Coilover conversion wanted?

[1an]

so just ot confirm Gunni, i send you my struts,i can use any shocks, and how low will i be able to drop the car, i,e i wanna be able to go up to 80mm on the front and 60mm on the back, but for normal driving i would want to go 60-40 ish,

if so i would be really tempted, would also mean i wouldnt go 5 stud but that was only throwing ideas about,

[Gunni]

so just ot confirm Gunni, i send you my struts,i can use any shocks, and how low will i be able to drop the car, i,e i wanna be able to go up to 80mm on the front and 60mm on the back, but for normal driving i would want to go 60-40 ish,

if so i would be really tempted, would also mean i wouldnt go 5 stud but that was only throwing ideas about,

What wheels are you running?
That would mostly dictate how low the spring and it´s location has to be.
"5.5 spring should get you that low, I did lower my mtech II to the max once and could hardly get over speedbumps whithout scratching it

I´ll be doing this as well with my car. I always like to be able to adjust the heighy my car is at by the turn of the hand

[1an]

well if iwent for this i would be running borbet b's 7.5 up front 9's out back,

[Gunni]

ET15 front?
Back is no problem,
I ran very low on "17x10 ET14 with rolled arches and it was no problem.

It would also be perfect for those thinking about the conversion to source some struts
beforehand so their own cars don´t have to go off the road. Unless they have time.

[BadDave]

What are those Dave?

They're my spare 51mm struts for the touring

It's fitted with a VAOS(similar to GC) conversion kit originally intended for a Ford Focus and fittet with 10.5" 400lb iirc 2 1/2" id springs with Compbrake top caps and eccentric top mounts(which are not currently fitted).
Shock inserts used are std at the mo
Once my shortened adjustable Gaz units get rebuilt,they'll be fitted

[Jhonno]

Jan would prob suit me also.. tbh i'd be tempted by the thin 5.5" springs prob at the poundage you recommend..

having never attempted this before, once the struts were off how long do you reckon it'd take to do (seeing as i have m3 setup, struts are neither cheap nor easy to come by..)

[BadDave]

Jan would prob suit me also.. tbh i'd be tempted by the thin 5.5" springs prob at the poundage you recommend..

having never attempted this before, once the struts were off how long do you reckon it'd take to do (seeing as i have m3 setup, struts are neither cheap nor easy to come by..)

Once the struts are off the car it shouldn't take more than a 4 hrs to convert and refit them

[Gunni]

I should be able to do things on the same day the struts would arrive,

And the guys with the springs can´t really deliver like I was hoping, I´m waiting on the latest prices from KW.
But don´t hold your breath. I´m searching for another spring supplier

[maxfield]

Faulkner?

[Gunni]

Faulkner?

Twice as expensive then what I had before, but I´m still waiting for the answer if they will be able to deliver the springs sizes needed or not,
Probably will not happen until after the weekend now.

I´d rather go with KW then instead of faulkner.

EDIT I was looking the Faulkner prices in the wrong place.
They do have what is needed so they would cost about 20pounds more then the others.

[Theo]

I'm interested in a set in the near future, M30 engine, stripped and caged, H&R ARBs, Hartge Bilstein B8's. Track orientated car obviously - what would you recommend?


500/550 as cage furthers chassis stiffness and the effects of the suspension. Without cage you would have to go stiffer for hefty track use

Thanks for the info Gunni, i'm very interested to see where this idea goes, and what happens with the spring situation. I take it you can use the original front top mounts?

[Gunni]

Yes this does not require adjustable race style top mounts.

[UweM3]

I have used Faulkner several times and can't fault them. Customerservice is top notch.

Can I just have the threaded section and the collar nut? I still have springs etc. from a previous attempt

When I tried this type of conversion last time I had loads of problems to get the ride height down to acceptable level (i.e. -40mm) without bottoming out the shock. did you have any problems?

The top spring hat adds considerable height to the strut which need to be compensated for before even getting any lower that stock (hope this makes sense)

Do you know what type of material is used and surface treatment (i.e. annodised??)

thanks

PS any picture from the rear with the spring in the car please

[Gunni]

How long was the spring? What type top hat did you use?

I don´t see how the shock can´t handle 40mm lowering? When even the regular ones can do that on normal lowering springs, and nothing should change there. The bump stop does need to be cut down alot.

I belive it´s aluminium, and I don´t know the surface treatment.

This has a flat top hat, so it´s as low of a top hat as possible,.

And for some strange reason I can´t find a single picture of a rear install, but I can tell you that it is just like all the manufacturers have.

