98luder’s Weblog

The final stage and most important is making sure the brakes work. Changing out to a fresh batch of ATE superblue/gold and my street pads to racing pads. Then i’m pretty prepped for the event.

Brake flush time

Hmmm which pads to use? Project Mu or Seido-Ya, Project Mu has more meant and this track day might be a 1hr interval before we take a break to cool down. Project Mu it is.

Well…looks like i’m ready for this 🙂

Prepping and getting ready for the alignment rack i thought to save time i should prelube and losen my camber adjustment bolts. Hard race front upper camber arms no problems all came out good. However, the rear T1R arms seemed to be seized 😦 Dang….what to do what to do….
Well, good thing i have a extra set of Hard Race rear upper camber arms lieing around. So again pull out the anti-seize for preventative maintenance. install and i’m ready to hit the alignment rack.
T1R on the left and Hardrace on the right

Installed

Time to hit the alignment rack.
The goal was to get
-3degree camber for the front
-2degree camber for the rear

I found with the shock setup the way i have it now, it was quite hard to get your hand into the wheel well to losen and tighten the front camber arms for adjustment. I had to take out the long 17mm bolt for the front lower fork to give it enough travel to bring the upper camber arm down to losen/tighten the adjusting bolts. I got it fairly close
-2.8degrees for the front
-1.9degrees rear
I also found if you are not careful holding the adjuster while turning your locking nut you can easily lose that .1degree…thus why i have -1.9degrees vs -2degrees.
So toe all within oem spec, and camber all set to rip the track with the new suspension.
We are getting close and the day is getting near.

Brake flush, change to racing pads, and i guess it seems i need to change to distilled water for the radiator. They dont’ want coolant all over the track in case someone crashes.

Now it’s time to install my new Race suspension setup. The Koni Race shocks with custom spring rate ground control coilovers. More about the new Koni/Ground control setup can be found here
https://98luder.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/new-suspension-setup-for-2012-thanks-redshift-motorsports/

I start with installing the rears as those are usually the harder ones to install vs front, then again i’ve taken them apart and replaced parts so there shouldn’t be any seized rear control arm bolts. We start with assembling the shocks, bump stops and top hats…etc etc etc.

Cut the bump stops before assembly

When putting in the integra typeR top mount bushings(which are stiffer/solid) i noticed the inner diameter is too small to go through the shaft of the Koni’s. I guess grinding out the inner diameter will be required.

Install the itr bushing into the top hat, i used some lubricate to help installation.


Ground control top hat rubber cushion for the springs

Here are some shots of the oem civic bushing in comparison to the integra typeR stiffer bushing and solid top washer.

Koni also included washer to space out the shock in to itr rear lower control arms. I’m not sure if because my clearance on the function7 arms are tighter but i could only fit 1 of these washers in, putting both would be very difficult. After tightening the bolt i did not notice any play in the lower shock so i’m assuming it should be good and snug.

One last check, make sure i have the right springs on the rear.
700lb(12.5kgmm) springs in the rear

Lets put them in.

NOW for the fronts….
Assemble and make sure we have the right springs on the front. Always good to check before assembly. Doing things twice is a real piss off and annoying.
600lb(11kgmm) springs on the front, in this picture i did not have the bump stop plastic washer, when assembly the Koni’s please make sure you have that in there.


i’m talking about this washer in the picture below. It goes between the shock and the bump stop.

When installing i noticed i did not have the front lower control arm fork aligning collar. I tried installing without it, but the car was a lot lower than i wanted. and the threads of the ground control were near it’s limits of adjustment. I quickly sourced out one of these collars, and after installation the height was much more to my liking. The difference was approximately 3/4″~1″ off.
No collar

This is the collar i am talking about

Okay…we got it all in, time to do the alignment, then brake flush and swap pads, and off to the races.

Oh yea one more thing to add… initial ride impressions.
I thought for sure that the ride would be super harsh with spring rates of 700 and 600 but it’s actually quite nice. After the alignment i will take it for a further test drive and give more feed back on the setup. But initial run around the block it feels pretty nice.

In my attempt to get better handling and grip, i picked up some 949racing 15*8 wheels +36offset matted to some 225/45/15 Hankook RS3’s. After having them installed I noticed something rubbing. Checking around i did not see any issues with caliper rubbing or anything to that effect. However, once i removed the wheel for a more detailed inspection i found that the rear upper control arm was running against the inner lip of the wheel. If anything, i thought that the fender would be rubbing but i didn’t expect the inner lip of the wheel to be rubbing. I do have aftermarket T1R adjustable rear upper camber arms. These arms are pretty beefy so that could also be why.

