Adjustable spring plate hardware
 

The used adjustable spring plates that I bought from a fellow Pelican arrived today, and I have some hardware questions.

The plates I got are missing most of the bolts. From peeking under my car at my non-adjustable plates, it looks like I just reuse the bolts that attach to the trailing arm and the toe and camber eccentrics. Is this correct?

These "new" plates are also missing one of the really big bolts, which I think are the height adjusting bolts. Any idea on the proper size for these, or where I could find new ones?

My plans for these are to have my bro-in-law sandblast them and paint them satin black. Any problem with this plan?

that is not good - I think some of those bolts are $30+ each

should be list/diagram in the Pelican catalog

Thanks Randy,
I found the parts diagram for 84-86 Carrera, and I think the bolt I'm missing is this one:

OEM-91133330300 Eccentric screw

It looks like the other eccentrics from my original plates can be re-used.

Anyone got a spare height adjusting eccentric screw laying around?

I might suggest you check out Elephant Racing's camber adjusting tool, too. It replaces some of the hardware, though I'm not sure if it replaces the piece you need.
This will make camber setup easier and maybe even save you some labor when you have your alignment / ride heigh reset.


Post a picture of the part you need from PET.


Doug

I have OEM adjustable spring plates (as a few pelicans pointed out to a weeks ago). One of the eccebtric bolts is ~$56 and the other is ~$72, pretty steep. I called the Porsche dealership and you can add $30 to $40 to each of those numbers. These are not cheap bolts to replace.

Sorry to hear you're missing them...
-Matt

Doug,

Chuck's cambermax doesn't replace any spring plate hardware. You remove the camber eccentric to install the cambermax but then you reinsert the eccentric to ultimately help hold the camber gained by the cambermax adjuster.

I sent an e-mail to the seller, and he thinks he can send me the missing height adjusting screw(big flat hex head).
Am I right in assuming that I re-use the other hardware from my stock plates, ie. the toe and camber eccentrics?

Also, any thoughts on just painting the plates with a satin black rustoleum? I don't really want the "bling" of the aluminum color.

paint won't last long

powder coat will last longer

cad plate (or Zn plate) will last as long as you

I just upgraded my 71' to 930 plates last week, yes you can and should reuse your other mounting, camber and toe bolts and hopefully get the original adjustable bolts from the PO, I believe the eccentrics are very pricey, rear eccentrics are $54 and $74 and they're much smaller than the front one.

POWDER PAINT...
 

Howdy,

Randy's comments are correct regarding the durability of powder paint and cad plating. I would suggest the powder painting for a couple of reasons, one it's cheap and it will hold its color longer than the cad plating. If you go with powder paint be sure the plater plugs any holes that are going to receive hardware. Powder paint is thick enough (1.5-2 Mils, in a clearance hole that's .004") that it will change the dimensions of your part. Naturally you can ream holes and scrape off the powder paint later, but that's no fun...

There are two colors of cad, Type I which is the white and more durable, Type II is the gold erudite. My plater told me that some of the show guys are putting a clear over the cad plate. This does change the color some, but will make it last longer.

See ya,

Mitch,

Isn't most stuff zinc plated these days? I thought I heard cadmium is less common anymore due to environmental issues? I'm no expert by any means. Just trying to clarify heresay i've heard before.

THanks,

Kevin

CAD PLATING...
 

Kevin,

You're right about the environmental issues of finding a shop that does cad plating, however some of that depends on what state you live in. I'm pretty sure you would have a hard time find platers today in California. However there are probably aero space contractors that can afford to conform due to government contracts. The cost of equipment to conform to environmental regs is prohibited for most small shops. Here in Texas I can still get cad plating.

I use to be up on all of this and now I'm out of touch. So that's my two cents worth...

See ya,

Thanks for the feedback Mitch. I'm just curious more than anything.

I like the plating better than the powdercoating because it seems more durable (albeit less resistant to corrosion, so maybe not) and like you pointed out, clearances with threads and holes are an issue with the thick build of powdercoating.

POWDER COATING...
 

Kevin,

One more thing about Powder Coating it's more susceptible to fine scratching than a good two part paint, i.e. Imron. Powder paint really resists resists heavy wear to it's finish, but take a dirty rag to it and it will leave very fine scratches which do not rub out. However with the current enamels you can rub out and polish to restore the original finish. Case in point I powder painted a 356 fan shroud, looked great when new, but in time with cleaning the finish dulled.

Powder paint is great for structural parts, I once did a 300SL space frame which would have been difficult to spray paint. Choices, choices...

See ya,