turbowop
Well-known member
Well, new to me anyway, but pre-owned /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
I purchased one of the last set of Tein HA's in the country for our cars back in '01. They were about the best thing you could get back then and I got a good deal through a buddy that owned a small ricer shop. They're still in great shape, but stiff as hell and large bumps/potholes will put the fronts into the bumpstops at my ride height due to the length of the shock bodies. So a few weeks ago when Ludachris from t00ners posted about Ohlins being available for gvr4/1g cars and seeing Clint's (turboawdfanatic) car being used a test mule for that setup along with offering up his Muellerized JIC's for sale I decided to nab his after they sat on the market for a couple of weeks.
The adjustable shock bodies should take care of the bumpstop issues, and the Muellerized valving/springrates should allow for a more comfortable ride. Plus the JIC's use inverted front struts and the setup is all monotube rather than twin-tube like my HA's. I feel it's a bit of an upgrade. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
I've purchased my fair share of used parts over the years. I always refurbish these parts before I put them on my car. Even though the parts are used, I like to freshen them up so I feel like I'm installing brand new goodies and also to go through them and make sure the parts have no issues. These coilovers were no different. This time I snapped a bunch of pics and thought I would share... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I didn't get a shot of them before I tore them down, so it begins with them in pieces and still dirty (although they weren't horrible and are completely free of rust, just normal roadgrime/dirt):
All clean and ready to be reassembled:
Inverted strut bodies regreased and reinserted into the threaded bodies (this was neat as it is the first set of inverted struts I've ever dealt with):
Finished product. I had to use a brand new set of Tein camber plates I had laying around for spares since the JIC ones were for a DSM:
Teins off the car and next to the JIC's for comparison:
On the car and off the jackstands. I dropped the car another smidge. Probably about 1/2". Just enough height under the front and rear that I can still get my floorjack underneath the car without having to drive it up on 2x6 wood blocks. That's also part of the reason I removed the lip...it made it a pain in the ass to jack the car up as my floorjack wouldn't clear it. Anyway:
I haven't driven it yet. Still need to jack it up and tighten down a few things and then get an alignment since I messed with camber and threw the toe settings off. Hopefully I'll have time tomorrow and I'll update the thread after I get a chance to test this stuff out.
Also, before I decided to get these JICs, I had my dad working on a special project for me. He works for an aviation company with a lot of machinists and equipment. I asked if he could fab up a couple of camber plates that mount on top of the strut tower in an effort to gain some compression travel back for my Teins. He finished them today, unfortunately too late since they're not required with the JICs. But I think I'm going to see how well they work by throwing the Teins on 503 with these top-mount camber plates. Here is how they turned out:
Finished product. Fits a spherical bearing from a Tein camber plate:
What it looks like underneath. It has a channel machined into it to accept the ridge that runs around the hole in the GVR4 strut tower. These should allow for about one extra inch of compression travel, which is huge. If they fail, and the struts or bolts break and they go through into the hood, oh well, it's only 503. But I know other companies make top-mounts and Karter has had his Tein plates on top like this with washers for spacers for quite awhile now with no issues, so I think they'll be okay. This obviously wasn't the finished product, but it shows the machine work underneath:
If these work out, and people want some, it's possible that I could get some copies made. But I'd have to find another source to copy them since my dad can't really do that much side work without getting in trouble. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hsugh.gif
I purchased one of the last set of Tein HA's in the country for our cars back in '01. They were about the best thing you could get back then and I got a good deal through a buddy that owned a small ricer shop. They're still in great shape, but stiff as hell and large bumps/potholes will put the fronts into the bumpstops at my ride height due to the length of the shock bodies. So a few weeks ago when Ludachris from t00ners posted about Ohlins being available for gvr4/1g cars and seeing Clint's (turboawdfanatic) car being used a test mule for that setup along with offering up his Muellerized JIC's for sale I decided to nab his after they sat on the market for a couple of weeks.
The adjustable shock bodies should take care of the bumpstop issues, and the Muellerized valving/springrates should allow for a more comfortable ride. Plus the JIC's use inverted front struts and the setup is all monotube rather than twin-tube like my HA's. I feel it's a bit of an upgrade. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
I've purchased my fair share of used parts over the years. I always refurbish these parts before I put them on my car. Even though the parts are used, I like to freshen them up so I feel like I'm installing brand new goodies and also to go through them and make sure the parts have no issues. These coilovers were no different. This time I snapped a bunch of pics and thought I would share... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I didn't get a shot of them before I tore them down, so it begins with them in pieces and still dirty (although they weren't horrible and are completely free of rust, just normal roadgrime/dirt):
All clean and ready to be reassembled:
Inverted strut bodies regreased and reinserted into the threaded bodies (this was neat as it is the first set of inverted struts I've ever dealt with):
Finished product. I had to use a brand new set of Tein camber plates I had laying around for spares since the JIC ones were for a DSM:
Teins off the car and next to the JIC's for comparison:
On the car and off the jackstands. I dropped the car another smidge. Probably about 1/2". Just enough height under the front and rear that I can still get my floorjack underneath the car without having to drive it up on 2x6 wood blocks. That's also part of the reason I removed the lip...it made it a pain in the ass to jack the car up as my floorjack wouldn't clear it. Anyway:
I haven't driven it yet. Still need to jack it up and tighten down a few things and then get an alignment since I messed with camber and threw the toe settings off. Hopefully I'll have time tomorrow and I'll update the thread after I get a chance to test this stuff out.
Also, before I decided to get these JICs, I had my dad working on a special project for me. He works for an aviation company with a lot of machinists and equipment. I asked if he could fab up a couple of camber plates that mount on top of the strut tower in an effort to gain some compression travel back for my Teins. He finished them today, unfortunately too late since they're not required with the JICs. But I think I'm going to see how well they work by throwing the Teins on 503 with these top-mount camber plates. Here is how they turned out:
Finished product. Fits a spherical bearing from a Tein camber plate:
What it looks like underneath. It has a channel machined into it to accept the ridge that runs around the hole in the GVR4 strut tower. These should allow for about one extra inch of compression travel, which is huge. If they fail, and the struts or bolts break and they go through into the hood, oh well, it's only 503. But I know other companies make top-mounts and Karter has had his Tein plates on top like this with washers for spacers for quite awhile now with no issues, so I think they'll be okay. This obviously wasn't the finished product, but it shows the machine work underneath:
If these work out, and people want some, it's possible that I could get some copies made. But I'd have to find another source to copy them since my dad can't really do that much side work without getting in trouble. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hsugh.gif
Im currently soaking my coilovers in PB blaster. To much road grime haha
