where i work we charge 80 quid and it takes about half an hour

it is a piece of piss to lower a corsa, two tips i'd give when changing just springs are:

*on the rear take off the bolts at the bottom of the shock rather then the top as the max power manual says. its a straight forward 18mm (i think) bolt rather then the silly things at the top which are easy to strip.

*on the front, when the shock is still in the car and attached top and bottom loosen the nut at the top of the strut using a big bar, its easier when the shock is in the car cos the piston spins round when not in the car.

what are the spring compressors for. hopefully going to be putting 40mm lower springs on my original dampers until i can afford better dampers. do i need spring compressors. my mate is a mechanic so he will fit them for free for me. just wondering if there is anything else i need when fitting springs. i havent spoke to my mate about fitting them yet. Just would like to know so i can get all the stuff before i take my car to him. Cheers guys

I paid £90 to have springs and shocks fitted, then £30 to have the tracking done.

just be careful, a compressed spring is a dangerous thing - my dad works in the car industry and one of his m8's at another garage had his hand taken off when the springs compressor slipped off - they found the spring about 100m away in someones garden
so just be careful!

tbh the tention on standard corsa springs means you can acctually get away with out spring compressors when installing.. just undo the nuts at the top of the strut under the bonnet then the spring will still be compressed under the cars load... then jack the car up which will release the tention slowly in the spring, then undo from the lower arm.. At least thats how I got mine done... although if you wish to get your standard springs back in you will proberly need the compressors :)

I fitted mine for the first time. It took me about 4-5 hours because I couldn't undo one of the bolts as the whole suspension damper kept turning aswell took me bloddy ages to undo it.

Springs are very easy... all you need is the following:

1. Way to Lift the Car
2. Way to Support the Car
3. Hand Tools
4. Spring Compressors

As far as installation, all you need to do is raise the car, then slide your jackstand or other support and remove the jack. From there you remove the wheels. Then you unbolt the lower 2 bolts on the front strut, and the upper bolts (by the upper mount). The whole spring/strut combo should slide out then.

Use the spring compressors to compress the spring coils. Do this by installing the arms above and under one span of the coil, tighten with a ratchet till it compresses enough to be loose. Now remove the upper perch on the strut. The spring is now safe to remove. Pull it out and put the new lowering spring on. You don't need to compress lowering springs as they are shorter than the OEM ones. Make sure that you have installed the spring correctly. There might be an uneven surface on the lower strut spring perch... correspond that with the end of the spring. Now you put the strut back on.

Repeat that a few more times and your done.

Be sure to tighten the nuts well.

You will need an alignment after you've completed the install. I'm not sure if the Corsa's come with adjustable rear suspension or not. Either way you need to get the camber, caster, and toe corrected for optimum performance and to prevent alot of excessive tirewear.

This small how-to is how to install lowering springs on most cars... however the Corsa *might* be different but I highly doubt it.

[Edited on 29-08-2003 by Nismo_Freak]

cost me £50 to fit springs.
gettin shocks fitted tm and diff rear springs for £50 again at my local garage.

my mech charges £30

After having god knows how many suspension set-ups on my car i can now do a complete suspension change in approx 45mins and thats front and rear if everything goes to plan. Its literally 2bolts and two nuts on the rear and 4bolts and 6nuts on the front. Where do you live? I'll do you the lot for £30...

I referenced to the Max Power modding manual for Corsa's, gives a good run through how to do it.

The compressors I had were 3 clamps effectively, just got a 2 hooks, 1 at each end of a big bolt. You sping the bolt and it tightens the clamp compressing the springs.

All I will say is make sure the springs on the front are compressed so they move freely on the strut or they will fling of and cause serious damage when you remove the top of the strut.

I'm not a very mechanically minded person, but it took me about 5/6 hours, never done it b4, it is fairly easy provided you've got all the right tools, max haynes manual came very useful:) i'd do it ureself.:thumbs:

Is there a tut in the FAQ?

yes one each side of spring

hmmm, £30 isn't bad for compressors... maybe i could do it myself.

Are they like 2 plates with a screw thread in the middle to compress the springs?

I paid £25 for the spring compressors from a local motor factors, and me and my mate swapped the whole lot of my suspension round in 2 afternoons.

Just springs is even easier really, the back you have to do half as much work, the front, its the same amount of work as a full suspension swap.

Should take you about 4 hours really to do them all yourself, if you aint done it before.

compressors bout £30 halfords
cost toget fitted max bout 3 hours labour £75-£80

Considering buying some pi springs of ebay or something.

I assume i'd need spring compressors which i don't have.....

How much would they cost to get fitted?

[Edited on 28-08-2003 by MikeH]