Front Leg Coil-Overs?

[Jonny Challenor]

When converting a set of front legs to coilovers how dou you determine which type of damper suits the strut casing, also is it just a matter of the desired ride height that dictates whether the damper required is the long or short type.

Any help appreciated. Jonny.

[exboyracer]

What casings do you have? RS / 2.0 capri type or 2.8 bilsteins?

[Jonny Challenor]

Errm im not to sure i think they are the rs type, but i dont have a clue. My dad bought them off a rally car back in the 80's. They have removeable steering arms and screw on strut casing seal if that helps. I stripped one of them down today and took a few pictures.

[Jonny Challenor]

Sorry about the size of the pictures.

[exboyracer]

They look like RS struts to me

As far as I know the short dampers only enable decent damper travel at lower ride height if the strut body is shortened to suit.

[Jonny Challenor]

Thanks alot.

Is it possible to shorten rs struts to match short inserts as I can imagine problems recutting the thread at the top of the casing, or would it be a case of cutting the strut down and then using the press-on type cap?

Are bilstein inserts available for this strut if not would it be possible to convert the casing to match the short bilstein 300/70 tarmac inserts.

Thanks. Jonny

[Jonny Challenor]

I have found a set of short spax adjustable inserts (are these any good?) but to use these i would have to cut the strut down by an inch , any ideas as to how i can go about tapping/extending the retaining thread in the strut casing?

[exboyracer]

I imagine you'd have to get the strut body re-threaded once you've cut it down, but I don't really know as I've never done it myself.

Hopefully someone else will be able to advise!

[Jonny Challenor]

Ok thanks for all the help anyway. jonny.

[dangerousdave]

If fitting the bilstein inserts there's more to it than just chopping them and rethreading as they also will need du bushes inside near the top to support the damper on its travel since they are upside down dampers (hence the thickness of the "rod"). You will also need a threaded hole in the bottom of the casing although a correct diameter hole would probably do as there's a lock nut too, but it needs to be perfectly central to avoid premature wear on the damper rod by being out of line.

If its something your seriously considering doing though, give bilstein a call and tell them what you want to do and they can no doubt do it all and quickly too. Just had my shocks rebuilt and new strut bushes and the price wasn't too bad at all!

Failing that I know gartrac do threaded tubes that go into the stub axle to save having the weld on sleeves, I'm assuming they would come as you need them to be to fit each length insert?

[Jonny Challenor]

thanks but i reckon im going to go with something like spax inserts in the struts i have and hopefully i can get away with the short inserts. Just gonna give it a try.

[HonkyWhiteTrash]

You can only use the proper length strut inserts relative to the legs you have - if you put short ones in they will jump around inside - the threaded locking ring in your picture holds the insert in place. You could (but it wouldn't work) put spacers in the bottom of the legs for short ones but it wouldn't work as the inserts would then bottom out sooner in compression of the suspension leg.

If you want to run shorter inserts you need shorter legs as already mentioned. I have seen legs "cut-and-shut" where an inch or so is taken out of the legs and the threaded top section is welded back to the shortened bottom section. I don't really know if i would want to trust this set-up though. This method really only looks anywhere near safe to me if you convert the legs to coilovers and use the threaded coilover tube to sleeve over the welded section.

Could be worth putting up a separate post about cutting and welding legs to see if any one has used this type of setup successfully. I imagine classic hotrodders (not the oval racer types - American hotrod style) do it as they don't tend to have a need for long and supple/comfortable suspension legs like normal road cars do - they don't really exert too much cornering forces on their suspension legs as they really only need to go fast in straight lines!!

Those legs you have are Capri/Escort RS2000 (but not Capri 3.0 litre) so if you are wanting normal sealed units (they aren't serviceable like yours) they are easy to get and come in the one length only for those legs.

You can actually upgrade the damping in your legs by changing to weight of the oil used in those inserts that you have - i did it in a set of legs i used recently with no problems. If you need advice on oil weights i'd guess that suspension leg makers like Gaz or Spax might be able to advise you. Of course they might try and sell you one of their products too!!

[Jonny Challenor]

"If you want to run shorter inserts you need shorter legs as already mentioned. I have seen legs "cut-and-shut" where an inch or so is taken out of the legs and the threaded top section is welded back to the shortened bottom section. I don't really know if i would want to trust this set-up though. This method really only looks anywhere near safe to me if you convert the legs to coilovers and use the threaded coilover tube to sleeve over the welded section.

Could be worth putting up a separate post about cutting and welding legs to see if any one has used this type of setup successfully. I imagine classic hotrodders (not the oval racer types - American hotrod style) do it as they don't tend to have a need for long and supple/comfortable suspension legs like normal road cars do - they don't really exert too much cornering forces on their suspension legs as they really only need to go fast in straight lines!!"

Thanks for the advice. Its funny you should say that because i was at the workshop today working on my car and wandered around the corner to see my mate who owns and runs the local Hot Rod shop (ACC, Automotive custom and classic) to ask him if it would be possible to cut and shut the legs exactly as you described and he said that wouldnt be a problem and that it was quite a common thing to do, and he never had any problems with them and they were run on all kinds of cars.

He said the best way to do it is to use an o-ring in the bottom of the strut to help locate the insert. The section that is cut out of the strut casing is then slotted, reduced and used to sleeve the inside of the casing and the coilover tube used to sleeve the outside. I would be more than happy enough to use this method under any circumstance.

I dont want to offend anyone but i dont class the oval cars as hot rods at all , now my dads car thats a hot rod i dont care what anyone says hehehe






one of the pictures shows it beating red victor 2 of the line

Thanks for all the help. Jonny.

[HonkyWhiteTrash]

Willy's '32 Coupe? Looks awesome, and i agree - "Oval hot rods" shouldn't even be called hot rods!

Good work with the suspension - i'd like to see how you do the conversion - maybe you could start a little thread on here?

[dangerousdave]

The gaz inserts for the rs legs are cheap enough new i wouldnt bother with anything else if your happy with std length. Think they are around £150 if not less for the pair. Alternatively just get them rebuilt by them with shortened inserts and the coilover treatment, for what your getting its very well priced

[Jonny Challenor]

Willy's '32 Coupe? Looks awesome,

Good work with the suspension - i'd like to see how you do the conversion - maybe you could start a little thread on here?

Close. Its actually a 41 willys coupe its an ex street eliminator car. Although it has no engine in it at the moment its fully street legal and tagged to run the 1/4 mile in 6 seconds . Hopefully it will be back on the strip in the next year or so with a 632Ci big block chevy with about 1400hp and 450hp shot of nitrous.

As far as the threads concerned ill put it up as soon as i get the parts.