[ed325i]

I would be interested after xmas to.
I have got a fully striped out 6 cylinder e30 with no roll cage.
It sits very high now on 35mm lowerd springs so would need a drop of 80/85mm

[Gunni]

85mm in the back?
I´ve never seen that.

[UweM3]

How long was the spring? What type top hat did you use?

I don´t see how the shock can´t handle 40mm lowering? When even the regular ones can do that on normal lowering springs, and nothing should change there. The bump stop does need to be cut down alot.

I belive it´s aluminium, and I don´t know the surface treatment.

This has a flat top hat, so it´s as low of a top hat as possible,.

And for some strange reason I can´t find a single picture of a rear install, but I can tell you that it is just like all the manufacturers have.

It's hard to explain witout a picture. The OEM spring hat is very thin (3mm sheet metal max) and the aluminium top hat of the coil over add's some thickness there. Also the design of the ali top hat (with the spring guide collar sticking down into the smaller coil spring) is taking available shock travel away. The top hat collar can hit the shock collar nut under full compressiom.

I will try to post some pictures up tomorrow.
You didn't answer my question, can I buy the threaded collar on it's own?

[ed325i]

85mm in the back?
I´ve never seen that.

I know you can get 80mm springs for the back.
What I will have to do is have a measure but as I say it sits high now due to it being so light.

[kuntz_de]

well if iwent for this i would be running borbet b's 7.5 up front 9's out back,

i though you wanted 5 stud set up for track day use ? 9J at the back hardly the best for handling ?

this seems like a good deal and a very fair price

[1an]

well if iwent for this i would be running borbet b's 7.5 up front 9's out back,

i though you wanted 5 stud set up for track day use ? 9J at the back hardly the best for handling ?

this seems like a good deal and a very fair price

i have never ever said i wanted the car purely for track use, the will be usedo n track but i have a set of bbs wheels for that, for every day driving i want some borbets.


Gunni, when could you do these for me? i would want quite a firm set-up, could you get double coiled springs i think they are which they use in top notch coilovers or am i tlaking rubbish?

[Jhonno]

hang on.. i thought you said you didnt even have the skills to weld a small tab onto a strut?! this is considerably more work than that!

[1an]

hang on.. i thought you said you didnt even have the skills to weld a small tab onto a strut?! this is considerably more work than that!

yeah if you red what Gunni has said he will take the struts and get the work done

[oze30]

hang on.. i thought you said you didnt even have the skills to weld a small tab onto a strut?! this is considerably more work than that!

yeah if you red what Gunni has said he will take the struts and get the work done

Im guessing it will be after Xmas when you get the dosh???

[snoops]

definitley interested in this but will also be after xmas

[Gunni]

How long was the spring? What type top hat did you use?

I don´t see how the shock can´t handle 40mm lowering? When even the regular ones can do that on normal lowering springs, and nothing should change there. The bump stop does need to be cut down alot.

I belive it´s aluminium, and I don´t know the surface treatment.

This has a flat top hat, so it´s as low of a top hat as possible,.

And for some strange reason I can´t find a single picture of a rear install, but I can tell you that it is just like all the manufacturers have.

It's hard to explain witout a picture. The OEM spring hat is very thin (3mm sheet metal max) and the aluminium top hat of the coil over add's some thickness there. Also the design of the ali top hat (with the spring guide collar sticking down into the smaller coil spring) is taking available shock travel away. The top hat collar can hit the shock collar nut under full compressiom.

I will try to post some pictures up tomorrow.
You didn't answer my question, can I buy the threaded collar on it's own?

Yes of course you can,

[Gunni]

hang on.. i thought you said you didnt even have the skills to weld a small tab onto a strut?! this is considerably more work than that!

There is no need to do any welding, you might need to do grinding,.

By removing most of the front strut spring perch you leave a seat for the threads to sit on, so NO real need to weld anything on,

What can be done is remove all of the perch and then weld on a seat at a lower posistion if crazy lowering is wanted and alot of travel without coil binding. But all production coilover kits have non standard sized shocks and shortened struts to allow for the more travel,

This is not H&R, KW and so on stuff, this is a conversion kit to allow you to run coil springs of your desired length and stiffness to suit your driving/track needs,

In this picture it can be seen that the perch is in the way of the adjuster reaching the lower position and making trouble of adjusting.



This is the lowering diffrence for removing and not removing the perch


Here is a picture of the old perch machined away and a "seat" machined in it´s place,


Here the thread has been slid on and I used sikaflex to hold it there
so it will not turn as the adjusters are turned



Here the single adjuster sleeve is used, it has a 3m allen key nut that when tightened secures the adjuster to the sleeve so it can not move.
You can see the hole in the adjuster

Here the spring is "on"


Here the "top hat is on" this one has about 1cm height diffrence from the strut rubber to the top of the spring, unlike some really cone like have alot more, the ones I found are Flat and thus the spring will be as close as possible to the strut rubber without touching


Here the original shim is used again to move the rubber away so that the rubber bearing can move while turning and not put any effort of turning on the spring assembly. i.e the shim connectes the shock to the bearing while no contect is with the non moving parts.


