Socratez

Hey I got some cash and I wanna get my car ready for a good summer of spirited driving. I am buying rims and tires and lowering it but I don't like to half *** things. I was looking on the Skunk2 site and I ordered the shocks, springs, front, and rear strut bars and I am just wondering if I would benefit from the other 2 parts ... lower control arm and lower arm bars do ... I am not a mechanic by any means but I am a do it once and do it right. I have Anybody help me out?

Thanks in advance


Soc
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1997 Del Sol Si
B16B
Skunk2 MegaPower Exhaust
AEM CAI
Koyo Rad

ke98248

iTrader: (1)

Get an A-Spec ASR Subframe Bar for the rear end of your car (It's pretty much a really beefy rear lower tie bar). It's well worth the money. If you don't have sway bars,that'd help you too, along with decent tires and good brakes.

Also, if you aren't going to be lowered too much or your roads aren't bad - get the 4 point H-Brace from modacar.com I forget what the brand is but it's only $49 plus shipping ($99 on H-T.com)

Socratez

So skip the Lower Control Arm and Lower Arm and get the A Spec thing? Sway bars? what are those? isn't that another name for Struts?

ke98248

iTrader: (1)

The lower control arms are purely for aesthetics -- I know -- because I have them haha.. Yeah it'll run ya about $180 bucks.

Here's a walkthrough on the sway bars and asr brace: https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1906897

Socratez

Sorry but I am dense ... So the sway bar helps tighten the whole suspension up? Also for the $290 it'll cost do the Lower Control Arm / Tie Bar add anything? The car is 10 years old now and the suspension is all stock. Plus I jacked the HP on the car so if I am cornering I don't want things to break due to poor / inadequate parts. Last but not least if I get that sway bar for the rear is there a similar one for the front? Strut bars still useful at this point?

Socratez

They don't make the Tanabe stabilizer for Del Sol ... They are not made by A Spec just resold through them by the looks of things ... I did find a chassis brace though for 98 buck which is nice cos when the roof comes off the car can flex so maybe that can help ... Any other suggestions??

B serious

iTrader: (1)

Sway bars are also called anti roll bars. They ...are...against roll.

The other way to make the car not roll is to add stiff *** springs. Stiff *** springs ride like ***. So the swaybar is a good choice.

A real nice combo is to use an ITR 24mm front bar and an ASR subframe brace (found at http://www.jhpusa.com and other places) with a 22mm or 23mm rear bar. For a del sol, a 22mm rear bar should be fine especially if you're just a beginner.

The car will oversteer more than usual with that setup, however. DO NOT TEST THE LIMITS OF THAT SETUP ON THE STREET. Go to the track; that's the best mod you can do to your car: learning to drive it.

If you're afraid of oversteer, buy a 19mm rear bar. They sell an invidia rear subframe brace with 19mm swaybar and all the hardware you need to bolt it onto your chassis for $190 at http://www.jhpusa.com

You may need the new lower control arms anyway. The rear lower control arms are either stuck to the chassis, stuck to the trailing arm, or stuck to the shock because the bolts in there rust to the bushing. Pray to God that they are not stuck to the chassis or trailing arm. It's hard to get those out. You'll have to drill or use a big cutter and/or torch. It sucks. If they get stuck to just the shock, no big deal. You bought new shocks anyway..so you just bolt those onto your new control arms. That's only for the rear.

Get an alignment after you lower the car. Dont forget this. Get an alignment, then go back after 1500 miles and have them re-check it (so buy either a lifetime alignment or one with a 6 month warranty). The springs will sag in about 1500 miles or so.

You dont need a camber kit unless you're REALLY REALLY REALLY slamming it, or doing a lot of burn outs. Listen to me on this one. Toe is the biggest tire wearing angle. You can adjust toe front and rear in a civic. So just have the alignment tech adjust the toe back to factory specs. The tire wear issue should be resolved. You should have pretty even wear. Unless you're doing burn outs or you have some ridiculous camber angle of like +/-3 degrees or more (the camber will go negative when you lower). Negative camber aids in handling if it is in the right quantity.

Clock your bushings when you lower. If you dont, they will tear. Dont forget to do this. If you forget to take 10 mins and do this, you will take days and days of misery to replace your bushings. Do this: (LCA = lower control arm UCA = upper control arm)

You have to tighten the bushing bolts at ride height. This means you will have to loosen bolts that may have nothing to do with lowering the car. The affected joints are:
-Rear LCA to shock
-Rear LCA to chassis
-Rear LCA to trailing arm
-Front LCA to chassis
-Front LCA to shock
-Front UCA to chassis

Once you're done with your install, and you have a ride height set, put the car back on jackstands, take the wheels back off. Loosen all the bolts of the affected joints listed above. Jack up each corner's LCA (near the balljoint in the front, near the trailing arm in the rear). Jack it up till the car comes up off the jackstand in that corner. Then tighten all the bolts on that corner for the affected joint(s) listed above.

I'd rather do 2 engine swaps rather than replace the bushings in the above mentioned joints. Replacing bushings sucks.

Make sure you torque bolts to factory specs. IIRC, it's like 30-50lbs on most of the suspension bolts. Check a service manual or something. Dont over torque them. Use a little anti sieze on your bolts. A LITTLE ANTISEIZE. lol most people put on enough to drown the whole world in antisieze.

Good luck with your install.

Go to the track. Spirited driving does not even come close to going to an actual track.

Socratez

Thanks a million for all the info .. I am not much of a DIY kinda guy so I'll get it all done in a performance shop. I just hate when they charge so much for parts and then kill you with labor. I am just going to buy piece by piece then show up and have em install it ... Plus I am new to the area so I am thinking to get it done when I go home in July to Canada where I am from and know Mechanics ... Call me paranoid LMAO