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I am the original owner of a 1985 GSL-SE and I decided it was time to replace the front struts. I have discovered this is not an easy thing to do as the original struts have a plate for the spring to rest upon. I was wondering where I can get 2 new ones. If so, please recommend a brand and part number. TIA.
You are looking for the insert that goes into the housing with the spring seat on it. They are apparently available from Mazda, since Mazdatrix says they have OEM inserts for GSL-SE (part no. FA68-49-790) for $140 each. You can probably find aftermarket inserts as well. RockAuto shows they have 1 (made by Monroe) for a GSL-SE @ $65. Just need to look more I think.
The original factory struts are oil filled and they rest in the strut body itself. You remove these and place a modern self contained gas shock absorber into the strut body. Unscrew the flat nut shown here:
The factory shock assembly looks like this. I cleaned it up, no oil here, but the viscosity of the oil is what controlled the damping rate.
You can (could?) get some decent KYB shocks that match the originals in performance or upgrade the springs and shocks. The classic combination was Racing Beat or Eibach springs and Tokico Blue shocks. Unfortunately those are super hard to find these days.
I suggest you search the forum here for recent threads on shocks. Happy to answer more questions you might have.
@Carl 's reply addresses if you wanted to go with factory replacement inserts. He and a lot of the guys on here have tons of practical knowledge of these cars!
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The photos I attached are for the old factory oil shock so that's why you see the two parts disassembled and they don't look like the same thing as your KYB insert.
I read a thread here that says a GSL-SE has a slightly different strut body:
Post 11 says the strut body 5mm longer and you need a spacer to use the GSL sized cartridges like yours with a GSL_SE, I don't know the details of where to get that spacer/install it.
It looks like the shock you show above should be right (you may have it already installed ;-)). Information seems to vary on whether or not the GSL and GSL-SE strut housings are different sizes. It appears that at worst the strut insert you have might be a little short. If that is the case, the important thing is that the black threaded "cap" engages enough threads in the housing to ensure that it doesn't come loose. It of course, also has to hold the insert firmly down in the housing. If the insert is short, you can slip some properly sized (have to fit in the housing obviously) washers down in the bottom of the housing to raise the top of the insert so that the cap can effectively hold it in place. I just did something similar for a second gen a month or so ago.
Since it is being sold as a stock replacement, I assume that the top of the insert shaft will fit properly in the upper spring plate. That can be a problem with some other inserts if you are upgrading to Tokico/Bilstein/Koni inserts for MR2/VW Rabbit/Porsche/etc.
Good luck. The thread Toruki called out gives a good description of the replacement process.
