Shock & spring swap completed - my story
06-08-2006, 09:54 AM
#1
On The Tree
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Shock & spring swap completed - my story Here's my story (sorry if it's long):
My girlfriend kept hearing me talk about how I wanted to lower the car. Christmas time came and I open the multitude of gifts she got me (my girlfriend rocks!). At the heart of everything she got me was a giant box that was too heavy for her to lift. So I open it and what's inside?...an Eibach Pro-Kit! WOW...I was shocked! Well this of course forced me to contact Sam Strano about the shocks I intended to purchase. Since it was December I figured I had plenty of time to contemplate about what shocks I wanted. From the time I got the car in 99' I had always had my mind dead set on buying Koni Double Adjustable shocks because everyone had always said that Koni is the best. The bad part is they cost a ton of money. After a 30 min conversation with Sam Strano my mind had been changed to getting Koni Single Adjustables instead (thanks Sam!). About one week after speaking with Sam I got luckey and found brand new Koni SA font struts on eBay for $278. This I couldn't believe so I contacted the seller by phone and he said he was getting rid of his entire Koni inventory and offered to end the auction immediately if I wanted the struts. So he closed the auction for me and I ended up paying $308 w/ shipping (whoo hoo, score!). Now all I had to do was save money for the rear shocks. I saved up the money and bought the rear Koni SAs from stranoparts.com in May. Now I was faced with a dilemma because I didn't have the cash to pay someone to install everything and I don't have all the tools, space, and help to do it myself. Luckily a friend of mine that I work with offered to help (he ended up having the torx bits I needed as well). Now I felt much more confident that I could actually get this done so I enlisted the help of one more friend. This guy built his car (it's a turbo Miata w/ a Japanese racing motor) from the ground up. Needless to say his automotive knowledge far exceeds mine. His Dad owns a shop where they build vaults for coffins. It's obviously not a speed shop and doesn't have a lift or anything like that but they have tons of tools there and plenty of space to work. So the Sunday before memorial day the three of us went to work. It took us 7 hrs to complete everything including clean up. The reason it took so long is because of the pesky nut on the top of the strut. Both sides were rusted solid (more like fused on) and it was a pain in the a$$ to get them off. Also, the F-body Howto's on www.ls1howto.com were a big help as well.
So it went like this:
-Eibach Pro-Kit: FREE (Thank you Molly!)
-Koni SA Front Struts: $308 from eBay
-Koni SA Rear Shocks: $337 including shipping from www.stranoparts.com
-Installation: No cost (Thank you Chris & Todd, I owe both of you big time!)
I think I really made out like a bandit. As soon as I save some more cash (next year) I'll probably end up getting Strano front & rear hollow sway bars. The difference in the car's handling is night & day to say the least, it's simply awesome! Anyway, if you have read all this, then I thank you, I just wanted to share my story with the Internet community. I highly recommend getting Koni SA shocks for anyone thinking about it, they are absolutely sick!
Special thanks to:
-Eugenio_SS on ls1.com (Thanks for ALL of your help through countless emails)
-mrr23 on ls1.com (Thanks for your advise via email as well)
-Sam Strano (Thanks for taking the time to call me and talk about my setup)
-My buddies Chris & Todd for helping with the install
-Ron
My girlfriend kept hearing me talk about how I wanted to lower the car. Christmas time came and I open the multitude of gifts she got me (my girlfriend rocks!). At the heart of everything she got me was a giant box that was too heavy for her to lift. So I open it and what's inside?...an Eibach Pro-Kit! WOW...I was shocked! Well this of course forced me to contact Sam Strano about the shocks I intended to purchase. Since it was December I figured I had plenty of time to contemplate about what shocks I wanted. From the time I got the car in 99' I had always had my mind dead set on buying Koni Double Adjustable shocks because everyone had always said that Koni is the best. The bad part is they cost a ton of money. After a 30 min conversation with Sam Strano my mind had been changed to getting Koni Single Adjustables instead (thanks Sam!). About one week after speaking with Sam I got luckey and found brand new Koni SA font struts on eBay for $278. This I couldn't believe so I contacted the seller by phone and he said he was getting rid of his entire Koni inventory and offered to end the auction immediately if I wanted the struts. So he closed the auction for me and I ended up paying $308 w/ shipping (whoo hoo, score!). Now all I had to do was save money for the rear shocks. I saved up the money and bought the rear Koni SAs from stranoparts.com in May. Now I was faced with a dilemma because I didn't have the cash to pay someone to install everything and I don't have all the tools, space, and help to do it myself. Luckily a friend of mine that I work with offered to help (he ended up having the torx bits I needed as well). Now I felt much more confident that I could actually get this done so I enlisted the help of one more friend. This guy built his car (it's a turbo Miata w/ a Japanese racing motor) from the ground up. Needless to say his automotive knowledge far exceeds mine. His Dad owns a shop where they build vaults for coffins. It's obviously not a speed shop and doesn't have a lift or anything like that but they have tons of tools there and plenty of space to work. So the Sunday before memorial day the three of us went to work. It took us 7 hrs to complete everything including clean up. The reason it took so long is because of the pesky nut on the top of the strut. Both sides were rusted solid (more like fused on) and it was a pain in the a$$ to get them off. Also, the F-body Howto's on www.ls1howto.com were a big help as well.
