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Thread: Front coilover conversion

  1. #1
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    Front coilover conversion

    I am going to put coilovers on the front of my 86. I have a question regaurding the strut top flange being larger than the body. M&M shows Koni's that are flush and I am wondering if I need to grind this down or what.
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  2. #2
    Red Captain MikeFleming's Avatar
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    The MM CO kit will NOT fit the stock KONI struts without serious modifications.

    Your best bet is to get FOX KONI SA or DA struts then deal with the camber changes using adjuster plates (which you will need in any case as the stock rubber mounts will not handle the suspension spring loads).
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    What are these serious modifications you speak of? I bought the Koni coil over kit. I have the M&M CC plates. When I talked to M&M they said it would work. Then again they said nothing about this top (nut that holds all the internal parts together?) being larger in diameter than the body of the strut either. The body is the right diameter for the inside of the coil over and the slot for the spindle mounting is the correct width. So enlighten me as to what the serious mods would be? Wheel to spring clearance or what?

  4. #4
    Red Captain MikeFleming's Avatar
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    You will need to remove that nut plate. Four spots welds, iirc. to the actual nut. I've heard of folks cold-chiselling that plate off.Be careful to not nick or scratch the strut shaft.

    There are a couple body spot welds that are larger than the inside diameter of the threaded sleeves.

    Lastly the SVO struts are too long for anything other than a stock ride height car. The CC plates will raise the shaft towards the hood more. You may need to trim the hood under panel sheet metal for clearance.

    AFAIK all Fox and SVO spindles have the same strut mounting ear width and hole pattern for the bolts. The offset angle is different between the SVO nad all other FOXs.

    The MM kit is not intended for the SVO struts. The folks at MM should have told you this.
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  5. #5
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    OK I am assuming the nut needs to be removed for bump travel not just the diameter problem with putting the coil over kit on? I knew about the welds. If one were running H&R sport springs (anything but a stock ride height) with M&M CC plates would the struts bottom out?

  6. #6
    Red Captain MikeFleming's Avatar
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    If one were running H&R sport springs (anything but a stock ride height) with M&M CC plates would the struts bottom out?
    Dunno. You will need to check that.

    With the suspension setup as you will run it, remove the spring and one end of the front sway bar and bring the a-arm up using a floor jack to where the bump stop (part of the MM CO kit) makes contact and see if the struts still have some travel remaining. Naturally there's less clearance with a lowered front.

    Same process as checking for retainer-to-valve guide seals, etc. on the cylinder head where higher lift cam profiles reduce clearances.
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  7. #7
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    So is the offset a problem with tire clearance?

  8. #8
    Red Captain MikeFleming's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by brsvo View Post
    So is the offset a problem with tire clearance?
    Totally depends on wheel size, offset, tyre size, etc. You should always check this when changing any suspension components, wheels, tyres, etc.

    Iirc changing to FOX struts in a stock SVO adds about 1.5-2.0 degrees negative camber.
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  9. #9
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    If I hadn't rebuilt my stock ones recently I would have gone that route.

  10. #10
    Red Captain MikeFleming's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by brsvo View Post
    If I hadn't rebuilt my stock ones recently I would have gone that route.
    Understood.

    It's often a difficult decision:
    - Spend more money on new parts and save the original, reman'd SVO parts for later or another project

    or

    - Modify the newly-reman'd [stock] SVO parts to fit the new application/need.
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  11. #11
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    I bailed on the coil over not wanting to destroy the stock strut. Looking for a spring manufacturer that will make me what I want. No one so far will do a one off for me. I am getting frustrated and am actually thinking of putting the stockers back in. Good chance I will end up making spacers for my H&R's to get the ride height I want.

  12. #12
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    Bruce,

    What ride height are you looking for? I love the height with my H&R Sports and standard rebuilt Koni's. Car handles pretty well but maybe not perfect. You seem to do very well for yourself in the autocross etc. as is. Have you tried R&L Spring out of Lake Geneva WI they do great work but again may not be ineterested in low volume unless exact specifications are provided.
    Tom

  13. #13
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    I love the way my car sits but for the street it is too low with the H&R's. I am not sure what H&R springs I have, they say the number for the sport spring on the spring but the number on the box is a show only spring that lowers it more. I bottom out the suspension too often. I was in the 13.875" area in back (made a spacer for that and have 14.25 now will try an extra poly isolator on top of the front spring to see where that ends up.Thanks for the heads up I will contact them.

  14. #14
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    Barry, I put the Eibach Race spring on mine to complement the Maximum Motorsport torque arm and pan hard bar. They actually raised the ride height which I like. I wouldn't put them on a daily driver if I lived up north with pot-holed roads, but you can certainly drive them from Atlanta to Birmingham without the need for a kidney belt. Here are some pict of before and after.
    118_1834.jpg

    smAdj_DSA5115.jpg

  15. #15
    Half Boost Raven855's Avatar
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    Here are some Spring rates and their drop. I have the info in a word doc that I need to convert that I will do later.IMG_1180.jpgIMG_1181.jpg

  16. #16
    Building Boost Bob, get off my lap! Jack Hidley's Avatar
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    We recommend grinding down the OD of the bumpstop plate, rather than removing it. Cover the strut shaft in a thick layer of tape before doing this.

    The welds on the OD of the housing can be ground down. After these two steps are performed, the coilover sleeve can be slide down over the housing.

    The amount of damping in the SVO struts will limit the maximum coilover spring rate to a rather low stiffness, but this normally isn't a problem when a rear spring is used on the RLCA.

    Installation of c/c plates increases the amount of bump travel by 1" without any interference between the strut and hood. So if your car is lowered 1" in front, there is no loss in bump travel. The use of c/c plates is mandatory with a coilover conversion for other reasons.

    With appropriate spring rates and as long as the car isn't lowered excessively, the stock SVO struts work fine with coilovers.

    You are not going to find anyone to wind you a custom coil spring for less than a couple thousand dollars a pair. There are too many manufacturing steps on very expensive machines involved.
    Jack Hidley
    Maximum Motorsports Tech Support

  17. #17
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    I wish I had talked to you when I called M&M. I would have coilovers on my car now instead of returning them. I did find a spring manufacturer that would make me progessive rate springs to my spec's for 325 a pair.

    Dobinsons Spring & Suspension USA
    1970 NW 129th Ave Suite 108
    Miami, FL 33182
    786-508-4962

  18. #18
    Building Boost Bob, get off my lap! Jack Hidley's Avatar
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    I'm shocked that they agreed to make one pair of springs for only $325. Assuming they follow all of the steps on their website, I don't see how they aren't losing money.
    Jack Hidley
    Maximum Motorsports Tech Support

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