Okay, I got the struts apart on the 74 super. Got new springs, the "sport springs" from ac.net and first problem presents itself. The spring compressor, when installed, hits the body of the shock and prevents the spring from being lowered onto the strut. I wound up carefully compressing the spring with just one of the clamps to get it compressed far enough to install the top parts. Then I started working on the other strut, find out that the cartridge is bad and decide to change BOTH cartridges, so number one comes apart again.
So I'm done for tonight. But now i have even more questions than before. That very top part of the strut, the little metal cap with four shallow rectangular protrusions on it. It appears that the position that it's installed in is important because of the way it's beveled. If it were installed in the wrong clock position relative to the car I have a feeling it will either rub the top of the strut tower or cause other alignment problems. How does this piece work?
Also, I got new rubber bump stops, you attach the plastic sleeve to it and then...? Does it just press down onto the shaft of the cartridge and sit there? Is there any way to retain it at the top of the strut mount?
Any help would be appreciated.
Chris