When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Heres what I bought to do this. Including links and pictures because it took me awhile to really confirm all the pieces that would work for doing this. Many thanks to earlier threads on doing some of these where I gleaned a bunch of details to make sure it would all work on my SA. Next post will be about installing the rear shocks, then I will move on to prepping and installing the front struts. Probably be tomorrow when I post those up. I have lots of pictures and details on what I had to do to make these all work. None of these is a straight bolt on but its fairly simple to do the fabrication needed as a DIY project. I'm trying to lay this all out so there is no more guessing about doing adjustable shocks for 1st gens. Some of what I did only applies to SA (new top mounts, washers for shims) but the rest applies to FBs as well.
1. 1981 FB front strut mounts because the SA mounts would not fit the new shocks. Got em at rockauto way back in 2013 while ordering some other stuff for my car and stockpiled them. Very similar to what the have today (mine are monroe but the mevotech look the same. https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...rut+mount,7600
2. Some bushings as recommended by others on here to make the shock fit snuggly into the top mount.
5. Some large washers to shim the shock up to fit in the SA strut housing (it's longer than the FB strut housings). Got a pack of em at Lowes for 6 bucks.
Nice! I'm adding those shims to my shopping cart so I don't forget. We've got those Konis on our MR2 and the adjustment is perfect to switch between comfortable for the street and stiffer than I want them to be.
Those agx’s will bottom out before the suspension does. Barely any travel. Just a thought that you might want to check. On mine anyway….have a new set on my bench. Stayed with the Komi oranges out back.will be interested in how she handles with this setup. Mines not on the ground yet.
Nice! I'm adding those shims to my shopping cart so I don't forget. We've got those Konis on our MR2 and the adjustment is perfect to switch between comfortable for the street and stiffer than I want them to be.
What springs are you planning to run these with?
RB springs with one coil cut all around. The old KYBs never could handle the RB springs.
Those agx’s will bottom out before the suspension does. Barely any travel. Just a thought that you might want to check. On mine anyway….have a new set on my bench. Stayed with the Komi oranges out back.will be interested in how she handles with this setup. Mines not on the ground yet.
I hear ya. I noticed they were about an inch shorter than the OEM at full extension. I think the RB springs will keep them from bottoming out </crosses-fingers>.
I'll start with the easiest shocks, the rears. I had to of course dismantle my rear hatch interior to do the install. Always a pain in the a$$.
Then I noticed that the sleeve on the new shocks is wider than the OEM shock mount size. I could cut it down or swap the sleeves. I opted to heat up the old shocks, push the sleeve out and then heat up the new shocks and press the old sleeve in to replace the new sleeve.
I then installed them like this first. The top part of the install is straight forward and I won't bore you with details on that. After install I did realize it would be hard to see and access that adjuster **** once the wheel went back on.
So I turned them to face inwards.
Then I had to put the interior back together. Rear shocks done. As mentioned they were about an inch shorter than stock at full extension, I had to push the axle up a bit with the jack to get the bottom bolt in, otherwise they appear to fit fine after that sleeve business.
Did you cut down your bump stops at all? Curious, as this may help to avoid rebound if / when it bottoms out. You'll know if there's an issue that needs to be addressed.
Did you cut down your bump stops at all? Curious, as this may help to avoid rebound if / when it bottoms out. You'll know if there's an issue that needs to be addressed.
Did that when I cut the springs, basically cut them in half.
Based on the lack of chaos in the background of your images, I'm thinking you must have a pretty nice garage setup.
This is an interesting thread! Can't wait to hear your impressions. I have RB springs with Tokico Blues and my wife doesn't care for the ride. I'd love to be able to soften it up at will, make it friendlier for her.
Did you cut down your bump stops at all? Curious, as this may help to avoid rebound if / when it bottoms out. You'll know if there's an issue that needs to be addressed.
The OEM rubber are probably very hard by now (mine were). I replaced them with more modern foam jounce bumpers. You cut off the small tab, remove the stud, and you have a rear axle that softly settles into the upper limiter instead of "thudding" into it:
That picture of the bag of washer is from Lowes and had a part number on it. I'll see if I can dig up the specs on the washers. Just go to the hardware aisle in your Lowes and look for zync washers, should be able to find it.
I'll make the post soon on the front install when I get it done. Done, you say, I thought you went to DGRR with them? Which I did and 3 things I noticed at DGRR:
1. My right strut top mount nut loosened up and started banging about while I drove to DGRR. Was able to tighten it up with some of my tools and continue on.
