Questions about 1980 SA suspension
 

Hey folks,

I've been doing a lot of research on upgrading the suspension (I currently have the kyb oem replacement gas struts and RB lowering spings) of my 1980 SA22C. It's a street car, but I do love me some cornering and don't mind a stiffer setup. One of my main reasons for upgrading is to lower the car another 1.5 inches or so, but once this 12a eventually goes kablammo I see myself dropping a 13b into the car and taking it to the track.

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with the following things which I find confusing:

- ground control or other DIY coilover kits: I wasnt quite sure from the websites but can i use them with my oem shocks? Maybe it's a silly question, but would I be able to easily upgrade to an adjustable shock later? Would the oem shock be stiff enough to handle being a few inches lower without rubbing tires?
- tokico illumina/blues, koni shocks: I can find rears, but not fronts for the 1980. However, I can find 1981-85 adjustable struts pretty easily. Could I shim/modify the 81-85 strut to make it work? Alternatively, could I just use the entire front shock tube assembly from a 81-85 rx7 with the 81-85 adjustable strut?

Any help is appreciated! I've been searching the forums and generally googling but 1st hand experiences would be nice to hear.

Roland

To answer your 2nd question:
Yes- you can shim them to fit. 23mm (tall) by 32mm (round) spacers are what you need.
Or, yes, you can swap the strut tubes and spindles from an '81-'85. However the wheel bearings are different on an '84-'85 and you would need to change them to fit the spindles. Also, you cannot change the brake calipers to later ('81-up) ones unless you get an adapter for the lines- the threads are different.

So short answer, yes, you can do either, but it will require additional parts. The '81-up is easier to get parts for than '79-80 and the '84-up is more desirable because you can upgrade further to -SE brakes.