I've used a lot of Rustoleum automotive enamel and this stuff is amazingly smooth and durable.

 

I see your Rustoleum and raise you Eastwood Alumi-Blast

 

Not blacked out/polished doe. I think I'm going to break down and paint my engine and trans instead of trying to make it look perfect with a wire wheel/sandpaper/elbowgrease/frustration. Alumi-Blast the stuff I need to get to make it look OEMish?

 

Were two peas in a pod arent we? lol

I made the same decision. Reason being longevity. When you restore an aluminum block and trans to bare surface its going to corrode at the first sign of moisture. I used Duplicolor engine enamel "cast coat aluminum" on my transmission case and I think it resembles stock a little better than the alumiblast. Its a bit darker so it doesnt have that bright silver monotone finish you know?

 

Thanks for the tip. I can get that cheap locally too which is always a plus. My clappers are painted with that same brand/color and it looks pretty much like bare sandblasted aluminum.

 

^Reason why I stick to SHG builds, random little FYI bits you won't find elsewhere lol.
And Felliphe you Liked & commented on the photo of them on Instagram -_-

 

Ah yeah, I had a feeling SEM wouldn't hold up so thats why I haven't gotten it yet and was going to look into it more. Good looks!

Looks like thats the stuff for the nice bare aluminum look. I thought about going with it for my brakes but I wanted to try something different and I love how Mike's brakes came out so I went with that color. Probably painting them today. This is what it looks like:



Yup! And yeah now I remember, its because that was a while ago haha. on me.

Update:

It rained last Saturday but not Sunday! A 30-40% chance of rain had me worried but I went ahead and started installing my Buddy Club N+ coilovers. I'm glad the weather held up and it was nice and cool too
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Here we go! One of these caramel lattes to get me going haha.
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One last shot on the Function and Form Type Is. I'm surprised how clean the car looks in this picture because it really wasn't and also how good the iPhone 4S' camera is when the lighting is good!



It turns out the spacers were just a tiny tiny bit too big so off I went to Harbor Freight and bought me an angle grinder with a 60 grit flapper wheel all for $26 lol. Solid grinder too, worked great and I didn't find it to be loud like some reviews said. Thanks for the suggestion E! Worked perfect!



I grinded the LCA bushing just a tiny bit and it fit.




I started by jacking the rear tow hook and putting the rear on jackstands and then removing the rear LCAs. No issues there thanks to the anti-seize and new OEM bolts I got when I installed the F&F which I recommend everyone to do when installing coilovers in an older chassis like this. They are costly at about $8 each but worth it IMO.



A closer look at how trashed the blox bushings were. I could actually see through the other end too



Removed the 2 shock tower nuts inside the trunk area in each side and off the Functions came.



They are quite dirty but I will be refreshing them so that when winter comes I can swap them back in and keep the N+ mint. 2 years of daily driving and no leaks/noises and they ride just as good as when I got them!

Unboxed the N+ and locked the upper perches together. Then adjusted the height by comparing it to the Functions and set them a little lower.

I also set the damping on them to the softest setting of 1 using the provided allen key. This is done by counting the clicks. They have a total of 15 settings but it is not unusual to have 16 but you can feel that setting 16 gets tight so back off and count down the numbers or just set turn it down until it doesn't click and then turn it up until it clicks once and that will be setting 1.



Jacked up the LCA to preload the suspension and tightened the bolts to spec. This is done so that the bushing isn't under rotational tension when its set on the ground which would cause premature bushing wear.



Here you can see that the spacer keeps the bolt centered in the middle without any play and the bolt is long enough for the nut.



Tightened these 2 nuts up here...



And put the supplied caps on them.





Put the wheels back on and started doing the fronts which were even easier.



Started with the upper fork bolt.



And the lower fork bolt.



Shock tower nuts too.



Comparison of the old and new. You can notice here that the N+ has a shorter lower mount which means that I can't go as low as the Function and Forms.



In they went tightened to spec too.



I took my front strut bar out a few weeks ago to clean it up and sell it. I want to get an OEM bar to replace it.




It was getting dark by the time I finished so this is all that came out decent. Some shots will be taken soon.

