I already did read that, I was reffering to this:
"The stock struts have a shaft that is about 3/8 of an inch, the Koni shaft is really beefed up at 1/2 ''. It sounds easy, just drill it out to a half inch and presto you good to go. Well the bad part is that you have to drill about 1 1/2 inches of suspension class steel. the drill bit doesn't have anything to " bite " into, so with out a drill press this is a really difficult task."
and this
"Here's the easier and faster way to do the rear install. I swear I wished I had thought to do this the first time I disassembled the car. Get two mounts from the auto store, Autozone was the cheapest in this area buy almost $20 ! It does pay to shop around. I was lucky enough to have a friend (Frank) with a big drill press. Only took about 5 minutes to drill out both. Having them drilled and readily available for installation was a big time saver."
for the rear, it seems as if this is the only difference in replaceing and installing every component from stock is the drilling. Am I correct? Can the stock upper mount be re-used?
and is this next section really true ? ( not the beers part)
:
"Section 4 The front struts: You may be tempted to take it for a test drive and go for beers at this point, but just remember
you have to use power tools for the front half of this job."
also what is this part all about ( maybe it will be clearer when my yellows come today with their instructions) I just do not understand the point:
"10.this next part is a bit intimidating, but not nearly as difficult as it appears.
cutting the struts open:
11.the struts need to be cut open so that you can insert the Koni replacement inside or it. you will need either a steel ruler or a caliper (dial or vernier will do) that has metric units on it for this task. you need to cut the strut open 40mm or 4 cm from the top of the strut case. DO NOT EXCEED 40MM, YOU HAVE TO ERROR DO IT TOWARD THE TOP OF THE STRUT. I.E; 38MM INSTEAD OF 40MM. the reason for this will become very clear as you finish your assembly.
12.mark your strut at 40mm all the way around with a sharpie.
<img src="http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/221/221110/folders/176867/1310867markat40mm2.jpg" width="468" height="377">
13.using a dremmel with the heavy duty cutting wheel score the strut all the way around the fluid from inside the strut will obscure the line you just drew since the strut is already black it isn't easy to see in the first place. A hacksaw will do in a pinch, but I do recommend some kind of cutoff tool.
<img src="http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/221/221110/folders/176882/1310948usecutoffwithfiber. jpg" width="253" height="207">
<img src="http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/221/221110/folders/176867/1310831cutoff3.jpg" width="446" height="277">
TIP= with the strut facing so that the bottom bracket is facing up like a \/ cut through the strut with the dremmel, all you need here is a hole about a 1/4" long. not the you have the hole cut turn the strut 180 degrees so that the forks are like this /\ then start cutting from the other side once you break through the casing on this side the strut will drain freely. the reason your not just cutting all the way around is that the dremmel spins at 6000 rpm tends to spread pressurized liquid very well. ( don't ask how I know )
14.while the strut is draining, you can cut the bump stop. remove the first bump with a razor blade, score it all the way around a few times then you can just snap it free with a twist.
15.with the strut now drained you can safely cut the rest of the strut housing and pull out the cylinder.
<img src="http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/221/221110/folders/176867/1310873newstrutbottom.jpg" width="470" height="331">[/IMG]
<img src="http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/221/221110/folders/176882/1310944theguts.jpg" width="470" height="144">
16.now we need to put a hole in the bottom so we can bolts the insert down and into place. measure the diameter of the bottom of the strut and divide by 2 and mark it, TIP: MEASURE TWICE DRILL ONCE. us a punch to be sure its centered. start with a small bit maybe a 1/8", then a 1/4" and so on until you get to 1/2" bit if you actually have one that is a little bigger than a 1/2" use it. it will make your life easier in the long run if the hole is a little off."
from the above, it seems as if the fronts will be more involved than the back. Do you have to use a drill press on the fronts upper mounts as well?
sorry about the length of this post, but thank you for helping with the questions.
PS. why don't the pictures in his post work?
thanks again
