I saw that; I was really hoping to put Bilsteins on the front so I
didn't have to replace my rear shocks. I guess I will just have to
see how the Konis work because they look like the only came in town.
Alternately I have a good used set of stockers with tweaked mounting
points, I will see if I can get a friend with a press to try to
untweak them for me. At least the shafts on those are straight unlike
the other ones I got :(
nate
On Jun 18, 2:54 am, "GigaNews" <a...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Check this out - for already done procedure~ you dont need the top
threaded
> at
all.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/printthread.php?s=62244d65bf4f6b120af1...
>
> Joel
>
> "N8N" <njna...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>
> news:1182021726.418427.42680@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
>
> > On Jun 15, 6:49 pm, N8N <njna...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> >> Follow up to original post below... please note that this is
> >> crossposted to alt.autos.porsche.944
>
> >> Cliff's notes/background: I purchased a used (read: junk) pair of
> >> each flavor of strut off eBay for the express purpose of mocking up
my
> >> proposed mod. If it works out, I'll probably have the late style
> >> strut housings powdercoated, and install a pair of Bilstein cartridge
> >> inserts. And I'll be all proud of myself and stuff. The followup is
> >> a copy of a post to a thread on the pelican parts forums. I'll post
> >> lots of pics on my web site if this actually works, with a lawyer
> >> proof disclaimer of course if anyone is suicidally insane enough to
> >> try this on their own vehicle, or worse yet, perform this mod for a
> >> paying customer.
>
> >> Nate Nagel wrote:
> >> > Hopefully some machinist will read this who also has enough
knowledge
> >> > of
> >> > cars that this post will make sense.
>
> >> > I own a 1988 Porsche 944. The front struts are unitized; that is,
the
> >> > caps that hold the inserts into the housing are crimped on. I can
only
> >> > replace them as a complete unit. They're made by Sachs/Boge, which
is
> >> > not a big plus in my book.
>
> >> > Earlier cars used a threaded cap at the top of the strut tube to
hold
> >> > the insert in. Those struts are rebuildable by unscrewing the cap
and
> >> > simply replacing the insert. Bilstein makes inserts for these
struts,
> >> > and new Bilstein inserts are significantly cheaper than the new
> >> > Sachs/Boge assemblies. (win/win, better dampers *and* cheaper too!)
>
> >> > From what I've been told, the two assemblies are not directly
> >> > interchangeable due to differences in the way they mount to the
> >> > steering
> >> > knuckle (there were some suspension geometry changes between the
'86
> >> > and
> >> > '87 model years, when the non-rebuildable struts were introduced.)
>
> >> > So here's why I'm posting to this newsgroup and not an automotive
group
> >> > - I have a pair of '87-88 style struts that are shot. I paid $20
to
> >> > have them shipped to me so I could play with them (so if I screw
them
> >> > up, I'm out the cost of a semi-expensive dinner.) I have my
suspicions
> >> > that if I grind the crimped caps off of them that I will find that
they
> >> > are otherwise identical to the earlier struts in terms of the tube
and
> >> > insert. If that is the case, would it be possible to simply have a
> >> > machinist cut threads in the top of the strut housing tubes? I'm
not
> >> > sure what the implications are of trying to turn something this big
and
> >> > unbalanced in a lathe, is that a problem?
>
> >> > If you can tell me that this *should* work, I'm going to try to
find a
> >> > set of junk early struts as well, and will gleefully start cutting
> >> > stuff
> >> > up :)
>
> >> > thanks,
>
> >> > nate
>
> >> Well, I just got my early struts a few minutes ago... it looks like
> >> they would bolt right on to my car EXCEPT that the lower mounting
hole
> >> is about 1/4" or so off from the later ones. Just enough that I
> >> wouldn't feel comfortable opening it up/welding a washer on - it
would
> >> be awful close to the edge of the bracket.
>
> >> At a glance, the only other major difference I can see is the strut
> >> bearings (obviously) and the brake line bracket (welded on at a
> >> different angle.) The tubes appear to be similar in diameter so I'm
> >> still keeping my fingers crossed.
>
> >> One of the late struts appears to have been in a fire - fuel line
> >> maybe? - spring is sagged and bump stop is melted but the other
> >> appears to have been recently rebuilt (bump stop and little plastic
> >> cup are intact, and I swear there's cosmoline around the cap threads)
> >> so I have high hopes that I will be able to unscrew the cap and
> >> extract the cartridge for a trial fit in a late style housing.
>
> >> I'm going to try to work on this tomorrow as I am leaving for a
> >> Studebaker meet in South Bend, IN on Tuesday; if I can get all my
> >> questions answered I might be able to leave my pieces parts with a
> >> machinist friend that lives in Fort Wayne.
>
> >> Note to self - make sure camera is in car when going over to friend's
> >> garage to destroy these @[EMAIL PROTECTED]
late struts!
>
> >> Stay tuned...
>
> >> nate
>
> >> -warming up the angle grinder and other implements of destruction -
> >> woo hoo!-
>
> >> -this is what happens when you let a cheap ass Studebaker owner work
> >> on a Porsche-
>
> > Bad news... doesn't work. To make a long story short, the strut
> > assemblies are at a glance identical, but upon closer examination are
> > subtly different in almost every dimension. I had to try, however,
> > because I just hate getting a "good" idea and not following up on it.
>
> > - the tubes of the struts are slightly different in diameter. The
> > 87-88 ones are about 1/8" larger in diameter than the earlier ones.
>
> > - the bolt pattern is different, the holes in the early struts are
> > slightly closer together.
>
> > - the pocket that the steering knuckle fits into is slightly wider on
> > the early struts.
>
> > - the tubes are slightly longer on the late struts. (that alone
> > wouldn't have been a problem; I could have just cut them shorter)
>
> > So... it appears that for an 87-88 owner there are only two options.
>
> > 1) buy original Sachs/Boge struts for about $240 apiece - I don't
> > consider this to be an acceptable option because of the bad
> > experiences I've had with Sachs/Boge products in the past.
>
> > 2) Get the Koni inserts designed for the late struts - there was a how
> > to with pics posted just a couple weeks ago on these.
>
> > Option 2) makes me a little nervous as it seems that once you go down
> > that road you're at the mercy of Koni for as long as you own your car;
> > they're the only one that makes inserts for the late struts. But right
> > now it looks like the only game in town.
>
> > I'll post pics later tonight just to clarify the above, but I didn't
> > get very far as as soon as I knocked the cap off the first Sachs
> > strut, I could see that I was done.
>
> > I had such high hopes for this idea too...
>
> > nate- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
|
