Merkur front hubs with Volkswagen struts

[andyofcolumbusmerkur]

If you wanted to use that powerflex bushing couldn't you just flip the stock xr upper mount?

[DPDISXR4Ti]

If you wanted to use that powerflex bushing couldn't you just flip the stock xr upper mount?

That would make the problem worse since it would be domed rather than cupped, putting it further away from the threaded strut end.

[andyofcolumbusmerkur]

Ya that makes sense. I've seen people run them flipped not sure exactly what that will accomplish. Possibly it was a temporary fix before worn out parts could be replaced with new. I would be in agreement with someone shaving down urethane bushings for custom applications as long it is was done correctly.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Go back a page and you'll see the pic with the shim "installed" in the strut receiver. I've currently got mine mocked up with a shim I made from some roof flashing I cut with tin snips. It's a little thinner than the .023" that Chuck used. I'll report back on the thickness and whether it was good enough or not.

The thinner gauge sheet metal (.020") I initially tried was too thin. So I went looking around and found I had an old radiator cover that also happened to be .023" thick, exact same as what Chuck used. So I snipped up some pieces about 6" x 2", wrapped them around the strut stub to shape them, and voila, shims done! Ideally it should be a little thicker, but eventually it clamps down.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Worked on this yesterday and discovered perhaps I'm the first to try this using the Powerflex bushing. It would seem that the Powerflex part is thicker than the stock body bushing. As a result, the threaded strut top does not extend high enough to get the nut on there using the stock XR upper mount (the metal washer-like part you see in the engine bay). The "fix" is to NOT use the upper half of the Powerflex bushing but instead use the VW upper mount which has a rubber washer built-in and a more sunken center.

Scratch all of this ^^^. It turns out that the Raceland Optima coil-over I was using was a little lazy and not fully extending. Once I got it fully extended there was enough rod exposed up top to use both parts of the Powerflex bushing and the stock cap (drilled out to 14mm). The nut up top just barely engages all the threads.

As I somewhat expected, the Raceland coil-overs are sitting too low, even with the collar spun all the way up. It will work for now, but I'm planning to modify a set of Bilstein B6 struts into coil-overs using this kit...
https://www.a1racing.com/A1_Racing_Prod ... r_Kit.aspx
The sleeve I.D. on these is 2.038" which will work well on the Bilsteins which measure 1.99". The Ground Control sleeve I already had measures 1.98". It works great with Konis.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Some tips from my experiences fabbing and fitting VW Jetta spec Bilstein B6 struts (p/n 35-044079) into coil-overs. First, a quick image of what happens if you overtighten the lower nut...

XRJettaCoilOver-1.jpg (690.91 KiB) Viewed 9910 times

It was a used bearing, and the Raceland upper spring seat I initially used was a bit chewed up, so perhaps there were other factors in play. The nice thing about the Bilstein struts is the 7mm Allen fitting built into the top of the shaft. It makes it easy to hand-tighten the nut.

As I mentioned, I used the A-1 Racing coil-over conversion kit after cleanly cutting off the original spring seats from the struts, leaving a nice ledge to park the sleeve on. I took off about a 1/2" inch of height out of the sleeve, giving it a height of 4.5" rather than 5" (so that it didn't extend above the shock body). Before sliding the sleeve into place I shmeared a batch of JB Weld around the shock body to more positively affix the sleeve to the shock. I also put exactly three wraps of electric tape around the shock to absolutely center the sleeve (a micrometer is your friend here). Once the JB weld was cured I carefully packed the little crevice between the sleeve and shock body with sealant. Just be sure to keep the sealant off the rod.

I used a 10" long 200 lb spring and here's the ride height I was able to achieve with the collar nearly all the way down. As desired, I'm a little above stock ride height, to match up with my above-stock ride height rear. The front is about a 1/2" lower than the back, with no significant cargo in the bed. For those wanting to go lower, you'd probably want 8" springs and/or B8 struts.

XRJettaCoilOver-2.jpg (712.51 KiB) Viewed 9910 times

XRJettaCoilOver-3.jpg (273.72 KiB) Viewed 9910 times