BC coilovers for the GT4, yes its for the GT4 Options

[yellowchinaman]

Hi guys and dolls.

BC have recently developed some coilovers for the ST205.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BC-Adjustable-Coilov...A1%7C240%3A1318

Normally eveyrone in the UK only buy Tein an TRD coilovers and tent to avoid every other brands when it comes to coilover.
Recently in GBP isnt doing so well and Tein has also anounced a huge price increase hence putting me into the "definately cant afford" status.

Well the new BC coilovers have adopted the idea of using the origional housing of the stock Super strut shocks and changing the inserts like the D2, k-sport and G4's. In a nutshell it's a crap design but BC's inserts are different as they require you to cut the stock shocks down and allowing you to use the full length of the coilover shocks.

Here are some pictures I've been sent and I've been convinced to be the first to try a set in the UK.










Untill now I've not heard of BC before in the UK but after doing some research, I've found that they're pretty good.
So what's everyones opinion with BC around the world on other cars? Has anyone experienced using them before?

Ray

[yellowchinaman]

Last night I started working on cutting the stock leg Taras had donated to me for this project.
The aim was to cut the leg down to just the lower section of the superstrut.
The tools I had to do this job with was:

Angle grinder with grinding and cutting blades
hacksaw
File
Vice clamp

And for safety:
Goggles and gloves

I first started by securing the legs in a vice clamp and then began cutting away with the angle grinder.
The first problem was clamping it securely. Because the legs had other bits like the brake hose holder sticking out, I was limited to how to clamp it down and also my angle grinder couln't cut all the way round.

I managed to cut about 2 thirds the way round and about less then a cm away from the bottom.
Using a hacksaw I manually sawed the rest off.

These where the bits that was not needed:

and I was left with this:


Next thing was to change the blades to a grindig blade and stert to take the excess bits down to the bottom and evening it out.

This took a long time because even though I cut the legs down with less then 1cm left, that was still a lot to grind away.
Also towards the end I had to stop, check and grind again trying to make sure that the surface was evenly flat. This really tested my patience.

After when I thought I had finished with the angle grinder, I used a course flat file and started to skim the surface in all directions to ensure the surface was flat.


The end result was a mnice, smooth and flat surface.


Notice how I left about a 1mm edge there.
In the instructions, it dodnt say how far you're suppose to take it down to. I decided to not take it all the way down because I didn't want to risk making a mess with the angle grinder and to give a bit of a lip for when i tap weld it.
As long as both legs are evenly the same there shouldnt be a problem.

So here they are after cutting:


And give them a good wash:


Then finally back home for a test fit:

Now they're looking more like a super strut coil over

NOTE that I didnt insert them fully just in case I had to take them off again.
I was really impress how nicely they fitted into the legs. It was air tight with no play what so ever and I had to tap it a bit to get it that far in. At first I was a bit worried abut it not fitting here because if it was too big, I'd have to drill the leg a bit and too small would mean play and that will ruin everything.
BC had made these insert to fit perfectly and I'm very pleased with it so well done.

Next is to order new bushes as the ones in the legs now are leaking and there's none in stock so I should get them by next week.
Then I'll need to take it to my friends workshop for the leaking bushes to be pressed out and replaced and finally insert the coilovers in and weld them down.


Overvies so far:
Everything is coming to plan and there has been no surprises. The scariest bit is over and I'm a bit relieved.
Cutting the legs took just over 2 hours with the tools I had.
I do want to point out that this was not a job for the faint hearted. I was covered in metal shavings and made a bit of a mess at the garage.
Where as most DIY mechanics are confident with bolt on and bolt off upgrades, this definately requires some engineering confidence and a lot of patiences.
I did enjoy doing this but I can also imagine that a lot of people would be reluctant to give it a try.
However, this only applys to the ST205 superstrut. ST185, and ST202,3,4 BC coil overs wouldn't have to face this problem but I'm sure most ST205 owners wouldnt mind this becasue we are faffers and saving almost a grand with these coilovers if they work.