What a job!

[mirafioriman]

Finished off stripping the LHD Argenta today. The last thing to come off were the wishbones and the coil springs on the front suspension. What a job! With the shell stripped and engine removed it was really difficult to compress the springs. The springs ended up in a pretty weird shape, but came out in the end! No photos unfortunately, but one thing is for sure removing a 131 front suspension is much easier than removing a 132 or Argenta one!

[djape1977]

sure is. i did it a couple of months ago on my ex 132 1800 and it was a real pain removing them. it took a big crowbar in the end to take them off. i think that next time springs will come out first.
btw, did it have a rear anti roll bar?

[mirafioriman]

No rear anti roll bar I'm afraid. It was only a 1600 perhaps only the 2000cc cars got them?

[djape1977]

i haven't been able so far to establish which models had rear anti roll bar. so far only argenta 2500td that i saw and no 132's. i think that it would be great handling upgrade if fitted on 132 or argenta. it shouldn't stiffen up the suspension, yet it should dramatically reduce bodyroll.
i've driven a peugeot 305 for a while and it had very soft ride with almost no bodyroll in the corners. i was amazed and decided to poke around a bit to find out what's the trick and sure enough, there was the rear anty roll bar.
on my lada 2104, after fitting a fiat 1.8tc, i quickly found out that i'll have to do something about the handling. the lada's rear suspension is almost exactly the same as on 131, including the panhard rod. i fitted shorter and thicker rear springs and got much less bodyroll, yet lost ride comfort. rear end is hard as a rock now. it's ok for a lada, but it would be a real shame to spoil 132's soft ride.