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remembered hearing that volkswagen golf mkII struts were similiar in design to a festiva strut a while back so i ordered a set of the ebay coilovers (yes laugh now but theres more to it :wink: ) cost came to like 50$ maybe less even... got the sleeves and with the supplied o rings and other parts you can make them fit both the front and backs quite sturdily... this though did still not make me happy (the thought of a little rubber O ring keeping my suspension centered just didnt do it for me :? )
i took the struts and cut of VERY carefully little by little making sure not to let the strut get more than a little warm in between taking bits off trimmed the spring perch down to the spot where it was just a little above where it met the o ring centered sleeve when it is set down into it. then also i cut out a piece of 1/8" stainless steel and cut basically a large washer to go around the strut but still fit just inside the sleeve at the top of the strut housing.
tig welded everything VERY slowly little by little into place letting the struts cool down so that the internals would not be damaged by excessive heat. in the end you end up with a strut with a built in sleeve that will NOT go anywhere or rattle and squeak. i used the supplied spring hats with the stock rubber mounts.
also as a further note if you have strut boots inside the spring on the struts arm, these will more than likely have to be removed. the strut boots have a VERY firm and solid piece of rubber that is roughly 4-5 inches long that will interfere with lowering anything down very far and will cause a relatively rough ride :wink:
you can though modify them to work. under normal circumstances i would in NO WAY reccomend the cheapo coil-overs and just slapping them on... i simply do not trust things to set in places they were not meant to be without being nicely secured by a good piece of steel :wink: i would recommend if you want cheap coil-overs have any good performance shop build a pair as i have described, using any strut/spring of your choice.
the only reason i do everything the cheap way is because im in college, im 20 and im extremely poor
i think ive dropped 600$ into everything in my car now total including the cost of the car/swaps/ect lol... im pretty sure the spring rate of what i ordered were somwehere around the 300# area ( i like a rough but solid ride :wink: ) with it lowered down it handles quite well and theres a TON less body roll (also helps to have a bigger rim with less tire sidewall to allow for flex as well) well its roughly 3 am and ive got work at 6! time to go to sleep lol ive got finals tomorrow after work!
later everyone!
oh yeah by the way for colleges im going between a local college for gen eds (100$ a cred isnt a bad deal for those :wink: ) and MSU for the heavy stuff i cant get at the community tech college... would be nice to get ALL my creds at 100$ a piece lol... sadly i have to transfer up to MSU Mankato next year because i have nothing left to take down here for cheap :cry: big colleges are expensive... i dunno if its in the top whatever for ranking, i never really cared, its only an hour from home and im hoping to open my own shop eventually so im not too worried about having an uber-resume with the ivy leauge schools :wink:
id like to think all in all it was a better choice than going to wyotech or UTI like i was originally gunna do and just be a mechanic lol... what specific kinds of mechanical do you plan on going into? its interesting to hear about a fellow festiva loving engineer...
i took the struts and cut of VERY carefully little by little making sure not to let the strut get more than a little warm in between taking bits off trimmed the spring perch down to the spot where it was just a little above where it met the o ring centered sleeve when it is set down into it. then also i cut out a piece of 1/8" stainless steel and cut basically a large washer to go around the strut but still fit just inside the sleeve at the top of the strut housing.
tig welded everything VERY slowly little by little into place letting the struts cool down so that the internals would not be damaged by excessive heat. in the end you end up with a strut with a built in sleeve that will NOT go anywhere or rattle and squeak. i used the supplied spring hats with the stock rubber mounts.
also as a further note if you have strut boots inside the spring on the struts arm, these will more than likely have to be removed. the strut boots have a VERY firm and solid piece of rubber that is roughly 4-5 inches long that will interfere with lowering anything down very far and will cause a relatively rough ride :wink:
you can though modify them to work. under normal circumstances i would in NO WAY reccomend the cheapo coil-overs and just slapping them on... i simply do not trust things to set in places they were not meant to be without being nicely secured by a good piece of steel :wink: i would recommend if you want cheap coil-overs have any good performance shop build a pair as i have described, using any strut/spring of your choice.
the only reason i do everything the cheap way is because im in college, im 20 and im extremely poor
i think ive dropped 600$ into everything in my car now total including the cost of the car/swaps/ect lol... im pretty sure the spring rate of what i ordered were somwehere around the 300# area ( i like a rough but solid ride :wink: ) with it lowered down it handles quite well and theres a TON less body roll (also helps to have a bigger rim with less tire sidewall to allow for flex as well) well its roughly 3 am and ive got work at 6! time to go to sleep lol ive got finals tomorrow after work!later everyone!
oh yeah by the way for colleges im going between a local college for gen eds (100$ a cred isnt a bad deal for those :wink: ) and MSU for the heavy stuff i cant get at the community tech college... would be nice to get ALL my creds at 100$ a piece lol... sadly i have to transfer up to MSU Mankato next year because i have nothing left to take down here for cheap :cry: big colleges are expensive... i dunno if its in the top whatever for ranking, i never really cared, its only an hour from home and im hoping to open my own shop eventually so im not too worried about having an uber-resume with the ivy leauge schools :wink:
id like to think all in all it was a better choice than going to wyotech or UTI like i was originally gunna do and just be a mechanic lol... what specific kinds of mechanical do you plan on going into? its interesting to hear about a fellow festiva loving engineer...
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