are the the same?

i pulled out the junk 85 suspension and i got some really fresh shocks and springs from an 81. will they bolt up?

 

Sure will

 

so how in the hell do i get it in the car now? i got the other strut spring combo in one piece. i cant for the life of me get it to bolt to the car and out of my frustration i now have a jack handle dent in the fender.. something that im not very proud of at all... please someone help before i burn this car.

 

Not sure what you mean, slow down and spell it out, oh and count to 10

I've been there

 

well i got it in. the problem that i had was that the strut spring combo would not fit in between the arm and the shock tower.. it was about 3" too long. so i went and got spring spring compressors and got them on then i tried to use the jack to compress the shock with no success... so i changed my tactic. i unbolted the rod and had to use a 2x4 to get the lower arm low enough to slide the shock in there. kind of hard with a 1 man job

where i stand

1 extra bracket
1 extra brake pad
2 extra bolts
1 extra dent
1 extra headache

now i need to do the other side but i think i will wait till tomorrow. any tips?

 

That's how I did, but I used a crow bar in the lower control arm to lower it, and then slid the strut assembly in. I did not require a spring compressor, but that's more an indication of the spring 'springiness' than technique....

 

I never ran into that, although I should have guessed, I only put in lowered springs or coilovers.....sorry