E21 coil overs Q

[ruldal]

Hi guys.

After examining my car i can conclude that the HR springs and Bilstein shocks are in a dubious state. The car should only be lowered 35mm but its way more, like 80mm. This is not good as i will be putting on the wide Gruppe 2 flares, and rims to fit. What i really need is a adjustable coilover kit.

Searching for this i discovered that some are actually made for the E21 but the price is (the word insane springs to mind) more than i can afford.. unfortunatly.

So i am left trying to figure something out myself. So far i have found that the rear coilovers from a VW Golf Mk2 is a great alternative. They are cheap, they mount the same way in the lower part, and they are the same length (more or less, but this doesnt matter as they are adjustable in an area of 120mm from top to bottom) and the springs are very small in diameter like the E21 ones. There will be some work putting in the BMW top end of the strut assembly but not too much fuzz.

The front ones are the ones that are causing me pain. What will fit ? Can it be true that i read somewhere that E30 ones fit on the front ? If so i should be able to combine the E21 parts and the E30 coilover to make a set for the front too, and at a super price !

If anyone has information, please share

Cheers, Ruben

[nas80]

what you should do is not bother spending all that money on styling which does NOTHING, and spend 600 on something that will transform the way your car drives?

you can make your own front ones using universal collars welded onto your existing tubes.

you cant use anything e30 - totally different design

[Duracel79]

Rally Design do a coilover conversion kit for the front.

You cut off the spring platform and weld on the threaded tube and grind back and paint. E21 bilsteins will still fit.
Cheapest route but not the best.

http://www.rallydesign.co.uk/product_in ... ts_id=3450

This is how I did my E24 and I have seen it done on an E21 also.



Ben

PS You beat me to it Nas!!

[ruldal]

what you should do is not bother spending all that money on styling which does NOTHING, and spend 600 on something that will transform the way your car drives?

you can make your own front ones using universal collars welded onto your existing tubes.

you cant use anything e30 - totally different design

?

I don´t understand ? I am talking about NOT spending stupidous amount of cash on a groundcontrol coilover set for the E21 by sorting my own parts. And what is really to it. All you really need to fabricate is the adjustable part. The rest can be used as is. Why shouldn´t that be every inch as good as any cheap or medium priced coil over set. I can even simulate the stresses in Autodesk Inventor and get af full static rapport so i can make sure the welds are the correct A measures etc. Fact is that the thing that makes a great suspension is the shocks and the springs. The rest is just a bunch of random iron and bolts..

And the E30 coil over is not a completely other design, the hub part may, but the rest is identical to almost all other cars that run McPherson struts.. In fact if i could find a fitting donor that uses the same diameter shocks the threaded part could be cut off and welded onto my E21 strut..

As i can make everything myself its not a costly affair at all. Just needs to sort the right parts..

[rob0r]

E30 shocks fit e21 struts which allow the strut housings to be shortened by an inch+, allowing some extra travel when using a coilover conversion kit. I've done this and it's great.

[ruldal]

E30 shocks fit e21 struts which allow the strut housings to be shortened by an inch+, allowing some extra travel when using a coilover conversion kit. I've done this and it's great.

Nice

So i use the E21 strut house and then i weld on the threaded part from say a E30 coilover (making it a total of 1 inch shorter), make the E21 lower springbowls fit the conversion and the adjustable setup, mount a lowering spring from E21, use a E30 shock, and then put on the top end of the E21. Is that it ?

A set of adjustable front struts for a E30 is VERY cheap both new and used. Could allow me to go for some good quality springs and shocks.

Can you confirm the above ?

Cheers, Ruben

[nas80]

I have come across as cheeky but didnt mean to.

was saying id spend more time on coilovers. e21 is phenomenal once you put them on.

If you get stuck the collars are very cheap new. Rally design stock them you get them in different diameters, depending on which shock tube your modifying..

Iirc if your going to do a narrow tube one of the vw models has the right size shock insert. Fairly sure its an early golf?

[ruldal]

I have come across as cheeky but didnt mean to.
was saying id spend more time on coilovers. e21 is phenomenal once you put them on.
If you get stuck the collars are very cheap new. Rally design stock them you get them in different diameters, depending on which shock tube your modifying..
Iirc if your going to do a narrow tube one of the vw models has the right size shock insert. Fairly sure its an early golf?

Thats allright

I might get stock regarding the front struts, but i´ll see what i can do

Theese are the rear struts i have bought from an early Golf mk2.



The only thing that don´t fit is the upper part to go on the E21 strut tower, this will be modified using the old BMW parts