Advanced Suspension Mods

[Advancedynamix]

The eBay coilovers do work better than any of the OE replacement struts. They are shorter, and the valving is better matched. I didn't try those Bilsteins, but I made a set of coilovers from some Bilstein sport struts for a mk3 Cabrio. They were too stiff for a Festy. I sold them to AZGTX for his 323 gtx and I went back to the cheap eBay coilovers.



I've tested Boge, and Sachs VW mk2 OE fitment struts as well. None of them perform nearly as well as the the cheap coilovers. I also have Wietech and bilstein pss coilovers that I've adapted to fit a festiva. I've tested a lot of shocks. I put 250 track miles on a new set over the weekend.
Also, you can replace the inserts in those coilovers down the road with bilstein, koni or Tokico inserts if you want. They are serviceable. The first set I built have well over 100k miles on them, with well over 70k track miles and they are still going strong.

[bravekozak]

Next time I know where to get a hunk of aluminum for my E5 intake manifold adapters!

My fronts are installed. I'm still playing with the right rear bolt.
Thanks again for all of your help.

Does anyone have a picture of how the VW flexible brake line is attached to the strut arrow? I keep forgetting to look a the junk yard.

[Advancedynamix]

They use a specific rubber grommet.
CLICK HERE FOR AN EXAMPLE

The brake hose is fed through the round part and the hourglass shaped hole goes over the tang on the shock.
I installed a set on one car that I put this suspension on, but I haven't used them on any of the other cars
The brake lines on my car seem to just naturally go in the right place where they don't rub anything and they don't bounce around a lot. I haven't seen any brake line issues with any of the cars that don't have these grommets. I also never have any corrosion to worry about. In a place where the steel ends of the brake lines are exposed to corrosion, this grommet may be a fail safe against brake line fatigue.

[theastronaut]

I caught some air a couple nights ago and blew out one of my very used Racelands. What new insert (year/model fitment, brand/model,etc) would you recommend, or should I just get another pair of coilovers from eBay?

[Advancedynamix]

What was the temperature when you were jumping your festy? I've jumped all of my cars with these shocks and I haven't blown a set yet, but I've never tried it in the cold. Since your the first to blow a set John, you're the guinea pig. I'm pretty sure MK1 VW golf/jetta/scirocco/cabriolet strut inserts will replace the inserts in those shocks. If you want to mail them to me, I can swap them out for you. I already made the spanner tool to take the racelands apart.
Koni makes a super short strut insert that will fit in these shocks as well. I'll have to look up the number to be sure which one it is. They sell them in both single and double adjust, but the double adjusts are quite pricey.

[theastronaut]

It was around 35-40 degrees out so it was fairly cold. I bought the coilovers used so I don't know how many miles were on them before I got them or how hard they were driven. They were on a heavier Golf/Jetta before. I've put over 20K miles on them since. I did some googling and found Koni's website earlier today but I haven't pulled them apart to get measurements to see what insert would fit yet.

http://www.koniracing.com/8611.cfm#tech info


Also found this thread and ended up knowing the guy who posted it, he's local. Shows the process of using the Koni inserts.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5811535-hybrid-coilovers

[Advancedynamix]

I've got a set of KYB mk1 inserts here. If you take your struts apart we can compare lengths. You'd think I would have written all this down a long time ago. Lol. The mk1 inserts are the shortest that I've found in a standard replacement. You can modify Mitsubishi precis/Hyundai excel inserts to be nearly as short, with lighter dampening. I'm pretty sure raceland just used a generic mk1 insert in those though and everyone just copied them. All the Chinese coilovers for VW mk1, 2 and 3 use the same basic insert from what I've seen. I've taken apart about 8 different brands/styles now.

[Advancedynamix]

The proper Koni single adjustable insert is part number 8610-1436.
If you are feeling the need for separate rebound and compression dampening adjustment, the Koni double adjustable insert is part number 8611-1257
I haven't tried either of these on a Festiva yet. I have driven other cars with them though. The adjustment range is really wide with not many clicks, so each adjustment makes a pretty noticeable change. It's hard to fine tune with these shocks, but they do get the job done cheaper than having custom valved shocks built.

[Advancedynamix]

For a very small fraction of the price of those Koni race shocks, you can get these with a lifetime warranty. For 26 bucks a shock, I'd give them a try until my next paycheck depended on a second off my lap times. Lol.
Sensen Lifetime warranty shock inserts

[theastronaut]

For a very small fraction of the price of those Koni race shocks, you can get these with a lifetime warranty. For 26 bucks a shock, I'd give them a try until my next paycheck depended on a second off my lap times. Lol.
Sensen Lifetime warranty shock inserts

I saw those on Rockauto ($38.88 shipped for a pair with the 5% code), but was kinda leery of a shock that cheap. Was leaning towards the KYB GR-2 pn361005 ($67.39 shipped/pair) since I've had good luck with them on the rear, and I liked them on my '64 VW in the past. I also wondered if the Koni adjustable shocks would be too stiff for the light spring rates (150#) even at their softest setting?

[Advancedynamix]

That's very possible. Bilstein 40mm sports were too stiff.

[theastronaut]

The KYB GR-2's were delivered today and I was able get the first one installed tonight. The OD is smaller than the Raceland inserts but it comes with adapter bushings. The bottom one works but I had to cut the bottom ring off of the supplied gland nut and make it work with the Raceland gland nut. I also had to open up a couple of 3/8" washers to space the Rio top hat up enough so the retaining nut would bottom out on the hat instead of running out of threads.




Bottom adapter.




Bottom ring of supplied gland nut cut away.




Ring fits perfectly into the Raceland gland nut.




3/8" washers with the ID opened up to snugly fit the shaft.

[Advancedynamix]

Good stuff! I forgot to mention that you may want to put some red loctite on the threads of the gland nut. I've had those come loose before without loctite. You'll need to heat the strut body with a torch to get them apart after using red loctite on them, but by that time your inserts are probably bad again anyway.

[Advancedynamix]

John, as much as it sucks that your car broke, I'm kinda glad that this happened so you could test these out. You're a great driver and really drive the hell out of that little Festiva. I enjoyed my little ride around your "test track" while I was out there. I'm really interested in your impression of the MK1 KYB front inserts. In thoery, they should balance the rear out nicely, seeing as it is a matched setup. Keep us posted on your impression.

[theastronaut]

Didn't think to use loctite, I'll pull it back apart when I do the other side. I was already wanting to swap out the inserts or buy new coilovers since the car didn't seem to have quite as much front grip as it did when I first built it; it doesn't stick and rotate as easily as it used to when diving into a tight corner. The shock shaft had a lot of wear and slight rust pitting so I'm thinking the inserts were pretty tired. I have a pair of Super Pro inner control arm bushings I need to install, and I want to swap in a PS rack, so the strut blowing is a good chance to catch up on all of that.

I'll put some "track" miles on them and report back. The next autocross is on the 18th so I'll get to test them out there as well. Glad you had fun, it's too bad we had to be in a hurry to get back to the shop. I should have taken you down to the other end of the road that our shop is on; it has a tight downhill corkscrew that is really fun to slide into sideways, then catch it with the throttle at the apex! There's also a section that suddenly drops into a steeply banked corner, similar to the carousel at Nurburgring. Or at least it's similar to the Forza and Gran Turismo versions I've been on... :lol: