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The bottom cut end is in the notch of the strut & the tophat is positioned with the "outside" outward, right? Give the spring a wallop with a compothane BFH to seat it if not. The springs were absolutely NIB. AND a matched pair. I had to break mine in driving before the suspension settled a little. Do set the toe-in to 1/8" out, after driving & flat on the ground.

Good job!! If you can find this tool, K-D Tools # 3387, that's what I use for the Macpherson strut springs. Your local O'Reilly A/P could have it. Easiest to remove the tools with the 2 compressor shafts lined up at the front & rear of the strut(vehicle front & rear that is). The cut off end of the spring is at the back of the strut so the tools will be 90* out from there. Be sure to align the tophat with the "outside" out. And don't forget the spacer.

For now just the stock rear springs with KYBs. May try the Honda fronts in rear, but the Toy 4 runner front shocks would reduce travel a little. Have 2 or 3 non-Sub vehicles to work on first. 2 are 4x4s.

What's the OAL of your Smittybilt XRC8? Just wondering if its longer than 26" - the distance between stock 87 GL headlights. 16K lbs max pull with a snatchblock? Plan on doing chinups with yours? Ha ha.

You'll like the ride of these cc856s better than the straight wound Tempo springs. Much easier on the back & kidneys! heh heh heh. I chose these for the simple reason that I intend to add heavy things to the nose - SJR bumper, nerf bar, winch, more lights.

Sorry to take so long to answer. Been busy with a couple bigger 4x4s. I didn't use the strut mounts per se. I used the upper spring pieces from the 88-94 Tempo/Topaz which hold the upper strut mount thrust bearing. Then ground down the top surface to fit the EA front strut 'umbrella' shaped pieces for the spring perches. ..........................................................

Already have this one: http://http://www.harborfreight.com/6000-lb-off-road-vehicle-winch-with-automatic-load-holding-brake-68141.html Will mount this winch to my SJR front bumper. Feel that even with another 4" of lift & frame for divorced t-case, etc it will be enough. If it breaks then I'll consider another brand. They're pretty much all made on the "right" coast of the Pacific these days.

Good ideas! All it would take is an ironwood branch to ruin your trip off road. I have a 6000lb winch to add to my 87 GL front bumper. :cool:

Let's just say I'm leaning toward lower A-arms & moving those 1" forward.

Very nice hood latch, radiator & condenser mount setup you got there! What will you do for vitals protection? Expanded metal for the grill? Or go for the 'Road Warrior' grill - many 1/4 x 1" horizontal steel flat stock bars on edge? Just kidding of course.

The road manners improved a lot especially after going to stock length rods, progressive wound front springs & setting the toe-in to about 1/8". Noticed the strut mounts had deformed from the extended rods some. That can't be a good thing - some have had their mount come apart! Still have some wheel hop necessitating finesse with the go pedal on starts. I'm thinking it could be the EA engine mounts stretching under torque causing the DOJs to bind slightly - more pronounced with larger tires. When I finally can get the car behind the gate to do the Frankenmotor switch definitely will do some looking at the engine & trans mounts, torque rod situation.

Found some roller rockers from a 97 Lego L ej22 & another pair of heads from a 93 Lego ej22 for the Frankenmotor. Decided on using the 97 rockers with 97 cams after reading up on camshafts & rocker compatibilities. Here's some pics of the camshafts showing the differences along with the rocker assemblies:

Those Idealarcs used to be the hot ticket for small shops. Still a great CC power supply TIG welder. I just sold my Airco heliwelder V (actually an ESAB 300 Squarewave all bells & whistles) with Bernard cooler. Before that had an Airco mdl 3A(Miller 300S). My home main panel just doesn't have the ampacity for these older units & with everyone running their A/C the voltage droop wouldn't allow me to.:-\ So I ordered a Miller Dynasty 200 DX inverter TIG/stick. More in line with residential power in the suburbs. Definitely like the cross frame radiator support you built there. Beefity!

Great work! Must've missed it earlier, but what TIG welder are you using for this work? Nice beads!

I'm inclined to stay with the lower compression & stock cams too. I'll be running 96 Lego OBD2 ECU, intake, etc. Unless someone has good input for the lesser duration Delta torque grind?

Good deal! Thanks to both of you! Like Scott in Bellingham, the OP, still waiting to see some installed pics of 2nd t-cases & diffs. Please. Here's some of the Nissan t-case & mount brackets(center 2 brkts in 3rd pic): Sure wish there were aftermarket stuff for these old divorced t-cases like the Suzies.

Looked at my 99 ej25d block & saw similar numbers. Having been a maintenance mechanic for a die casting shop, these appear to me to be the plates they insert into the die molds to ID the production run & mold used.

Uberoo, What did you do for an intermediate shaft between the d/r 5mt trans & the Nissan 720 t-case? For the 720 t-case I have all 3 shafts(inter, ft & rr) from an '84 720 PU plus the t-case. Plus more.

Good then. More info can't hurt us.... Edit: Did copy down the VIN,etc when I pulled my donor block. VIN does correlate OK. 4s3bg6855X66.... Eng type: EJ25DAWEYL

Sorry for this highjack but maybe this could be useful for others.... I have a 99 Lego OB EJ25 short block here with an "X" as the tenth digit. It was a DOHC & is 8 bolt bell-housing pattern. Don't know the mileage as the donor odometer was missing when I pulled it. Guess I'll find out the rod journal size when torn down for brgs/rings. Were there any other variations to this tenth digit "W" designation? Edit: xbeerd posted his "X" just as this post was being typed.:cool:

Thanks!! The brake lines are already covered - wrapped with vinyl tape & then electrical loom spiral nylon to boot. See posts 9 & 10. Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

Thanks!! I just picked out one based on original Tempo spring ID, wire size, etc from here: http://www.moog-suspension-parts.com/Universal_Coil_Springs.asp Plus lots of reading about what others had chosen(cc852, cc854). The Grabber 27x8.50x14s rolling radius on 14x6 Mazda truck whls are actually 12.5" from pavement to centerline of axle. So yes, the dia could be described as 25".

See post 25 here: http://ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=136259&page=3

After driving with straight wound Tempo springs for awhile decided I'd had enough of bouncing at every bump in the road, bump steering, etc. Bought some MOOG cc856 springs & swapped them out on the last day of last year. Cut them to 13 inches overall length, reinstalled with the Tempo top spring perches(described earlier). Put original length strut rods in & adj toe-in to 1/16". May try more or less toe to test for best handling soon. First pic shows cc856 uncut, cc856 cut to 13" & Tempo spring cut to 13". .......................................................................... Rides much nicer with less wheel hop, etc & much more controllable. Mounted Mazda wheels again to get some better mileage around town(smaller rolling radius tires).

No, the hubs are steel. Steel will ring if you strike it & cast iron won't. I also have welded up around the new holes for buildup using only .030 ER70S MIG wire with 75/25 gas & they've never cracked nor failed. As with any welding, surface prep is mandatory before welding. Grind/sand/machine a clean surface first.