I have the fronts maxed out and can only maybe go 1cm or 2cm lower but I wanted to have the N+ logo facing out so it cost me about a full turn which isn't much. I am a little higher in the front now but its more even and honestly it looks just fine and it doesn't bother me much. After all its basically the same height I was at before anyways. My driveway is uneven too so its lower on flat ground than in the pictures. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it!




I will have to comment on them later but after a week of driving on them I am happy.

 

SoHondaGarage

 

Nice build! You want to sell me those f&f? :D

 

Awesome man! They look super high quality.

 

You can make logos facing outside without sacrificing hight. Just hold the upper two nuts, that go into stur tower, and turn the tightened bottom part. It requires a bit of force, but not too much. The spring will turn together with the bottom part and you will place it like you want. Would be unreasonable, from engineering point of view, to not be able to do this. Also you can do this easily if the coilover is already in place, but you just need to loosen the bottom part of it.

 

Ha nah man I'm all set. I've had a bunch of people ask me to sell it but they're only worth about $400 so I'd much rather just keep them for winter use and its always good to have spare parts for everything anyways. Because race car! Thanks man.

Yeah no doubt about it. Buddy Club has a lot of racing experience and with that knowledge they built a nice intermediate coilover for the track/street. The anodized finish on them will last a very long time and it's nice having great support stateside even though it's a Japanese company. BuddyClub USA even offers different springs and rebuild/revalving.

I like that the spanner wrenches fit the perches unlike the Function and Form where only the bigger spanner fit. The upper perch having a chamfered design goes to show the effort they put into the design. Certainly happy with what I got for my money.

Yeah I know I can utilize the full drop without sacrificing the logo facing out. I don't know about your method but you don't have to do that. It's just that I installed them and haven't adjusted the height yet but when I do I'm going to simply turn the upper perch clockwise (looking from above) and that way the shock will thread in the bottom mount. This is how the height adjustment is done, you don't need to remove any bolts or anything. Just have to loosen the bottom mount perch and spin the upper perch clockwise or counterclockwise to get the desired height. This doesn't affect preload because the 2 upper perches are locked together so the only thing that spins is the shock itself. Thanks for the heads up anyways, I should of made myself more clear lol. I was just trying to say that I wasn't at the lowest setting because of that. It didn't matter then because it could be too low so I left it as is.

 

I see you and most of the rest of SHG is using Buddy Club parts, but y'all are building street/track oriented cars. I am building my EK into an autocross/street oriented car and am at the point where I need to start making big decisions about suspensions. I am considering keeping my Tokico/Ground Control setup which I have been using and been having excellent results with, but I am also considering getting an all new set up, with a threaded shock tube etc etc blah blah we all know what makes them so good. But when I read about them it seems like the spring rate (particularly the rear) is a little low for my driving style, where I really like the rear end to rotate and like to control where the car is pointing using brake/throttle inputs. I know that this setup isn't ideal for track, in fact could be pretty scary. Do any of y'all have any experience using these parts in an autocross car? What were your thoughts, or what have you heard, since y'all are kind of all Buddy Club insiders I imagine y'all may have heard about all sorts of success or failings of these parts.

Thanks.

 

Well it sounds like you are at the point where you need to decide what you want to do with your car and how serious you are. What class are you competing in? Tires? Prep level? Do you want to win or just have fun?

A true auto-x setup to win races at least at the top level requires an asinine setup that is unsafe on the street and will destroy your tires. If your car is a 'drive straight to auto-x and race only' then I would suggest one setup, if your just looking to do well and have a good time then I would suggest something different.

And at the end of the day unless your competing in nationals the exact setup and type of suspension doesn't matter allllll that much. Good tires, brakes, a stable car(not plowing everywhere or snap oversteer), and a good driver are all you need to have fun and place decently. Many people I think including our friend Felliphe here over analyze and over complicate , and put too much importance on a cars setup. The more I do this the more I realize that in the big picture the little things only amount to tenths of a second. Expect for when we run the DC5, none of us have to answer to sponsors or have huge corporate money on the line. This is just a hobby.


Money, time, and quality/reliability are all important factors especially at the amateur level. Just because one setup is fast, or 'fastest' doesn't mean it may make the most sense for you. I would suggest reading as much as you can and remember everything anyone says is an opinion. Once you feel comfortable with that knowledge draw your own conclusions on what setup will work best for you, whether it be all out best performance, cheap and easy, middle cost and most reliable, or a simple setup where everything comes predetermined if you just want to get our and drive.


