how to put height adjustable rear suspension into a RA23.

[sheepers]

Ive always hated the way the car sat so high at the back. its been like that since day one and its pissed me off completely. not to mention the handling issues associated with having the arse in the air.
anyway, there has been some talk about height adjustable rear suspension so i thought i would post what i had done.
really not a difficult job. i now have a completely height adjustable rear, and i can change spring rates with straight off the shelf parts. and because i have a good relationship with my suspension parts supplier i can try any spring i like and if its no good i can give them back with no charge! sweet.

there's more than one way to skin a cat, but this is how i did it.....

first you have to remove the old spring cone/bump stop. just drill out the spots.





then get some 2 1/2" pipe (63mm OD) and cut two lengths about 20mm long. make two disks from 2mm plate about 90mm in diamater and weld an M8 nut in the center.
then weld the bits of 2 1/2" tube onto the disks somewhere near the middle.
i don't have a picture of these before i welded them to the car but this is one welded to the car.
you cant see it in the photo very well but 90mm is about the same diameter as the spot welds that held the original cone in place so it makes it easier to line up the new plate when your tacking it into place.


NOTE, once i had welded the plates into the car i then used the nut as a guide and drilled and tapped an M8 thread right through the body of the car. and this photo shows the stock bump stop in place.

next i got some standard coilover sleeves and welded them onto the original spring perches.









this takes a bit of fucking around and you'll probably have to put the diff in and take it out a few times to get the angles right.
as the diff doesn't move directly up and down (especially as it gets to the top of its travel) you need to compromise with the fore and aft angle of the adjuster sleeve.
these two photos show how much the top of the sleeve moves back as the diff goes down.
in the "up" photo the bump stop is inside the top of the sleeve, i intend to make a tube with a solid top to go inside the sleeve for the bump stop to push on. the bump stop will not go into the sleeve when its all finished.






then all you need is to adjust you height till it suits what you want and once your happy with the height and spring rate get your shocks shortened to keep it all captive.

i have koni shocks that have enough travel to allow the drop in height at the back of the car with out binding but you'll need to check what you can get away with.

oh, i also made some extensions for my bump stops so they would have some support rather than just the nut. all i did was cut some lengths of tube about the same diameter as the backing plate on the bump stop and extended the M8 stud that sticks out of the back of the bump stop.
you can kind of see it in this pic.



i have dropped the back of the car by 65mm and i lowered the front by 20mm. it has made a huge difference to how the car handles and ive only had it back on the road for a week, cant wait for the next track day....

ill post some pics of the car if it ever stops raining.

EDIT: forgot to mention the springs i used, 200 long, 65 ID, 175 pounds.

if you have any questions just ask.


latter,
sheepers.

[sheepers]

it stopped raining.







latter,
sheepers.

[Lambolica]

Nice, Hadn't looked at it that way.

What I have seen done is basically making a full coilover, attaching the bottom to a modified (strengthened) diff mount, but the top attachment would work for the top.

Cheers
Simon

[sheepers]

well, after driving the car for a couple of weeks i can say with out question that this is the best and most rewarding modification i have ever done, the relationship between how much time and money it took to do this and how much of a difference it has made to the car is staggering.
i had to love the floor a bit to clear the drive shaft but nothing else has caused any issues.
DO EEEEEIT!!!!!!!!!!!


sheepers.