Draggin99Si

Just picked up my old skool Comptech tie bar from the shop yesterday. It originally came in silver. The new color that I chose was called "sexy black satin". I absolutely love this new color.... subtle, low key, and hard.

OLD:






NEW:

retroFIT

Why go for subtle when your LCA is bright purple?

USDM DUH

Draggin99Si

Because it's classic SRR.



And because anyone driving behind this car can only see the tie bar, not the LCA. Therefore the factory look has been retained.

USDM DUH

do you have the original bushings in those SRRs?

Love your setup from what I have seen.

Draggin99Si

Yup the original bushings on the SRRs are still good. But the purple finish has somewhat faded over the past 10 years. It's more of a light purple-whitish color now compared to the above pics that were taken 10 years ago.

I also switched out the Comptech swaybar gold D-brackets for OEM ITR brackets that I had a machine shop custom modify to fit this application. This allowed me to use OEM ITR rubber bushings instead of the poly bushings that the Comptech comes with. With the poly bushings, it was either use grease or Teflon tape which I didn't care for, so I opted to switch over to rubber instead.

I wanted to powder coat the silver swaybar also, but there are rubber pieces that are permanently clamped in place on each end to prevent the swaybar from shifting side to side. I didn't want to remove these pieces and risk destroying them.

My car went in for a full engine and undercarriage chassis steam bath yesterday for around $200. The bottom of the car looks so clean now.

4genaccordfreak

You want to keep the SRR's original, but you didn't want to keep the original look of a rare, discontinued and highly sought-after Comptech bar.

........ I don't get it.

To each their own.. but... really????

OmarR

iTrader: (12)

Very nice! If I ever got my hands on a Comptech bar, I was going to powder coat it black as well but never did locate one so I opted for a black ASR brace instead.

Draggin99Si

After 10 years of owning the Comptech swaybar/tie bar, a few weeks ago I began my project of upgrading and updating/modernizing the system. Individual components have been swapped out in favor of better pieces. Overall, I'm glad how everything turned out.

The old setup:





The swaybar just got back from the powder coater. This piece was done in semi-gloss black, which is the same finish as the factory OEM Honda swaybar.



The satin tie bar and the semi-gloss swaybar together:



I had a machine shop modify and expanded the bolt holes on these OEM USDM ITR 22mm swaybar brackets. Since they were starting to rust, they got dropped off at the powder coater next to get power coated semi-gloss black.



Hardrace ITR 22mm hard rubber bushings



beefy Rough Country swaybar stabilizer clamps:



Since my ASR endlinks have worn out after a few years of usage, I decided to try out the new Password JDM endlinks this time around



My new complete modernized Comptech setup:



The past 2 weeks of driving without a rear swaybar sucks ***. I can't wait to put all this stuff back together, but I am currently having my RSR exhaust restored so it'll go on after I get the exhaust back.

Btw, this just came in the mail today, a discontinued Mugen rear STB. It has such a beautiful brushed aluminum finish:





I really like this shot taken in 2003:

2LEM1

iTrader: (1)

Nice!! I actually have the exact same setup but I've been procrastinating powdercoating it. I kinda want to re anodize my SRR LCAs cause they're faded like yours, but anodizing the Comptech bar would be pricey, and I don't think I want a purple tie bar. I like the black you went with.

I also want to run the stock bushings and brackets... how did the machine shop know how much to widen the holes?

ShinsenTuner

iTrader: (1)

I purchased my Comptech bar from a guy off of NWP4Life and the texture and color is very similar to what you did. Paired with F7 LCA's it looks Good job on yours as well.

OGxruiner

meh. it would be different if he cut holes in it or welded onto it or something stupid like that. finishes can always be changed. and considering people "refinish" wheels all the time or polish them or paint them and no one bats an eye, i fail to see the big deal.


OP setup looks great!

Draggin99Si

Comptech did originally release their swaybar in black for their early batches. Later on, they decided to switch to silver. Here's some pics of their earliest version:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/COMPTECH-REAR-SUBFRAME-BRACE-LOWER-TIE-BAR-92-95-HONDA-EG-CIVIC-INTEGRA-94-01-/231001427418?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item35c8c20dda&vxp=mtr

JustRob

iTrader: (1)

Are the frame bushing bracket holes different on the EK brace than the EG/DC brace? I'm using the OEM ITR brackets and bushings on my Integra and they bolted right on without modification.

Draggin99Si

At first, after I got the OEM ITR brackets in, I tried to mount them but found out that only one oval hole can be bolted in. The other end wouldn't reach. It was short by a bit so I just took measurement by holding the bracket on the car. The length from end hole to end hole was short by maybe 1/4 inch.

Then I had the machine shop cut and extended one of the oval holes. I also purchased and used OEM ITR rubber bushings for them and they worked fine. But while surfing on Ebay last week, I stumbled on the Hardrace hard rubber bushings designed to fit on the factory ITR 22mm rear swaybar, so I knew the shape and form had to be an exact copy of the OEM Honda bushings. After receiving them, I compared the Hardrace bushings with the OEM Honda ITR bushings side by side and the dimensions are indeed exactly the same, so they should be a perfect fit on the factory ITR D-brackets.

Arthas

This makes me miss my ASR/ITR combo soooo bad!!


OP it looks great, subtle look is real nice!

SOKDO

iTrader: (3)

love comptech stuff. i refuse to buy ct engineering even though it looks exactly the same.

Brice.Hayden

iTrader: (15)

why?^^

SOKDO

iTrader: (3)

Guess I'm just old school like that.

Brice.Hayden

iTrader: (15)

You know the same people that made Comptech parts are the same ones making CTE parts?

1EK1EG

iTrader: (1)

I like that black. Im thinking of doing the same thing to my suspension. Powdercoat everything all black.Looks very good.

alexdesignz

A guy a CT-Engineering said he would do a small batch run of the braces if people were interested.

SarahVTEC

It would be great if CTE brought back some of their old products for the 96-00 Civics. I would love to get my hands on their EM1 header.