asparagusI've been looking into a multilink swap for quite some time and I really only have one question. It looks like the front mounting locations for the subframe...fit our original mounting location bolts? Am I right? It looks like it went right in, and you just needed to make new mounts for the rear of the subframe?
If only it were that easy my friend..
Infact NONE of the mounting locations lined up, I just made it look like that..
What I did was cut the front mounts off the S12 subframe (and left a 6 inch tab on them), and then sliced the bushing off the S13 subframe.
Then I took literally hundreds of measurements, and jacked the subfram into place in such a way that the wheel would be centered, this involved compensating for yaw and pitch.
After that I measured from various chassis points to points on the subframe to 'triangulate' it into place.
The next step was a very archaic one, basically once I had measured and it "looked" right, I bolted the cut off S12 subframe bushings with 6" tabs in place and then welded them directly (after some trimming from an angle grinder) to the S13 subframe.
There is a crossmember in the trunk (I believe it is the same on coupes and hatches) which lines up PERFECTLY with the location of the rear mounts on the S13 independent rear. But it is not built to handle the loads - so it needs to be beefed up..
I drilled a 3/4" hole through the crossmember straight down from the trunk, then beefed up the entry and exit holes, then I dropped in 3/4" allthread and literally "slung" the subframe underneath..
Then I sent the subframe out for welding to have the transition from S13 subframe --> S12 bushing cleaned up. Now it looks fantastic.
Bolted it in place and we're half way there...
The next part was the shock tower construction. The s13 (As im sure you all know) uses a spring on shock assembly vs the S12 seperate shock and spring.. It was a scary moment the time I literally began slicing my shock towers out.. They were in such good shape!
Then I built the alignment jigs (pictured earlier) to locate the position of the shock mount, and went from there..
This was indeed a very huge endeavor and overall in the entire build consumed roughly 20% of the total workload AT LEAST! This basically means it took about 100 man hours or more (From me, and unexperienced builder). But now i've got a car that is basically an S13 running with an S12 body, and Skyline drivetrain..
What fun!
-Dan
PS- When I take apart the rear end, I will snap pictures and post a more elaborate write up.. But trust me, this is not for the faint of heart.