QA1 (Huntley Racing) Rear Coilovers…good idea?

[944m3]

I’m mulling over refreshing the rear suspension bushings with Elephant Racing rubber. But I’m dreading dealing with the torsion bars. My understanding is that re-indexing them is a pain. Full disclosure, I only have a vague idea of what that even means lol

I purchased these Huntley Racing adjustable coilovers cheap years ago. They seem to be in very solid condition. They look barely used to be honest. The adjuster seems to work well, I can adjust to where I can’t move the damper to easyly moving it. I know I can purchase needed hardware and springs. (Will figure out spring rates when I cross that bridge).

To be clear, I’m not looking for performance or even an improvement in the current suspension setup. This is my daily. If the rear feels the same then I’m happy. My only goal is to get out of dealing with the torsion bars when putting everything back together.

Dumb idea?

PS I have height adjustable Koni coilover conversion struts with progressive springs in the front.

(I’m to cheap to buy the KW3 setup)

[Cruise98]

I ditched my torsion bars and have been very happy with the decision. But, if you are renewing the bushings, the spring plate rubber is a challenge to remove, though it is much easier than re-indexing the torsion bars. For a street car, I would recommend the Racers Edge Delrin spring plate bushings instead of the ER polybronze. The grease in the polybronze attracts every piece of grit flying along under the car. Not a problem on the track, but requires regular attention on a street car. I have the ER polybronze spring plate bushings on a street car and this has been my experience..

The mounts you are showing in the photo actually go on the opposite end of the shocks and bolt into the control arm. You should buy a matched set of adaptors, and measure the depth of the threads and adjust with washers to avoid bottoming out the adaptors. You can get new lower adaptors from Racers Edge or Paragon Products and probably some others. Do you have the rest of the hardware?

[944m3]

I did a bit more reading. I’ve read about using delrin bushings because the rubber ones don’t hold up well without the torsion bars. But I am afraid of the squeaking noises associated with harder polyurethane bushings and the extra noise and vibration. I definitely don’t want that and would go through the reindexing mess to avoid it. Did you experience any nvh increase?

No, that is all the hardware I have. I know it’s not complete. I saw the racers edge bolts I need to buy.

[Cruise98]

The polybronze are quiet until the grease dries up, and then they squeak. I have not used the delrin yet, but have been told they are quiet. When you install the polybronze, you glue it to the torsion bar carrier, the carrier mount and the spring plates. You are committed. The delrins can be removed if you want to go another route.

[cda951]

If this is a street car, I would advise against those rear coilover shocks that have been sitting for 20+ years. I can almost guarantee they will be too stiff and you will spend a lot of time and effort dialing in the ride height and damper settings. The lower mounting bolts also look puny and suspect, would not trust them if deleting the torsion bars. Racer's Edge sells a much better mounting system for the rear lower part of the dampers:

https://racersedge-inc.com/lower-shock-adaptors/

In other words, do not compromise what you want from the car because you want to use some cheap parts that you happen to have.

I have Ground Control coilovers front and rear, have served me well for over a decade, good middle-of-the-road option in terms of pricing and damping sophistication, but their best quality is the construction. The front struts are very strong and eliminate the chance of camber eccentrics shifting from track use (adjustment is at the camber plates), and the rear inverted coilover shocks use a robust lower mounting system similar to the Racer's Edge version, which Ground Control claims is good for up to 750# rear springs, which is what I use.

[944m3]

Thanks for the tip. I was wondering if the age of the coilovers would be an issue. I guess I could send them out to be rebuilt, but after doing some more reading it sounds like coilovers are not plug and play. They seem to take some commitment.

I’ll try my hand at reindexing and see how it goes. I do have a pair of new adjustable yellow Koni rear shocks to slap on to go with the new bushings. Should be an improvement vs the stock ones which I’m sure are original.

Wish me luck lol

[944m3]

Welp, I couldn’t help myself. After some more research I ended up installing the coilovers.

To recap, I replaced all my rubber bushings in the rear suspension. This called for removing the torsion bars. I miscalculated the TB install and the car sat to low, sitting at about 12 3/4” inches from hub to bottom of fender. The tire would hit the fender wells in certain situations, not good. In addition, I installed new yellow Koni shocks. They are to firm for my liking, not bad but just to firm.

To be clear, I am too lazy to remove the TBs again and raise the car. Plus I was just curious to try the Huntley coilovers. With that out of the way…..

I figured that I basically reindexed the TBs as needed to install coilovers so might as well try them. My thought is worse case scenario if they fail the TBs are still in place and I could still drive the car.

I found a few old posts on how to install QA1 coilovers. It was great advice and it worked for me. I did add 4 things that are sold by QA1. First, a 2” top hat, which gave me more clearance at the top mount, 8” inch 200lbs springs, a 2” spacer that goes at the bottom of the spring, and poly bushings. I also purchased 10.9 zinc plated lower mounting 5mm longer bolts for extra strength. See pic below.

Drove the car first time and it felt very good. The Huntleys have 12 positions dial to adjust damper. It works very well and I can reach it and adjust without having to lift the car. A big plus. I started with 1 click at softest setting but it felt a bit to “bouncy” so went to 4 clicks. That felt much better. Firm but not jarring like the Koni’s. I will probably play around with it and try other settings.

The height is now at about 14” (hub to bottom fender lip). I can probably lower another half inch. Will try that later. The springs have about 1” to 1 1/2” of preload. I believe the spring has enough preload so that it doesn’t move or rattle when unloaded.

Will add that I have yellow Koni front struts with adjustable damper set to softest setting. Adjustable camber mounts. As best as I can tell, hear, and feel, the front and rear are well matched. Though I’m sure I can tune further.

I’m very happy with the results. Going from 30 year old rubber and original stock shock, the rear now feels “alive”. Like it’s actually doing something. Before it was just a dead “thunk” when hitting a bump of any kind. Best I can put it. Would this setup cost me seconds around a track, I have NO idea and I don’t care. But my uneducated gut feeling is that it would do just fine on a track.

For further clarification, though I did a lot of reading, I kinda just guesstimated everything. First time I’ve ever played with the suspension. Not sure if I just got lucky but for now I’m really happy with the results. That being said, I only have tired original suspension to compare against, I do wonder how much better a KW3 setup would feel.

[Tom]

Derek/Huntley was a pretty good curator of parts for these cars (until he wasn't), so I'm not surprised you got good results. His turbos were good too. I have the KW's and love them. They are fully adjustable, so would say the feel is heavily dependent on how you have them set. They do keep the tire on the road quite well. Like a more modern Porsche, they make me feel like a better driver than I really am.

[944m3]

I am curious to do a track day with them. If I get a couple of other issues resolved by spring, which I should, I’ll schedule a track day at Summit Point for fun.

[944m3]

Thought I’d give an update.

I did an HPDE at VIR during 944Fest. Happy to say the old Huntley coilovers with stock torsion bar performed very well. Or at least up to my talent level. The car felt very planted and balanced. The rear never kicked out unexpectedly or had any weird oscillation that I could feel anyways. I have to admit I was weary the car would misbehave but I was very pleasantly surprised. The instructor also commented the car felt very planted. I had my front Koni’s adjusted to hardest setting.

I think I can say my experiment was a success. But I will add that on the street, my rebound could be better, especially over slow speed bumps. I’m now considering buying QA1 dual adjustable rear coilovers, since I have all the hardware needed to install. Anyone using those?