Lowering front strut tower Mk1 Caddy

hey everyone, im new on here but i need some help so i thought id come to the experts… I'm converting my Mk1 Caddy into an electric car and whilst doing this we've come accross a problem, the person we bought the half finished shell front wanted to lower the suspension as these young tikes are into nowadays, i personally hate it! We've discoveered that the car has raised strut towers in order to make the suspension coil over higher into the wheel arch… so our thinking is, can we not flip the top of the raise strut tower so it faces into the wheel arch instead.(I will include pictures to make my point clearer). I feel like this would be a great idea so long as it fits into the hole the other way up, but i am worried about the strength of the coil overs.

… Ive also seen someone on YouTube raise the strut tower (Raising strut towers on a mk1 -- Rabbit pickup project part 16 - YouTube) by cutting it out the engine bay and weilding back in 4 inches higher, but this isn't an option for us as weve got all the new electric motor and controller in the engine bay already. Does anyone know any more option for us to take? i want to raise the wheels away from the arches as much as i can obviously without getting out of hand.

Thanks Crew

That looks like the standard strut mount to me.cant see where it's raised. No they can't be flipped as the bearing and rubber part isnt designed to work that way up. That being said the standard caddy shocks and springs are really tall, on the rear, most have moved the axle above the rear leaf springs so sit 100mm lower than standard. Do you have adjustable coilovers on the front?

For the rear there are lifting plates that you can buy to raise your axle…. For the front I suspect there is some brand of coil over that you can adjust…. But You could also buy smaller tires then it will look higher.     The issues that I have seen over the years of folks slamming their rides or raising is the wearing out of CV's because of the Angles and not Keeping them in mind when lifting or lowering a ride  and not to mention your tracking rods have to me adjusted as well.

There was a company a while back that sold extra long lower Ball joints (taller) and you could gain an inch or so….

I would suggest you will screw up the wheel geometry if you try a lift, perhaps get it checked for 4 wheel alignment once you get the height you want and go from there - "can of worms" comes to mind, but nothing is insurmountable with enough time and money...

They also look standard to me mate, the raised ones you mention are these. Coltech make em …

http://www.coltechclassics.com/for-sale/mk1-golf-jetta-caddy-strut-extensions


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You have standard strut tops but yours are shot, if you remove the plastic cover you will see a big gap between the rubber and metal plate.
At least you can now buy some or make some strut raisers and lower the car.

http://www.coltechclassics.com/for-sale/mk1-golf-jetta-caddy-strut-extensions

Are you trying to higher or lower the suspension? My read is that you want to raise it back to normal (or even higher) after someone has attempted to lower it?

Early-1800 said

Are you trying to higher or lower the suspension? My read is that you want to raise it back to normal (or even higher) after someone has attempted to lower it?

I think your right… helps if I read the post before "chipping in"

Yes you don't have strut raisers, I guess with the weight of the electric motor and depending on how many battery's you fit would govern what suspension you would need as the weight of the car will differ from a standard car so you would need springs/coil overs to match.

Watching a few programs on the telly which have converted classic cars to electric and they seem to match the suspension and brakes to the sort of power the motor pushed out.

You'll have to start a build thread as interested in how you get on as maybe sometime in the future we will all need to convert to a electric motor…..