You can see on the inner lip where it was rubbing, this side is not bad, the other side stripped the paint right off.

Scratched up upper control arm

In order to alleviate this issue i tried to use a 5mm spacer and that indeed resolved my issue. No more rubbing and the wheel spins freely without catching onto the arm. However, i do not like the fact that my lug nut gets 5mm less thread to hold onto, especially if i intend to use this vehicle for racing purposes. I decide it is in my best interest to change to ARP extended wheel studs for safety reasons and for my peace of mind.

Here is a shot of the hub/studs before installation to show for comparison purposes later.

Take off the rotor and caliper and start punching those oem studs out.

Here’s a comparison of stock studs vs the ARP extended wheel studs

Pop off that rusty center cover, remove the hub locking nut then pull the hub. Then your ready to install the extended studs.

I wish i had a press but when you don’t have the right tools/equipment you just use what you can….SMASH SMASH…cave man style 😦 I just used wood to hold the hub and the mallet to smash the studs in. The wood helps cushion the hub from any damage. Last thing you want is a crocked or warped hub and get a vibration at high speeds.



all done

After installing and torquing the hub nut, dont’ forget to stake the nut so to know that it will not come lose by itself. That could become a serious problem if your hub comes off while driving.

Okay cool, now i’m no longer worried about running the 5mm spacer and wondering if the nuts/threads are going to give out when i’m racing. Definitely peace of mind.

For comparison sake, here is a picture of the wheel installed with the 5mm spacer.
Stock wheel studs vs the ARP extended studs to show how much of the stud is exposed.

Fairly easy install and a lot safer.
Next,
-change up the suspension
-alignment
-brake fluid/pads
-ready to race 🙂

Spring is hear, our track is almost built…sorta(late aug 2012). So i decided to change my wheel/tire setup in preparation for the new track. Unfortunately to do so i had to sell my beloved Desmond regamaster Evo’s, now a defunct/discontinued wheel.

15*7 8lb wheel, you can’t beat that, below is some pictures of my babies before i sold them.

Well, reason i sold my regamasters was because i wanted a more aggressive stance with the civic. As you can see i was running 15*7 wheel before, this was mated to some sticky Advan 205/50/15 race tires. I really wanted to run some 225 width tires, but with the 7″ wide wheel i would probably mushroom the side walls resulting in mushy corner characteristics. To get a proper width for a 225 width tire i would have to run a 8″ wide wheel. Thus the reason i “had” to sell my desmond regamaster evo wheels 😦

The new wheel i found is the 949racing 15*8 wheel, +36 offset, approx~ weighing in at 12lbs about. It is quite a aggressive size for a civic, but it should work nicely for it’s intended purpose. First off, i need to test fit to make sure they clear my Spoon brake calipers. Fits nicely with no clearance issues:)

However, fender clearance might be a whole other issue 😦 The car is jacked up right now so it will show some positive camber, the true test is when we lower the car and see the stance. With the adjustable front camber arms i could pull some negative camber to help, then again i can always use my trusty fender roller 🙂

I guess i’ll post more as summer comes and i will be running these on the track.
Right now it’s got some Hankook RS3’s with 225/45/15
But as soon as these wear out i will be going with some Nitto NT01’s in the same size 225/45/15

I ordered some new shock tower bushings since i will be using the oem upper mounts with the Koni’s. I’m guessing the oem bushings will be pretty worn/fatigued, also the bushing are ordered are from the integra typeR which is much stiffer/harder durometer than the regular civic or integra bushings. These look like little oreo cookies, so yummy looking 🙂
Thank you Edwin Sundar in parts dept at Millwoods Honda for ordering these for me.
It’s nice to order parts via text message 🙂

Well, look what came in the mail last night. Because we are getting a local road course this summer, i think? i am totally changing the way my civic is set up. I have sold my Spoon shock/spring setup Those were great for ride quality and for daily use, handled great too. However, i want to be more serious with my driving if we do get this track. Which is due to open to the general public late summer/early fall of 2012.

