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Alright guys, here it is. A full DIY and review for the new fully adjustable Ingalls "Stiffy" Engine Damper available from Dezod right now and I believe its actually on sale for like $160 while the MSRP is $340. This product is for 2001-2005 Honda Civic Base models however, this particular install was done on a 2001 Civic EX with ABS. There was a debate on whether this particular kit would fit the 01-03 Civic's with ABS and the short answer is Yes, but you have to do two simple modifications to move things around as I will show later. With that being said, lets get started.
Tools Needed:
Long Flat Screwdriver
14 mm long socket
10 mm socket
18 mm long socket
3/4" long socket
5/8" socket
5/8" Wrench
11/16" Wrench
Here's what you should get in the box from Ingalls. Use this DIY rather than the instructions they give you because there are some errors that I have pointed out to Ingalls that will be fixed very soon.
Open the hood, and locate the driver's side strut mount. You will see the Clutch Fluid Reservoir and the black mount for that metal line. These will need to be moved in order for the chassis bracket to fit.
Start by removing the two circled strut nuts with a 14mm socket. They are on tight so you might want to use a breaker bar and spray them with PB Blaster or WD-40 in advance
As you can see, that Clutch Fluid reservoir and black bracket is in the way. You could buy a new reservoir and mount from an 04-05 Civic from Honda which would run you $20 or so. Or you could do what I did as you'll see later on. First remove the metal line and pry out that black mount hidding under the bracket in this picturewith a long flat screwdriver or whatever works best for you.
Next, you will have to remove the top bolt in this pic to loosen the reservoir. You will be moving the entire resevoir down a hole using the bottom bolt and hole in this picture. In the end, you will have one left over bolt if you did it correctly. The idea here is to move the reservoir out of the way of the Damper bracket that is going in. I found this to be the easiest and cleanest way of doing it.
You will want to use a nice long 6" or longer extension to remove those bolts. They can be a pain to reach.
Here is the finished product after you have relocated the Reservoir lower on the strut tower using the OEM strut nuts on the bracket.
Alright, Install the bracket onto the strut tower and tighten by hand in case you need to adjust it later on.
Next, locate the two drivers side motor mount nuts. They are near the power steering pulleys down below. You will need a long 18 mm socket and breaker bar for these.
Now this is very important. Only remove one nut at a time (leave one in place) and make sure there is always one nut on the mount tightened down. After removing one nut, install one of the larger washers, then use the supplied 3/4" silver non-locking nut, and install one more large washer on top of that making a "nut sandwich". Tighten this down to OEM specs (40 ft/lbs) and repeat on the other mount nut.
Next, install the bracket in this picture onto the engine mount studs using the 3/4" Nylon locking nuts. Note: Be sure to add another large washer before the nut onto the left side bracket hole in this picture. The bracket hole in this picture should be mounted on the stud closest to the firewall of your car. It initially looks like you don't have room for your socket to fit onto the nut because of the bracket wall but if you push the socket down there it will fit. I then tightened these nuts to OEM specs as well.
Your brackets should be in place, so now its time to install the damper. It should come from Ingalls to fit perfectly but it can easily be adjusted by moving the threads and nuts up and down on the damper to suit your needs. Look at the picture to get you started and it should be from RIGHT to LEFT it should be Gold bolt-end/ Bracket/ Small Washer, Rubber O-Ring/Damper joint/ Black Lock Nut. Install the end of the damper that has all the threads to the Strut mount bracket. The damper is installed the wrong way in all these pictures but remember Adjustable end of the damper goes closest to the strut bracket!!!
This is where you're going to need your 5/8" wrench (for the black lock nut) and your 11/16" wrench for the gold bolt in order to tighten the nut and bolt to the bracket and damper. Tighten until very snug.
Alright, time to attach the damper to the strut bracket. From top to bottom install the assembly as this: Black lock nut/ Strut Bracket/ Small Washer/ Rubber O-Ring/ Ingalls damper end/ gold bolt-end. Sorry for lack of pics of this, it was very difficult to get a good shot of this due to the lack of space in the engine bay. Refer to Ingalls Pics and Instructions if you get confused. I tightened this by using a 11/16" wrench on the bottom and using a 5/8" socket on the top.
Here are some shots of the finished product:
Review:
First impressions, Wow, wheel hop is almost non-existent. I went out and tested it on my crappy Kuhmo street tires and did a few launches. Launching from 3000, it did a hop or two, then just planted it on the tires which then proceeded to immediately spin a bit, then gain traction. Before on these tires, I would hop so bad that my Cd's would fall out of my dash slot. Also, before I installed it, I had my brother rev the engine up and down with the hood open to observe the engine rocking back and forth quite a bit. With the damper installed, when he revved the engine, nothing moved whatsoever. From idle, the car vibrates a bit more but no rattling noises, but that was expected since you are tightening up the chassis. When you are cruising, there is no vibration at all, feels like OEM. When shifting, I noticed I didn’t get any little jolt/bog when I would let off the clutch quickly. Instead, it was instant throttle response which was a pleasant surprise. The down shifts definitely felt firmer but also smoother since it seemed get rid of that "slap" engine you get when you let off the clutch. All in all, I'm very happy about this product, it was alot more than I expected it to be. Feel free to post questions guys and I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible.
Thanks Scansel, I got a good idea of what to spect.
I have the DC Sports upper bar and I'm curious of how this will fit.
Also I wonder how my car is going to react with the combination of the upper bar, Progress suspension and the stiffy dampner.
I'm not very happy with that slaping noise that you descrive right after heavy boost, if this product takes care of that, I'm happy.
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