Stage Three - The Install Process
Next up was the suspension. A Sunday morning freed up and a couple of good pals offered to come help rock out the suspension, Dave (DMC), Johnny (WildYoats), both of whom are 200 Series owners and Micah (Micahman) came over and helped make fairly quick work of the process. There were a few learning curves with the mounting of the BP51 reservoirs and front coilovers. As my units were some of the very first into the US we found some minor variance that we had to addressed, the most important being to chase the holes on the top plates of the struts. The BP51's use a bolt into the upper strut mount rather than the typical stud/nut configuration on the stock. We fought the 1st side for a bit of time before we concluded the holes were tapped prior to the anodizing and thus the bolts would start and seat approx. half way before stopping dead in their tracks. It's possible we could have drove them home and cut the threads a bit in the softer aluminum. We pulled the coilover assemblies, gave them a quick chase with the tap and reinstalled with minimal affair. The rear was very straightforward, shocks and coils. The reservoir mounts took a minute to sort but in the end the fit and finish were impressive. The KDSS sway bar system does add a few additional steps in the install process, make sure you're up to speed on the system prior to working on it.
Front OMD BP-51's with Light Racing Upper Control Arms
Rear OME BP-51 Suspension
Now it was time to start stretching it's legs and see what this BP-51 is all about. Sorry video isn't super tight on the action, it was really an impromptu run as we were out testing Monica (the Canguro 200). I started making some passes on a light whoop section and bringing up the speed as it felt comfortable. At this point... super impressed!