510 Rear Coilover Conversion .. S13 TEIN, Eibach..OICS!

[denis.drc]

Decided to use TEIN S13 coilovers.

This is how I went about the conversion..

 

First, as always, I had to deal with my initial roadblocks.

Apparently parts that come from Japan have salt damage..who knew (*sarcasm*).. :confused:

 

After trying to unlock the collars by hand, I resorted to air tools, which resulted in this..

 

 

Things happen I guess. Moving right along, I decided to remove the rusty steel thread bodies and use aluminum units instead.

 

 

Since the engineers at TEIN were nice enough to weld a ring onto the shock for the thread body, I didn't have to do any extra work.

 

 

For upper spring seats, I went with Ground Control aluminum units I had laying around, then drilled them out to the correct shock shaft diameter.

 

 

Next I fabbed up a spacer to go between the upper shock mounting point and the spring perch.

 

 

Because I didn't want the rubber isolators at the top to take all the shock valve force, I used a stainless washer drilled to the diameter of the shock shaft. It's set on the point where the shock shaft diameters tapers. I also machined a relief into the upper adapter to make the washer disappear..

 

 

Here is what the top looks like:

 

 

Now, fully assembled..

 

 

Last, I machined a set of sleeve inserts to adapt the lower shock mounting point of the S13 shocks, to fit the 510 control arm shock mounting point.

 

 

Here they are installed with my S13 rear brakes:

 

 

I have about 200 miles on this set. I'm running 250lbs Eibach springs, they feel GREAT!

One of my favorite parts of the mod is how little wheel droop I get when the car is lifted.

[dennis]

I like what you have done. The only issue I can for see is that the shocks are valved for a heavier car. This is why I run Ermish rear coil overs, they are valved for the 510's weight.

[JakeWard]

Perhaps I am greatly under-thinking this, but why couldn't you just cut out the top of the strut tower on the car and weld in a new plate that matched the S13 coilover. That way the only modding of the coilover you'd have to do is that spacer at the bottom....

 

Maybe it won't fit. Or maybe the rear coilover from an S13 is way too long. I dunno. Just asking.

[doughboi916]

Bringing this back from the dead.. how did this work for you..? My buddy just pulld the exact same coilovers from his s13 and said I can have them..

[denis.drc]

Bringing this back from the dead.. how did this work for you..? My buddy just pulld the exact same coilovers from his s13 and said I can have them..

They woked out very well. The ride was nice and compliant. What kind of springs are you planning to use?

[KlassicMotion]

I've been wondering... on the rear coilover conversion; how well do the factory shock mounts hold up?  It seems to me like they weren't designed for spring force, and they would either break the bottom mount off the swing arm, or deform the upper mounting sheet metal....