So it went like this:
-Eibach Pro-Kit: FREE (Thank you Molly!)
-Koni SA Front Struts: $308 from eBay
-Koni SA Rear Shocks: $337 including shipping from www.stranoparts.com
-Installation: No cost (Thank you Chris & Todd, I owe both of you big time!)
I think I really made out like a bandit. As soon as I save some more cash (next year) I'll probably end up getting Strano front & rear hollow sway bars. The difference in the car's handling is night & day to say the least, it's simply awesome! Anyway, if you have read all this, then I thank you, I just wanted to share my story with the Internet community. I highly recommend getting Koni SA shocks for anyone thinking about it, they are absolutely sick!
Special thanks to:
-Eugenio_SS on ls1.com (Thanks for ALL of your help through countless emails)
-mrr23 on ls1.com (Thanks for your advise via email as well)
-Sam Strano (Thanks for taking the time to call me and talk about my setup)
-My buddies Chris & Todd for helping with the install
-Ron
Last edited by BAD99TA; 06-08-2006 at 11:45 AM.
06-09-2006, 01:19 AM
#7
On The Tree
Thread Starter
I'll work on getting some pics A.S.A.P. Unfortunately, it's crappy out and it's raining so the car is hiding under it's protective California car cover. Sometimes Buffalo, NY isn't the most rain free area. Soon as the weather breaks I'll wash the car, take some pics and post them up.
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06-11-2006, 03:01 PM
#8
On The Tree
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I posted the pics at the link below because they are rather large. If you use Firefox it will automatically resize them to fit in your browser (I think it does for Internet Explorer as well).
The link is: http://members.localnet.com/~rdanna1/TransAm/
The link is: http://members.localnet.com/~rdanna1/TransAm/
06-11-2006, 04:41 PM
#10
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BAD99TA- Dude, I live 5 mins from you- not even, Im Matts (BIGG DOGG) Brother. Didnt realize it was your ride on there till I saw DAVES Mustang next to yours in the pic. Car looks Good Man!!!! Im actually looking at the same setup. Good to see another memeber on here in the B-LO who doesnt own a freakin' VETTE! Keep it clean and drive it hard! Later
06-11-2006, 04:56 PM
#11
Got my shocks in the garage awaiting time to put them on. Can't wait. Also have the Strano sway bars and soon, his lowering springs. Just need to time and the confindence to do them myself! I think the shocks will be pretty easy, according to the ls1insall.com link. Not sure about sway bars or pan hard bar. Will find out soon. Everytime I read one of these theads, it makes me want to forget my husbandly duties, and just do them. Unfortunately, my marriage is still reeling from the 3 straight weekend days I took to compound, polish and wax the car. Thanks for the inspiration with your experience. BTW, that is a really good deal on the shocks.
06-11-2006, 07:41 PM
#12
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That prokit looks sweet. I am glad to hear you did the work yourself. Those top nuts on the struts are a pain it the ***. I would have spent half the time I did on the install if I did not have to deal with those welded nuts. Deffinately pick up a set of sam's bars they will make a huge difference.
06-11-2006, 10:01 PM
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I just did the sway bars this week. I"m ashamed and how long it took me and my dad but thats another story.
The rear is a little hardder I think due to getting the wrech up on the upper end of the sway bar..unless you remover the rear wheels. My old junk was rusted on there..use something to loosen it up couple of the old nuts broke etc.
