Modified Strut Tower to...?

[ksbeta]

Pulling apart the suspension on the '71 today, and noticed that the rear strut towers didn't match. The driver's side has an extra piece welded on to hold the spring about an inch higher up the tower than stock. This car was built to autocross in the early '80s, and all I can figure is that this was done as a rudimentary method to compensate for the driver's weight. Nothing was modified up front. Any other possible reasons this may have been done?

I'm switching over to an Illumina setup. Any potential impacts of leaving this as-is, for spirited recreational (but non-track) driving?

[zKars]

Just when you thought you'de seen everything, this comes along... Craziest thing I've ever seen. It must be compensation for uneven spring rates, load, or a very specific racing application. Or the PO was crazy....

I'de remove the extra spring perch and return to normal geometry.

[Oiluj]

I agree with zKars, but before you took it apart, did it sit level? Did it exhibit any strange handling? Unlikely it was done for no reason.

[jmortensen]

Could be that you have one 240 and one 280 strut on the car. The 280 struts are longer and have the spring perch in a different spot. I'd measure the depth of the strut housing and then make sure the spring perches are in the same spot relative to each other.

[ksbeta]

Thanks all. Car sat level before... but all the suspension parts were pushing 30 years old at that point. Tires, shocks, springs, bushings... all worn. So it's hard to say. We ultimately ended up removing the higher perch when buttoning it back up today.

[EuroDat]

I agree with Jon. Looks like he used one 280z strut and a240z original. He must have damaged one during autocrossing or something like that. Its the only reason you would "normally" do something like this. Why he left the original in position???

Did you measure the distance between the spring perch and axle stub? If it was riding level you will now have a different ride height from left to right.

Chas

Edited December 4, 2012 by EuroDat