2. The ride height is off by almost an inch so theres a larger gap at the front fender to tire compared to the rear. I saw this mentioned elsewhere and I think its because the SA spring perch has a different shape than the FB spring perch. This is the piece that the top of the spring pushes against and it in turn has a wear surface that rides against the strut top mount.
3. I need to redo my alignment (which I didn't really pay attention to)
All that aside, these shocks, even with the crappy non-performance new BFG RWL Radial T/A tires, worked wonders on the handling. I could hear and feel the road so much better. The tires stayed planted better on washboard roads and sudden bumps. The car would glide over put holes smoother when at speed. No more porpoising on long high speed sweeper turns. Can't wait to do some mountains runs with new 200 summer performance tires on the 15in Rewinds later this year.
I'm currently working on basically the same thing except I'm doing KYB 363046 on the fronts instead of the Konis. Basically an OEM replacement rear strut for mk1 mr2.
I'm glad I found this thread because I was going to have someone machine up some bushings for the top mounts, but make a spacer for the bottom, myself. Saved me a lot of money and time there, Thank you!
I'm currently working on basically the same thing except I'm doing KYB 363046 on the fronts instead of the Konis. Basically an OEM replacement rear strut for mk1 mr2.
I'm glad I found this thread because I was going to have someone machine up some bushings for the top mounts, but make a spacer for the bottom, myself. Saved me a lot of money and time there, Thank you!
Thats why I do this. Lots of scraps of info out there about this spread acroos multiple sites. Tried to consolidate what I did and will do to finish it up.
A quick update. For an SA you need to get some FB top strut spring perches as they have a shorter height. I was able to source these from a buddy @rwatson5651 who was kind enough to ship them up to me. Replaced the SA spring top with the FB one and now it rides at the right height. So something to be aware of when doing this on an SA first gen.
A quick update. For an SA you need to get some FB top strut spring perches as they have a shorter height. I was able to source these from a buddy @rwatson5651 who was kind enough to ship them up to me. Replaced the SA spring top with the FB one and now it rides at the right height. So something to be aware of when doing this on an SA first gen.
How was the fitment of the front cartridges in the housings finally? Do you have to use any spacers?
I am also curious to get some feedback on how it rides now with the new shocks.
How was the fitment of the front cartridges in the housings finally? Do you have to use any spacers?
I am also curious to get some feedback on how it rides now with the new shocks.
Thanks in advance!
They fit just fine, no spacers needed. It feels great with these high caliper shocks. Night and day difference from the old shocks or even the old KYBs when they were new. I have the fronts on the middle setting and the rears are on the #1 softest setting. Handles like a dream. No more porpoise on long fast sweepers. Handles washboard roads much better. All around smoother, controlled ride.
They fit just fine, no spacers needed. It feels great with these high caliper shocks. Night and day difference from the old shocks or even the old KYBs when they were new. I have the fronts on the middle setting and the rears are on the #1 softest setting. Handles like a dream. No more porpoise on long fast sweepers. Handles washboard roads much better. All around smoother, controlled ride.
I installed a different cartridge than T_G_ but im certain it doesnt matter. The only difference between an SA and an FB in this case is the depth of the strut housing. I needed a few washers to take up the extra space in the strut housing so the big strut top nut actually touched the cartridge before it ran out of threads.
@t_g_farrell thanks for documenting all of this, great thread. I have an 83 FB and have some questions. My goal is to gain the adjustability on these patchwork Massachusetts roads.
- I have Racing Beat springs all around, no cuts. I've cut down the rear bump stops. Do you think this Koni/KYB combination will work well with those?
- Did you run into issues with the KYB range of motion being a bit smaller?
- Since I have an FB, I wouldn't expect any radical changes in ride height (as you had with your original SA perches), correct?
- I've got a set the same Mevotech top mounts that you used. Did you have any fit issues with the 17mmx15mmx12mm sleeve bushings?
- Just to confirm, the Koni shaft is 15mm OD? I've looked at their pdfs for the 8641-1072SPORT but there's no data on that.
Thanks for reading!
The sleeve bushings are NLA at Amazon, but these come up on Google:
They fit just fine, no spacers needed. It feels great with these high caliper shocks. Night and day difference from the old shocks or even the old KYBs when they were new. I have the fronts on the middle setting and the rears are on the #1 softest setting. Handles like a dream. No more porpoise on long fast sweepers. Handles washboard roads much better. All around smoother, controlled ride.
Ok, I quick read the question on the spacers and answered wrong. I did use spacers at the bottom of the front strut housing because the Koni are shorter than the SA housing. Sorry if this caused confusion.