Did the front much quicker......the only thing I"m not doing is the front struts....got a mechanic to do that hopefully tuesday.
The rear is a little hardder I think due to getting the wrech up on the upper end of the sway bar..unless you remover the rear wheels. My old junk was rusted on there..use something to loosen it up couple of the old nuts broke etc.
Did the front much quicker......the only thing I"m not doing is the front struts....got a mechanic to do that hopefully tuesday.
06-12-2006, 10:07 AM
#14
On The Tree
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by THE CHOP SHOP
That prokit looks sweet. I am glad to hear you did the work yourself. Those top nuts on the struts are a pain it the ***. I would have spent half the time I did on the install if I did not have to deal with those welded nuts. Deffinately pick up a set of sam's bars they will make a huge difference.
06-12-2006, 10:19 AM
#15
On The Tree
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by WADDISME
Got my shocks in the garage awaiting time to put them on. Can't wait. Also have the Strano sway bars and soon, his lowering springs. Just need to time and the confindence to do them myself! I think the shocks will be pretty easy, according to the ls1insall.com link. Not sure about sway bars or pan hard bar. Will find out soon. Everytime I read one of these theads, it makes me want to forget my husbandly duties, and just do them. Unfortunately, my marriage is still reeling from the 3 straight weekend days I took to compound, polish and wax the car. Thanks for the inspiration with your experience. BTW, that is a really good deal on the shocks.
) I found it very helpful to have another pair of hands and in my case 2 other pair of hands was a big help. Watch out for those damn nuts on the top of the struts, they are a pain in the a$$. If it weren't for those two nuts I would have had everything done about 2 hours earlier and the rear shocks were so much easier to install than the front. I think it took us like 1 hour to install the rear shocks (3 guys working like crazy, go team work!). I saw some posts about how some guys just go out and buy some cheap sockets and snap those nuts off because they are usually rusted on (like mine were). A couple questions, for you if you don't mind:
#1) What shocks did you get?
#2) what compound did you use that took you 3 straight weekend days to polish/wax the car? Just curious because I use the Zaino polish and it's a breeze to wax the car. It takes a while to do the whole clay bar system, then remove all the surface scratches, and then the actual polish/wax application. I think it took me like 5 hours to do everything from begining to end.
06-13-2006, 09:23 AM
#19
On The Tree
Thread Starter
Scotty-Z - Indeed she's a keeper!
Hobb3s - I couldn't have done the install without the help of my friends. They were a HUGE help and largely attributed to keeping the install from taking any longer. Many times I had to run to the parts store and they stayed to work on my car. For those guys, the drinks are on me!
joecar - You know, you don't really realize how crappy the stock ride height and factory shocks on these cars are until you upgrade. Now the car is starting to handle like it should. Still got some more suspension stuff to do...but that's once I get more $$ for mods
Hobb3s - I couldn't have done the install without the help of my friends. They were a HUGE help and largely attributed to keeping the install from taking any longer. Many times I had to run to the parts store and they stayed to work on my car. For those guys, the drinks are on me!
joecar - You know, you don't really realize how crappy the stock ride height and factory shocks on these cars are until you upgrade. Now the car is starting to handle like it should. Still got some more suspension stuff to do...but that's once I get more $$ for mods
06-13-2006, 09:35 AM
#20
I have the Konis from Sam, the Yellow ones (SA?).
Most of the time compounding was learning time. Also, I started with the orange pad and the fine cut compound. I thought that because my car was kind of new, it wouldn't need the harsh stuff, but it did. The scratches I was after were the ones you can only see in direct sunlight. It made it extremely difficult in the garage to hunt them out. Some scratches took 2 to 3 compoundings. The polishing took around 2 hrs, applying the glaze/sealant same amount of time, and then 2 hrs each for 2 layers of the Gold Class wax. Here is a quick pic -
[IMG]
[/IMG]
Most of the time compounding was learning time. Also, I started with the orange pad and the fine cut compound. I thought that because my car was kind of new, it wouldn't need the harsh stuff, but it did. The scratches I was after were the ones you can only see in direct sunlight. It made it extremely difficult in the garage to hunt them out. Some scratches took 2 to 3 compoundings. The polishing took around 2 hrs, applying the glaze/sealant same amount of time, and then 2 hrs each for 2 layers of the Gold Class wax. Here is a quick pic -
[IMG]
[/IMG]