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Decided to go with coilovers, rears almost finally done (Updated 11/11)

BlownBigBlock

New member
Haven't been active much on the forums, life throws ya a curve now and then.... Anyway with that being said, have been pondering this for a while, have read thru many a posts and will still even take into account suggestions as this lil adventure continues. My 98' has AGX's with B&G springs on it, luv the look but the ride could be better in my opinion, for the 02' was considering going with Eibach's and AGX's. Have seen a few attempts at different builds, seemed like each one had alot of good points, thought I'd take the parts that I liked and construct a setup. This will be an ongoing project. I already had the AGX's, took them down to a friends house and using a dremel cut the weld at the strut flange, then ground it down. Still have to do some band sanding to it yet.
modifiedstrut.jpg


Don't know how many hours I've scoured the net and on here to come up with a feasible upper mount solution. Contacted a place in FL about fabricating one, but the more I thought about it, why reinvent the wheel. So I took a new strut mate to the machine shop and we sat at looked at it... This wasn't quite what we had it mind.
whatsleftofmount.jpg


After attempt to press the rubber mount out and failing miserably, we put it on a lathe and presto.
cutstruttop.jpg


Here's a better shot showing we were able to retain the proper angle for the strut.
topofstrutmount.jpg

There is a slight taper on the cut, plan is to weld a piece of 3/16 sheet metal with a cup incorporated into it, how big a cup will be decided by the bushing size. Depth I wouldn't expect to be more than 3/4" to 1". The hole diameter I believe is around 3". Also decided to go with the Strange Coil Over setup because I like the double lock setup compared to the allen set screw setup. Also like the location of the bearing setup, these are at the top, rather the bottom. After checking assembly, didn't care on the height of the cones used, so decided to incorporate larger bearings with the adapter we were planning on making.
strangesetup.jpg


Well, I went down to the machine shop today and we finished them up except for welding the spring adapter to the upper mount plate. Here's what was machined up for adapter.
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As some of others have done prior and currently, recessed the upper bushing mount.
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Upside down picture showing the bearings and how they would fit.
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Picture of adapter mounted onto the strut without the stock plate. Will be using a different nut, found this to do for the time being.
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This picture shows what assembly will look like once welded together. The adapter and stock mount plate will be even.
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Picture from underneath, with the adapter being 1/4" thick, it allows no interference between the bearings and stock plate. Roughly 1/8" of room, hopefully will be a better area and not as much dirt/etc exposure to bearings.
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And finally an assembled picture, taking the plates down to another friend to get welded.
2011-04-13164047.jpg

Came up with a plan for the rear strut mount, very similar to the front, but have to make up a new plate also. Spring is a QA1 12" 350 pounds. These won't go on for abit as I completely replacing all the brake/suspension parts on the front.
 
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Re: Decided to go with coilovers, finished the fronts today...

good work. i applaud you. now put them on the car and lower it!
 
Re: Decided to go with coilovers, finished the fronts today...

good work. i applaud you. now put them on the car and lower it!

Thanks, but won't be awhile. Some people that I've been talking to say about the strut travel being an issue and I may bottom out the struts - I'm hoping not, but then I don't plan on going super low with it.
 
Re: Decided to go with coilovers, finished the fronts today...

the liklihood of you bottoming them out is there, but really only if you go fairly low. if you lower it enough to get rid of the fender gap you should be fine. however, the lower you go the less strut travel you will ultimately have and the more often you'll ride on the bump stops which will destroy the struts.

take it from me, i am in the process of destroying a set of struts right now with how low i have my car and i can honestly say that i might have to switch back to a spring/strut setup before winter because these struts will be gone.
 
Re: Decided to go with coilovers, finished the fronts today...

the liklihood of you bottoming them out is there, but really only if you go fairly low. if you lower it enough to get rid of the fender gap you should be fine. however, the lower you go the less strut travel you will ultimately have and the more often you'll ride on the bump stops which will destroy the struts.

take it from me, i am in the process of destroying a set of struts right now with how low i have my car and i can honestly say that i might have to switch back to a spring/strut setup before winter because these struts will be gone.

I talked a few times with Paul at PRJ motorsports, he had done a set using HT's but it was his spring setup that interested me. He used a 600-1300 pound progressive tender spring (3.5" height) and than a 7" 500 pound linear spring on top of it. Said the guy dropped the car 2.5" I believe and struts would only bottom out on the most severe of conditions, my only concern would be the ride, in his opinion it wasn't excessively firm, but everyone has a different opinion of what firm is.
 
Re: Decided to go with coilovers, finished the fronts today...

helper springs definitely help ride quality.
 


Re: Decided to go with coilovers, finished the fronts today...

