TWS

iTrader: (63)

Need your assistance ASAP. Please PM or email me with a number where I can call you. I'm in the middle of the job and need to get the car back together TODAY but ran into a jam trying to install QA-1 fronts on my '94 while retaining the stock front springs. Tried QA-1 tech support but they were of limited assistance.

Thanks in advance

TWS

iTrader: (63)

Judging by the lack of response, it is prolly not common knowledge on how to do this combination. Therefore, I figured I should post what I found out. To use stock front coil-overs with the QA-1's, you must use the stock lower spring perches. The QA-1 springs are not popular (consensus is that they suck) so I elected to retain the stock coil-overs.
1. Remove the spring perches from the stock struts (an air chisle will do)
2. The inner diameter hold of the stock spring perch must be widened slightly to slip over the QA-1's. I sent them to a machine shop to be done on a lathe. You can prolly do it yourself with a dremel etc, but it will be time consuming and not as clean as if done on a lathe.

3. Once that is done, the perches will fit right into place. The QA-1 supplied pieces will be excess (not wide enough to seat the stock springs)

Hope this helps someone else who is contemplating the same mod.

Thanks to ProstockJohn and Royboy82 for their phone calls and offers of assistance.

NHRATA01

iTrader: (10)

TWS, thank you for posting this, as I am leaning towards doing Hal's over the winter. I had also read similar advice that for a car that is intended to be driven on the street at all, the Hal springs should be avoided.

Also I'm not sure, but I think Thunder sells modified spring perches to use the Hals with stock springs.

DrkPhx

iTrader: (15)

I just saw this. But you figured it out; cut the stock perch to fit on the QA1's. The instructions that come with the shocks assume you are using the QA1 drag springs. Glad you got it.