1996 Integra GSR.

I broke the bolt head off of the bolt that connects the damper to the lower arm. I managed to break the weld on the nut on the other side, and it unscrewed from the bolt. So now basically I have just a threaded stud stuck in there. It seems to be stuck somewhere in the arm. Are there threads anywhere in the arm, I thought the nut would be the only thing holding it? Can I just use a BFH and a punch to get the bolt out? Other suggestions? I don't have a drill/bits handy right now so I'd like to avoid drilling out the bolt. I don't care about the existing shock and need a new bolt anyways.

 

Yes you can punch it out, but I would soak it in PB blaster for a few hours first. There are no threads inside the bushing, and there arn't any threads on the bolt (in that area) either. What happens is the bolt rusts SOLID to the inside of the bushing. When you reassemble, use new bolts & cover them w/ anit-sieze goo. This will help keep it from happening again.

 

It's possible to punch it out, but you'll be there for a while having it done.

If you can't get it out, it would be easier to saw through the bushing, and just cut out the whole bushing. Then you'll want to grab a hack saw and saw the outer bushing ring and get a new one from honda and have it pressed in.

 

How would you suggest cutting out the bushing? The damper is still mounted, but I have the spring/bumpstops/etc already removed. I took a look at the other side and it's missing the head already (before I even touched it)...

I tried punching it out but I don't quite have the BFH here to do it.

 

This same thing happened to me with a delsol several years ago. The damn thing was rusted in there so solidly that no amount of pounding with the bfh could get it out. We tried all sorts of sprays and we tried a torch. Nothing woked.

Finally we gave in. We disconnected the control arm at both ends and dropped the whole assembly out. We cut the shock away from the stud. The shock was toast but we were trying to replace it anyway. The control arm and bushing were toast. Bought a new control arm. It was cheaper than paying the shop labor rate to get it apart and press a new bushing in.

The Honda design of this area of the suspension does leave a little bit to be desired :-)

Good luck,
alan

 

Yeah, I just looked at the parts, and since I have the shock free of the upper mounts, I should be able to remove the whole LCA right?

Since I have a new shock that I am putting on, I could bin the whole thing. As just the bushings are insanely expensive. What are some good aftermarket LCAs (or a source of cheap stock ones with bushings)? I'm running koni/gc/enkei 15x7 RPF1s on a street/autox/track ho of a car. Eventually I plan on adding comp tech rear sway/tie bar.

 

http://www.acuraparts247.com - just order a new arm, bushings already pressed in And re-assemble w/ anti-sieze

 

Exactly. The questions is whether I should go for the stock ones for $140 there or aftermarket ones elsewhere.

In the mean time I am just trying to get the sway bar and other bolts to budge without snapping them too...

 

Go with stock, even if you pick up a used set. I would never put aftermarket cheap *** aluminum LCA's on my cars.

 

The top most point of the LCA seems to have a 14mm headed bolt on one side, and a 19mm nut on the other. It seems like this one is frozen to the bushing too. If I turn the bolthead it moves, but it is springy like it is caught on the bushing. It seems to move freely in relationship to the nut. However the nut doesn't turn. Is this nut welded to whatever part the cup it's attached to is? I can't find good drawings in the parts listing or shop manual.

 

They are all 14mm bolts on the LCA..... hit them with PB blaster and let them soak overnight, then use an impact gun to break them loose. Honda bushing suck sometimes

 

How do you soak them? I've been just spritzing them but I don't know if I should put little baggies to try to localize the PB even more. also I need to free my ABS sensor wire from the shock's "U". What's the easiest way to do that? Cut the bolt with something?

 

For reference...

I ended up cutting the bolt on both sides of the shock with a hacksaw. On the other side all three bolts were busted, so I repeated the same for all three, but drilled out the upper and lower mounts of the LCA since I wanted to preserve the nut on each of those. Next project: toe adjuster bolts

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by OneDirection &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Since I have a new shock that I am putting on, I could bin the whole thing. As just the bushings are insanely expensive. </TD></TR></TABLE>

kyb makes the shock bushing for honda and acura lca's. I was redoing all my rear suspension at my uncle's shop and the online parts ordering system he uses listed kyb for bushings. They were like $6 and seemed of good quality. They were pretty readily available and he had them in a few hours from the local distributor he uses for parts. just an fyi.

after i cut the ends of the bolt and took the shock off I was able to punch the bolt thru on one of my lca's. The other one I just pressed it out with the whole bushing and replaced it.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by OneDirection &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Next project: toe adjuster bolts </TD></TR></TABLE>

i did those too. The bolts will most likely be seized to the compensator arms (toe adjuster) so just get new compensator arms from honda. You can either get new compensator arms from honda for $65 or get the nice pieces from SRR for $75. I went with stock but wish I had just gotten the SRR pieces. The stock pieces make quick toe adjustments a PITA. I'm betting the SRR's would be much simpler.

s