dave120

Well I'm starting to get the itch to upgrade the suspension on my S2. The PO has Koni yellows installed on all corners with 200# Weltmeister 1" drop springs in the front. But after driving and riding in some other setups I think I want to move up to coilovers and 300# up front and 28mm torsions in the rear.

My question is whether or not I can buy the coilover kit for my current front struts or if I need to buy all new everything. I failed in my brief search for the part numbers in my records as my house is currently in a very messy state, so I can probably find them if I need to later. I went out while I'm doing my CVs and snapped some pictures of the front suspension. Can I use these with the coilover kit from Paragon?

Passenger side - back side

Driver side - back side

Driver side - front side

Passenger side - front side

of course knowing me all that dirt will be scrubbed off there before I take it down today. I already cleaned the stuff on the rear of the car a lot where I've been working!

dave120

bump..

pete944

My guess is that you can use the coilovers on those struts. You'll have to cut the spring perch off but it should be pretty straight forward.

Skip is probably off partying with the other emu's.

dave120

Yeah cutting off the lower perch is no big deal. I'm wondering if I should just replace the whole thing though. How often do struts usually last before they need to be replaced? They do have some miles on them

Lead Foot 944

I just did the new struts...) NOt Koni's.....and the Paragon Front Coil-Overs....And man what a difference....The car rides a lot better...well worth the 200 some dollars....And man when I pulled out the old struts, they were such junk, no recoil to them at all.....Who knows how long i was riding on just springs....Like a slammed Honda..

And its always nice to have adjustable ride height...



DAmian

dave120

My shocks are still good (I can tell since they're set to almost full stiff!) But I'm wondering if I'm going to have to replace them in the near future anyways if I may as well do it now. Then I can give the whole used unit with spring and all to somebody else to use until they wear out.

Skip

Emus are pretty territorial and don't do well in large groups without lots of liqueur - we like to hang with the Llamas, though.

Dave, you have an S2 but those are not S2 struts. They appear to be from an 87-88 951 (non-S). Also, the springs are indeed Weltmeister lowering springs but they also have the 1" spacer (silver cast aluminum on bottom) that effectively negates the lowering ( you still get ~.25").

Now, you either need to see that the struts were rebuilt using an 8641-1414S insert or snap some pics of the top of the unit for me. In order to use the coil-over kit (adjustable ride-height kit, ARHK) you need to have converted the original Konis to the newer insert type (cut-n-drill method). Otherwise, the threaded sleeves will not fit over the sealed cap on the top of the Konis. If the struts have been converted to inserts you will be able to use the ARHK. You can tell by looking at the top of the strut - if there is crimped on cap or otherwise non-removable cap then they are sealed.

How many miles on them?

dave120

Well as far as I know they're not inserts. The PO bought them a few years ago (from Paragon AFAIK actually) before they became unavailable to buy. I guess they use the inserts now to replace those. I can take some pics of them but I can pretty much say that they're not rebuilt as he bought them brand new. I don't remember exactly how many miles, but I'd guess around 40k or so. I'll have to check my records and maybe find the part #s of those Konis.

Skip

8741-1136S is the part # for those if they are of the old variety.

Still, please take a pic of the tops - just to be very sure.

The only factory sealed OE Koni that can use the ARHK is the 86 951. It requires you slightly reduce the top by sanding or grinding. Here's a picture:

Skip

And, one showing them to fit with very little sanding effort (iirc, it was out of round more than oversize):

dave120

Here's what mine look like. Looks like they're sealed to me so they probably won't work. What are my options for buying new ones that I can use with the coilovers? Rather than tearing up these unless it's a lot cheaper I may as well get new ones so I can give these away as a complete unit. I doubt I'd have much trouble getting takers here for them.








Thanks for all your help Skip!

Eyal 951

how much might you be asking for em?
~Eyal

Skip

Dave, unfortunately for Eyal, they can be used with the ARHK.

Oh, and new Koni Comp bump rubbers come with the kit - so, no need to fret over that one dangling there

dave120

Yeah I noticed that rubber being all torn up when I climbed in to take those pics. Not a spot I generally see or I would have bought new ones already cuz I'm just like that.

I'm glad I can use my current ones though! Makes it cheaper which on my limited budget is always a good thing! I think that coil over kit w/ 300#s, and 28mm torsions are in my future! Altho then I'll need another alignment. Not looking forward to doing the torsion bars though.

Thanks for all your help Skip!

Manning

Holy crap, those bump stops are totally knackered. They look like they have desolved from oil or steering fluid getting on them.