my rear coilover and front lowering spring kit from WCF arrived yesterday so this morning I got up early to install the rears onto my 87 gt. the kit I purchased were the 1.5" lowering spring and rear coilover kit with 350# springs.


this is what my wheel gap was with stock springs and struts.


these are the parts that I had for each strut install, the black boots are the only things u don't use.


this is the piece of the strut right under where the rod comes out of the body of the strut that had to be taken off so that the adjuster sleeve could go down to the spring perch. I just used a dremel tool with a reinforced cutting wheel and made slits all the way around and then used a flat head screwdriver to pop the spot welds off the body.


this is a picture of the sleeves and springs on a non modified strut and a modified one (where the piece in the above picture was taken off)


this is my wheel gap after both rears are installed. this is with my 3.4l dohc and getrag trans out of the car so I is probably going to go down more

I did the post to help some of the people with questions on what needs to be modified on Monroe sturts to get a coilover kit to work. I followed WCF instructions of how to install and build them (go on their website and click the link of how to move your rear bumpstops and the instructions are posted there.)

the other things that needed to be done is that when u flip the upper bearing housing per wcf instruction u have to trim a very little amount of the top lip so that it will slide into the upper strut mount on the body of the car. u also don't use the stock plate that has the three holes in it that sit above the stock struts. and u need to cut the stock decklid vent holders to take off the piece that goes into where the center hole for the strut because when u flipped the bearing plate over, now u cant fit that piece of the decklid holder into the center hole.

so that is all the stuff I did to make it work. I hope it helps some that had the same questions I did when I started this this morning.

Just FYI, the piece you chopped off is the bumpstop plate. The bumpstop hits that plate if the strut bottoms out. I guess WCF doesn't think removing it is a concern, but I'd be concerned. I would prefer to grind down the outside until the sleeve can fit over it.

Have you had a chance to drive it yet? I'm curious to see if the Monroe struts can handle 350 lb/in springs. You'll know if they can't, because the rear end will feel bouncy.

quote Originally posted by Blacktree: ...the piece you chopped off is the bumpstop plate. The bumpstop hits that plate if the strut bottoms out.

I'm curious if guys who do this conversion actually bother reinstalling the bump stops in the rear struts?

I guess it depends on the length of the springs (ie. 8" vs 12") and the position of the lower adjustment ring, but with 350 lb (or stiffer) springs, would the springs ever compress enough over a bump to make the rear bump stop necessary?

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 11-03-2013).]

quote Originally posted by Patrick: I'm curious if guys who do this conversion actually bother reinstalling the bump stops in the rear struts?

That worries me too, because worst case scenario would have the strut body smashing into the hat... or the piston in the strut bottoming out. NOT GOOD.

That said, with 350 lb/in springs, that may never happen, unless you drive like the Dukes of Hazzard.

The stock strut bumper is still used. It is the white piece in the Strut pic

quote Originally posted by gambler85: The stock strut bumper is still used. It is the white piece in the Strut pic.

Well, we didn't actually see it installed.

What was the uncompressed length of the springs you used?

And now that the springs are installed, what is the amount of travel the struts have before you hit the bump stops?

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 11-03-2013).]

From what other threads have said the Monroes can take 350 lb springs and feel just fine