ultimatejay

iTrader: (1)

So I decided to put adjustable coilovers in my RX2 drag car and here's a write up. There is very limited options for coilovers for the Rx2, especially the rear. So I bought Ground Control weld in kit which comes with front and rear. I'm not going to use the rear weld in kit because I can't find new struts for the rear so I decided to use Strange engineering dual adjustable coilovers and make my own mounts. You can use any brand and type you want depending on what you are doing. Welding and machine work involved.

ultimatejay

iTrader: (1)

First is fronts- pretty straight forward. Remove old strut, spring, insert. Cut stock spring perch off about 2-4mm above weld. I did it by hand with a hack saw as the metal is real thin and you don't want to go through the strut tube on the other side. It only took me 5 minutes a side.

ultimatejay

iTrader: (1)

Then you want to tack weld split sleeve to D ring and then that slides over strut assy. And rests on top of original spring seat weld. Flat side of D ring sets toward wheel for additional clearance. Than make sure D ring is square and level and weld it to strut tube. You will be welding just above original welds.

ultimatejay

iTrader: (1)

I was real lucky and found a set of first gen Tokico 5 way adjustable strut inserts from Racing Beat. They occasionally get them in stock. First gen strut inserts are shorter so you have to make spacers. I made mine out of aluminum on my lathe. You are also going to need to remove the threaded top part from your old insert as the first gen is a different size.

ultimatejay

iTrader: (1)

Then all you do is put the strut insert in with spacer and tighten down with old threaded top nut, slide ground control threaded sleeve with adjuster seat, spring and top spring cup. Then you put your original strut top minus dust boot and spring perch. So all you have is the top part with bearing. And then tighten down nut and your ready to install in your car. Ground control uses Eibach springs and you can choose from many different lengths spring rates.

ultimatejay

iTrader: (1)

For rear I chose Strange Engineering aluminum dual adjustable coilovers. They have an eyelet on top and bottom. To find correct strut and spring you have to put car at desired ride height and measure from bottom of rear end mounting hole to top mounting hole of new bracket. Then you choose a strut for that length. Mine was 16". The tricky part is that the original bolt hole for bottom is 14mm and the Strange strut hole is .500" and the width of old strut is 2" while the Strange is 1.5". So I had to make spacer inserts. For top I just made a plate with three studs and a bracket for top strut mount. I haven't finished welding it but here are some pics.


In the bottom picture the two brackets will be welded to other side obviously and then top of Strut will mount to this and then plate will mount in existing stock location. I will post more pics if rear setup as I finish. If you can find a set of good rear struts then you can use Ground control weld in kit for the rear and it will be much easier. Also I heard you can use rear miata and or second gen rear struts but I have not tried it so I don't know for sure if they fit.

mattallac

iTrader: (7)

Did those green over sprayed struts come off of a green 73 turbo rx2 from LA ?

ultimatejay

iTrader: (1)

No they came off my 73 RX2 sedan all motor drag car

ultimatejay

iTrader: (1)

turbo_dave

iTrader: (50)

Your welds?
Nice man

ultimatejay

iTrader: (1)

Thanks and yes my welds- getting better

sen2two

iTrader: (10)

Nice work Jay! Looks awesome.

My suspension is Ground Control coilover with KYB GR2 shocks.

The fronts are from a 1st gen with the spacers from ReSpeed. The rears are front struts from a Miata. So there is truth to the Miata struts.

ultimatejay

iTrader: (1)

Thanks, if you could add to this thread for info, can you post pics of your rear Miata set up and what's involved in making them fit? That would be good info for everyone.

wickedrx2

thanks ultimatejay for posting all the info on the coilovers , im in the process of doing the fronts and im planning on doing what u did , what lenght and weight springs did u use for the fronts ? they look perfect ,and on the rear coilover u just set the height where u want the car to be and order the coilover to that exact measurements measuring fron mount to mount location ,how about the expanded and compress measurement that u see when u look up coilovers how u go about measuring that ?, sorry for all the question but i just want to make sure i order the right coilovers for the rear , thanks for your help again
julio