Koni series 82 shocks modified for adjustable ride height

Cheapskate alert!

ITT motion technologies does a threaded steel sleeve that is welded in place. It requires dis-assembly so they will rebuild your shocks while they have them. Lead time varies and cost is $320-350 per shock (rebuilt and modified for ride height).

Carobu also does this mod and they are certainly known for good workmanship.
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While this would be close to an OE look I didn’t want to spend that much on dated shock technology. I have a '78 400 which isn't really known for stellar handling and its very hard to justify $4k for a Penske or similar setup.
This setup can be reversed by easily cutting through the aluminum sleeves and repainting the shock bodies.

The 82 series shocks on my car required a threaded sleeve with a 55mm ID. I found some aluminum ones (A1-12452-H $19ea) from A1 racing products in PA. 215-675-8442
They also have the threaded lower spring perch A1-12460 $13ea

The upper spring cap is a QA1 part that I found at Naake.com #9018-101 $17ea.

I used new Eibach 2.5” ID springs that were 2” shorter than the OE spring. Their barrel design allows for sufficient travel even with the shorter spring. The extra 2” allows for some height adjustment, the thickness of the threaded collars and thrust bearings. I’ll save the spring rate discussion for another thread!

For my 400 I used:
1400-2530-0225 rear
1200-2530-0300 front.
Many shops sell these, see who ships for free!
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You might want to replace your bump stops and they are available from a number of sources. I used QA1 bump stops from Naake.com

The front shocks of the 400 have an upper shock mount that is a different diameter from the rear and didn’t fit the QA1 upper spring perch so I had to have some spacers machined out of aluminum. They may be specific to the 400/412 or maybe boxers and 308’s have the same design. Either way, if you need spacers send me a PM.

 

To install the sleeves use some emery cloth to remove the paint on the non-tapered bottom portion of the shock body.

The threaded sleeves are much longer than the non-tapered section so I cut the sleeves in 2/3 so that they would not create a pocket to collect water. Toss the sleeves into a 200 degree oven to get them to expand and when warm they will drop right onto the shock body. Do it wrong and they bind up about 1/2 way on….

I used anti seize as a lube and also to prevent corrosion between the sleeve and shock body.
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I painted a black stripe on the shock body with POR 15 to close up the gap to the sleeve and cover the section that I had sanded away. You can see it if you look closely at the pics.

Assemble the shocks with a bit more than 2” from the old seat to the new one as it is a lot easier to lower ride height than trying to raise it when the car is loaded. PM with any questions.
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