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apalileo : 1993 Accord DX

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    #46
    I guess I'm just going to have to drive someone's car with a properly-converted manual steering system. My experience with the belt off just leaves me with the impression of never wanting to go without it again. Parking lots were nightmares.
    My Members' Ride Thread - It's a marathon build, not a sprint. But keep me honest on the update frequency!

    Comment


      #47
      @sonik - The last week was an experience to say the least. "Trying" the conversion was no longer an option once I began cutting lines.

      @Raf - Thanks! I wiped off as much of the old power steering fluid and grime that had built up in that corner. I've owned and driven manual steering cars in the past so this was not unfamiliar territory for me. I'm not much of a coffee drinker these days so I'm fine keeping my hands on the wheel!

      @Jarrett - It would have been nice to try it out, but here we are! I did consider just putting the belt back on and seeking out the leaks, but I'm a glutton for pain, I suppose!


      This would have been ideally performed with the engine out, or the intake manifold at the very least. I have to give props to anyone with big hands performing this with the engine complete in the bay. I wear medium sized Mechanix gloves and I found myself struggling to get to certain brackets. Anyone considering this should set aside a day to perform it. There's a mix of plastic and metal brackets throughout the system and in a few places, other parts must be moved to remove components. Additionally, there's a point when I found myself unbending hard lines to get them out as they weave around other parts. It's a "point of no return" type of mod.
      1993 Accord DX | Rosewood Brown Metallic

      Comment


        #48
        February 2016 - Coilovers!

        Picked up a set of Koni Sports with Ground-Control coilovers off craigslist. They were only supposedly driven on for a year, but receipts given to me by the seller show they were bought in 2013 so they've got to have more time on the road than that. All four shocks showed no signs of leaking and all would extend smoothly and at various rates according to the adjustment levels. The adjustment tab on one of the fronts was stuck, but with a vice grip and a "bouncing" pressure, it unstuck itself (this is likely why they advise to never have them at full soft or full stiff without a slight turn away from those settings).

        Ground-Control coilovers are the Koni specific set with the perch step in the threaded sleeve. Fronts are 600lb. springs and rears are 450lb. Both rear threaded sleeves have some damage from what looks like the springs unseating during rear extension.

        Bought a few things to further complete the set.

        FFC extended top hats:


        Hypercoils 2.5" ID helper springs, 6" for rear and 4" for front.


        Eibach SPACER250's.


        OEM bump stops.


        Cut to size.


        Took the rubber off the rear dust boot and trimmed 0.75" off of the metal dust caps. These have a perfect outer diameter that fits inside the Ground-Control upper spring insulator so the spring always sits centered in the OEM rear top hat.


        Complete and ready to install!


        Comparisons (Eibach Sportlines on Koni STR.T's)




        I thought I might have to get a different strut bar going into this, but fortunately the FFC top hats cleared!


        Don't mind the leaves in the cowl, they're always there no matter how often I remove them...


        Rear available stroke at 2" drop.


        Front available stroke at 2" drop.


        Front passenger setup at full load.


        For starters I have my Sports set at +1 which is 180 degrees from full soft. I also set the height so that it sits at the same height as the Sportlines. I decided on the swap for a firmer ride and got just that.

        The rears had to be adjusted down 1-1/8" from where I initially set them at. The helper spring is still compressed so everything is held into place just fine. The fronts were almost dead on, only needing to be adjusted up by 1/8". I did my measurements from the bottom of the perch to the bottom of the threaded sleeve.

        Based on what I see from the available stroke on the front, I'm lead to believe that I was riding damn near on the bump stops on the Sportline set up. The FFC extended top hats really help in lowering and I wish I'd known about them before.

        Needless to say, I'm quite satisfied with this modification.

        I didn't take any pictures of the car as it's filthy right now!
        1993 Accord DX | Rosewood Brown Metallic

        Comment


          #49
          I like the stuff you did with the power steering nice job.
          My 90 coupe Mr thread....
          http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=178452

          Comment


            #50
            Konis and Ground Control sleeves with FFC tophats. Smart combination. I like the helper springs and may have to grab some for myself.

