Strut housing question

[JIM1inWisconsin]

Again, great effort and write up. IX owners have been battling rusted strut housings for years. Nice to know there's an alternative that can be had for less than $500. Even less if you are as skilled as 6A LDY.

[6A LDY]

I spent a few hours total on it probably. In order to remove the threaded section from the non-ix housing, using a cutoff wheel, I had to cut off the spring perch plate first, then the threaded section. I used a wide piece of tape roughly centered at the 1.5" mark then measured it from the top at multiple spots around the tube and marked it on the tape and connected the dots.

The actual cutting wouldnt take too long, maybe an hour total, but measuring both housings properly and then taking your time to ensure a straight cut adds a little time. Grinding off the paint and cleaning the pieces takes maybe 15 minutes. Getting everything set up to weld took me about a half hour because I wanted it to be as straight as possible. I used the collar nut with the old strut I had to hold the new piece on at the height I wanted and tightened nut to put a little gap for the weld to fill.

The welding takes maybe 10 minutes, then clean it up a bit and primer it and paint it and let it dry. I also had to clean up the inside of the housing a bit with a die grinder but that only took a little time.

All in all I'd say it would take maybe 4-6 hours? I did it over the span of two days but it could be done in a day and definitely over a weekend. The longest part is the prep work as always

[6A LDY]

I spent a few hours total on it probably. In order to remove the threaded section from the non-ix housing, using a cutoff wheel, I had to cut off the spring perch plate first, then the threaded section. I used a wide piece of tape roughly centered at the 1.5" mark then measured it from the top at multiple spots around the tube and marked it on the tape and connected the dots.

The actual cutting wouldnt take too long, maybe an hour total, but measuring both housings properly and then taking your time to ensure a straight cut adds a little time. Grinding off the paint and cleaning the pieces takes maybe 15 minutes. Getting everything set up to weld took me about a half hour because I wanted it to be as straight as possible. I used the collar nut with the old strut I had to hold the new piece on at the height I wanted and tightened nut to put a little gap for the weld to fill.

The welding takes maybe 10 minutes, then clean it up a bit and primer it and paint it and let it dry. I also had to clean up the inside of the housing a bit with a die grinder but that only took a little time.

All in all I'd say it would take maybe 4-6 hours? I did it over the span of two days but it could be done in a day and definitely over a weekend. The longest part is the prep work as always

[JIM1inWisconsin]

strut housing

I know used E30 strut housing can be had for cheap. Can I ask how much time you spent doing the cutting and welding? Nice to finally know this method works.

[chuckdizzle]

Just to follow up on this, I ended up buying a strut housing from a rwd e30, it was the same diameter internally, maybe a little thinner overall. I cut off 1.5" from the top to have the threads and a bit left over. I cut a tiny bit more than 1.5" off of my ix housing and prepped it to weld. Then I used the old blown out strut insert I had to center the thread piece and tacked it on. It worked pretty well and I only had to grind the inside down a tiny bit to smooth it out.

I wouldn't recommend going any further than 2" from the top to someone else because it gets hard to get the grinder down inside to smooth out anything that blew through. Also try to stand the strut vertically, especially if you dont have a junk strut because it gets difficult to align it. The strut I used was pretty dry and empty but I wouldnt recommend trying to weld against a fresh one for fear of heating it up too much or damaging it. Also if for some reason you weld the strut to the housing it would be a pita to remove it

All in all it was pretty painless and a lot cheaper than buying an ix strut

;D awesome. I think I need another pair soon, mine are starting to rust away.

[6A LDY]

Just to follow up on this, I ended up buying a strut housing from a rwd e30, it was the same diameter internally, maybe a little thinner overall. I cut off 1.5" from the top to have the threads and a bit left over. I cut a tiny bit more than 1.5" off of my ix housing and prepped it to weld. Then I used the old blown out strut insert I had to center the thread piece and tacked it on. It worked pretty well and I only had to grind the inside down a tiny bit to smooth it out.

I wouldn't recommend going any further than 2" from the top to someone else because it gets hard to get the grinder down inside to smooth out anything that blew through. Also try to stand the strut vertically, especially if you dont have a junk strut because it gets difficult to align it. The strut I used was pretty dry and empty but I wouldnt recommend trying to weld against a fresh one for fear of heating it up too much or damaging it. Also if for some reason you weld the strut to the housing it would be a pita to remove it

All in all it was pretty painless and a lot cheaper than buying an ix strut

[The Dark Side of Will]

That tap is not cheap!

http://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/36364651

Die isn't cheap either:

http://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/79771960

Here's a cheaper tap:
http://www.mscdirect.com/product/det...37102?fromRR=Y
It's not as high a quality as the one you found, but for $300 less...

[AndrewBird]

That tap is not cheap!

http://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/36364651

Die isn't cheap either:

http://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/79771960

[The Dark Side of Will]

I guess you could buy an M48x1.5 tap and tap new thread if you're going shorter and can't reuse the threaded portion because of rust.

Speaking of M48x1.5...

Here's two more pictures illustrating why some things are better left to the pros- The oil pressure springs/cup/piston/threaded sender housing cover was test assembled into the girdle. When Greg went to take it back out, he encountered a lot of resistance. Instead of spinning the cover out (like I would have), he worked it back and forth for a while, heated the hell out of the girdle with oxyacetylene, all to no avail. So he lashed the girdle to his mill and machined the cover into about a million filings, making it ~0.003" proud of the girdle surface. Then he cut four reliefs into the remaining threaded portion of the cover, and then knocked out the remaining ring by denting it inwards. Turns out that somehow, the lead thread on the girdle had FUBAR'ed the cover, and would have messed up all the remaining threads had it been turned out. Good save on his part.....



So- how to chase the threads in a nearly 2" hole? If you're Greg, you bust out your M48 x 1.5 bottoming tap. (fer chrissakes!) My guess is he didn't find it at Sears.......

From: http://www.corner-carvers.com/forums...5&postcount=23

The thread details the build of a 6.5 liter Porsche 928 stroker that ends up making 400 RWHP through production exhaust manifolds (passes CA Smog!), 450 through long tubes and 500 with a custom (carbon fiber!) intake manifold... Very pornerific with lots of expensive hardware shown (like the re-Nikasil'd block above)

[nando]

you could but unless you're going to use it more than once, the tap is so expensive you're better off having it welded.

[Northern]

I guess you could buy an M48x1.5 tap and tap new thread if you're going shorter and can't reuse the threaded portion because of rust.

[nando]

the tubes are different thicknesses. the ix strut housing is a bit beefier. I believe the E36 housings are the same thickness and would make a better donor.

yes welding it will work. often when housings are sectioned for a coilover conversion, that's exactly what they do. My current housings were from my parts car, and were horribly rusted - the old tubes were cut off and new ones welded on with good thread. he's doing the same thing, except for making them the same length.

[JIM1inWisconsin]

housings

Had major problems a few years ago replacing struts and this was an option I considered. Welder was ok with the job but my mechanic didn't want to deal with the Frankenhousing so I bought a used one. I was always curious as to if welding tips on would work. I believed then and do now that it will. Hopefully you will give it try and let us know how it works for you and perhaps include a time, material and cost summary.

[Nisse Järnet]

Its the same threads so it should be ok?

[6A LDY]

Quick question about the strut housings. one of my housing tubes has rusted out threads and I need to replace it. I was going to get a non iX strut housing and just cut the tube off of that and replace mine with that section. is there any reason this wouldnt work?

( The rest of the housing is in good shape and I'd rather keep it than try to find a good one)

Thanks