Budget Coilovers write up

[gt_james]

did you use aftermarket front inserts?

[DWNUNDR]

did you use aftermarket front inserts?

Tokico BZ1069



from what I found online they are decent... we will see. hope to find out in a few months

[DWNUNDR]

following up on this.. I have a feeling the aftermarket inserts may not have the travel I need as they are long... truly to benefit from this style you would have to find some short shafted inserts.... I have a huge clunk on big bumps.. some of that could be the racing beat sway bar hitting the pinch welds.. I did take a hammer to them and helped.. but not 100% sure yet what it is...

[gt_james]

yep, you can only go so low with the stock dampers, or the various after market drop ins. To go lower is a big step in terms of going from a simple inexpensive job to a more in depth and more expensive job.

The bad news for us is that there aren't really any inserts out there that drop into a stock strut tube with a shorter stroke, so we can't just shorten the stock strut tube. You will need to completely remove the stock strut tube from the front strut, machine out the bore to 2" and fit a larger tube by pressing in and welding, which allows you to fit a shorter stroke insert, which T3 offer as a service and use koni 8610 inserts, and comes complete with camber adjustable top mounts. Also GAZ in the UK do a similar thing, but using their own insert, again comes with camber adjustable top mounts. There may be other companies that do this, but T3 and GAZ are the main ones that come to mind and have actually produced FB RX7 coilovers. Other companies claim they can do it, because they have converted AE86 or other McPherson strut cars to coilovers, but RX7s have a really short strut, so require a shorter insert than most cars. What works well on an AE86 or similar may be too long on an RX7.

There are threads about doing this, but for a DIYer, you need a big lathe to get the struts on, and is out of the realms for most people, and if you take to a machine shop to get done it will probably be more hassle than just ordering from T3.

The other option is to cut off the tube and either weld over or push in a a female threaded coilover sleeve and use a coilover body with seperate ride height. There are a lot more kits coming on the market for our cars, and they require a bit more fabrication, but still can be installed more DIY than the above solution, no machining work required. These are some of the brands I've seen offering RX7 kits: ACBRON, Stance, XYZ, BC.

[Hobbawobba]

No problem for him then aye!

[DWNUNDR]

Ive also read the MR2 rear shock inserts work - fit and are shorter... have to look into it more...

My mate has some BC Racing ones which look super nice.. I may just end up buying some front ones eventually... they dont sell just the fronts, but you can buy spares... so basically you can get a front setup by pcing it together...

or Ill try some inserts when I confirm what can fit...

[gt_james]

The MR2 rear inserts will fit the front struts of first gen RX-7s. In my opinion the pick of the bunch for first gen dampers is the Koni yellows, the part number that fits the front for our cars is listed as MR2 AW11 rears. They have a top adjustment knob, so can be adjusted easily under the bonnet. THEY ARE NOT SHORTER STROKE, YOU CANNOT SHORTEN YOUR FRONT STRUT TUBE AND RUN THESE DAMPERS. ALL MR2 INSERTS ARE THE SAME LENGTH. There may be the option of custom struts from a race shop, for instance MCNsport or Quantum racing, although I suspect they will not supply narrow enough strut inserts for our strut tubes, and if you're shortening the strut tube, its not out of the question to fit a larger diameter one also.

The part number for the FRONT of our cars is : Koni 8641-1072 SPORT.

Whilst I'm at it, the part number for rear of our cars is: 8041 1026 SPORT. These have the adjuster at the top as well (you may need to cut a hole in rear plastics if running your rear interior).

[DWNUNDR]

I switched to BC Coilovers in the front.. amazing difference..