asterix_2ksi

I'm a visual person and like lots of pictures. I've also been learning to weld from a co-worker who builds / races nitro-meth drag Harleys on his spare time, so I'm willing to weld the brackets if it's worth doing.

Does any one have a picture of a 99-00 Si LCA with the full-race traction bar bracket welded on?

I'd also be interested in seeing a picture of one bolted to a two piece LCA to see how that works as well.

Here's a picture of one bolted to a 99-00 Si's suspension fork:



Notice how in one of the pictures the aluminum radius arms vs. the bracket on the cross bar. It looks like they were designed to line up somewhere in the middle of the LCA instead of at the end. So I asked my Harley nitro-meth drag racer friend and he said as long as the rod end bearing doesn't reach it's maximum turning radius through the full movement of the suspension it should be okay and since it's a street application and producing the loads of a 3,000whp dragster the angle of misalignment shouldn't matter as much. But he really didn't think it should ever reach the turn radius under load.

Another question I had was about the direction of the bracket and how it's mounted to the suspension fork. On F-R's site it's mounted so that it opens vertically. But on the pictures above it's mounted horizontally.

Again I showed my friend and he thought the horizontal mount had the advantage of putting the load, during suspension movement, against the bracket and the rod end of the radius arm instead of the bolt. I was worried about the rod end bearing having to take the movement during suspension travel, but he thought it would all move as once piece with the washers. He also thought that the rod end on the cross bar would be the one to take the rotation movement of the radius arm during suspension travel.

The dude that owns the car above told me that F-R sent him different sized brackets for the car, would any one happen to know the size so I could check mine. Maybe I need to send them back in to get new ones too.

Here's a picture of the F-R installation that I'm sure you've also seen but this way you can reference it here and compare it to the dudes car ('00 Si) above:



Thanks for your thoughts, I'm sure F-R has already thought this all out and there are plenty of dudes on the road having fun already while I'm scratching my head trying to figure out what excuse I can use for my crappy ET at California Speedway on the 13th

Here's some good info I was pointed to while trying to figure this stuff out: http://www.fkrodends.com/Addit....html

Full-Race Geoff

sorry for not seeing this post, but FYI the pictures on our site are incorrect, and the pictures of that Si are correct. i will fix the pics on our site ASAP. thanks for bringing this to my attention!

asterix_2ksi

How tight should the washers be? I had to turn mine to get past the bolt threads only to get stuck where the threading stops and the bolt diameter expands. I called a friend who has them on his CRX and he said they were tight on his too but a rubber mallet solved his problem.

So I tried using the spacers and a nut to push the washer down (too bad I don't have a rounded file to open the inner bore of these washers). It's working, but I don't think it's worth the effort plus I can see the washer is scraping material off of the bolt. Also the bolts seem tight inside the brackets and I needed to turn it to get the threads to losen up some of the paint. Possibly the holes on the brackets were to spec before they were painted which is fine, I'll just lose some of the paint there and touch them up with a thinner coat later. What's got me worried are these washers. They seem to be grade 8 so I'll check for ones with bigger bores or file them bigger at my friend's tomorrow.

If the tightness is normal and my meathod for getting the washers down is good, then I'll proceed that way... it just doesn't seem right.

If there is a purpose to this tightness is it that it was designed this way to avoid bolt to bracket bore contact? So that the washers hold the bolt in place to the bracket and prevent motion of the bolt?

Thanks


Modified by asterix_2ksi at 6:44 AM 11/11/2004

asterix_2ksi

Decided to install the brace while trying to figure out the washer issue since the radius arms and the brackets can be installed later... but I ran into problems.

After I find a place to post my pictures I'll post them.

First I had to figure out a way to hold the cross bar while replacing the toe plate bolts by hand. Once I got one side in I tried to lift it and ran into a brace for the A/C line. So I took that off and bent it so that it would hold the line from above and provide plenty of clearance.

Second, and this is the show stopper, I lifted it again to try and install it on the right side but the radiator mounts (round brackets with rubber inside - pictures to come) were in the way. I've e-mailed the guy who owns the Si in the pictures and I'm waiting for a response to see what he had done if anything. I measure the crossbar side plates and they're 7" in legnth. Could I have received the wrong part, should the one for the 96-00 civics be longer to avoid the radiator?

Looking at the Si pictures it looks like the radiator mounts are awfully close, I hope he didn't simply push and twist to get the crossbar in, otherwise the two parts will be rubbing into each other pretty good and I bet the chromoly will win.


Oh and remember, for every step forward you try and make on your car you take at least two steps back... back to maintenance that is. Looks like my A/C belt is done and I've got a small oil leak on either my return line or simply the drail plug won't hold any more (I use new crush washers every time), the bottom of my oil pan is caked and fresh. Oil level is fine though so it's a small leak. I'm sure glad the install of this crossbar required removal of the splash guard otherwise I wouldn't have noticed the belts


Thanks

Full-Race Geoff

you were inadvertaincly sent 12mm rather than 1/2" washers, sorry for the mixup. if you would like i can send you out the correct washers.

the 96-00 civic uses the same exact part as the 92-95 and 94+ teg. All of these cars use the same exact bracket. The problem you are having is common and you simply need to push up the tabs slightly, they are made by honda from thin steel so that the are definately flexible and malleable.

If the crossmember was placed any lower, it would hit the ground very badly on any lowered vehicle. The tradeoff is worth it. The cromoly will not cause any damage by rubbing against your radiator mounts. They do not move and they just barely touch each other. nothing at all wrong with this.

asterix_2ksi

I'll pick up some grade 8 washers tomorrow and take a bolt with me to make sure.

I'll piece of something between the crossbar and the radiator mounts when I push up and install the crossbar. That should leave a small amount of clearance too, I just hate rubbing parts... especially with the nice coat of paint on the crossbar

At least now if I don't finish by Saturday I can use it as an excuse at the street legals in Fontana

asterix_2ksi

Here are the pictures I've taken so far. Hopefully tonight I'll have some with the crossbar installed

checkout my f*cked a/c belt

http://www.ndoko.com/luciano/

Sorry the thumbnails are small but the pictures that show on the right are huge.. I'll fix them later. ~ Def of HUGE: ADJ - To be greater than 1.7 MB JPG

asterix_2ksi

Got the crossbar in and the radiator mounts lifted. It's a wonder what a hammer can do to sheet metal

I used some wood blocks to prevent impact damage so it went very well. Plus I discovered that my radiator wasn't seated in the mounts to begin with! The rubber bushings were seated on the sides of the mounts |_| instead of inside of them.

I was worried that the radiator didn't have any room to be lifted up, since it was rubbing the frame near the hood already. But after I seated it propperly it had plenty of room to be lifted.

Since I want to keep the splash guard I mocked up the radius arms and marked it for cutting (too much debris on the roads of SoCal especially in Riverside).

I couldn't find a way to bend, with the tools at hand, the a/c bracket so I've ditched it for now. I'll take it to a friend's to heat it up and hopefully find a shape that'll work although it doesn't look like the line needs the support any way.

After I get the SC belt replaced I'll work on getting the radius arms in again.