Subtopic	Posts		Updated
	Oil/Fuel Supplements	3		03/20 04:20am

Those cheap kits work fine for what they are intended for, the reason i bought mine, and that is to make your car low and look good, but probably wreck your handling. I LOVE the height my car sits at now, and i think it handles MUCH better than it used to (body roll is a thing of the past) but it is very bouncy if you hit a bump and that can be quite scary at speed. I am prepared to accept that this is the way things are gonna be based on my current budget and available parts.

As for proper racing suspension, one day but until then i can read this board and pretend. Hahaha.

By Don (63.135.203.79) on Thursday, March 17, 2005 - 09:32 pm:

Your barking up the wrong tree
What I use required revalving and its still not worked out yet. CRX springs are too stiff for the gen 1 but it really doesnt matter those cheapo kits arent made for anything except getting you to buy them. If your talking sleeves. I used Carerra with custom inserts for a snug fit.

By Darrell--Arizona-- (68.109.151.121) on Thursday, March 17, 2005 - 06:34 pm:

Don what springs or kit did you use?

By Don (63.224.193.75) on Thursday, March 17, 2005 - 05:59 am:

Replace with a newer style because the originals are NLA

By lazy (139.130.237.102) on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 09:30 pm:

by 'upgraded' do you mean replaced?

Thanks for the tips

By Don (63.135.203.225) on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 09:07 pm:

Hey Those look familiar
I can tell you some tips Koni gave me
#1 Insert a bump stop = mechanical, of some type if the shock bottoms against the adjuster in the bottom of the strut it turns into a expensive piece of junk immediately. Be sure the spacer that is dropped into the casing is facxing the right way as the nub can do the same type of damage if its turned around.
Most parts are obsolete so if there is a malfuncion, one of my valves wasnt working correctly after sitting for so long they have to be upgraded, use only 5w oil anything else it just asking for crazy results.

By Darrell--Arizona-- (68.109.151.121) on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 07:48 pm:

Thanks Shreck. The lightest 1988 CRX weighs the same amount. So CRX coil overkits should feel about right. If the coilover sleeve fits on the strut, then we've got a match.

These look nice, but I'd really like to get variable rate spings.....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33582&item=7962089078&rd=1

By Shreck (24.112.121.191) on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 05:18 pm:

Kerb weight for the 1200 is

1979 Manual 1696lb (769kg)
1979 Hondamatic 1711lb (776kg)

Sorry I done have is for the CVCC.

By Darrell--Arizona-- (68.109.151.121) on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 04:25 pm:

Hey Malcon, can you let us know how they fit when you get them on?

By Darrell--Arizona-- (68.109.151.121) on Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - 06:45 am:

Hey those look good.

Can anybody tell me the weight of the stock 79 civic?

By lazy (165.228.57.19) on Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - 05:29 am:

guess what arrived the other day.. I'll give you a clue:



Now I need to get some threaded sleeves made up/fitted. Could anyone offer some advice on the best method for fitting the sleeves and what they should be made of? I really need a rust resistant solution as I live on the coast.

I was thinking of having a full-length sleeve on the rear struts that sits on this ledge.. sound like a good idea?

By Darrell--Arizona-- (68.109.151.121) on Sunday, March 13, 2005 - 06:39 pm:

Right on. Is it important to get variable rate springs? It seems it would add some comfort while without loosing stability.

http://eibach.com/cgi-bin/htmlos.exe/00877.9.3321159703300020106

http://eibach.com/cgi-bin/htmlos.exe/00877.14.7674878994100020106

By malcon pierce (Project79) (68.63.17.76) on Sunday, March 13, 2005 - 06:09 pm:

88-2000 Civic/CRX coilovers. i dont know the ecxact deminsions. im almost possitive they are the same as those apc ones. everything was only $50 so if they dont work ill just sell them.

By Darrell--Arizona-- (68.109.151.121) on Sunday, March 13, 2005 - 08:59 am:

Do all civic years have the same diameter of springs? If so, then we only need to think about weight and height.

By Darrell--Arizona-- (68.109.151.121) on Sunday, March 13, 2005 - 08:55 am:

Malcon, I guess I didn't see your post. What kit did you buy? Do you know what the specs are on you springs?

By malcon pierce (Project79) (68.63.17.76) on Thursday, March 10, 2005 - 08:10 pm:

i just got my coilovers in and they only cost me 50 bucks. there are so many on e-bay that you can get them cheap because nobody really pays attention to them. they may be low quality but im not really going for a superior suspension setup.