These are not the regular Koni yellow sport shocks, these are purpose built for the track. These are the Koni race (SPSS valved shocks), mated with custom spring rate ground control coilover sleeve/springs.
I bought these from a shop called Red Shift Motorsports via sales person Chris Shenefield, awesome guy to deal with. He races himself and asked pertinent questions to help me get the spring rates that would help me get faster times with my car setup. I can’t emphasize that enough. Dealing with a sales person that is trying to help you get better times and understanding your needs is so important. I’ve dealt with sales people that don’t know anything and just trying to sell parts. Yes, they are just doing their job, but without experience and fully understanding what the customer is using the product for, you could be getting the wrong part/tool for your needs. That just creates frustration, wastes time and money.
Chris asked me questions about my car, how i drive, tire setup and size, i even sent him a video to watch my driving and from those criteria he suggested different setup options that would suite my requirements.

Thanks again Chris 🙂
Check them out at Red Shift Motorsports Link

Here’s some details about the shocks
“The RACE series dampers are designed as a bolt in application for those running either in high performance driving events, road racing or autocross. They are externally adjustable in rebound damping and can be adjusted on the car. They are designed to work with the extreme high performance spring rates up to 1000 lbs. with coilover sleeve setups. These shock come with factory style perches but will also work will our coilover sleeve systems.

Also, these shocks have been shortened to give additional travel in the suspension to work with the lowered ride heights that these cars are running. This gives the cars additional travel and keeps the car from bottoming out. The shocks are 25mm shorter in the front and 15mm shorter in the rear (8041 1204Race is only 10mm shorter ).”

The ground controls coilovers i’ve always shy’d away from just because i did’n’t like how they were a floating sleeve and i always felt i didnt’ like the free play in the shock assembly. However, looking at these more carefully i noticed that the sleeve was machined so that the sleeve would sit perfectly on the Koni C-clip. Perfect fit, with little to no play 🙂

Perfectly seated

The spring setup i got is stiffer in the rear than the front. This is to induce oversteer while driving on the track. As most Honda racers or even front wheel drive racers for that matter, know understeer is a major hurdle. Getting the vehicle to rotate and not just screech your front tires trying to turn can waste valuable time around the corner. Having stiffer setup in the rear will help the car rotate around. Knowing this i will probably have to change my driving style, but once accustomed to the setup i think it WILL help me go faster and get better times. The theory makes sense. I just got to remeber not to lose my cool in the corner 🙂 lift oversteer or over correcting can get pretty scary at times. Lets see how this summer goes 🙂
The springs are 600lbs front and 700lbs rear, equivalent to 11kg front and 12.5kg rear

Assembled

I want to thank Chris again for the great service and hook on this suspension setup.
Here’s the link again, check him out, support a fellow enthusiast 🙂
Red Shift Motorsports Link

and thanks to Jason “Katman” for recommending his awesome setup to me, thanks man 🙂

I know it’s late in the season but better late than never.
In combination with the Hard race oem rear control arm bushings i believe this should be a nice street setup with light track duty. I’m not sure how these would hold up if you did serious track/circuit racing. I’m sure there is a reason Spoon Japan designed these for street and the black coilovers for track for a reason. Anyway, I’ve installed these and have had just the 1 day to drive around on them, so far feels pretty nice. I am also using the Spoon lower ball joints/roll center adjusters. The roller centre adjusters do lower the car an additional 1/4-1/2″ i find. Right now my front wheels are pretty much tucked under my fender 🙂 Not my usual stance but i’m very suprised i dont’ even rub at all, and i have not rolled my oem fenders at all.

I suppose most of the cars suspension is Spoon or Hardrace, and the T1R rear upper control arm 🙂

It’s pretty cool even the top hat bushings are marked with Spoon as well.

The stance of the car is quite low, but still manageable on the street.

I did the alignment quickly as i did not have much time, but rear toe/camber is within spec, while the front toe is within spec and the camber i left a little aggressive but nothing crazy. The minor camber is to give it a bit better cornering and help with fender rub. However, i think i will roll my fenders just to be on the safe side.

I forgot to note:
from Spoon Japan’s website regarding
shocks
0.05m/sec:F85/-50kgf
R60/-36kgf
0.1m/sec :F120/-84kgf
R90/-55kgf
0.3m/sec :F218/-147kgf
R148/-83kgf

springs
Spring Rate(STD)
FRONT:6.5(3.6)kg/mm
REAR:5.5(2.0)kg/mm
Height:-20mm

Okay so i picked up a set of Hard Race rear lower control arm bushings for my stock control arms. I do have the function7 arms but those are for when i use integra typeR style suspension. I have a set of Spoon shocks/springs made for a 96-00 civic i want to try out. Thanks again to Velocity shop for hooking me up with the Hard Race products.