DVC

That was hard to read. Very sorry Patrick Even though that was one of my favorite cars, I know the next one will be even better. Just glad you didn't get hurt too bad.

333pg333

Definitely painful at the time, but what makes it worse is seeing the car everyday at work.
GO952 is a Black 86 but not as good an example. Still, it will be mostly a track car so
not to worry. GO951 may rise from the ashes yet.......

Techno Duck

Going to install the same coilovers when I get back to NY, hopefully soon. All this rideheight talk makes me just want to bring it in and have it done.. . Is it tough to dial out that 'preload' between the torsion bars and coil springs? That is my big concern.

I'm going to drop the entire rear suspension anyhow.. Need to replace my torque tube 'while I'm in there'.

333pg333

As an aside, I'd be interested to hear from all the people who have fitted the KWs and see what they have had before and how they compare. Have your friends been in or driven your car and what sort of reaction do you get? Just interested is all....

Eric_Oz_S2

Mark, if it is any help, when i had my coilovers in before reindexing, and the rear 20mm or so higher, the handling was pretty awful. Much better with height level. PS the wheel arch to wheel centre isn't the best way to measure height, due to variations in panel fit. The FWSM shows the correct way to measure height (ie relative to the castor mounts and torsion tube). Mine is spot on side to side using this measurement but up to 10mm different using the arch method. Hand built cars...

Mark944na86

Well, I've still got about 15mm of adjustment available down in the rears, so it will be easy to try a flat set-up at 335mm (or so) all around to compare.

Still, makes you wonder what the KW engineers were thinking... maybe there's something in their set-up design that favours the recommended 20mm difference? Which brings us back to my original question, then.

Oh well, a bit of trial and error will sort things before any sort of theoretical conclusion will be reached, I guess.

Mark944na86

Are thinking of getting a corner balance balance done anytime soon, Eric? Who do you think you would use (or were you thinking of getting some scales and DIY?)

Eric_Oz_S2

As I'm only 17kg out I wasn't intending to do a corner balance.

Mark944na86

Is that with you in the car?

DVC

Delete the torsion bars and then wonder why you hadn't done it sooner.

Techno Duck

My concern with deleting the torsion bars is with not being able to use the double shear lower shock bolt with the KW's.

Sirenty

I've been debating doing this myself so I can adjust my KWs easier. What weight springs are you using in the rear? And did you order them direct from KW or someone else?

Also, have you modified the control arms at all? I'm at about 315mm front (317mm rear) and my arms have definitely lost some travel. Debating installing the Racer's Edge arms. Or maybe I'll just delete the torsion bar and raise the car up a bit again.

Mark944na86

Well, first things first -- put the KWs in with your torsion bars as they are, and measure how much lift you get. Depending on where you want to be, there may be enough adjustment to get you there without further work.

If you decide you want to change the base rideheight settings, then the options are springplate eccentrics (as assumed by the KW installation manual), reindexing or deletion.

Once you've reindexed the first time, there doesn't seem to be any advantage to deletion over reindexing (at least that I can see). Perhaps if you change spring rate drastically at the rear you may want to reindex -- I don't know. The advantage to reindexing over deletion (for me) is that a) less stress on other mounting points (a long debated issue over whether this is a real problem, of course), and b) that's the way KW designed their kit for these cars.

The latter is the clincher for me, at least to get started with the installation. I like to know how things are "supposed" to be before changing things to how I think they should be.

The final consideration is that if I leave the t-bars alone, if I need to send one or both of the rear shocks off for a warranty repair or service, then I can just sock my Bilsteins back in and keep driving. At this stage, it appears KW doesn't provide replacements while your shocks are being sent back to Germany for repair --- could be a long wait.

For me, reindexing/deletion would get me 15mm of extra adjustment of height lower -- not sure whether it's worth it at this stage.

Anyway, as I said, first things first. Good luck! So far, I'm really enjoying these. I'm taking the car out for a run on the track tomorrow morning, I suspect I'll have a bit more to think about after that.

Eric_Oz_S2

Yes and 2/3 tank fuel

Mark944na86

That's very good... where did you get the weighing done?