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NRG Engine Damper Fabrication and Install
(Undertaken April 2007)
M7 Coilovers and Powergrid adjustable endlinks
A relatively straightforward install, if you've swapped
springs or installed camber plates before. Reading the many NAM how-tos on
spring replacement is very good preparation.
The photo below shows the coilovers as they come out of the
box from M7. No top plates for the fronts or the rears. I used the
stock top plate with Ireland Engineering camber plates in front, and the stock
top plates in the rear.
Installing COs is, as I said above, easy if you've worked on
suspension before, but there are always problems. Rather than go through
the install step by step, which is well covered on NAM, let me share some of the
"secrets" I learned installing these.
1. The easiest way to remove the stock struts, especially on the passenger side,
after removing the 18mm bolt that holds the strut into the steering knuckle/hub
carrier, is to use a piece of wood held between the lower spring perch and a
jack, to compress the spring while knocking the hub carrier down until the strut
is free. Then remove the 3 nuts holding the top plate to the strut tower
and the strut can be easily removed. I've seen people haul on the hub to
get the strut out, and it looked scary, with potential bad side effects (like
your car falling off whatever is holding it off the ground...)
2. Using an impact wrench to get the top nut off, and put it back on, is easy,
if not crude. I ended up using an electric impact wrench, with just enough
torque to get the nut back on and seated properly so I wasn't worried about
over-tightening the nut. It's a 22mm nut, and massive. But if you
don't get it seated properly, the strut will make a very nasty knocking sound
over bumps, and you'll quickly know you didn't tighten it enough--trust me!
3. I set the front shock body 1.75" below the collar which seats the shock into
the steering knuckle/hub carrier (a little over 1/2" more than in the photo
above). This means that the shock body is flush with the bottom of the hub
carrier when fully seated and the rebound/compression adjuster knob is very easy
to access. It also lowers the car quite a bit below stock, which may not
be to your liking. I used the spring pre-load to raise the car back up
about 1/4" to get it to sit as I like it. The front jack point is about 4"
off the ground with this setting. I scrape over speed bumps and driveway
transitions. Oh well...
4. The rear ride height can only be adjusted by raising, or lowering, the lower
spring perch. I could not get the car to sit as low as I wanted (slammed)
because the spring became loose when fully extended and still 5/8" of thread
showing below the spring perch (about half that showing in the photo above.)
Of course when compressed there is considerable tension on the spring, and I
could lower the car even more, but I'm worried about the spring coming out of
the perch seat if ever I get the car airborne...or at least unloaded enough to
fully extend the rear shocks! Maybe this is not a problem, but I lowered
it to the point that I could while avoiding this possibility. The photos
below show how much this is lowered.
5. I am currently running 1 click on the front, and 5 clicks on the rear, from
the "L" position, which I believe stands for Low. Others run 0 in the
front, but about 5 in the back. I need more time to figure out settings.
6. There is no marking on the COs to indicate who manufactured them, or where
they were made. Ask M7.
Here's what the car looks like after the springs settled a few
days, and I adjusted the ride height.
and another quarter shot:
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