front strut lengths (Read 667 times)

[Al Ramone]

strut length, from bottom mounting to top of damper retainer nut / overall length from bottom mounting to top of fully extended insert

b210(late)and b310. 470mm/
610 and 810 440mm/
C230/C210 430mm/
S130 (280zx) 420mm/
s12 410mm/
MK1 Golf converted, cut down struts 355mm/575mm
MK2 Golf converted, cut down struts 370mm/600mm

Heres some pictures of how they look on car and the setup used:

710 140j, mk2 golf converted struts with 180lb springs, standard engine/trim, fresh off the jack, springs preloaded 10mm IE could go 10mm lower before springs get loose. I did not measure how much travel there was but it was plenty.



Standard ride height?

[Eric]

So s12 would be lower than 280zx and it has better brakes as well.

[Al Ramone]

yep. and there's a thread on them now that Damien has started trying to get em to fit his 810.

[unclesilvia]

ANyone know the length of B310 struts?..... Im not near my car to measure them atm

[unclesilvia]

I measured my B310 struts and I can confirm that they are 470mm

[Al Ramone]

cool cheers. now you can get an idea of just how much shorter MK1 Golf converted struts would be...

[Damien4884]

To work out strut body lengths from insert lengths you need to add approx 30mm for the bottom and approx 10mm to top for dry insert nuts approx 15mm for wet insert nuts and -3-5mm if you swap over to the vw type external thread. That makes al's measurement for the mk1 struts about right (but don't chop them to that and then buy the inserts and blame me or him if they don't fit)

[Damien4884]

Mk2 golf koni inserts strut length 370mm, overall length to end of thread 600mm

[Al Ramone]

May 3, 2013 18:18:21 GMT 1 Damien4884 said:

Mk2 golf koni inserts strut length 370mm, overall length to end of thread 600mm

so the insert length is 370mm? rather then a cut down strut with a MK2 golf insert fitted?

[Damien4884]

The strut has been sectioned to 370mm to make the right length to fit the insert with my choice of retaining nut.

On the subject of retaining nuts there are quite a few variations



Far right are meant for dry inserts, but in some cases they are not suitable for holding the insert central as the sides are pretty thin, the ones in the middle are later wet insert type, and although they are quite long, you could machine them down and put a bevel on inner edge to centre the insert if they are a loose fit, ones on the left are earlier wet insert type (machined from solid stock, later ones have the hexagonal section spot welded on) these are massively long but easy to machine down and modify to fit.

Alternatively if going for mk1 or mk2 golf items use the top section off a pair of donor vw struts (as al did) then section the overall length of tube to be 2-3mm shorter than the insert so it tightens up without bottoming out.

[Al Ramone]

good info.

main reason i used the top section of a VW Golf strut when i chopped up my last set up was to make sure the insert was properly retained.

[Damien4884]

The mk1 golf inserts i used were bilsteins and they didn't fit inside the struts i had to convert, so i had to machine a bit more of a step in the section i cut off, however i trial fitted them in my 180b struts and my s12 struts and they fitted in both of them with some slack.

[Al Ramone]

May 4, 2013 7:40:12 GMT 1 Damien4884 said:

The mk1 golf inserts i used were bilsteins and they didn't fit inside the struts i had to convert

what stuts were they?

[Damien4884]

710 140J with dry inserts, had to bore about 1mm out overall down about 10mm, if you look down the tubes you should see a step machined in, these ones were not long enough to allow for the 30mm long bulge the top of the mk1 gold inserts have.

[unclesilvia]

Yea I've got a pair of uprated and shorter mk2 golf inserts and they do just catch in the inner lip of the 280zx struts just below the thread! I was thinking of just taking the paint off the insert as it looks like its all it needs lol. I bet the insert walls are pretty thick anyway and a minute but could be grinded off???!!!