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carfreak85

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Posts posted by carfreak85

  1. You are correct lonstorm66, I just popped outside to look at the twins and, while the difference is less than a half inch, you are correct.  The clamping surface in the stock mount IS the lowest point of the mount, where the camber plate doesn't sit quite as far below the strut tower.

    My statement stands for OEM EJ front strut mounts, but OEM EA82 front strut mounts are indeed different.

    • Like 1
  2. 17 hours ago, Ionstorm66 said:

    You can see in that picture the screws to set the camber are against the top of the tower. In order to get my camber set right, the screws would be under the top of the strut tower. Also these style tops lower the car over an inch.

    This style of camber plate RAISES the front of the car.  The OEM strut mounts protrude up into the engine bay, while these plates are flat and actually don't protrude into the engine bay at all.

  3. The water dunk helps blow off some of the carbon and oxidization that inevitably occurs during the heating process, but the main purpose of quenching copper is to quickly cool it, as copper doesn't harden when quenched (unlike some other materials).  It's not required, but it results in a better finished product, and less chance of a burn.

    Same goes for the sanding, it just knocks down the high spots from the previous installation, giving you a better surface to seal with.  If the washer has ridges that catch your fingernail, that is a good candidate for a quick post-anneal sanding.

    • Like 1
  4. 7 hours ago, Ionstorm66 said:

    Not the best fix but you can refurb crush washers. Anneal them by heating cherry red and dropping in a bucket of water. Then use sandpaper on a flat surface like plate glass, and flatten both sides.

    Works like a charm and is 100% acceptable from a field service standpoint.  Use MAP gas, not propane.  Heat to red hot, then drop in water and flatten on sandpaper as stated above.

  5. Cut springs aren't some inherently evil modification, but it's cheap and easy so a lot of people try it.  It's also easy to get wrong, which gives it a bad wrap.

    Cutting a spring makes it stiffer (more load carrying capacity) because you are essentially shortening the lever arm that is wound into a coiled shape.  But it also, obviously, makes the free and compressed lengths shorter.

    I cut one half coil out of the front springs on my EA81T wagon and it rides beautifully.  It only bottoms out on the sort of bumps that you would expect any car to bottom out on.  The spring doesn't feel like it's overpowering the KYB GR2 strut, but again, I was very conservative with how much I cut off.

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