to get under there and find out (if you haven’t already).

Since it is a CMC we can assume that it sits on a VW donor chassis.  If that’s the case, you could look up the chassis VIN # to find out what year it is and then buy a set of oil-filled shocks for that year.  A set for a stock, VW sedan for thar year should be fine.

Thank you Gordon!

Is your car registered as a -- year VW? '65 and older is link/king pin front suspension (shocks will have horizontal bosses), '66 and newer is ball joint (shock top will have a vertical stud).

Here's what a ball joint beam looks like. Disregard the writing- it's for something else. Sorry, don't have time to find a pic of a k/l pin beam.

ALB posted:

Is your car registered as a -- year VW? '65 and older is link/king pin front suspension (shocks will have horizontal bosses), '66 and newer is ball joint (shock top will have a vertical stud).

Here's what a ball joint beam looks like. Disregard the writing- it's for something else. Sorry, don't have time to find a pic of a k/l pin beam.

You're better off making a visual check of what you have in the front as opposed to using the VIN # and checking the date of the chassis. My car is on a 1960 chassis but Vintage Speedsters built the car and converted the front suspension to ball joint and the rear to a swing axle.

I have KYB shocks on my ‘56 CMC Speedster on a ‘71 VW pan but only have about 18,000 miles on it, so since I don’t have a comparison with other shocks they seem to be just fine when I drive. When I used to cross the Yolo Causeway Bridge going from Sacramento to San Francisco I used to feel harshly the 21 concrete expansion seams in my real 1960 Porsche 356B coupe, however, I can barely feel them at all when driving my CMC Speedy.

Great pic, @Robert M; I'm saving that one!

Whoa.....   The guy radiused the cut-outs to clear his sway bar in the bumper mounts.

All I did was cut a square notch and welded some 1" X 1" square tubing back in (fortunately, the welds can't be seen).

I feel so inadequate about now......     

Ah thanks for pointing that out I would never have seen it Gordo.

I took a few pictures of the suspension and I do have the Balljoint suspension, which makes sense since the body is on a 1969 pan. Thanks again for everyones help! Greg 

Coilovers in front though?

Alan Merklin posted:

Basic cheap oem type oil shocks, gas are too harsh.

 

@Alan Merklin   What spring rates are use upfront and rear with coilover / speedster

Carey at Special Edition would be the better source to answer that question.

More information is needed to answer any question about spring rates and shocks.  The stock spring rates front and rear are 100#.  I race my car and have 200# in front and 250# in the rear.  It actually still rides well enough to drive on the street.  There are a million different combinations for the suspension.  You have to decide what you are going to use the car for first, then start tweaking the suspension.

I could see coil overs with adjustable shocks (like Koni or Bilstein) - especially if you have oversize wheels/tires.

I could see coilovers in the front if the stock leaves are shot.

Why?  The car is so light do we really need a stiffer shock?

curtissb posted:

More information is needed to answer any question about spring rates and shocks.  The stock spring rates front and rear are 100#.  I race my car and have 200# in front and 250# in the rear.  It actually still rides well enough to drive on the street.  There are a million different combinations for the suspension.  You have to decide what you are going to use the car for first, then start tweaking the suspension.

@curtissb thanks. Good start. 

IaM-Ray posted:

Why?  The car is so light do we really need a stiffer shock?

Coilovers are not synonymous with stiffer shocks. They will give you a higher spring rate though. Ride quality is based on both spring rate and shock valving with respect to axle loading and suspension type and geometry. Plus tire sidewall height and pressure.

WOLFGANG posted:

I could see coil overs with adjustable shocks (like Koni or Bilstein) - especially if you have oversize wheels/tires.

You first. The shock towers look pretty flimsy to me.

Coil-overs work right when they are the only spring in the system-- otherwise, they would be more correctly deemed "helper springs".

No, I like my spring rate as is. Not gonna happen. Just discussing the "whys" of it all.

The shock towers look pretty flimsy to me. The picture was only an example of the older Koni adjustables.  (New ones appear to be yellow now).  It looks like the adjusting collar and sleeve are steel by the rust.  Seems most of the new ones are alloy.  I like the idea that you can adjust the stiffness from comfort to aggressive.  They do get pricey. 

WOLFGANG posted:

The shock towers look pretty flimsy to me. The picture was only an example of the older Koni adjustables.  (New ones appear to be yellow now).  It looks like the adjusting collar and sleeve are steel by the rust.  Seems most of the new ones are alloy.  I like the idea that you can adjust the stiffness from comfort to aggressive.  They do get pricey. 

I've got the Koni adjustable shocks on my car-- but I was talking about setting up the car with a beam and true coil-over suspension.

In that case, the torsion leaves would be removed and replaced with something that allows the control arms to float. The spring over the shock ("coil over") would be attached at the control arm on the bottom (plenty strong), and the shock tower at the top. Since the entire car is held up by those attachment points in a true coil-over suspension, I was pointing out that the stock towers are pretty flimsy for the job.

Greg, Stan was talking about the beam. The front beam shock towers were never designed to carry the weight of the car.

Nevermind. Edited, Stan got to it firstest.

You could remove that center beam grub hex bolts or adjuster bolts and let the torsion leaves to float.  I don't think the shock towers are strong to support the total weight of car - like Danny pointed out. 

I had a '72 VW bus (T-4 engine) that I put air shocks on in the back - that thing could haul a of firewood with them pumped up.