Turret / strut top domed?

[joris_andriesse 8]

Not sure what the correct name is, I have the idea that I both turret and strut top see being used for the same.

Anyway's, about these, how flat should these be? Looking at the attached picture, is this domed or nothing to worry about?

Reason for asking is that the top/tip of my GAZ adjustable shock is to high and is hitting my bonnet (with two little dents/bulbs on the outside as a result  ). I bougt a "205 Group-N Strut Top Bearing & Bush Kit" to replace the rubbers in the topmount since these are also older and I do hop that will help a bit with the height issue, but I'm not sure whether that will be sufficient.

If  domed(ish) and I will bring it back in shape (wit a piece of wood and a hammer, as I have seen being suggested many times heren on the forum  ), is than not there a high risk that they will reshap again within no-time? The material did have some stress during the years and after the reshaping, which isn't helping in the strength, and especially since group-n is going to be used in the topmounts, so shock impact will even be a bit higher. Should not als some strengthening (plate) be applied?
And if strengthening plate is adviced, I always do see it being welded on the top, why not on the inside? On the inside I would think it is stronger (the shock pushes upwards) and also looks nicer (you wont see it). A few mm will be added in the ride hight, but I wouldn't mind. What are your ideas about this?
And are there any known suppliers of these strengthening plates, other than Spoox (I can't find them), or can any of you post a drawing so I can get them made in a workshop nearby?

 

[welshpug 1,621]

particularly common especially on lowered cars, and early cars, Peugeot made the material thicker at some point, but before they did there were some cars with an added disc spot welded on top.

 

its no problem to flatten them back off, stiffening plates to weld on are available from many rally prep companies, though the chunky aluminium camber plates will add some strength over the original pressed steel items.

[welshpug 1,621]

they are typically added on top as its easier, welding upside down sucks, and you also dont add to the ride height.

[joris_andriesse 8]

14 hours ago, welshpug said:

particularly common especially on lowered cars, and early cars, Peugeot made the material thicker at some point, but before they did there were some cars with an added disc spot welded on top.

 

its no problem to flatten them back off, stiffening plates to weld on are available from many rally prep companies, though the chunky aluminium camber plates will add some strength over the original pressed steel items.

But would you say this is domed? I'm not sure how flat it should be
Camberplates is not an option since I'm having normal shocks and not coilovers. My GAZ shocks only have seen less than a thousand km's, bit of a shame to replace them already
 

14 hours ago, welshpug said:

they are typically added on top as its easier, welding upside down sucks, and you also dont add to the ride height.

Sounds reasonable. I was thinking of placing them under, to keep the looks as original as possible.

 

[petert 549]

50 minutes ago, joris_andriesse said:

 

Sounds reasonable. I was thinking of placing them under, to keep the looks as original as possible.

 

You'll upset a lot of the underbody work if you start welding underneath. It's far easier to add them on top and anyone who knows what they're looking at, will appreciate your efforts if done properly.

[welshpug 1,621]

they should be flat enough that the studs are all parallel.

 

check that you are not missing a washer under the top mount assembly as that will make the spindle poke out more

Edited January 19, 2022 by welshpug

[petert 549]

3 hours ago, joris_andriesse said:

......... to keep the looks as original as possible.

 

Why are you worrying about this, when you have a massive earth cable running to the RH tower? What's all that about?

[joris_andriesse 8]

That cable was, in time of the engine build/swap an easy fix for the earthing, and will be changed to something nicer looking.
But there is, in my opinion, a big diference between the (non-original) fitment of an cable or a structural change on the cars body, by welding plates on top of these turrets.

[DamirGTI 323]

Factory added plates/discs on a Ph1 309 :

[Gohn 62]

12 hours ago, petert said:

a massive earth cable

love a jerry rig, awesome joris

maybe I could attach a microwave oven there..

mine are boring but I've tried to show the different angles so you can compare

yours do look a little bumped up

the previous owner of mine was a bit of a trackie and the car was pretty tired

everything was flogged but importantly it was still straight so no prangs or benders

I dont do track or drive hard but I just wanted to strengthen the strut tops there then never think about it again

when I looked at mine there is a kind of tilt in from each side to the centre (also mines base model not GTi)

I made up my own top plates from a shell that was a non runner

cut them out and trimmed up

wasn't that hard but took a while

kind of modelled the shape of mine on the plate sets from spoox etc

and then got a good welder to do that bit

 

the spoox ones are here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/182498950688?hash=item2a7dc8fe20:g:s5gAAOSw9hJbapZc

I also thought bakerBM did them but they've not got them listed at the present

 

then I got the paint code matched and got a little rattle can to paint it over

 

also, you'll be welding in with the donk and everything else in situ

so cover everything with leather

the weld spatter goes EVERYWHERE and could make a mess of the whole area

paint, hoses, plastics, cables, windscreen !

I thought I'd been really careful, but the spatter went under the bonnet which was up

thru a drop sheet that was supposed to protect the windscreen

and left nasty sharp marks in the laminated glass

[Gohn 62]

also forgot,

when you weld the plates to the top

the underbody liner material on the underside of the struts will burn off in places

there's just a bunch of heat

afterwards it looks a bit of a smouldering mess

just tidy it up with a wire brush etc and get a can of the underbody stonechip stuff to recoat

doesn't have to be pretty, just wanna seal it from corrosion

[pug_ham 240 3 Cars]

This is how I had the strut re-inforcing plates fitted to my old 1993 STDT when the strut top was doming.

 

I dropped the strut out of the hole & hammered the original bodywork back down flat before welding the plate on after trimming it to a close size to match the body.

 

 

 

g

[joris_andriesse 8]

10 hours ago, Gohn said:

 

 

 

Looks nice this way!
Thanks for the tips 

[petert 549]

They don't need to welded all the way around. This is mine and believe me, they get hammered.

[wicked 103 3 Cars]

On 1/18/2022 at 4:52 PM, joris_andriesse said:

And are there any known suppliers of these strengthening plates, other than Spoox (I can't find them), or can any of you post a drawing so I can get them made in a workshop nearby?

 

The candy store in France:

https://www.2dsracing.com/fr/renfort-de-bol-205-309.html

 

[petert 549]

Or make your own. Make sure you weld on the inside as well. Otherwise, it's kind of pointless. The two layers of steel will be able to move against each other. I'm not sure you can see from my picture, but there are three stitch welds inside and six on the outside. It also doesn't need to be excessively thick. I'm sure mine are only 1.6mm or 2.0mm thick.

strut top.dwg

strut top.dxf

Edited January 21, 2022 by petert

[Gohn 62]

1 hour ago, petert said:

Make sure you weld on the inside as well. Otherwise, it's kind of pointless

dang it. better go call the welder

I wondered about that, hummed and ha'd a bit, but didn't know so just went with the outer weld.

seems a bit obvious now though, once someone that's track tested mentions it

1 hour ago, petert said:

It also doesn't need to be excessively thick.

wondered about that too !

the panel there is 3mm, so that's just what my plates were

but the spoox ones always looked thicker and too bulky for requirements

good to know peter

[wicked 103 3 Cars]

2 hours ago, petert said:

Or make your own. Make sure you weld on the inside as well. Otherwise, it's kind of pointless. The two layers of steel will be able to move against each other. I'm not sure you can see from my picture, but there are three stitch welds inside and six on the outside. It also doesn't need to be excessively thick. I'm sure mine are only 1.6mm or 2.0mm thick.

strut top.dwg

strut top.dxf

For sure much cheaper...