start of gc and konis install
 

man o man what did i get my self into. i got 3 of the four energy suspention bushings on. the fourth i had problems with because big fat muffler got in way with my dual system. i got the front struts off and i found out i got one bad ball joint. how much are those any ways? the front two are semi preped. i got the shocks out and hole drilled and coils off old. im deciding not to cut the perches all the way. i used a very strong welding epxoy. like jb weld. this is for the new gc perch on the old perch. i have yet to cut down the perches to about a inch away from the new one just. for mental reasurance. 8 hrs and the rears have not been touched. this rate i will be done on christmas. pics of oldys that when compressed did not move. at all.

i will take more pics tommorrow.

pics of done job. i need to take the rears off again. one mount is rattling. its got space to move like 1/4 of a inch (i need a washer). the other i got a sqeak which is very small. and i want to re adjust the rears. i have them on all the way soft and it is bouncy. i thought i put them on firm.

and more..

the best yet i wanted to paint and cut perchs but time and exhuastion set in. i will in the future when i go back to mo where i will have my own tools and garage. i did it on a mil base and they would not let me paint. bastards. they can shoot at nothing for practice blowing things up but i cant spray paint for 5 min.

Is the top of the strut supposed to be cut off that much? Did you Konis have 3 nubs near the top to aid in alignment?

they would not fit i tried. finally i decided f it and just cut them down more. i didnt know that they aided in allingnment. i thought it was just to hold them in better. they fit really snug and with the bolt at the bottom they arent moving. over fifty percent of the strut is in the tube.

don't the new batch of Konis with the nubs require that the struts be cut to a certain length, or was that the old ones?? I remember reading that the nubs are positioned around the strut in 3 points to slide inside the old housing to make sure the strut did not move side to side. Alway remember a table with three legs is never wobbly. I need to read the install instructions before I get them

Tom

Ok, just read the old instructions and such from Todd's locker. It says to cut the stock perch and weld on the new one. Is it ok to use a welding epoxy like he did or should it actually be welded on? I have a tig welder here but i would much rather avoid using it if I can.

Tom

weld any way u can. it will hold better than any epxoy thing. im trashed. but the cold weld is the way to go with out supplies.

Yeah you need to leave enough tube at the top for the nubs to get sucked into. They may seem like they fit tight without that but they don't fit tight enough, I wouldn't be suprized if they still clunk when going around corners.
You are suppost to measure the strut so that the nubs will get pulled into the strut body just to be about flush with each other. The nubs will not slide right into the strut body by hand they have to be pulled in by the bottom bolt when you tighen it up, they will streatch out the metal of the strut body a little going in to make it really tight. (they are not meant to come back out, the top of the strut unscrews to rebuild the strut). The strut body should be cut so that you can tap the nubs in far enough to catch the strut by about 2 or three threads and then draw it in the rest of the way. Make sure you got enough threads on it so that you won't strip out the strut or the bolt, or then you will really hate life.


As far as the spring perch goes Tom, if you cut off just enough of thr old perch to use as a base for a new perch then your weld won't have to be perfect, the old section of base will be supporting the weight with the factory weld, your weld will just be holding the new perch from sliding around. Thats prettymuch what I did, the new perch isn't welded directly to the strut body, it's welded to the peice of perch I left on the strut body.

any suggestions. so far the struts them self are very quiet. the rear mounts are a little noisy. like i said it is a really tight fit. i now see the reason for the nubs. but i dont thing i can do anything for this now. i guess maybe if they get bad tighten the bolt every time the car is up in the air. or get new tubes all together. what to do. damn.

Yeah, unfortunatly you may need to get new tubes. That would be the right way to do it anyway. Or you could try filling any area between the tube and the strut with your cold weld stuff, this may work or it may just leave you with an epoxyed strut that won't stay tight and you can't put in a new tube later on.

Or you can just see how well it holds out for now, but remember a strut needs to hold all the weight of the car in the corners and everything and they will probly move around enough to be changing the wheel angles and alingment all the time.

there is no room between the strut and the tube to fill with the cold stuff. i could weld the tube to the strut where they meet (where u start to see yellow out the tube). these things fit tight in my tubes. i doubt to much movement if any. you can not move side to side the least bit.

i will cold weld the top of tube to strut regardless to make all kosher. but my road tests rock in corners. very small body roll at 85 around a nice turn speed limit 55. on bad tires. not even pushing limits i would not dare yet with condition of tires. but my new ones are in and i got to get the on. but first pulling the rears off to tighten and welding top then a nice solid allignment. and its all gravy for the new mich hydros. and off to the mo.