With all the talk in my other thread on front end maintenance, I'm actually starting to consider shocks/springs.
But first, a little history on my car:
One owner until 2004.
They sold it to a car that wanted to turn it into a drift car. He apparently started to do the upgrade work, such as new shocks (but not springs), before he got a raise, bought a Porsche, and sold the car to the next owner in 2006.
The next owner bought it because he had never worked on a European car before, and wanted a little experience. He ran into financial trouble before he ever touched the car, realized he had too many projects, and sold the car to me in 2006 with a bunch of spare parts.
When I bought the car and got the history, I didn't care if the new shocks story was true, because it passed a quick corner push spring-shock test, and I cared more about the state of the engine.
Now after some maintenance, I can say that the springs are old, but the shocks can have a rag taken to them and (to my surprise) brand new black paint on a very new looking part appears out from under the dust and dirt. However, the car came with no receipt for them, and I can't see an identifying marks on them anywhere.
So, three questions:
1. Where are front (or back) shocks usually marked, so I can go digging for a part number or brand name?
2. If they are quality sports shocks, what are the chances of them working well with the H&R Sports springs? Are shocks married pretty closely to spring setups, or do shocks adjust themselves pretty well to a change in springs?
3. Would it still be a positive (or at least not negative) experience to change the front suspension and not the back?
Obviously if I were able to avoid $200-$250 worth of shocks up front, I'd be more likely to invest in some new springs :-)
