SHOCK ABSORBERS

This has been a dodgy area for both Flavia and 2000 for a while now. I thought I might attempt both to revue and to summarise the situation, bearing in mind that Flavias might even still have OE units in place which are some 40 years old.  In keeping with the Lancia philosophy of only using the best available, the OE manufacturer of choice was de Carbon – the inventor, patent holder and leader in mono-tube high pressure gas shock absorber technology. With a single-valve piston (and bi-directional operation), this ensured stable shock absorption whilst avoiding any oil/gas mixing (and any associated foaming and cavitation) problems often found in conventional systems.

These units can last a long time. My 1973 2000 saloon has the OE set in use still; it has the best ride of any of my cars, so I hope I don’t have to replace them yet. On the other hand, the only Lancia I ever bought new (in 1972), a Fulvia saloon, was never as good as I thought it should be, and I fitted a set of Koni units to that, which I much preferred. Some of you may remember that bright blue 2000HF I owned a while back: this also had Koni shock absorbers fitted to it. However I think it is true to say that Koni themselves admitted they couldn’t employ the sort of gas pressures that de Carbon used, as they didn’t have the kit to generate it during manufacture.

Harry Manning seemed quite relaxed about what got used, and I remember him saying to me that Monroe units were OK. Other makers who supplied something suitable (and good) were Armstrong and the German company Boge.

As far as I know none of the above is still available to us. At one time the Italian company Corsa & Cossi made de Carbon units under licence, but I’ve only ever seen a couple of rears, which Rob Williamson keeps under lock and key somewhere safe. They were in the de Carbon catalogue until recently, fronts only for Flavia, but I understand no more will be made. Konis haven’t been available for some time (their part #s 80-1500 and 80-1501). In any case, again the fronts were only for Flavia. In both cases it was possible to modify front shocks for 2000. The mounting eyes on de Carbon units actually screw on and off (and were available as a separate listed part), so it was simply a matter of remembering to remove them from old de Carbon shocks, then shortening the spigot top end and cutting a thread with a suitable die. I did that on my 2000HF.

The best known manufacturer with units for both Flavia and 2000 in their current range is Spax. Part numbers are/were (for reference):-

Flavia 815 front G434-170, rear G677-170

Flavia 819/820 front G678-170, rear G677-170

2000 front G678-170, rear G435-170

Flavia front TC-326

2000 front TC-629

All rear TC-622

I don’t know yet on which principle (single or double acting) these work.

 

There is a further useful range in the AVO catalogue – these so-called “coil-over” dampers. These I mention because of the known problem with sagging rear springs, particularly on coupés. This range is extensive. The units have a threaded outer casing which can accept an auxiliary spring, presumably intended as an all-in-one suspension unit, but I see no reason at the moment why these could not be employed to both damp movement and assist a weakened rear leaf spring, so long as all leaves were unbroken.

I did a quick work up, with the rear shock absorber stroke figures above, based on a single-acting 1.9 in Ø coil-over unit and an 12 in. long 80 lb. rated coil spring – AVO reference PA 170-110, in steel (you can get them in alloy!). Each unit cost just over £100, not including delivery. I’m unsure what the cost of re-tempering a rear spring would be, a process which isn’t always successful, but this didn’t seem unreasonable.

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