do some/most coilovers dismantle?
inparticular does the shock absorber seperate
from the strut housing?

 

All usually do Lee, there is a locknut underneath the casing body which you undo then the insert rod itself unscrews from the damper casing, the casings usually then contain a couple of phosi bronze bushes the insert runs on..

Pic might give you an idea....cant find a better one...

 

Nice one ian.
so the bottom portion (strut body i call it)
would be removed from the shock it self?
i ask because nobody makes a coilover for
my car but i could now have something fabricated/welded
to the strut body then reattach the shock.
as obviously welding without removing the shock
is gona boil the damping fluids and fook any rubber seals.

this bit removes?
.

 

Lee,

They are upside down shock absorbers, the telescopic rod hangs down into the strut body, the end of the telescopic rod is threaded and screws into the bottom of the casing, thats the arrangement shown in the pic and the arrangement is more commonly used on competition cars.

You can get conversion shocks, which have a threaded strut casing and accept an uprated damper, the dampers in these tend to be vertical with the body of the damper sat in the strut body and the rod pertruding upwards fixed to the top mount.

The damper is retained by a cap on top of the strut body, these have no phosi bronze bushes as all the work is done by the damper itself.

Both options strip to their component parts, the internals of the dampers are a little more difficult to get at......lol

HTH

Ian