CRchris

This definitely will be a slow moving build. With two kids and a mortgage, dad's play money is limited.

Here's my 1999 5-speed



I've tinted the window 30% all around since this picture.
My plans are to make a fun family car that I can occasionally take to the mountain roads or autocross.

She's got 230,000 miles on her and runs like a champ.
I got it a couple months ago, for $2,800, and I adjusted the valves, they were all tight, cleaned the throttle body, and I had to adjust the idle screw, because apparently a previous owner didn't know they are set from the factory and shouldn't be adjusted.

I need to burnish the rear diff and change the fluid again. The diff whines when I launch hard. I'm hoping that will be an easy fix.

I'll be piecing a coil over kit together before the end of the week.
I've decided to go with
Accord Ground Control sleeves
9" long 400# springs in the front
9" long 350# springs in the back
AGX Integra shocks in the front
AGX Eclipse shocks in the back
No front camber kit [hoping front camber won't be too bad with a 3" drop]
Washer trick to fix rear camber

Wish list:
Wheels and tires. 16s or 17s with a little more tire width
New suspension bushings
Sway bars
More supportive and lower seats.
Maybe turbo one day

Here's my other Honda



And my previous car

Skillachie

Welcome man, looking forward to seeing your progress!

noname87

curious on why you wouldn't just buy a cr-v specific coilover kit? yonaka's can be bought for a pretty decent price or could go with higher quality d2 or ksport

CRchris

I feel like the spring rates on the crv specific kits aren't the balance that I'm going for. Most of them are 12K in the front and 6K in the back. Which would be around 670/340 in/lbs. Plus I get mixed reviews on the other kits. Seems like 1 out of 3 people don't like them. I know ground control, eibach, and AGX are good stuff. I was real close to deciding on the Yellow Speed coilovers made for the crv.

JoshTheJerk

So clean! Look forward to seeing the progress.

CRchris

I'm having second thoughts on my 9" spring lengths. I'm finding mixed info. Some say 7, some say 8, and some say 9.

Think I might go with 8" to be safe.

I wish fast2camciv, qwrty, and Project Phoenix were as active as they used to be to help me out.

OneBadTurboCRV

In my opinion you want the high spring rates in the front. Take corners fast in this thing and you will see why... it already wants to rotate as it is.

CRchris

From this post Project Phoenix suggests 9" front springs so that what I'll go with in the front.
And fast2camciv ran 8" in the back, so I think I'm settled on 9" front and 8" rear.

CRchris

Thanks for the input. Mine definitely pushes more than rotates. 400/350 is what was recommend to Project Phoenix by GC. Other V owners have run more aggressive front/rear spring rate ratios and say it does well at the track. Plus I like the *** end to be a bit loose at the autocross.

OneBadTurboCRV

I hear you, it all depends on your setup and driving habits though I guess. I oval track race a Civic and casually AutoX my CRV (there isn't a class for it) from time to time. For my oval track car it definitely is set up to rotate haha!!!

I have Function & Form Type 1's (Accord) and K-Sports currently for my coil over setup. I also have 17" 350Z rims. In my opinion even with the stock suspension and tires mine doesn't push. Then again, I don't have a stock engine either. When I have my turbo on or I am just N/A (yeah, I get bored) I am easily able to get the rear tire spinning... it causes the rear end to rotate pretty quickly, especially if it's wet / snowy out.

There was a thread in the Suspension section where people AutoX their stock CRVs and different spring combos. Personally I don't get into it that deep since I leave my setup for ALL around multi-purpose use. In any event these things are a lot more capable than people give them credit for. My biggest complaint is the 1 - 2 shift limitations, but AutoX doesn't really see that issue aside from out of the gate.

CRchris

Good info, thanks. I'll have to try and dig up that Autocross CRV thread you're talking about. Sounds like a good read. So no class for the CRV, eh? I haven't looked into that yet. In my region we have a seat time only class. Guess I'll just run in there. Would kinda suck to not compete with anyone though.