            I didn't like how the coil springs sat in the top hat in the rear. I think I'm going to buy some Civic/Integra billet rear top hats and try to fit them instead. I think I may have to drill new holes to match the presumably narrower stud pattern, but I could be wrong and they fit just fine. I'd feel more comfortable with a more solid place for that spring to "seat" in the upper top hat, though.
            My Members' Ride Thread - It's a marathon build, not a sprint. But keep me honest on the update frequency!

            Comment


              #51
              You're doing fantastic work. I've been putting off that manual steering conversion for a long time. Did you do yours with the rack still in the car? Great choice on the suspension components as well. I'm liking this build more and more every time I check in.

              Comment


                #52
                Originally posted by apalileo View Post
                February 2016 - Coilovers!

                Picked up a set of Koni Sports with Ground-Control coilovers off craigslist. They were only supposedly driven on for a year, but receipts given to me by the seller show they were bought in 2013 so they've got to have more time on the road than that. All four shocks showed no signs of leaking and all would extend smoothly and at various rates according to the adjustment levels. The adjustment tab on one of the fronts was stuck, but with a vice grip and a "bouncing" pressure, it unstuck itself (this is likely why they advise to never have them at full soft or full stiff without a slight turn away from those settings).

                Ground-Control coilovers are the Koni specific set with the perch step in the threaded sleeve. Fronts are 600lb. springs and rears are 450lb. Both rear threaded sleeves have some damage from what looks like the springs unseating during rear extension.

                Bought a few things to further complete the set.

                Hypercoils 2.5" ID helper springs, 6" for rear and 4" for front.


                Eibach SPACER250's.



                Took the rubber off the rear dust boot and trimmed 0.75" off of the metal dust caps. These have a perfect outer diameter that fits inside the Ground-Control upper spring insulator so the spring always sits centered in the OEM rear top hat.


                Complete and ready to install!


                Comparisons (Eibach Sportlines on Koni STR.T's)




                I thought I might have to get a different strut bar going into this, but fortunately the FFC top hats cleared!


                Don't mind the leaves in the cowl, they're always there no matter how often I remove them...


                For starters I have my Sports set at +1 which is 180 degrees from full soft. I also set the height so that it sits at the same height as the Sportlines. I decided on the swap for a firmer ride and got just that.

                The rears had to be adjusted down 1-1/8" from where I initially set them at. The helper spring is still compressed so everything is held into place just fine. The fronts were almost dead on, only needing to be adjusted up by 1/8". I did my measurements from the bottom of the perch to the bottom of the threaded sleeve.

                Based on what I see from the available stroke on the front, I'm lead to believe that I was riding damn near on the bump stops on the Sportline set up. The FFC extended top hats really help in lowering and I wish I'd known about them before.

                Needless to say, I'm quite satisfied with this modification.

                I didn't take any pictures of the car as it's filthy right now!


                I have FFC top hats, koni yellows, and GC coilovers. I ended up getting stiffer spring rates then their off the shelf springs

                Now I'm wondering about the hyper coils. Never seen these before. Can you please share some information?

                The Eibach spacers are for the hyper coils I am assuming?
                .



                Originally posted by Jarrett View Post
                Konis and Ground Control sleeves with FFC tophats. Smart combination. I like the helper springs and may have to grab some for myself.

                I didn't like how the coil springs sat in the top hat in the rear. I think I'm going to buy some Civic/Integra billet rear top hats and try to fit them instead. I think I may have to drill new holes to match the presumably narrower stud pattern, but I could be wrong and they fit just fine. I'd feel more comfortable with a more solid place for that spring to "seat" in the upper top hat, though.

                I asked cheddas auto if he made rears he said he has rear extended top hats for the cb..

                I didn't see them in his website tho.

                Comment


                  #53
                  @SPLCB7 - Thanks, it's a real commitment and a daily workout when parallel parking!

                  @Jarrett - They're a great combo indeed! I saw you had the same parts The helper springs definitely add some security when the suspension is unloaded. The metal cap inside the rear dust boot has worked well in keeping the spring insulator centered. It fits snug inside the ID of the Ground-Control spring insulator. I installed washers above and beneath it (per OEM) so it's firmly positioned. Trimming off 0.75" from it keeps it just long enough to secure the insulator and not potentially conflict with the travel of the shock body. The helper spring also keeps load on the insulator so it cannot fall out of place (which I doubt could happen with the snug fit on the dust cap). Had there been a rear top hat option, I would also have gone that route.

