AE86 short strokes on a budget
Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 2:26 pm
well, eric (aka erickz300) came over one weekend while i was doing some work on the 86 and he got to asking me about the short stroke conversion for the front. he said his T3 shock spacers had just arrived. since he conveniently lived just around the corner he went back, got the collar and spacers and brought them back to my place and here's what we came up with.
parts needed:
x1 pair of Techno Toy Tuning spacers
x2 uncut stock front strut casings
x2 inexpensive coilover collars for a fwd corolla
x1 1.75"-2" i.d. aluminum exhaust piping (dirt cheap at any auto parts store or scrap pieces from your favorite muffler shop)
springs: buy springs that are 2.5" I.D. but no longer than 7"-9". you'll actually be able to apply preload. with 9" long springs, you may still have another 1"-1.5" drop left on your collars. with the 7" long springs you'll definitely have 2" to 3" drop room left on top of the 1"-2" drop you'll get just from the AGX sw20 shock inserts.
with an angle grinder and metal cut off wheel, chop off the factory perch skirt and clean it up BUT DON'T GRIND DOWN THE WELD THAT KEPT THE SKIRT ATTACHED TO THE STRUT HOUSING. THAT WILL BE YOUR PERCH!
the collar should be quite snug. if it sticks, the strut housing may be a bit dirty. clean it up. if it's still really really tight and won't let the collar slide on without breaking a sweat then with your grinder (NOT THE CUT OFF WHEEL! PUT A GRINDING WHEEL ON.) touch the collar up a bit at the top. that area may be a bit bulged due to the threading on the inside for the gland nut. JUST LIGHTLY grind the area down a little. keep test fitting until the collar just slides right over.
after wards, cut an appropriate length from the exhaust piping your acquired to act as a spacer between the top of the collar and the top of the T3 gland nut/spacer. this way, you don't have to tack weld above the collar and risk burning the gland nut threads on the inside of the housing. look:
voila!
less cutting and chopping.
parts needed:
x1 pair of Techno Toy Tuning spacers
x2 uncut stock front strut casings
x2 inexpensive coilover collars for a fwd corolla
x1 1.75"-2" i.d. aluminum exhaust piping (dirt cheap at any auto parts store or scrap pieces from your favorite muffler shop)
springs: buy springs that are 2.5" I.D. but no longer than 7"-9". you'll actually be able to apply preload. with 9" long springs, you may still have another 1"-1.5" drop left on your collars. with the 7" long springs you'll definitely have 2" to 3" drop room left on top of the 1"-2" drop you'll get just from the AGX sw20 shock inserts.
with an angle grinder and metal cut off wheel, chop off the factory perch skirt and clean it up BUT DON'T GRIND DOWN THE WELD THAT KEPT THE SKIRT ATTACHED TO THE STRUT HOUSING. THAT WILL BE YOUR PERCH!
the collar should be quite snug. if it sticks, the strut housing may be a bit dirty. clean it up. if it's still really really tight and won't let the collar slide on without breaking a sweat then with your grinder (NOT THE CUT OFF WHEEL! PUT A GRINDING WHEEL ON.) touch the collar up a bit at the top. that area may be a bit bulged due to the threading on the inside for the gland nut. JUST LIGHTLY grind the area down a little. keep test fitting until the collar just slides right over.
after wards, cut an appropriate length from the exhaust piping your acquired to act as a spacer between the top of the collar and the top of the T3 gland nut/spacer. this way, you don't have to tack weld above the collar and risk burning the gland nut threads on the inside of the housing. look:
voila!
less cutting and chopping.