Alfa 33 Front Suspension - Options?

[Fluffyduff]

Howdy Folks,
Restoration of my S3 is well underway with all the welding complete and the shell sent off for paint last Friday.

With the body gone, I've turned my attention to the suspension. The car had the original Boge struts which are kaput. I've found some monroe replacements for a very reasonable price. Ive looked at the koni inserts but don't think I can justify the cost at the minute.

Is there anything else out there that I may have overlooked?

[PETROLHEAD]

The Koni's are one of the cheaper options i'm afraid if you're looking to improve things aswell FD, but if your struts are knackered anyway, is the price difference between replacing the new stock version and some koni inserts that bad?

Last time i loomed for some decent stock struts they weren't all that cheap.


Has John (justsuds) got some good koni's in stock? He did have last time i enquired about that sort of thing,

Give him a nod!

[Fluffyduff]

Thanks, I would never gave thought ofJohn for the konis although he was next on the list for the spring pans!

The monroe struts are €140 each, which is about half of what I was quoted for the replacement struts when I last checked 5/6 years ago.

Will check with John and see what comes up. The shopping list is a bit intimidating, there's isn't much that doesn't need replacing!

[PETROLHEAD]

Blimey! 140 each!

That definitely sounds like Koni price territory to me last time i checked.

As for the spring pans, you may find better condition and younger parts including 164 front spring pans in your search, they are the same part as your 33 i believe, maybe a check with eper will confirm it.


Happy shopping FD, unfortunately i can't assist with any actual parts or spares this time

[Fluffyduff]

Not to worry, surprisingly, there's plenty of bits out there at the moment. I haven't been looking for anything that couldn't be found. I even picked up a NOS rear bumper for €200 incl delivery from Italy!

On the monroe shocks, that's a full replacement strut too though, not just the insert. I'll have a chat with John and see what he's got. May as well go big or go home, I won't be messing with this one again in the near future.

Thanks for the advice re common source for the spring pan. The ones I have are probably salvageable but I had to put patches into one of them for the last NCT (mot) back in '14 so I think it's time to retire them.

Hopefully I'll be finished shopping soon enough!

[PETROLHEAD]

Personally, if they aren't too deeply corroded, i'd strip what you've got, have a full powder coat refurbishment, and koni insert them with the best you can find.

they will be boundlessly better, and the refurb should keep its finish for years and years longer then the 3 micron of unprimed paint that regular stuff gets!