DIY: Hopeless project.

[Rascal21]

Yeah, it seems times are changing, I can keep ranting but it would make me seem even more of an asshat than I am already, and it would be completely fruitless.

Too bad for Grp4 though, they seemed to have the right stuff at the right prices, but response completely seized after the first totally fruitless 2 replies, probably wont be using them anymore.

Luckily things are working out, since this car is slapped together 80`s style by porn-mustache round-head builders using what they had available, instead of fighting the weird car they built, I`ll see if I cant make some improvements on the same platform!

I found what seems to be a good UK shop, Burton, whom replied to my request for assistance right away on Facebook, they told me what I needed to know about the inserts, and the prices are right, so I ordered Grp4 Ford Escort inserts from them (300/70, for road/racing), I found no reason to suspect that these are not 40mm OD (When everybody else sells them like that).

Response from Burton sorta died out as last evening dragged out, so I could not get any answer about top spring hats to suit Escort inserts and 60mm springs, but the main thing is that the inserts are extremely expensive here in Norway, so with the inserts ordered from the UK, I set about finding top hats that I knew would fit the inserts, so I simply contacted a Norwegian shop per telephone, RSEuroFord, I`m guessing this is a small business and the main guy is going on vacation in a week, but he went out of his way to find the top hats I needed!

Too bad he had no stickers left, my plan is to cover the whole left side quarter glass anyway.

If the top shafts on the inserts are a bit bigger than ID on my current top mount bushings, simply drilling out the top mount bushing on both sides by a few milimeters should solve the issue.

The end result should see the car lowered by about 35mm (all Bilstein Escort inserts are apparently 610mm extended, my old ones are 645mm) but I`ll be using the same main and helper springs, which are pretty hard.

With that in mind I`ll probably be allowed to use a bandsaw located in a local workshop so I can shorten my struts.

This way I can cut costs to a minimum, with the added bonus of potentially selecting between the 3 types of inserts which are also widely available and cheap, if the car lives long enough for me to get all 3 types

I`ll also keep my brakes and struts and top mounts without swapping any parts, and keep fabrication/customization to a minimum, the whole ordeal should cost no more than about 330E and a few hours of labor

P.S: Bilstein did reply