Hi All -
I need to replace my rear springs as one is sagging a bit. I was thinking of going with the adjustable spring set up that is sold at Paragon. I am running 80's era Konis that seem to still be in great shape. They have the regular welded spring perches on the shock body. Can I cut them off? If so, great - but then I really dont understand what holds the threaded collar to the shock body. Can somone explain?

Thanks!

you need something for the collar to sit on. they're machined to fit over and sit on the perch clips for the shocks.

one problem with just cutting of the welded on perches, the clips are made out of special material.
think about it, whatever those tiny collars sit on has to hold up the whole weight of your car!
well, 1/4 per shock (at rest, more when loaded) ...

i wouldn't trust the tiny ledge of steel welded to the shock after you're done cutting ...
Andy

Shoot - that makes perfect sense. Thanks Andy! Looks like I will just order some new 140 or 180 Welts

Thanks again!

My Bilsteins have several (6?) positions for the "clips" to fit into around the body of the shock, and then the "Perch" sits on top of the "Clip", and the Spring sits on the Perch.

Don't know how the Koni's are set up, but if the "Perches" are welded to the body, that doesn't sound like adjustable Koni's for the 914. A set of Koni's that just sold on eBay had separate Spring Perches. I suspect these are the type you need to use the threaded Spring Perches.

The earlier Koni "Reds" are adjustable as to rebound .... they are the "collapse to adjust" style. It has nothing to do with ride height as the position of the "spring perch" is not adjustable.

The later Koni's are externally adjustable, but again, it has nothing to do with ride height.

Bilsteins have groves cut in the shock body in which a circlip sits which will raise/lower the spring perch. This adjusts ride height.

The popular "Coil Over" is merely a shock body that is threaded. The circlip becomes a threaded collar (or two) to thread over the shock body and becomes the restraint for the "spring perch".

Someone once did a cut and re-weld like I think you are explaining. I think you are wanting the adjustable spring perches like a coil-over kit, just so happens the Koni shock is also adjustable for rebound as mentioned previously.

This person cut the welded spring perches off, trimmed a little so they would fit the threaded collars better, and re-welded them back to the housing of the shock body at a lower position.

I doubt that anyone would advise this technique.

Doesn't sound like a great idea welding on a sealed shock body to me but this is how he did it.

This is what you should end up with for a Koni setup. The yellow Koni's have several grooves where the c-clip snaps in to hold the threaded collar on the shock body. You can also check with Ground Control, they have a coil-over kit too...