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95+ 960 Front Coilovers Part 2: There is no Part 1

the poi

Has been
Joined
Jan 5, 2003
Location
Pasadena, CA
Alrighty, the following is a very delicate operation, and should be done in a cleanroom, if at all possible. First, obtain some brand-spankin new Koni Sport shocks for an 850. Also, two 2.04" coilover sleeves from Coleman racing, and some springs. I'm starting out with 10" 450 pounders. Now, the delicate operation begins:


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OH GOD WHYYYYY?! YOU'RE A MONSTER!!

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THE HUMANITY

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NOOOOO!

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DEAR GOD

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DON'T DO IT. OH GOD DON'T DO IT.

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WHY ARE YOU DOING THESE THINGS?

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Ohhhhh. Pretty!

For the initial cut, I used a Dremel, with a thin cut off wheel, and cut most of the way through the lower perch immediately under the weld. Cutting in through the perch as shown to get started. Shoving a chisel in between the angle-grinder cut and hammering down will eventually get a crack going. Once the crack has started around the circumference (where you weakened the metal with the dremel), hammer down (in line with the strut) on the perch, and propagate to crack around the strut.

There are two annoying welds under the strut perch. You can see how I dealt with them above--cut a pie shaped section out to disconnect the two parts--you can "wiggle" the smaller piece up and down until you break the welded. Repeat for the larger section. Then, remove the remaining 75% strut perch.

Get out the grinder, and grind down the remaining weld--I went really slow and quenched it with water, so it never got to a too-hot-to-touch temperature. May not even be that necessary, but better to be on the safe side. At least with Konis and coleman sleeves, the welded doesn't have to be flush with the body, just close to flush, so you don't have to get into the body much (although that didn't stop me from knicking it a couple times:roll: )

I gooed up the top (3m window weld!) to keep it from rattling and keep rainwater from getting in there (also painted the ground section, of course)

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Spring stuff! Hog out the upper perch like so:

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The spring will pop right into the recess, and rest directly under the bearing (rad!)

My camera ate the next few pictures, but basically, I used a spacer at the top about an inch and a half, as the 850 struts are a bit shorter than 960 struts. The spacer keeps the thread from sticking through the hood. (mines actually a little too long, as I couldn't fit the lockwasher in. I'll fix that...)

Anyway, here's what it looks liek from the bottom:

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hawt!

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It's practically adjustable!

So ya, the lower spring perch is currently at it's lowest position-any lower and the tire would contact it. There's about 3/16" of clearance between the threaded collar and the wheel rim (on ronal 18x8 RTs). If it needs to be lower, I'll space it out, but it'll probably be fine. Got to get it on the ground before I can figure that all out.

The only bitch is the swaybar endlinks. I modified my stockers, because this nerd I know insisted if I built new endlinks with 8$ heim joints they'd start clunking in a couple hundred miles. Here's what I did:

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The two pieces are welded together through the large "window", and the outer cylinder provides a little more strength. I tested these by jacking up the front of the car from one side, so they appear to work right:)


edit:// hee, my binder clip is showing!

Have to put the back end of my car back on before I can go test it... I'll let you know if I've built a deathtrap.

FAQ:
Q: It's really that easy?
A: Yes.

Q: Seriously?
A: Ya I know, right?
 
the poi said:
Q: Seriously?
A: <strike>Ya I know, right?</strike>

Srsly, like, the correct answer is:

A: Ya, inorite!

But I digress. If you die, I call dibs on your <strike>car</strike> mangled, bloody corpse.
 
bad juju? do you really want a puddle of crud building up in there, grinding on the strut shaft? I get lots of little rocks between the spring and the lower seat, so it will get into that "cup" for sure. I'd trim the sleeve down to ~1/4" or more below the top of the strut. The spring will likely grind against the top 1" or so of the sleeve, so don't be alarmed. You weren't going to use that part of the thread, anyway. ;-) I primed/painted my strut tubes and slid the sleeves on with nothing around the top and they've been fine. I replaced a bent strut tube and the sleeve came off OK, and it wasn't rusty underneath since I coated the bare strut tube after grinding.
 
bad juju?

ick, i was kinda worried about it, but figured it'd be fine--there's no way for anything to "drain" out of the smaller "cup" that's already in there (formed by the gland nut thingy). Wouldn't I have the same issue even if I cut down the thread tube because of that? What I really want is a bellows to put in there, but I can't find anything from the usual places. Know of anything that would work?

edit:// also, shouldn't it be "Puddle of Crudd"?
 
ick, i was kinda worried about it, but figured it'd be fine--there's no way for anything to "drain" out of the smaller "cup" that's already in there (formed by the gland nut thingy).
Just looked like it could hold more crudd.

Wouldn't I have the same issue even if I cut down the thread tube because of that? What I really want is a bellows to put in there, but I can't find anything from the usual places. Know of anything that would work?
My 240 bilstein bellows might work. I think they had some splits. I'm thinking if you cut one down and it was a few inches tall, it could be zip tied to the sleeve. As I recall, it has a small diameter opening at the top, so it was meant to fit up high on the bilstein (since it has the large diameter shaft, being inverted and all). But on the koni, it might fit close around the koni shaft. i'll take a look tonight. I stopped using the bellows when I did coilovers because they didn't really fit well inside the 2.5" springs. I have some loose springs I can check clearance on, though, so maybe they can work. Did the konis come with any boots/bellows?

edit:// also, shouldn't it be "Puddle of Crudd"?
they're OK.
 
Wow Chris....an entire post without "italics"? What's gotten into you?!!!1111:-P

I still have those take off 4 pot Brembos (calipers, brackets, rotors, & lines) from an 850 at work. If you're interested I can get a price. Let me know
 
Chris, those look great. We have starting mocking up with those and just cutting the threaded sleeve so it fits under the nut.

Why so stiff???
 
Bwahaha, holy ****, the car can sorta handle now. Jeebus! It doesn't roll about like a tugboat!

However, it appears the inside wheel rim is contacting the sleeve on one (or both!) sides. There's about 1/8th of clearance there, is that flex about "normal" for a cast aluminum 18" wheel? if it is, I'll just space the wheel out. If that isn't normal, I suppose I should try to figure out what thats about...
 
dust covers

Looks great. I ran my coil overs for awhile without dust covers but had too much buildup of crud on the shaft. The Bilstein dust covers Towery mentioned worked. They just fit inside the springs. If you don't want to have the springs hit the top of the threaded sleeve. You can buy barrel springs from various sources such as http://www.bluecoilspring.com/ and also from AFCO. The barrel shaped springs take away a bit of the side loading, too.
 
you guys know that you can convert 960 regular struts with koni inserts ?

by the way . where did you get that coilover kit ?

here's what i did :)

above is original .
below is with strut insert
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picture of my older insert .. exchanged it due to that it was to soft
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close up of the thread and nut
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I hate you. You weren't around when I ghetto dropped my 960. Then I dropped it into a ditch, got the insurance money, and built a turbocharged cabrio. All was well.
 
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