Re: (vw_jason79)
Ok, Ian's how to on building coilovers, sans pictures, most likely sans some fairly key info:
Step 1 remove your strut assemblies, or if your Fox is your daily, source another set of housings/assemblies so you can build with out having the car down.
Step 2 Disassemble assemblies as appropriate.
Step 3 Start cutting the spring perches off with your choice of cutting implement. I started with a Dremel to slice through the welds, and it sucked. A lot. I moved to an angle grinder to facilitate the spring perch's removal.
Step 3A Start to realize what a huge pain these things are to build.
Step 4 Now that the perch is removed, you need to make clearance for the sleeve to fit. Whip out your trusty angle grinder and grind away. I periodically would try to slide the sleeve down so I could grind just enough without potentially grinding the area too thin.
Step 4A It was somewhere in this part of the build that I swore to myself that this would be the first and last set of coilovers I'd ever build for a Fox. These will get transferred from car to car as needed.
Step 4B Paint your nice shiny ground down strut housings your choice of colour to prevent rust.
Step 5 Now that the sleeves fit over the top of the housing, you'll notice (hopefully) that the threads for the strut are covered more than is ideal. Again, start grinding, this time on the sleeve. I myself went a bit overboard on this part. You really only need to grind the sleeves down enough to let the strut cap thread on.
Step 6 Assemble all the bits. Sleeves, then struts of your choice, springs, top hat, etc.
Done. Now just install, and adjust to your desired level of somewhat less embarassing ride height.
