Slow and low

[graveltrapp]

Began the process to lower the 1200. I first had to decide on whether I was going to cut the stock springs, lower the perches or some combo of both. Because I did not want an ultra harsh ride and being on a tight budget I opted to first cut the springs. I already have the collars and have used them on my Mazda with no ill effects but I went with coil overs on it and had no plans to do the same on the 1200. I began by removing the struts and springs of course. I used a set of spring compressors from OReilys and then cut off two complete coils, my thought was that I wanted to be able to go lower if I wanted to and if initially to low could then install the collars and bring the front back up. My struts are completely shot as in almost no dampening so I am now most definitely in a race to get the housings cut and shorter inserts in place. Here are some photos of the process, I will post some of the cars final resting height later after taken some shots.

Before:

[graveltrapp]

Everything looks good from afar.

Swaybar bushings will be soon!

About 5lbs of old grease and grime, Probally need to do all four ball joints as well.

After scraping, looks like no dust shields are left.

[graveltrapp]

Time to begin the fun stuff.

Pretty sure they had never been removed.

Out!

This is the second time I have used my portable bike stand for struts, works really well.

[graveltrapp]

I am surprised the shaft even stayed up in place,,, that shot!

The goods.

Before.

After.

[graveltrapp]

Before reinstalling I cleaned up and repainted most of the parts, I also threw in some new brake pads as the current ones were almost completely gone. Nothing fancy, just new OE type pads. In the future whens funds come available I would like to splurge on some fancier brake pads or maybe brake swap instead.

 

Look at those tie rod ends, Yikes! Pretty embarrassing :sleep: .

[ggzilla]

Ah, looks like you have the orginal struts -- great! You can make them as soft or as firm as you like. Much better than strut inserts.

[graveltrapp]

I may try this week to pull the cap off and replace or at least put some(not sure there is any oil left from the feel) shock oil and see how she rolls. But because I want to lower even more I may still go for inserts and chop the tubes.

[DaBlist]

Any updates on how the car sits, any rubbing? And how did shock oil work?

 

Thanks

[graveltrapp]

Installed 2" blocks and I am happy with the rear. Getting quite a bit of rubbing from the lips , so I will roll them tomorrow. I would be curious to try 3" blocks but think it may be to much for stress free street driving. The front will need to come down another inch, and to accomplish that I will be cutting the tubes and going with shorter inserts. I have lined up a local guy who has done it a number of times. Cant wait to experience the improved handling with the new inserts, shocks and being quite a bit lower. It feels better as it sits now so with the improved dampning up front it should be on rails. Wont get to cut tubes for another week. Update then. Here is how she is sitting at the moment.

 

 

Shitty ass cell phone and cold ass hands just after dropping it down, had yet to settle into final height.

 

 

Blocks and shackles that needed to be trimmed extensively.

 

[Davec]

So what inserts have you decided to go with?

[graveltrapp]

I have some Konis that I had bought for my rx2, I think from comparing specs that with about a 1 3/4 chop on the tubes that they should drop in. will try next weekend.

This week I will be renting a fender roller and getting the clearance issues squared away as I am getting some serious rubbing on the rear and will also rub on front when dropped any lower.

[Tristin]

Do you have a heat gun? It's really going to help when rolling your fenders... It'll soften up the paint to avoid cracking.

 

Car looks great a little lower. Sad I missed it at the last meet. Are you coming to Olympia at the end of the month?

[graveltrapp]

Got a heat gun and did try rolling with a pipe/bat technique but was not all that successful. So renting one off Craigslist for $30.00, seems a deal and that includes the Eastwood roller and a heatgun. He said I could have it for a day and a half which should give me time enough to do two cars. Will be hooking up with the others at Krispy creme for the South end meet. I will try to round up some other north enders as the date gets closer to convoy down. Cannot wait to get the front another inch or so lower. See you down there.

[Tristin]

Awesome!

[graveltrapp]

Had to swap the blocks as the original set was wedged to correct the rear flange angle? NOT, they gave me all sorts of issues that have since been corrected. Still getting some rubbing on the rear as the sedan has a bulge in the rear wheel well that is tough to eliminate. Its not that bad and only rubs on the big hits, it does not appear to be doing any damage to the tires though so not to worried. Still have yet to address the fronts, but need to ASAP, they bottom at the slightest head wind and It really sucks.

[graveltrapp]

Started overhauling the front struts and brakes today. First thing I did was pull the struts apart and drain the old fluid. Cleaned them up and removed the lower spring perch so that collars could be put into place, still trying to get the front another inch or so lower.

This was my persuader.

the new formula.

I had this killer measuring cup that I had got at a Landscape trade show, It was for mixing herbicides but worked great for shock fluid, it topped out at 10" and I needed 9.5"

This made the struts so damp that I had to mount them in a vice so that I could cycle the oil into the inners. Compared to the original oil that allowed the shaft to fall completely back into the body under its own weight! I suspect that this should make a significant difference on both the handling and help eliminate the violent bottoming out that I was experiencing.

[graveltrapp]

Here are the collars and removed perch.

I believe they are 45mm ID, I have had a set on another car for over a year now with no problems so I have no concerns using them.

Nice clean cut, now just need to grind down the weld.

After weld was gone it was tight slip fit on housing.

[graveltrapp]

Painted and reassembled. After reinstalling on the car I determined that the springs I was using were going to be to long. This is a bit of a bummer as they were a higher rate than the stockers but also a bit longer than the cut stock springs I had in there. I will decided whether to reinstall the cut stock springs or cut these down a couple or more coils.

Before, with stock cut springs and welded perches.

[831Sunny]

did you cut the blues or use the old ones?

[graveltrapp]

Went back to the cut stockers. I wanted to wait until I shortened the strut tubes for shorter inserts before deciding on whether to hack up the blues or not. They are a higher spring rate and I am pretty happy with the ride of the stock rates. I installed bumpstops on the shafts at the same time and I think that I am hitting them regularly, It is not bad but I may try trimming some of there length of to get a little bit more travel out of the current setup. Ultimately I will shorten the tubes for more travel.