CRchris

So, while I'm waiting for all my suspension parts to come in, I've been working on this other project. I have a 8" sub in the back that's taking up room, so I figured I'd make me a custom center console to house the sub. It'll give me a little extra storage and also an armrest. The sub is in the back on the armrest area, there is a little cubby by the e-brake for storage, and it's got an extra cup holder

Drew the plans in Sketchup:






Then I made a mock up using poster board to test fit:



Wasn't all that concerned about making it perfect, just wanted to get the overall size for test fit.






I'll probably drive around like this for a bit to see if I should tweak some of the dimensions.

qwrty

^^
ARMED can help you out w/ enclosre designs.. i think!?!? he used to do db drag and sound off
competitions before, i used to do it but he is more experienced.. shoot him a PM..
good luck on your build!

CRchris

Thanks. Yeah, I've read through ARMED's build thread. Good stuff in there. I'm not going after competition sound. Just a little extra bass in the mix. This is more for the functionality of the center console and to get the box out of the hatch.

CRchris

Installed the new suspension. Excuse the road grime.
Before:



After:

Skillachie

Looks good!

WRX709

Hows the build coming?

I had to make an account just to say this looks great! I've been looking at b20 swapping a EK for a while now and the other day it hit me, why not just build and autocross/drag race a CRV?

Hows the SUV handle lowered? Any problems with the UCA getting stuck?

OneBadTurboCRV

1.) Because it costs a lot of money to do right. There is no class in SCCA for the CRV as it's considered a SUV; this assumes they even let you race in the first place. You better know the rules so you can argue why you can / should be able to race (don't ask me how I know). Drag racing classes put you with MUCH better platforms that you will never beat. Unless you mean strictly just for fun?

2.) Depending on suspension and wheels / tires it will still feel very top heavy / rear heavy. The Front UCA MUST be trimmed and pinch weld rolled or you will have issues. People that haven't done this modification probably haven't hit a large enough bump yet. Do it right and get the proper UCA rather than reducing structural integrity.

WRX709

It would just be for fun.

Too bad it still handles bad. I like the idea of a fast family SUV. Maybe I'll stick to finding a ek

CRchris

Nothing new on the build right now. I'm in the process of selling my house and buying a new one, so time and money is scarce.

As far as the ride since lowered, it's great. The handling is much better, and it rides very nice. The handling capabilities are no where close to something you could get out of a modified car. I'd compare it to stock civic. Sway bars would definitely help.

I'd say with about $3000 you could do everything right and have a fun and capable suv. I don't think will would be competitive with any class, but it would be fun.

Lower more supportive seats would help a lot.

As for the UCA, I haven't had any trouble yet. I was hoping that with my ride height I'll be ok. but it's probably just a matter of time before it gets stuck like OneBadTurboCRV says. I plan on doing some grinding and cutting in the near future to prevent that.

Here's a freshly washed pic:

tony_2018

So what springs and shocks did you go with? I didn't see that anywhere, just 9" to 8".

CRchris

I went with what I specified in the first post. Only deference was the spring height. I went with 8" front and back. Eibach doesn't make a 9" spring in the rate I wanted. If I were to do it over again I would probably go with 7" rears and 10" front. That would put the adjustment in the middle of the sleeves front and back at the ride height I sitting at now.

jlk16188

I am assuming you bought coils off Summit Racing or the likes, what diameter springs did you order? With the spring rates you mentioned, do you think anything softer like 350 in the front and 300 in the rear would make it feel like the stock ride?

I am contemplating building a similar setup as yours but what to stay about an inch higher than you without too harsh of a ride since my wife also drives the car.

CRchris

I ordered the coilover sleeve kit off of ebay. It's the same kit you would get directly from ground control for an accord, except with custom rates.

This is what I bought.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/331164242685?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
I have a wife and two kids and no one complains about the ride. It's not harsh at all. It rides close to stock the way it is now. My old GTI and my wifes old RDX had a stiffer ride than my CRV setup.

KPDSM

Subbing this.
I want to lower my V just enough to get rid of the wheel gap...running 17s with 225/45.

I dont drive too aggressively...I have a swapped ej sedan where I'll be having plenty of fun this spring/summer.

Keep us updated man - nice v.