Remember if you just do what everyone else does (tokico/koni GC) you would in theory only be just as fast as everyone else. If the goal is to be faster you have to do something different or better.

We started using Buddy club products for their bang for the buck. No other company provides the quality that they do for the price that they come in at. Are there 'better' dampers out there? Sure, but for a much high price and the dollar per second faster ratio becomes exponentially more steep. Their dampers have been dyno proven to have the best adjusting range of any Japanese damper in the same price range. I have also had experience with the N+ damper running 60k miles +. We now have a sponsorship deal with them and it just makes even more sense for us to use those products as long as they continue to produce quality parts.

Tokico/koni dampers are 'cheap' but when you and all of the 'cheap' parts you end up saving what 100-200 bucks? This setup tends to rust and blow prematurely (personal experience). This route also requires that you know exactly what your doing with damping adjustments and spring rate setup. Unless of course you do what 'everyone else does' and would again in best case scenario best just as fast.

As far as a front vs rear bias spring rate setup its all personal preference. American tuning convention uses high rear spring rates, but the Japanese have great success with a front bias setup. There is no right or wrong answer to this IMO.

Feel free to ask any more specific questions you have in a PM, I would be glad to answer them. This may not be a black and white answer you were looking for but I feel it will be the most helpful for anyone looking to getting into motorsport. The most important thing is to have a reliable functionally sound car and to just get out there and actually drive instead of bench racing and reading about driving on the internet. Setup and being fast comes with time and experience naturally. Don't stress the small stuff...

 

A very Simple answer to his question would have been Koni yellows and put his ground control sleeve on them.
A very simple reason to explain the stiffer rear is this. It keeps the weight of the car from transferring to the rear of the car allowing for better traction by keeping the weight over the power wheels. Know as squatting. I hate the stock itr set-up for that reason alone.
All you can do is get as much seat time as you can. auto x imo you really don't need much brake. hawk hps pads will do more then enough. Invest in Good tires. Rs3's or star spec is what I would start off with. I would go to say about 80% of those who are running out west in Cali at the event's I go to are on either of the two. the other 20% are on A6's or other r comps.

 

A simple answer? yes. The right answer? Maybe not. I will never run koni products on any of my cars, from things I've seen first hand in the industry. Do thousands of people run this setup with success? Sure. But, I will not recommend something I don't agree with and won't use myself. Again if everyone is running it how will you beat them? Don't be a lemming.

A simple reason for stiff rear springs? That's maybe 15% of why you would run stiff rear springs. How much more stiff than the front, how smooth of a surface are you running on. What size rear ARB are you running, what are the dampers set to/rated for, what is the car doing at initial turn in, during trail braking, steady state corning, corner exit, and under braking. The stock itr 'setup' is one of the most neutral balanced/over steering FF cars from the factory. So I am not quite sure why you are complaining about it.

As far as tires, I haven't been at an auto-x for some time now but the street tire of choice was the R1R and RE11. The Z1 being a cheaper alternative to those tires. However suggesting a street tire in a SM or SMF class is a bit silly when you will have to be faster then a civic with a 275 hoosier slick.

The amount of over simplification and misinformation on this site is sickening and a reason I don't often post or even try to comment on many threads. The idea that the amateur 'racer', 'engineer', 'hipster mechanic' can better engineer a car better then one of the biggest auto manufacturers is ridiculous.

Don't try to give a black and white simple answer to a complex question that has many possible outcomes or solutions.

 

So what have you seen that makes Koni so bad?

I never said it was the only reason, but it is a big factor for auto x. Hense if you want to build a STC class civic that mean's you'll be peg legging it. keeping weight over the power wheel's. Have a stiffer rear help's the car rotate better in the fast transition's.