                  @Mike - Thanks! I did in fact do the delete with the rack on the car. It's a reman that was installed a few years back (I didn't document it as it wasn't much of a modification). The valve body can be removed from the rack once the hard lines are out of the way. I just made sure to clean up everything immediately around it to minimize contamination. Two bolts hold the body to the rack and with the valve body off, you can disassemble and remove the internals with ease. The valve body was the last part I addressed in the delete.
                  Last edited by apalileo; 02-22-2016, 07:51 PM.
                  1993 Accord DX | Rosewood Brown Metallic

                  Comment


                    #54
                    @excalibur - The Hypercoil helper springs are extremely low rate springs designed only to relieve free play when the suspension is unloaded (as you see in the assembled photo on the floor). I can literally compress them all the way between my hands. They're somewhere in the 11-25lb range. The Eibach SPACER250's are the divider between the two springs (top hat > Eibach spring > Eibach spacer > Hypercoil spring > bottom perch) that keep them centered on one another, otherwise they will naturally slide off of one another, defeating the purpose of stacking springs and creating a very likely hazard.

                    Extended top hats in the rear would be an interesting thing to have, but If you intend on keeping the rear seats in the car, that might be out of the question. I don't have any trunk panels so I can see that the rear top hats are basically angled right to the seat backs. Adjusting the rebound on the Koni Sports is a PITA because of this (you can't fit the adjustment knob in there).
                    1993 Accord DX | Rosewood Brown Metallic

                    Comment


                      #55
                      NOTE: There is another type of spring known as a "tender spring". These are intended for adding a lower rate spring for fine tuning suspension characteristics. They will NOT compress as easily as helper springs and DO impact the ride characteristics of the suspension system. They come in various lengths as well as rates. That's a science I'm not verse in.
                      1993 Accord DX | Rosewood Brown Metallic

                      Comment


                        #56
                        Originally posted by apalileo View Post
                        @excalibur - The Hypercoil helper springs are extremely low rate springs designed only to relieve free play when the suspension is unloaded (as you see in the assembled photo on the floor). I can literally compress them all the way between my hands. They're somewhere in the 11-25lb range. The Eibach SPACER250's are the divider between the two springs (top hat > Eibach spring > Eibach spacer > Hypercoil spring > bottom perch) that keep them centered on one another, otherwise they will naturally slide off of one another, defeating the purpose of stacking springs and creating a very likely hazard.

                        Extended top hats in the rear would be an interesting thing to have, but If you intend on keeping the rear seats in the car, that might be out of the question. I don't have any trunk panels so I can see that the rear top hats are basically angled right to the seat backs. Adjusting the rebound on the Koni Sports is a PITA because of this (you can't fit the adjustment knob in there).

                        Thank you for that info! Very excited to do this then.

                        Do you happen to have the part #s for the coils or link to buy them?

                        Comment


                          #57
                          I used Hyperco CS100 x2 in the front (2.5" ID - 4" free length) for the front, CS600 x2 in the rear (2.5" ID - 6" free length) for the rear and Eibach SPACER250 x4. I got everything on amazon.
                          1993 Accord DX | Rosewood Brown Metallic

                          Comment


                            #58
                            Additionally, placement of the helpers is not specific. They can be installed up top or down below the main spring. If you have the Koni specific Ground-Contol sleeves, then either way works, but I've seen instances where the spring spacer conflicts with the perch on other sleeves so you'll have to test fit everything before bolting it all up. It's really easy since the springs have near zero rates. I chose the bottom because I liked them there.
                            1993 Accord DX | Rosewood Brown Metallic

                            Comment


                              #59
                              Very nice suspension setup! I'm going to have to steal some of these ideas when I get my refresh done. The helper springs are exactly what I was looking for, for the back to keep the coil overs from moving around when unloaded. Cant wait to see some new pics of the stance now.


                              Sold too: Grumpys93, '93CB7Ex, Bunta, prodh22accord, SSMAccord, fleetw00d

                              Comment


                                #60
                                @baracuda - Thanks! Be prepared to be underwhelmed though, I set the ride height exactly the same as my Sportlines! I just wanted the firmer ride.
                                1993 Accord DX | Rosewood Brown Metallic

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