Suspension refresh questions

Naturally aspirated tech and talk
spacecad3t
Posts: 236
Joined: Tue Oct 14, 2025 4:54 am
Has thanked: 59 times
Been thanked: 52 times
Vaporized.
IMG_1835.jpeg
IMG_1835.jpeg (5.08 MiB) Viewed 722 times
The conversion kit comes this week. Had to pay a $100 tariff on it :lol:

Yellow or green? Can the late car run the green Bilstein shocks in the rear?
IMG_1799.png
IMG_1799.png (1.7 MiB) Viewed 720 times

#31

User avatar
Tom
Site Admin
Posts: 8548
Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2021 2:04 pm
Location: Silicon Valley, CA
Has thanked: 888 times
Been thanked: 3826 times
Contact:
Wow, vapor blasting looks awesome. Are you planning to paint or powder coat? My vote is Koni yellow. :)

#32

User avatar
stitch2k1
Posts: 293
Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2022 11:32 pm
Location: Orlando, FL
Been thanked: 30 times
spacecad3t wrote: Tue Jan 20, 2026 1:30 pm Can the late car run the green Bilstein shocks in the rear?
The green ones are for steel trailing arm cars, yellow are for aluminum trailing arms.
Porsche 944S2 5MT '91
BMW E39 540iT 6MT '00
Mercedes-Benz W201 190E 2.6 5MT '89
IG: @stitch2k1

#33

spacecad3t
Posts: 236
Joined: Tue Oct 14, 2025 4:54 am
Has thanked: 59 times
Been thanked: 52 times
stitch2k1 wrote: Tue Jan 20, 2026 3:53 pm
spacecad3t wrote: Tue Jan 20, 2026 1:30 pm Can the late car run the green Bilstein shocks in the rear?
The green ones are for steel trailing arm cars, yellow are for aluminum trailing arms.
Bummer, sounds like yellow paint then.

#34

spacecad3t
Posts: 236
Joined: Tue Oct 14, 2025 4:54 am
Has thanked: 59 times
Been thanked: 52 times
Tom wrote: Tue Jan 20, 2026 2:37 pm Wow, vapor blasting looks awesome. Are you planning to paint or powder coat? My vote is Koni yellow. :)
Just paint them myself, I have a decent amount of experience. No heated spray booth tho, so I need to wait on the temps to rise later this year. I'll wrap up the fitting and welding once the shocks come in this week- but then go quiet until warmer weather.

#35

spacecad3t
Posts: 236
Joined: Tue Oct 14, 2025 4:54 am
Has thanked: 59 times
Been thanked: 52 times
Test fit. Both sleeves have about 3-5mm gap to fill. Both inserts are tightened down with 6 turns on the cap, the guide says "greater the 5". So I think we're a go for welding. Kinda hot all metal like that :D
Add Pictures/Files
IMG_1844.jpeg
IMG_1844.jpeg (3.74 MiB) Viewed 671 times
IMG_1843.jpeg
IMG_1843.jpeg (3.68 MiB) Viewed 671 times

#36

spacecad3t
Posts: 236
Joined: Tue Oct 14, 2025 4:54 am
Has thanked: 59 times
Been thanked: 52 times
And welded up. Im rusty, and was already a ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ welder... but ready to paint :D
IMG_1854.jpeg
IMG_1854.jpeg (4.5 MiB) Viewed 649 times
IMG_1856.jpeg
IMG_1856.jpeg (6.38 MiB) Viewed 649 times
Edit: I gave ChatGPT an image and ask it to recommend a color scheme, got this back. I think I like it.
80DD3CA5-660E-4250-B098-1BFA35AB42AB.png
80DD3CA5-660E-4250-B098-1BFA35AB42AB.png (2.39 MiB) Viewed 639 times

#37

spacecad3t
Posts: 236
Joined: Tue Oct 14, 2025 4:54 am
Has thanked: 59 times
Been thanked: 52 times
Found time to paint the struts. Im going to use some rubber shrink tube to cover the weld and the unpainted portion, and some Bilstein decals are on the way that I might add on.
Add Pictures/Files
IMG_2087.jpeg
IMG_2087.jpeg (9.67 MiB) Viewed 526 times

#38

User avatar
Tom
Site Admin
Posts: 8548
Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2021 2:04 pm
Location: Silicon Valley, CA
Has thanked: 888 times
Been thanked: 3826 times
Contact:
spacecad3t wrote: Sun Feb 15, 2026 6:17 pm Found time to paint the struts. Im going to use some rubber shrink tube to cover the weld and the unpainted portion, and some Bilstein decals are on the way that I might add on.
Looks really nice -- great work. I wouldn't worry about the weld joints myself. Weld beads make cars faster. :)

#39

spacecad3t
Posts: 236
Joined: Tue Oct 14, 2025 4:54 am
Has thanked: 59 times
Been thanked: 52 times
Thanks Tom! The springs did not come out how I hoped... I should have primed them gray I think, the black kept pushing through and then it was too much paint :( so I'll be stripping those and I think powder coating them instead.

Anyone have thoughts on adding these decals? Im on the fence.
Add Pictures/Files
IMG_2131.jpeg
IMG_2131.jpeg (4.72 MiB) Viewed 476 times

#40

Post Reply