Whats up everybody I was just wanted to clarify a few things before I go through with my si rear disk brake swap on my 88 dx. My first question is do I need the Si emergency brake cable for sure? I know that the 88 suspension is different from the 89-91 so do I need different shocks in the rear? Finally we all know that drum brakes suck to deal with and I want to know everyones opinion on is this swap really worth it or not?

 

have it

like it

not worth it

and you deff need 90 91 crx si cables if you have a crx
if you have a civic you can use integra or 99+ civic si

i really dont see it helping out all that much i would spend the cash on other stuff if i could do it over agan i would suggest upgradeing to intagra or 99+ civic si fronts you will see much better results
-larry

 

well i got the trailing arms and all for a real reasonable price that i couldnt pass up I only have to buy calipers and pads; i just really hate those squeaky drum brakes.

 

can anybody else give me their opion/experience with this?

 

I have it. Cost me about $600 since I used a lot of new parts to put in it. I mean I don't regret doing it, but I don't really know if it made me stop better. But discs sure are cooler than drums any day.

 

if your doing this for brake improvement its not worth the time and money, you wont feel any difference. 60-70% of your brakes power is up front i would instead upgrade to bigger rotors/calipers and a bigger bore mc from a 89 prelude.

 

In did the rear swap on 88 racecar a frew years ago and it was definately not worth the effort in any additional braking force, plus the disc brake system in about 8 lbs heavier. I didn't switch it as whole arms, just the rear spindles and brakes which was much more effort. I have had all the parts to to dsuch a swap again on the current racecar for years but haven't becasue of no performance increase.

On the otherhand, I did the 90-93 Integra/91 Civic LX front brake swap giving me bigger brakes on my '89 CRX Si and it made a very big braking improvement for similar or less money and certainly less labor. If you want to improve braking power, upgrade the fronts and leave the rears alone.

 

is it really that hard to switch to the disk and spindles? i know it's really easy to do on my gti and it make a big difference in stopping distance. what all do i have to do to put the brakes off of my 90 si on to my 88 dx?

 

my friend did the brake swap on his 2000 hatch, with a GSR rear discs, he said it made it worse. he actually had to pump the brakes going down Pali hwy(in HI) and it is harder to lock up the back if you yank the e-brake to burn out. i was going to do the swap your going to do, but too expensive, just upgrade the front with the Si assembly with the EX 4 door hubs, rotors and axles(the d16 engines use bigger axles on the hub side). This setup is just like the SiR version in Japan, but with USDM parts.

 

pics on my STKB16 Cardomain site.. check it out on my REAR disk Swap

 

My question about the shocks has still not been answered; do I need 89-91 shocks or can I use my 88 dx shocks?

 

88 shocks have to be used with 88 LCA's and 89-91 shocks go with 89-91 LCA's

 

aight thanks

 

so how hard is it to put my si brakes on my dx?

 

fronts are the same...

 

wow, you guys paid some major bucks for those, i paid 90 bucks cdn for the whole swap.

 

All you have to do is swap your 88 LCA's to the new setup, and you will be able to use your 88 shocks.

 

I paid $200 for 93 Integra GS front rotors and calipers with pads, and the full rear setup including stock struts.

Bad news: Before I knew to only seap out the trailing arms, not the control arms, the scrap metal man came and picked up the 50 pounds of scrap out behind the shop.

That was 3 years ago. To this day, my toe and camber are FUBAR.

Waiting on new bushings to install the 91 Si control arms I ordered from Larry Jr at http://www.ImportAutoSalvage.com .

 

I did it, and my pedal feel was much better. I think my drum cylinders were probably shot though.

I paid less than $100 for the swap, it took about 3 hours, and it improved the pedal feel, look, and more than anything, the ease of switch rear pads (or shoes as they were before). The e-brake works way better too.

Over all, I give it a four out of five stars for cheap easy brake upgrades.

I also did the fronts over to 90-91 EX, and this was waaaay better than doing the rears, so if you have the cash to spend, go with the fronts first.... and avoid integra fronts unless someone can debunk the rumor that they are a different height than the EX spindles. I've never compared them myself.

 

When you do this GET THE INTEGRA PROP VALVE ALSO!!!! Without it the brakes will suck major ***. With it you will notice it becomes normal again.

 

allright thanks for everyones input ; i have heard that you should and shouldnt replace the proportioning valve but I will go ahead and do it just to be safe.