Sorry guys I cannot find the instructions from Mr. Powell on the correct way to do the koni strut insert on the front of the tc. Can anybody help a brother out?
Taking to shop today to get them done.

Thanks
Spank

 

Crude drawing of instructions came with mine but if there are better instructions out there I would appreciate it too. BTW, the FE1 housing and the FE3, FE5 strut housings are all the same correct?

 

Email Gloria from Powell racing and she can probably send them out to you guys

 

I emailed her. Will post them here if she emails them to me.

 

Powell actually sells the struts ready to install and powdercoated and with all the hardware

 

Yeah Gloria got back to me and said their instructions are for their modified strut housings. not the stock housings. I'll scan the instructions provided tomorrow and throw it up here. They are really just illustrations and there is one particular step I would like to clear up.

 

If you google it a topic should come up I heard the instructions they come with aren't correct but take that with grain of salt.

 

This is the instructions I was going to use but I ended up getting the modified struts with Powell. its not from this forum and pics are gone thanks to photobucket

Well can't post the link sorry but just Google cobalt ss koni yellow install it should be on the other cobalt forum

 

They are incorrect, the ones that come with the inserts from Koni are wrong. I'll try dig up Powells comments on the install, he never put together a formal how to since he doesn't sell the Konis directly to my knowledge.

 

I have his prefabbed housings in the garage with inserts. What do you want to know? I haven't assembled them yet. I didn't want to go through cutting them myself so I just ordered them from him.

 

Im sure ive seen this how to somewhere

 

https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/how-...-struts-57977/

 

Dam yeah couldn't find the one with pics :/ hopefully I can do it as well since I just bought some

 

I read through the thread that Slowbalt2000 posted and my takeaway is that the provided instructions are at least mostly correct except maybe the one part where you figure your dimension to cut the stock strut. The provided instructions have a table that once you measure from the top of the Koni down to the "bumps" on the housing you look for that value on the table and use their dimension for cutting the stock strut. The instructions from Slowbalt's like show that you measure down to the bumps and then figure your strut tower cut dimension by subtracting 7mm from that value. I don't have the provided instructions in front of me so I can't tell you how that method would differ from using the table but the instruction thread indicates that the table may be a bit off.

The other different part is the instruction thread says to drain as much oil as you can once you drill the pilot hole in the bottom where the provided instructions have you put a piece of tape over the hole to try and hold in all the fluid.

Also the instruction thread suggested marking a straight vertical line down the strut assembly before disassembly so that you can properly orient the top and bottom piece when you reassemble. Other than that is looks like the provided instructions aren't too far off just a little vague.

 

Thanks Slowbalt. I found those, just not John's.
I have stopped trying to contact John or Gloria. Used to get everything from them and they were a great help. Whenever I needed help developing the car I could get advice from John. Seems since I do not autox the car now I get no response.

Emailed gloria and received out of office notice, no prob. Two weeks later I emailed again, gloria I believe said she or john would get back to me. Now 3 weeks later still no response.

I am saddened to see that what was once great customer service has changed. It is possible John has been developing so many great parts that he does not have the time to talk anymore. If that is the case, no problem. Congratulations on developing the parts side of the business. I have happy for them and their success.

However people still need parts, and John does have great parts. Just not sure where to get advice from other than ask fellow racers on this forum.

Anyway, I tried multiple times to contact John to no avail. While i still would like more suspension parts it will just have to wait until I can find out what exactly is needed to improve the car, and not just parts that are nice but make no noticeable improvements.

Again not a dig on John, am glad he is doing well, just sorry to lose such a valuable asset.
Spank

 

Sometimes they miss emails and sometimes they forget but usually end up taking care of you. I have emailed both John and Gloria lately and they both got back to me fairly quickly. I wouldn't hesitate to send and email and include both John and Gloria, let them know you are serious about getting parts. I wouldn't think they are ignoring you on purpose. I would try again and let them know you have been trying to get into contact with them for a while. Either way their instructions are for using the strut assembly that they modify. They don't have instructions for HOW to modify the strut assembly.

 

I know they are good people, and both try to help. I purchased some parts from CED and are being installed. I would just like to know what has been developed since my departure from the scene that is for a fact a benefit to the car and will make a noticeable improvement.

Was using pedders and stock shocks since at the time nobody was beating me in a balt. At the time that was the best unless we went to many thousand dollars set up john had in his garage from previous race balt.

So went with his new springs and koni. However I believe he has other suspension parts or stuff that would make a difference in our cars. Being one to never change anything unless it improves, I don't buy anything unless I can confirm that yes this part will make your car do ???? better.

I just think they are busy enough that things have changed over the years. No prob, they are good people and I wish them the best and hope they continue to be the best supplier of cobalt suspension and other goodies.

Spank

 

They have rear sway bars, whole twisting beams, twisting beam solid bushings, front control arm leading and trailing (UHMW all weather) bushings, they sell powergrid adjustable end links, awesome rotated motor mounts, ect. They don't really make parts that don't enhance the car in some way. I have bought many parts from them. I even have their trap door oil pan. Have you checked out their website? It shows most of the stuff they make for the Cobalt.

 

Holy **** his website is working and updated. That must be what they've been working on so much lately.

 

Thats been like that for years

 

Damn I thought he wasn't going to get a site running, the last time I went to his website it was all Corvette stuff

 

He actually has 2 websites. powellraceshop.com and powellraceparts.com

 

Gloria works for NASCAR on the weekend so the best time to get a hold of her is tues/Wednesday.

 

So would anyone mind chipping in that the measure down to the nubs and subtract 7mm will work for sure? I'd hate to ruin a perfectly good strut housing to find out.

 

This is the reason why it's great to support vendors and not always shop for the lowest price. I'm not saying that's what you did but a lot of guys here do that and will then call me and ask questions. They also will buy a Chinese part over a USA made one to save $15 on a $500 purchase. That's the end of my rant..

No the 7mm won't work. Cut them at the highest point possible. If you feel like measuring, measure the length from bottom of cartridge to top of nubs. Measure strut and add 1/2".