I may be tempted by a 3 door a mate has, but wondering how different the 3 door and the 2wd saff are?

In terms of, is the whole running gear inter changable, and steering, column etc, rear beam etc

not fussed about interior and obviously doors/glass etc


just interested in the running gear differences



cheers

 

they are the same mate appart from some rollbar changes and the front hubs as far as im aware

 

As said pretty much the same, apart from front and rear roll bars/hubs/rear arms.
tabetha

 

Are the front struts identical then lads?? Anyone got any more info or pics of the hub differences too??

 

The difference in the front hubs were that they used a different fitting technique for the TCA.
The front ARB had a different length causing LESS castor on the 3 door as well.
Struts were identical although damping rate was changed from sapphy to 3 door.
tabetha

 

These are some of the changes from 3-door to Sapphire 2wd made by Ford.
Obviously the 4-dr shell was stiffer which has to be taken into account.
Spring rates went up from 106 to 118lb/in at the front and 263 to 286 lb/in at the back.
Damper rates were made softer in bump and stiffer in rebound.
ARB was increased to 16mm on back
Castor increased by over one degree
Camber made fractionally more negative
Kingpin inclination made slightly greater.
Front knuckles re-designed to lower the front roll centre from 144mm to 70mm

Work was also done to rid the tendency of the 3-door to "pitch" front to rear.

Much of the work above was done to create a less "nervous" car and for it to have better straight line stability

Cheers

mike

 

so is it a good idea to convert a 3 door to sapphire front suspension?

 

I always go the other way, as much prefer the 3 door set up.
tabetha

 

are spring rates the same then Tab? I have a spare three door strut set and my saff is sagging on the drivers side. Could be spring or shock I guess - so was planning to swap them.

 

Had a chat about the hub difference's yesterday with the Diva, Sticky and Nash,
apart from the obvious of 3dr's having the pinch bolt setup on the TCA these where originaly specced for motorsport use where as the Saph was just built as a quick saloon car.

 

Thanks for the inputs chaps/chapess's

so would 3 door front hubs fit on a 2wd saff, if they are supposed to be better ? But better in what way?

 

3 door hubs fit on with the correct lower arms as have done that myself.
Turn in was a LOT sharper, grip a LOT better, with the same toe and tyres.
tabetha

 

interesting, cheers for that, will have to sort out some lower arms now and i take it i would need the 3 door front ARB too?

 

2wd saff front roll bar fits a 3 door, handles better too

 

thought the best set up was 3 door rear and sapp set up on the front?

 

Other way around isn't it ?