4g61t.org

In another thread, I said that it was the end of the beginning. I am now reporting on basic progress. Here is a pic. of the rear suspension before rebuilding.

You might be able to see the 3-bolt that I started with. Here is the same rear susp. after refinishing the parts. You can see the new urethae bushing that I have now installed. It is also now a 4-bolt. Notice those nice rust free bolts. (I replaced the bolts with new ones anyway.)

(Opps, I forgot to get a shot of the rear susp. assembled. Maybe later.)

Here is the trunk cut stuff. The first two shots show the line for cutting at the hatch area. Notice my nice shoes.

Here is the same after the metal was removed

The next two show the cut in progress and completed. In the first, I tried to show the area of trouble where there is frame support. You have to cut across and also down to get through it all.

And here is the area finished.

So, OK for now.

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Age is a number; attitude counts.

Rear end pieces look great Bill. I see you are staying 4 lug, probably the smart way to go. The initial cutting into the car is the easy and fun part. Did you end up cutting out the frame support there on the frame rail? I had to because my diff. brace bar was welded in right there. Keep us posted on how you plan to fab up the front subframe mounts. All the cutting in that region of the car is sooooo enjoyable

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1989 Dodge Colt Turbo w/ 4g63t swap
1999 Ford Contour SVT

What the F! I am not versed in computer stuff. I thought I was doing well when I figured out how to post pics. So now I delete some of the gallery for space limits, and find that the pics on the web site are GONE, too! So, okay, I guess they are not for long.
Anway, up to date: I got the toe hooks welded with a bracket. I followed the plan I had posted earlier. (cut out a bracket reinforcement, making the 2"x 1/4" U brket w/ through bolt to hold the bar, and welding Ubrket to reinforcement, and reinforcement to toe hook.) Here are pics of the items:
I then made the cross bar (<39" to allow for the reinforcement plate and a little room for the bar ends after I get them powder coated). I cut a smaller piece, and notched it for later placement on the main cross bar. This will allow me to negotiate placement of the front motor mount back and forth and fore and aft. Here is the pic.:

I then positioned the bracket placements over the control arm supports.


Here are the rear brackets after welding:


And here is one of the rear brackets in place and primed:


And here are a bunch of the pieces for the front and rear motor mounts:


That's it for now. I am troubled as to how the motor is to be positioned. For example, I have already made a placement for the for and aft bars, but I never had a number for the height or cross position. I am going to measure as to where the support bars are and ask about it. I also have some issues as to the engine bracket bolt on. I will have to delete some of the gallery pics (and,by extension, the pics on the website as well). Oh well. Later, Bill

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Age is a number; attitude counts.

Just upload your pics to a photobucket account and then post them here. Great job so far!

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93 Mitsubishi Expo LRV 1.8/manual
95 Eagle Summit DL Coupe 1.5/manual
01 Mitsubishi Mirage ES Sedan 1.8/manual

I have too many threads. I can't figure where to go. I am really making progress now, even while trying to move by the end of this month.
I need to post some more pics, but I am not in shape right now.
I have a question: Did you guys all use your old CSM struts on the rear suspension? My Koni's have a suspension bushing that appears to be about 12-14mm diameter. The suspension shaft/stud, which is supposed to accept the shock, is about 18-20mm diameter. Do I need to install Eclipse shocks, or should I replace the Koni bushings? (Also, that shaft stub seems to angle down instead of being straight out, as I would have imagined. I am going 5 stud rotors, but I don't see where that would make any difference. I did examine Colt200's pics on the subject. Info. is appreciated.

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Age is a number; attitude counts.

I welded two pieces of 1.5 inch pipe under each strut and made a polyurethane bushing for the bottom the right size, using the talon struts. I think I remember reading/hearing somewhere that you can use the csm struts but you need to press out the bushing that is in there and press in the bushing from the talon struts. I would check some more for you but I am working up north right now on internet that is slower than molasses in January man, someone else will be able to confirm for you...

Seeing my name in a discussion before I join in is kinda odd...but hey, at least I am remembered.

Joe

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- Works in da bush

Thanks, Joe. You confirmed what I thought. Now, to find a Talon, or such... Also need to find my camera. I had it earlier.

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Age is a number; attitude counts.

Stock colts are too short. Well they were for mine. I had the coilovers as high as they would go and it was still WAY WAY too low.


I found a set of old AWD talon struts, cut the bottoms off. and welded them to the bottom of my struts. it gave me almost 2'' of lift. which was what i was looking for.

AWD dsm struts are 2'' Shorter then stock colt struts. I can get pictuers if needed

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91 colt beater..

Oh boy. You say that the stock colt struts are "way too short", but then say that AWD dsm struts are 2" shorter than stock colt struts.
Did you mean longer? Right now I have Koni's and coilovers. Maybe I am confusing "strut" with "shock" or "damper". I am hopeful that I can just replace the bushing on the Koni DAMPER and still use it in my COILOVER. (The damper is specially valved to permit an in/on car soft/firm adjustment, and I did buy a set of 10" Eibach springs.) My alternative is to buy a set of el cheapo rear dampers, peddle the Koni's, and go for a later good replacement. What about that?

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Age is a number; attitude counts.

I have stock colt STRUTS on my colt. They were 2'' to short for me.

AWD dsm STRUTS are 2'' shorter then colt struts. If i were to use awd dsm struts on my car. they'd be 4'' toooo short for me.

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91 colt beater..

Bill, run the CSM koni yellows you currently have, just need to make a bushing so the strut can be bolted to the rear hubs. I made a post a while back about the bushings I made for mine out of urethane. I also run a coilover and a 12" eibach 500lbs spring. The coilover perch is about in the middle of the threads of the coilover, so I have about 1.5" travel in either direction if I choose. Its PERFECT.

Here is my old post on the subject: http://forum.4g61t.org/viewtopic.php?t=20732

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1989 Dodge Colt Turbo w/ 4g63t swap
1999 Ford Contour SVT

Yes, I saw your writeup last night. Nice stuff. I should have done a search first. Anyway, It's all here. As you know, the mounting stud is <21mm. So, I figure that I just need a sleeve with an inside diameter of 21mm. Then drill out the wheels to accomodate the outside diameter of the sleeve and press. What did you use for a sleeve?
Did you notice that the mounting stud has a slightly drooped angle? Did it bother you? Did you do a "mushroom cap" on the inside, or just leave it flat to a washer? I am thinking of doing a double cap. Oh, and the wheels are RED.

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Age is a number; attitude counts.

I ran a DSM sleeve, came out of a DSM strut. You will want to use that sleeve because it has a funky design to it. I pressed the bushing/sleeve out of the DSM strut, set the bushing on fire for a couple hours and the metal sleeve was left over. All you need from there is a washer on the outside that is larger than the sleeve to keep the bushing held in place.

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1989 Dodge Colt Turbo w/ 4g63t swap
1999 Ford Contour SVT

where did you get the struts/springs?

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91 colt beater..

Hmm. I answered this yesterday, but it seems to have disappeared. So, OKL, I got the dampers from Koni (for get the model, but they recommended them). The springs and coilovers were from Ground Control. I am putting in 10" springs(10 2.5 250) (A little softer than I had.)
Another day brings another change. My boss/guru found some replacement bushings at BapGeon (BapGeon # ADUS 501). They are for lower control arms on 93-97 Nisan Altima, 84-99 Maxima, and Nisan Stanza. They will take just a smudge of sanding.

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Age is a number; attitude counts.