Front Suspension

[braveheart]

Hi Folks - in the middle of stripping and powder coating my front suspension...im not going overboard with correctness here but when stripping the front struts i have came across several possible colours for them, brown, blue and of course black...anyone know exactly what colour these would have been?

thanks yet again!!

[vernon240]

I think they should be black, but I'm sure Len will correct me if I'm wrong. I have some fairly new (I was told that they had only done 8000 miles from new) struts, so I could post some pictures up of these. They have the ford/bilstein stickers on and the red paint blobs on them as well indicating something or other, but they have the original black colour and are in rather good nick and will be going on my car, as I'm currenty running incorrect standard 3 ltr struts! The springs should also have paint on them indicating poundage/spec. Phil (of RPU 654M fame and AVO RS3100 registrar in waiting) sent me some pictures of his struts which I have kept for future reference, so I could post these up as well. Give me a few days or so though! ;D

[darinmds]

your right vern im sure there black how you keeping mate

[rscapriman]

Yes they were black, I would imagine the red paint on the case would indicate the particular insert used as with the paint on the springs.

[braveheart]

Excellent, now that i have stripped the black paint of them i can paint them black..triffic.....would lito see some pics Vernon ...... cheers

[mj]

Hi, when I recently restored a front legs set for my 73' RS2600 I found something under a lot of grease,dirt and paint that I believe is the original black paint with red dots on the legs and two stripes of red paint on the springs.





The final result after restoration:






But I looking forward to compare my founds with Vernon's pictures to see if they are identical.

If the red dot indication is the same as on the Bilstein's for the BMW 2002 Alpina it indicates that the inserts are 220/120:
www.alpinabmw2002.com/2011/02/alpinabilstein-struts-info-specs.html

Cheers, Magnar

[braveheart]

they look very nice...i take it the two red markings on the strut are on the inside? are those the original gators or did you get new ones...the only thing i need is a pair of retaining pins for the brake pads...anyone know if these come with the pads and are the pads bog standard 3 litre kit?

[garethb]

Len would be able to clarify if there is a right or wrong way that these were marked as it couild be the usuaul case of who actually marked up the springs.

My RS3100 has very faint marks of paint on the legs, but the springs only have two red marks, one each on the middle two coils.

Such a thing probably only matters if yuo want absolute perfection and/or doing concours.

[mj]

Nov 15, 2011 16:40:26 GMT braveheart said:

they look very nice...i take it the two red markings on the strut are on the inside? are those the original gators or did you get new ones...the only thing i need is a pair of retaining pins for the brake pads...anyone know if these come with the pads and are the pads bog standard 3 litre kit?

Yes, the red markings are on the inside. The gators are the original old ones. I don't think the retaining pins come with the pads and if you have the vented discs you need longer pins than the standard 3 litre pins. Maybe retaining pins for 2.8 injection can be used?

[rscapriman]

I have seen them marked both on the inside and outside of the strut, mine were on the outside ( 2dots) and with a single mark across the springs

[garethb]

So the usual case that the way the legs and springs were marked up was down to the individual that applied the marks?

It is the colour that is perhaps the more important factor showing what the spring ratings were.

[jr]

While we are on the subject does anyone have the front spring specs, ie height and weight so I can get some new ones made? I think mine have been changed for Mack truck or something else overly stiff

[rscapriman]

Nov 16, 2011 22:22:24 GMT garethb said:

So the usual case that the way the legs and springs were marked up was down to the individual that applied the marks?

It is the colour that is perhaps the more important factor showing what the spring ratings were.

I guess so Gareth

[braveheart]

thanks for all the help gents... i'll post some pics when they are all done thanks - Graeme

[vernon240]

Just for completeness, here are the legs I have:











I'm not sure if the sticjers were on the cars from the factory, as I know tehse legs were purchesed as replacements from a ford dealer.

They need some work but I think they will clean up nicely! ;D