Well, I had a spare hour after mowing the lawn today, so I decided to lower the front end and try to get rid of some of that nasty wheel gap on the SHO.
My first thought was to try and remove the guide on the back of the strut so I could move the hub assembly up the casing. That didn't go too well. There's only one tack weld holding the guide to the strut, but lacking a die grinder/cutter, this simply wasn't going to happen. I tried getting a cutoff wheel on the dremel back there and there just wasn't enough room. That, and I would also run the risk of slicing through a hose or a wire. So, plan B was implemented.
After disconnecting the brake hose holder from the strut, and removing the hub bolt, the assembly moved up and down the strut several inches. I moved the hub assembly up the strut and checked the clearance between the bottom of the strut and the CV boot. With about 3/16" clearance, I scored the top of the hub assembly against the strut casing for a reference and scratched a new alignment hole with an awl against the alignment plate on the back of the strut. I then slid the assembly back down the strut; enough so I cold get see the markings for the new hole clearly. I drilled a small pilot hole in the center of the marking, and followed it up with a 1/2" bit. The hole was still slightly smaller than the bolt diameter, so I used a bit, graciously provided by my neighbor, that I used to hog out the hole to the correct diameter. I don't know what the bit is called, but it looks like a small pine cone. Anyways, it worked brilliantly.
All that was left was to slide the hub assembly up to the score mark on the strut, tap the bolt back through the back side and tightened it, and zip-tie the brake hose retainer to the strut.
Voila, DIY 3/4" drop on the front end! I might try to get a little more drop out of it by grinding down the bottom of the strut casings in the future. Might be able to get another 1/4" drop by doing that. I imagine the rear struts are as easy to do. I also took the liberty to **** the SARC sensor attachement points while I was at it... they were getting kind of noisey.
If anyone in the N.E. region is interested in doing this, drop me a line.
<small>[ May 31, 2002, 01:13 AM: Message edited by: mholhut ]</small>
My first thought was to try and remove the guide on the back of the strut so I could move the hub assembly up the casing. That didn't go too well. There's only one tack weld holding the guide to the strut, but lacking a die grinder/cutter, this simply wasn't going to happen. I tried getting a cutoff wheel on the dremel back there and there just wasn't enough room. That, and I would also run the risk of slicing through a hose or a wire. So, plan B was implemented.
After disconnecting the brake hose holder from the strut, and removing the hub bolt, the assembly moved up and down the strut several inches. I moved the hub assembly up the strut and checked the clearance between the bottom of the strut and the CV boot. With about 3/16" clearance, I scored the top of the hub assembly against the strut casing for a reference and scratched a new alignment hole with an awl against the alignment plate on the back of the strut. I then slid the assembly back down the strut; enough so I cold get see the markings for the new hole clearly. I drilled a small pilot hole in the center of the marking, and followed it up with a 1/2" bit. The hole was still slightly smaller than the bolt diameter, so I used a bit, graciously provided by my neighbor, that I used to hog out the hole to the correct diameter. I don't know what the bit is called, but it looks like a small pine cone. Anyways, it worked brilliantly.
All that was left was to slide the hub assembly up to the score mark on the strut, tap the bolt back through the back side and tightened it, and zip-tie the brake hose retainer to the strut.
Voila, DIY 3/4" drop on the front end! I might try to get a little more drop out of it by grinding down the bottom of the strut casings in the future. Might be able to get another 1/4" drop by doing that. I imagine the rear struts are as easy to do. I also took the liberty to **** the SARC sensor attachement points while I was at it... they were getting kind of noisey.
If anyone in the N.E. region is interested in doing this, drop me a line.
<small>[ May 31, 2002, 01:13 AM: Message edited by: mholhut ]</small>
I want to drop my car without spending the $ for springs. need to get rid of some of that extra space. 