Here the rubber is back on.



Here is one with the original spring cup machined down


Here is a picture of the first kit I installed back in 2003




for a reason beyond me I can´t find a pic of a rear install from when I have done one.

[Gunni]

well if iwent for this i would be running borbet b's 7.5 up front 9's out back,

i though you wanted 5 stud set up for track day use ? 9J at the back hardly the best for handling ?

this seems like a good deal and a very fair price

i have never ever said i wanted the car purely for track use, the will be usedo n track but i have a set of bbs wheels for that, for every day driving i want some borbets.


Gunni, when could you do these for me? i would want quite a firm set-up, could you get double coiled springs i think they are which they use in top notch coilovers or am i tlaking rubbish?

you mean helper springs? they are for TUV purposes
so that when raised on a lift the spring doesn´t come "loose" from the seat on top and on bottom, that will require moving the spring seat way further down and will not allow the same wheel options(meaning it will mean less)

[Gunni]

85mm in the back?
I´ve never seen that.

I know you can get 80mm springs for the back.
What I will have to do is have a measure but as I say it sits high now due to it being so light.

beeing a early car?
measure from the center of the wheel to the arch in a 90° angle upwards.
so that changed distance is known.

[UweM3]

some pictures of my first attempt.

[/img]


Strut in place and car jacked up


off the jack. Hard to see but there is very little suspension travel left. I had huge problems to get the car back even to the stock ride height without bottoming the strut out. Have you actually driven your car with the parts shown on your pictures? The collar I used was made of steel and I would NOT recommend to use this type. The Ali collar nut will seize in no time.


how much for a set of threaded sleeves and collars please?

[Gunni]

I´ve installed more then 20 kits, and never had the problem your having,
I´ve gone drifting as have most, along with long haul trips, fairly bad roads and all.
I see you have 6 coil as I did so it must not be that.
With original sized struts and shocks very very low lowering and suspension travel is hard.
I would reccomend 65-70mm front as the max but with stiff springs.

What was the spring rate and the free length?
Looks like the spring is very well compressed and I´m sure it wasn´t the shock bottoming out but the spring binding
What is happening in the last picture?


Sleeves and adjuster . 80pounds + shipping.

[UweM3]

400lbs springs, will have to measure free length. (think it was 6")
I believe the collar of the top spring hat touched the shock insert collar nut. The spring didn't show any paint coming off from binding. What bumpstop are you using?
thanks

PS I had to turn down the collar nut of the shock inserts as well. Didn't clear the spring. Think Bilstein collar nuts will be fine.

[Gunni]

Mtech collar or most aftermarket are fine,
It´s the T shaped ones that need machining

I sometimes have used none, but one most I´ve cut down the original one to suit the lowering done.

Wish I could see your setup as it´s something that hasn´t ever happened when Ive done a installation.

[1an]

i though you wanted 5 stud set up for track day use ? 9J at the back hardly the best for handling ?

this seems like a good deal and a very fair price

i have never ever said i wanted the car purely for track use, the will be usedo n track but i have a set of bbs wheels for that, for every day driving i want some borbets.


Gunni, when could you do these for me? i would want quite a firm set-up, could you get double coiled springs i think they are which they use in top notch coilovers or am i tlaking rubbish?

you mean helper springs? they are for TUV purposes
so that when raised on a lift the spring doesn´t come "loose" from the seat on top and on bottom, that will require moving the spring seat way further down and will not allow the same wheel options(meaning it will mean less)

ok that confirms it then,

when could you be able to sort me out with a set of these then? or are you still trying to sort springs as im seriously intrested,

[UweM3]

Mtech collar or most aftermarket are fine,
It´s the T shaped ones that need machining

I sometimes have used none, but one most I´ve cut down the original one to suit the lowering done.

Wish I could see your setup as it´s something that hasn´t ever happened when Ive done a installation.

yeah, I wonder what went wrong! Never had the time to figure it out 100% but never lost interest to try it again. If done right, one can have a nice coil over setup for much less money....

The threaded section you are selling will just slip over the 51mm strut?

Sorry for all the questions but I need to tackle it a bit more serious this time (if I am not going to cough the money up and buy a GAZ kit)

[Gunni]

It will slip over a 51mm strut.

I still haven´t gotten the answer on the springs yet.
But we´ll see what happens.