I'm in the process of rebuilding the front suspension on a 1971 240Z. I've noticed the coil spring lengths are not the same they're off by 1/2 to 5/8 of an inch regardless of where I measure one of is shorter.

Do I need to be concerned about this point?

If this is an issue what should I purchase?

Thanks In advance.

Seems to be normal and as Nissan intended. Maybe to offset an imbalance in the car's weight, maybe from the engine tilt. Not clear, although it might be described somewhere.

I don't think that the aftermarket considered it.

I've seen the free length dimensions in the manual I have but when I'm measuring them on my workbench I'm getting 14 1/2 and 15 and 1/8 total length.

So should I not be worried about the half inch variation. Their stock springs and they're 54 years old. A new set of Elbach Springs or $279. set of 4.

I suppose it depends on what the worry would be. Worry about them failing? Spring sag with age is not uncommon. Did you notice any variance in corner height when they were installed?

The thing about aftermarket springs is you don't really know how they'll sit until you get them installed. You can find reports of weirdness with the Eibach progressive rate springs. Don't know if that problem ever got solved.

It's a conundrum.

When I do the math on the free lengths from the manual, I get significantly different numbers.

373.5 / 25.4 = 14.7
386 / 25.4 = 15.2

So assuming the free lengths in the FSM are typos, the lengths you are measuring look great.

Thank you Captain.

So I didn't keep track of what side those springs came off of when I disassembled. My thinking is the longer of the two less than 5/8 of an inch I'll use 4 the passenger side rationalizing that the tilt of the engine in that direction may need more support. Comments?

Well, according to the info Zed Head posted above, the longer spring goes on the RH side.

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