As far as the itr stuff goes, I have my own thoughts. It's still super soft for what I'm doing. I put them on to get rid of my function form's. Do I feel like I'm fast on the Stock stuff vs the form's? I'll say that I do not push as much as I did with the form's on the car. (Those are 10k front like 5xxlbs and 6k rear which is around 3xxlbs. I had fun with them on still.) Can't say because I also switched to a wider and better tire. It's not like I am saying it complete ****, but I personally don't like it. Once I have the money to drop I'm getting AST 4150's and never looking back. I learn something every event i drive on the the itr stuff, but it just doesn't provide me what I really want the car to do.

Now to the tire thing. I would never tell anyone to get a6's if they dont have year's of seat time. It really mask a lot of bad things one can do. I know that a street tire is not going to be a fast as an integra or civic with 275 a6's. r1r's I see out here in cali in the lower half. Star spec's and rs3's are the big choice for guy's running auto x on a "street tire."(I'm talking all makes) I hardly ever see anyone on the re-11's. Out in California this is what I see. I can not speak to the rest of the country as a whole. Due to the large fact I'm on hancook rs3's playing a game of tenth's with my friend who drive's a c6 on v12's and this has been on lay out's that favor higher hp car's.

You can talk to Claudio's homie Jesse that had the teal eg, I'm not an internet racer. When He was out here in Cali, he got the chance to ride in the car with me. Hung out at the event all day. He saw me drive the **** out of my car, what are you doing that make's you ok to drop knowledge?

 

Correct, I fully agree with this. I will say this, you need to get a good base set up and work from there. I haven't changed my set up much over the almost 3 years that I have been doing this. After the first year, I added a 14mm rear ARB and changed spring rates. I also went to XR3 front pads. Before this year, I ran a 225/45 on a 7.5 in the front and a 205/50 on a 7 in the rear. This year I went to 225/45 on 7s, all around, and switched to a NT01. After two events on that set up, I went to XR5s in the rear. Both ends coming from HP+s to start off with.

I can say that I have noticed subtle differences in all changes. The most of which was the tires, R1Rs to NT01s. But, the biggest change has came from the driver seat. Adaptation to the car and the track. Most set ups, especially at "our" level, will not allow for "on the fly" changes. So, what is one change that YOU can make "on the fly"? Your driver inputs, if the car is pushing into and through a center corner, can you change the set up? No, but can you trailbrake more or turn in later? Yes.

As long as you have an adequate set up, you can go out and learn, then learn some more. If there is something wrong with your car, you are "chasing your tail". Trust me, I have been there. haha.

 

I want to know what's wrong with Koni's as well.


Steve

 

I bolded the main part, Steve. He has a lot of background and contacts to make that statement. I, myself, like my Konis and haven't had any issues with them. I have heard and do know of probably some of the complaints that he has heard/had. Those didn't/wouldn't turn me away from Konis, bang for their buck, I couldn't beat it. I and many others run them without complaints.

 

I started my 4 year motorsport career with Skip Barber. I was around some of the countries best instructors everyday usually 6 days a week, and got to drive EVERYDAY. I drove, everything from mazda 3's to RX8's, M3's, Caymans, 911's, IS-F's, MX-5 Cup, and Formula Ford race cars. I completed and was the fastest of the 3-day racing school in the MX5 Cup cars, 8 tenths from the then instructor lap record in the car.



I then moved to a SCCA/Grand Am Koni/Conti series team. Where for 3 years I was paid to build/fix/setup/dyno tune cars like this...











Crewed for a won the 13 hr enduro with Jordan Taylor/Dion VonMoltke/Alex Kirby/Specer Pigot




And with Easy_E and the rest of the crew am currently building this...



Am I the chassis setup guru? far from it, Easy knows this stuff way better then I. But, I do have many years of experience and have been fortunate enough to be around some big names with a ton of knowledge in the industry. Again the OP asked SHG for their opinion. Thats what he got. IMO a simple slap Koni's on with stiff springs in the back answer would not have sufficed.

I dont mind debate or conversation on car setup but lets leave claud's thread alone and keep it to PM like I have with the OP.

 

 

I think the information is good regardless of everyone's stance on brands and set up and that Claud can take it all in on his build thread makes sense. Since everyone is speaking amicably and intelligently, I think it flows well.


Thanks for the info Mike, I have Koni's and GC's on my EG, but it's not a track car by any stretch of the word.


Steve

 

Just to add, these probably don't mean much to most, but these are legit guys. One may have driven at LeMans, this year. lol.