I recently purchased a set of Koni Sports for my 89 Civic. They were actually for an 88 Civic, so I changed the lower control arms and we were good to go.

However, I ran into problems when I tried to adjust the shocks. Yes I did do this prior to installing them. The only other adjustable shocks I've delt with were Illuminas and Zeals, which were obviously real easy to adjust with the little **** or dial on the shaft.

Well these Konis aren't as easy to adjust, and whatever you decide to adjust them to, you better be sure, because you have to take the whole shock assembly off the car to change it. So I figured, I'd try the stiffess setting, since I was also installing new springs which were 500/550.

From the very unclear instructions which came with the shocks, I gather that I have to push the shaft all the way into the shock body and then turn the shock body to adjust. Problem being, there is no "stopper" or any kind of indication when it reaches full stiff or full soft. So I did this about 25 times trying to detect any kind of indication as to wether I was actually adjusting anything. The fronts did have some indication of reaching one end of the spectrum and the other. But the rears seem to be hopeless

I bought these shock because many people on this board believe it is one of the best setups for the street driven week-end AutoX vehicle. Now find myself with shocks which I can't really fine tune since it is almost impossible to tell how much I'm adjusting them. Not to mention I have to take these right off the car to adjust them.

Maybe someone can help me understand the adjustability of these shocks, and how to accurately control the adjustment.

By the way, when I called Koni to make sure I had everything for the install, they told me I needed an different retainning nut for the shaft, since it was bigger then the one for the Illuminas. They told me I had to get this kit from them otherwise I would not be abble to install the shocks. So in a panic I ordered to of the kits which he gave me the part number for. Well $75 dollars later in nuts and bolts and overnight shipping, there were no retaining nut for the shock assembly. All there was in the bags were items I either had or did not need at all. SO I still had to scour the town and find nuts for the shaft.

Maybe there is a newer version of these and the gentleman at Koni never thought to ask me.

All and all, I hope these shock live up to there reputation if I ever figure out how to adjust them properly, otherwise I might be looking for Advance Design again.

 

Although it's too late now, you should have ordered the EXTERNALLY adjustable Koni Sports, buddy.

I have them on my CRX, and there is a start/stop point, and they work very nicely. I also purchased the Koni coilover conversion kit, and couldn't be happier. I've had mine for 3+ years already..

I looked into the "compress-to-adjust" Koni's and figured it was a pretty shitty way to do things, glad I spent the extra bucks now..

My advice: sell them and take some of that loot I send you and buy the externally adjustables, you'll be glad you did.

-me

 

Lee is better at this one-but you appear to NOT have the "yellow" Sport shocks. The yellow ones indeeed have an adjuster on the top of the piston shaft. If you got a white ****-that is what you use to set the shock.
Since you have the compress and turn model-that is a different story. I used them on one of my older cars and could feel the adjustment click in. Check the website for instructions or call Koni for support.

 

Who did you buy them from? I am surprised that anyone would sell you the old, internally adjustable, shocks. Did you buy them used? I had the compress and turn style back over 20 years ago. They had stops but after adjusting them I could not tell much difference. I hated Konis after that. Now i have the externally adjustable Sports and I love them.

 

The Koni Sports for 88 Civic/CRX and ITR were still the compress-and-turn style, until just recently. Ask me how I know

 

I used the "compress and turn" style Koni's on my ITR and didn't have any problems adjusting them... as long as they were off the car and disassembled Seriously though, I found that if they were pushed ALL the way in, I could rotate them until they reached a stop point for full stiff and full soft. If they aren't pushed all the way in, they'll just keep rotating without changing the stiffness setting.

Christian, who has still has his ITR shocks and wonders what he can really do with them...

 

Thanks for all the replies,

I bought these used, actually I wasn't planning on buying these at all, but these were pretty cheap. Well I guess that's why they were cheap, he said he could not find a buyer for these.

Since I wasn't planning on buying these, I had not done my homework and did not realise there was such thing as internally adjustable Koni Sport, I though they were all externally adjustable.

No big deal, I'll give Koni a call and see if we can do anything with these. I am pretty pissed about the whole "hardware kit" though. You would think the guy would have known his stuff a little better and not made me get this stuff when it did not even contain what he said I needed.

Anyway, I feel better now that I've vented

On a side note, the new springs are awesome!!!!!!!!!!

 

You can have them rebuilt and converted to externally adjustable for about $130/each...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You can have them rebuilt and converted to externally adjustable for about $130/each... </TD></TR></TABLE>

Humm.....all and all this would end up costing me more than new ones.

I better think this one over.

 

Ok.....so I just got off the phone with Koni.......

Well first item, these have not yet been raced, but if they were, they would not cover the problem under warranty. If it was a problem with valving or leaking or something, I would understand. But if the adjustment ****/dial or whatever mechanism it uses to adjust it internally fails, I don't see how this could be caused by racing.

