CivicESi

I did this a while ago, but just got round to sorting the how too out. Did a quick search and there doesnt appear to be one, so here goes

Fitting guide for EG6/Si/ITR/Mugen or similar style front upper strut brace, but done right, ie OEM style, not with just bolts

http://mods.members.easyspace....o.pdf

Let us know what you think

White Lightnin

Doesn't work for me, but if it is what I think it is, is a how to really necessary?

I mean you just bolt in at 4 points.

PSU

iTrader: (2)

your link locked my computer up

Gra

Yeah **** just disappeared when i clicked - worked with "save as".

Outrun

http://web.archive.org/web/200...Tower

CivicESi

I just posted as i didnt do it with 'just 4 bolts' i made an OEM style fixing, which secures it properly, and means it will work better (higher clamp loads and lower stresses ). Also i searched first, and none of the threads had any pics, bolt specs etc, thought i was adding useful info

It may have locked up as its a decent size file, 1Mb ish, so it takes time to download, save as should work.

If you knew how to do it already, and its that easy, why are you looking at a how too? Next time i wont bother

dantastic

good writeup but you may want to note that some 92-95 civics do not have holes there from the factory. many just have dimples where the rubber plugs should be. in any case, the added step would be to drill out the dimples

Outrun

As is explained in the link I posted. I'll paste it below.


First, a description: The shock towers on your car are the two things under your hood (actually there are two more in the rear) that rise nearly to the hood on both the left and right of the engine, about halfway between the grille and the firewall. Attached to these (on the underside) are your shock absorbers (seen as two yellow chromium bolts from the top side). Also notice that this is the one area on the car that has no connecting member from left to right, yet the bumps of the road and the stresses of cornering are absorbed by it! We are going to fix this by connecting the two shock towers together with a shock tower bar.

As for installation, the first step is to go under your hood and see if you have pre-drilled holes that will allow you to simply bolt in a shock tower bar. Look just outside of the strut mounting points, on the part that slopes downward from the outside of the car. Follow this link http://web.archive.org/web/200...e.jpg or this link http://web.archive.org/web/200...t.jpg for a front view to look at where mine mounts. If you have pre-drilled holes, there should be two black plugs covering them, about 3-4" apart, one in front of the other. If you have these holes, you're in business and can jump ahead.

If not, then you will need to drill your own (this was the case for me). To do this, remove both front wheels and look on the underside of where the holes should be. You should see an area where the sheetmetal is double-thick, and goes down to single thickness where the holes should be drilled. I think I used a 3/8" bit, but had to start with a smaller bit to drill a pilot hole due to the large amount of material that needs to be removed. In any case, the double layer of sheetmetal around the area that needs to be drilled helps you control the bit. The upper suspension also gets in your way a little, but I just worked around it the best I could. Immediately after drilling each hole (as in within a minute), I masked one side of the hole and sprayed it with gray anti-rust primer (this color matched the primer color I found in my wheel well). I then masked the other side and did the same.

The most challenging part of the job for me (aside from mustering up the will to cut drill 3/8" holes in a three-month old car) was to find a suitable gasket material to separate the bar from the shock tower itself. This gasket will prevent any movement there might be from scraping off the paint and creating rust. I finally found some thin (1/16") rubbery material at a carpeting store that has done the job. The bar itself is the bar that comes standard on the DelSol Si, used to strengthen the car up due to the fact that it has no roof (at times). Ask your dealer for the shock tower brace from the Del Sol Si and he should know what you mean. If he doesn't, ask for part number 74300-SR3-010. It should be around $39.39.

To connect everything together, I used yellow chromate bolts that I had to go all over to find (they match all the other bolts under the hood, and have a yellow sheen to them)... I eventually found them at a hardware store--don't ask the dealer. I think I used about a 1-1/2" long by 3/8" wide bolt, and had to settle on stainless steel washers and locknuts. Here's how I bolted the whole thing together:

BBBBBB Nut (yellow chromate)
++++++++++ Lockwasher (St. Steel)
----------- Washer (Slightly bent)
00000000000000000000000000000 Shock tower bar endbracket
########################## Gasket material
======================== The car's shock tower
------------ Washer (straight)
BBBBBB Bolt head (yellow chromate)

The top washer had to be pre-bent a little on a chord in order to fit within the top area of the shock tower bar end bracket. And, of course the bolt shaft runs through the whole thing. You also might find it helpful to remove the wiring harness on the passenger's side and the windshield washer hose holder on the driver's side before installation (by the way there is a cutout in the hose holder that fits the bar perfectly, so the car in my mind was "meant" to have one of these). That's all there is to it... I think I used about 50-60 lb-ft of torque on all four bolts...I had the car sitting on the ground when I tightened it, as opposed to having the car jacked into the air. Just turn the wheel all the way one way to be able to get a back-up wrench to the bottom nut while you turn the bolt head on top. I think I also torqued the four bolts in several stages.