MOndial 8 coilovers

Wow, I'm finaly finished. took 1wk but i'm done. thanks to Nick Forza for the parts and knowledge. i have around 50 pics i need to re-size and order for those wishing to tackle these jobs:
adjustable coil-overs - takes some work
Crank Vent instalation - simple
removal of air injection - biggist pain of all!

i was able to remove and and plug the injection system with the engine still in the car. even the headers came out with out much trouble, lots of room in the mondial engine bay compared to the 308.

i had been having trouble with the oil seperator being clogged and the pressure building in the heads forcing oil out wherever it saw an opening. i now need to detail the engine bay as it is very greasy and dirty. talking with nick and reading on the board his suggestion was the krank vents. i know some are skeptical but having first seen hand what it'l do i'm impressed. i had to remove the oil/seperator system and block off the vent from the pan and trans case. after doing that and installing the vents i ran the motor, you can hear a very audible whistle as the air is pumped out of the heads. that was pressure that was prevously trapped and forcing oil out the seals.

for the coil-overs, i had ordered the set nick had, not being familiar with 308 vs mondial both nick and i found out the mondial does not have the same mount at the top as the 308. between me doing some re-search and thanks to daniel for the WSM i was able to pull the mondial specs so that nick could have the coil-overs re-built for the mondial. the 308 uses eye bolts top & bottom where as the modial uses an eye bolt at the bottom but a spherical bearing at the top. along with the fact the mondial has different leangth shocks from the 308.

i have pictures of all this, they explain alot more detail than i can write. i'l get to re-sizing and post'em up.

 

set1
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set2
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set3

 

resuming...
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set4
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set5
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set6
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final,
i cut out most of the duplicates. in one picture you casn see that injector #3 is not connected but has rusted/burned itself off. the thread pitch & size for pluging is a 9/16-18 sized bolt.

for the coilovers, you'll need to dissassemble the springs and shocks to retrieve your spherical bearing, or buy new and skip that part. i reliezed once i was finishing up on the last one that you can accutually save some headache and mount the bearing indipendant of the coilover then slip in the coilover. the rear was accutually harder than the front becouse there is a spacer locator washer that you need to use that locates the rear frame and body together (don't lose that washer! searching for it at 3:am isn't fun).

i haven't used the lowering cappabilities of the coilovers yet, nor have i driven the car yet. ride hight is as i let it down. i'll see if it settles any then decide if i want to lower it any, i set it to the factory hight. incedently you can order the coilovers with a built in lowered hight if you desire, i wanted to retain the factory settings so if i want i can lower it later.
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hardware hardware hardware, thank god for OSH. i probably spent $200 in just nuts and bolts.

since the original perch plate uses studs i needed new bolts for the mounting. grade (8) 5/16-24 x 2 for the front rear set becouse of the steel spacer and 5/16-24 x 1 for the front front and the rears used 5/16-24 x 1.25 all around. ss washers and bolts for the exhaust flanges. ss spring washers to replace the rusty steel ones on the exhaust studs. and assorted bolts nuts and the like for replacing the ones that rolled into the twilight zone.

incedently grades of hardware vary on the car. most stores only sell grade 8 and 5 as most older american cars only use those grades save for the engine assymbly. on the ferrari to give you an idea of the stresses thay account for you'll see grade 10.2, 12.4 and 14.8 the jump from 8 to 10.2 is significant, so please don't substitute a higher grade for a lower one.

the air injection can be removed with the engine in, i couldn't see save for a complete tear down why the engine would need to come out for most majors. i had lots of room. the headers on bank 1-4 slipped right out the headers on bank 5-8 didn't. you'll need to remove the altenator and fuel pump to get them to slide out the side. i found enough room by pulling them over far enough so i didn't have to remove the fuel pump. i also tied a leather glove the to starter to avoid nicking it with the header flange. the first bolt is a sleave from the injection tubes and is sized 19mm after removing those the tubes come off, then the injector nozzles are 17mm. i was lucky that the motor has less than 5k of use from when these were installed still took some muscle and nuckle scraping, high milage will really have them stuck on. i say hit 'em some penetrating oil and go have a beer or two.

for the big guys here, i stand at 6'5" with xxx-large hands i find it hard to find gloves, that said it was difficult in spots to reach do to the girth of my hands and arms but not impossible. but if you've spent enough time working on cars you get creative to get bolts on and off.

 

Whoooooo hooo!!!
went for a spirited run in the hills this morning. WOW! what a difference in handling. talk about point and shoot!.
the rear has settled about 1/2" and the same for the front. the front arch is so high it still looks like it sits higher in front although it doesn't. thinking about dropping the front but not sure.

i still have an issue with the axle shaft seals leaking when under hard corners or uphill runs. i have replaced them with the double lip viton seal but the red-line oil still sneeks by. since i'm contimplating the re-build of the half-shafts i'll dig further into a permanent fix then.

 

some more pics,
i adjusted the front down 1/2" for now.
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i paid for the 308 coilovers, then had to get them re-done for the difference in mounting. Nick would be able to get you a firm price, becouse they are different than the 308. i was a first case scenario so what i paid would most likley not be the going rate. the 308 coilovers were 1700 shipped to my door, i'm one state away from nick.

call Nick Forza, he would be able to get you a price.

 

one of the PO's bought the rims. speedline 8" front and 9" rear 17" dia.
i have 245/45's all around, wanted 245/50's but they are hard to find. thought of 255/45's for the rear but that might be to wide so i went 245's allaround and really like the handling. the trx's were 240's on all corners so it's close to stock.