By Darrell--Arizona-- (68.109.151.121) on Sunday, March 06, 2005 - 07:00 pm:

That makes sense. Thanks! I don't know which way I'll go yet. Having an adjustable height really looks good since I'm not sure what I'll have in my car yet. (I'm the guy with the electric motor conversion. Yes I'm still doing it.) I have a motor picked out, but I'll probably pack 5 or 6 batteries on top of it. I'm not sure if it'll weigh down the car. The batteries could be in back too. I might have to tackle the suspension again once the car is finished. Having an adjustable height would be nice.

By Don (63.135.203.97) on Sunday, March 06, 2005 - 06:30 pm:

If they are doing any sort of welding on the strut casing without opening them they are almost guaranteed to be junk. Also remember that the 88+ is a heavy car compared to the gen 1 so the spring rates are stiff enough to where a stock style strut won't handle it. If you are just wanting to mess arround the CVCC front springs on a 1200 in front and moving the original front rearward with new struts, cut to a reasonable ride height (-1") is about as good a handling car as you going to get. Stiff springs and lowering the Civic 2" or more really messes up geometry and causes some big problems with bump and roll steer as well as putting the roll center in the tollet. If you want to see whats really required give John Lemke or Jim Hargrove an e-mail... it takes time and a bit of $$ to set the suspension right again.

By Chaffneue (Chaffneue) (66.183.190.188) on Sunday, March 06, 2005 - 06:15 pm:

My understanding is that opening the casings allows you to put in a new strut/damper assembly without having to reengineer an aftermarket strut to fit the stock strut mount on the steering knuckle.. I don't believe it has anything to do with the springs themselves.

-Richard

By Darrell--Arizona-- (68.109.151.121) on Sunday, March 06, 2005 - 11:00 am:

that last word is.... substitute

By Darrell--Arizona-- (68.109.151.121) on Sunday, March 06, 2005 - 10:58 am:

Hey guys. I've never been interested in suspension before. I recently bought some springs brom bruce (thanks bruce) and that got me thinking about a few things...So here's some questions.

Why are you guys opening the stuts? Are you rebuilding the strut?

Does the coil-over kit just slide on the strut case?

There are tons of coil-over kits on ebay that are dirt cheap. Its seems like there should be a suitable substite.

By jeff wood (Jeffwood69) (66.119.34.59) on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 11:31 pm:

e-mail me on those specs.

By jeff wood (Jeffwood69) (66.119.34.59) on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 11:29 pm:

where can i get a set of those tires, all the spects please. thanks.

By farenheight101 (24.69.255.203) on Sunday, April 25, 2004 - 07:50 pm:

Yea...ground control's just a company who make a basic coilover kit. But its a nice one! I think they use eibach springs in thier kit along with metal top spring seat and most likely stronger and better aluminum sleeves and seat rings. The apc kit has apc springs with plastic top spring perches and cheap chrome painted bottom seat rings that is already bubbling off.

Oh...and theres one disadvantage to not welding the sleeve on. The sleeve sits up too high on the factory perch location, not tooo much but should be lower letting the tires sit up in the wheel well. My tires stick out 2 inches though, so I don't mind it sitting alittle high as to not having the fender lip rub on the tires. Plus when I go camping, I can crank it way up and put on some stock rims with cheap snow tires so I don't bottom out and mabe do some rallying...hehe.

By don (199.2.139.168) on Sunday, April 25, 2004 - 06:03 pm:

Yes

By Colza (Colza) (210.54.66.64) on Saturday, April 24, 2004 - 10:21 pm:

Arent 'ground control' just a brand of expensive platform adjustables?

By DåRl{ (66.50.181.163) on Saturday, April 24, 2004 - 07:10 am:

farenheight101...Ground control kit as in, like air struts? With a switch to raise and lower your car? if so, how much? and will they fit my '79 Civic, Oh I wanna see the pics too.Thanx


Willie

By farenheight101 (24.69.255.203) on Wednesday, April 21, 2004 - 12:18 pm:

I fit my 88-2000 Civic/CRX coilovers onto the stock '78 struts with a little grinding of the brass ring and cutting off the spring perch. My crappy-ass APC nextlevel coilover kit came with a couple sets of different sized O-rings, and metal seat rings. I just put the metal seat ring on the existing, cut-off, spring perch. Then I put 2 o-rings per strut where the threaded sleeve will sit, then squeezed the threaded sleeve over the o-rings and rolledit tightly to the new "sleeve-perch". Fits nice and tight with NO welding. I want to eventually weld it but I'd rather get a ground control kit with 75 casings with the proper inserts to do it properly, but this totally works for the price of only $100! I'll take some pics today...

By lazy (165.228.57.19) on Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 09:16 pm:

thanks Jonny

By Jonny (24.68.208.246) on Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 07:33 pm:

I have a car were the previous owner adapted 92-95 civic coilovers to the firstgen struts ill take some pics

By lazy (165.228.57.19) on Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 06:41 pm:

would I be able to use a '88-91 civic/crx coilover kit on my 77 civic casings?