Hello, I am getting my hands on a pair of Sierra Cosworth front spindles with calipers. Included in purchase are Cosworth struts and springs, and Cosworth LCAs. I plan to install them into a Merkur XR4Ti. I believe I may need a Cosworth-specific Anti-Roll Bar.

I was hoping that you all could tell me what else I need and what problems I may encounter. For instance, it would be great to know if a full Cosworth suspension bolted into a stock Sierra. This would give me hope that the inner pivot points for the front LCAs are in the same location across the whole Sierra line. Also, will a non-Cosworth steering rack work on Cosworth spindles?
Thanks in advance,
David L.

 

i can't be quite as specific as you need david, but i'll tell you what i know.

i fitted a complete cosworth front suspension into a stock sierra, but that was including the crossmember and sterring rack (as well as hubs, lca's - normally called tca's on sierra's as they control the track, struts and anti-roll bar).

i would use a cosworth ARB as they are thicker (don't forget to get the bushes and chassis mount brackets with it as std ones will not fit due to the thickness). be careful with ARB's, as the 3 door one has a different length to later ones which affects the castor angles (some say for the good).

 

Thanks Nick, there is a dearth of information here in the States about both the Cosworth and the Sapphire since we did not get either one.
The seller is even a little confused. He said the parts are from a Cosworth Sapphire, but also says the calipers are four pots. I'm under the impression that the Sapphire had single piston front calipers, correct?
I will have to check out the part numbers on the pieces once I get them.
Also, just to be clear, is the consensus that the Sapphire ARB increases caster when put into a 3-door?
TIA,
David L.

 

the 2wd sappphire came with 4 pots as standard - the 4x4s came with single pot calipers.

 

So it was me who was confused!
Thanks for the clarification.
David L.

 

i think it's the other way around. i think that the 3 door arb gives more castor angle. do a search on here, as i think there have been topics on it before, or contact mike rainbird as he is very knowledgeable on these parts combinations ahving tried most of them.

 

They tried to correct the nervous feel of the 3 door Cosworth on the Sapphires so I assume that fitting the 3 door ARB will cause the Sapphire to feel like the 3 door.

I am pretty sure that most of the mounting points are standard Sierra and that components only differed between models. The only shell specific to the Cosworth was the Escort. Even the 4x4 Sapphire Cosworth shared the shell with the other 4x4 Sierras.

4x4 Sierras and Esocts used the large diameter single piston calipers and the RWD cars used the 4 pot calipers.