I asked how much it would be to rebuilt the shocks with a different valving and convert them to externally adjustable, price is $180-$200 per corner.

So all in all, these shock are going to turn out pretty damn expensive.

Anyone want a set of Koni Sport for an 88 Civic???? $250

Oh yeah, the adjustment doen't work on the two rear ones

The Illuminas are going back on the car I guess.

 

$180 bucks a corner to convert. I just bought a set of brand new Ext. Adj Yellows for the 88 CRX for $429. There still on sale at: http://www.modacar.com/products///SALE

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Zeppelin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">$180 bucks a corner to convert. I just bought a set of brand new Ext. Adj Yellows for the 88 CRX for $429. There still on sale at: http://www.modacar.com/products///SALE</TD></TR></TABLE>

$429!!!!! What a deal.

BTW way what is the valving on those, anybody know?

I called the guys at Koni a second time, to ask more question about warranty, and the warranty cover the shocks while on the original vehicle for which it was purchased. If you crash you car and put the shock on a different vehicle, your warranty is automatically void. Thats the way it was explained to me anyway.

Although I will do what I can to run these, Koni isn't making it very easy. All I really want is to be able to adjust these.


Also while I'm asking too many questions, any one know how much extra is custom valving from Koni? Not a rebuilt, but custom valving of a new set being built.

 

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=896967

 

thanks,

maybe I'll try giving him a call on Monday.

 

It's a wacky shot in the dark but did you remove the bump rubbers before adjusting them?

K

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Knestis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It's a wacky shot in the dark but did you remove the bump rubbers before adjusting them?

K</TD></TR></TABLE>

The Koni guy asked me the same thing, yes all hardware was removed.

I was able to adjust the front ones, so I know how it supposed to be done now. It just seems weird that these were only adjusted when they were originaly installed and would be unadjustable two years later when taken off the car.

who knows, one of those things I guess. Live and learn.

 

I remember that we made a special tool to poke the snubber out of our internally adjustable KONIs, back in the Renault Cup days.

K

 

snubber...?

 

Snubber = bump rubber

K

EDIT - the rubber conical thingie on the shock shaft, inside the shock.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Knestis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">back in the Renault Cup days.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

You are old. I did my first driver's schools in an Ex-Cup Encore but at least the series was over by then.

Frog,

Call me at the office and we can get it sorted out. Either you aren't fully engaging the internal adjuster on the rears (are you feeling it drop down into the detent and keeping it there while turning?) or you have not only bought some many years discountiued ones but you have bought damaged ones (bottomed most likely) to boot. That is a risk that you get when you buy used parts. I bought a nice used ZC intake with a good TPS and aftermarket performance ZC cams on-line. What I still have sitting in the box in the garage several years later is an intake with a smashed TPS and some used stock ZC cams none of which are of any use to me and a lesson learned.

The warranty goes to the original owner as long as he owns the car registered for street use. If does not transfer to the secondhand owner of the car or the shocks. This is consisent with most parts in our industry and longer than quite a few as well. Pretty cut and dried, if you have a warranty then we will cover it but if you don't then we'll help you look for other ways to solve the problem.

Did you give the part numbers stamped on the shock bodies to the person at Koni in regards to the hardware so he would know that they were units that were discountinued likely 5+ years ago? Without a part number to know exactly what it was, he would reasonably expect that the parts be the very common and relatively current parts. For some reason, Honda Konis get sold at a 2-to-1 rate more often than any other application and we can all but bet that the person did not get all the hardware that was supposed to go with them, thus we keep many spare bags of Honda hardware around. If you got parts that you don't need, I'll credit you back all but the air freight on them.

Call me at 859-586-4100 ext 316.

 

By the time I started driving, the series had died too. Novice year...



K

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Knestis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">By the time I started driving, the series had died too. Novice year...



K</TD></TR></TABLE>

I did mine in 1988 and it was a rental that didn't look that nice. Luckily there is very little photo documentation of it. I prepped the car myself in dark of night a few hours before leaving for the track including cutting numbers and novice stripes out of the only roll of contact paper the local grocery store had... wood grain numbers rock! Humble beginnings.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CRX Lee &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... wood grain numbers rock! </TD></TR></TABLE>

I think you're about to start a new trend with that one Lee!!!

 

When we were still running the IMSA series, there was a guy name Victor Van Tress who had woodgrain numbers on a beige car. His driving shoes were fringy, high-top moccasins and he raced with the stock stereo turned up to 11...

K

EDIT - that picture would have been 1987...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Knestis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
EDIT - that picture would have been 1987...</TD></TR></TABLE>

damn, you are old! in 87 i was 12 playing with gi joe and watching madonna on mtv. however, there are also kids on here that were born in the 90s - i'm old too

ps: you look like starsky