Definitely one of the better looking homemade coilovers I've seen...there was a set on ClubGP that looked kinda crude.

Nice work.
 
Re: Decided to go with coilovers, finished the fronts today...

^^

this. i will patiently wait for moar updates.
 
Re: Decided to go with coilovers, finished the fronts today...

Not much in the way of an update, stopped by a friends garage who is doing the welding and he got caught up in a project that needed finished today, so the top mounts aren't done yet. This isn't completely a "homemade" set as some of stuff I used needed to be machined/welded. (Neither I do, but know people) :)

One problems others were having was the thrust bearing being exposed to elements, found a company (Seals it) that produces a sealed thrust bearing, they will be coming next week. Also called Strange Engineering to see if I could order individual parts (sleeve and nuts) for the coilover rather than ordering the entire $68 kit from Summit. Was able to get the both sets for rear for $72 + shipping direct from strange just ordering what I need...

Will have an update sometime next week and thanks for the compliments. :)
 
Re: Decided to go with coilovers, finished the fronts today...

I pay respect where it's due. Keep up the progress. When you're done if you have time it'd be cool to see a parts list/how to.

Lookin' good.
 
Re: Decided to go with coilovers, finished the fronts (Updated 04/19)

Picked up the upper mounts today, guy had a chance to weld them so except for powder coating them the front coil over setup in my opinion is done. The Seals-it sealed thrust bearings arrived to, should work well with at least my setup, using them just with the spring seems like the width of the spring compared to the contact patch of the bearing could be an issue. Here are some pics.

Picture of bearing as received.
2011-04-19171426.jpg


Top shot of upper mount with fabricated piece welded in.
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Bottom shot of upper mount with fabricated piece welded in.
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Another view of the bottom of upper mount
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Picture of it all assembled
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Bottom picture of it all assembled
2011-04-19172545.jpg


That's about it, need to get some 3/16" hot rolled steel and will start on the rear ones.
 


Re: Decided to go with coilovers, finished the fronts (Updated 04/19)

Welcome to the brotherhood of the very few...Coilover Club (and Bio isn't allowed :D)

Very VERY VERY nice work man, it is very clean and professional.
 
Re: Decided to go with coilovers, finished the fronts (Updated 04/19)

Nice weld on the top mount! How is the lower spring adjuster collar/barrel attached to the AGX?
 


Re: Decided to go with coilovers, finished the fronts (Updated 04/19)

Any updates on this?

No updates on it, still working out issues with the rear coilover setup, think we got'er licked will find out maybe next week. Wanted to keep the geometry for the rear sway bar, so had to come up with something to keep that in the current location yet still give me my adjustability. If I get what I need welded next week I'll post pictures of it. Still also waiting for another set of sealed bearings, been waiting for almost a month and a half, manufacturer is kinda giving me the run around but they are the only ones making them. We also made a new upper mount plate, will call on Monday to find out where we stand on that.

Nice weld on the top mount! How is the lower spring adjuster collar/barrel attached to the AGX?

The Strange barrel ID is bigger than the AGX OD, we ended up using some PVC tube and machined it down to take up the slack (3/32" thick). Installed that over the strut than installed the Strange aluminum piece over that, it's a pretty damn tight fit. The rear strut is being setup similar but with the extra length of it, we did it differently, hope to have some pics up next week if all goes well. Oh, I could only wish I could weld that good, friend of mine did that.
 
After a long wait, some redesigning, and waiting for the sealed thrust bearings, was able to pick these up Wednesday, between my friend and I this is what we came up with, used my 12" springs from the front just for the pics, for the rears will probably end up needing to use a 9" or 10" spring. The plate is at a 12 degree angle, which matches the stock angle. Have to repaint struts and going to have the tops powder coated wrinkle black. Will put these on come spring time I hope...

Needed a spacer between the strut and spring mount, sway bar bracket is mounted in the stock position.
20111111_200323.jpg

20111111_200306.jpg


Picture of top plate and mount, mount has been drilled offset in the center with an inch difference, will allow the strut to sit an inch higher in the mount, will have to decide which way to go and have it welded.
20111111_200225.jpg

20111111_200242.jpg

20111111_200338.jpg

Here's a picture of the center mount, a rather stout piece.
20111111_200402.jpg

Just some more pictures of the setup
20111111_200425.jpg

Also in the pictures is the sealed bearings I waited 2 months to get. Don't know if these are back in production or not.
 
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let me just copy and paste what i said over at clubgp....

i like it. i like it a lot.

however, there would be no way in hell i would have welded the bracket there when i could have been using those threads to dump the hell out of the car. however, that's just me. anything that goes to those brackets can be zip tied onto the car somewhere else.

i know that isnt what youre going for, but that is my opinion. i would be using all of those threads.
 
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