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well, my temp solution just didn't cut it... the c-ring broke off and the *** fell to the floor... i jacked up the car in some parking lot and put the ring on the upper groove and matched the perch with the other side as best as i could and got home safely....

i removed both sides and brought the 2 assemblies to my uncle's body shop... i told him my situation and how the c-ring bent and the perch fell and told him to weld it on there... he said that there is a rubber seal inside the strut that if heated, could get damaged and cause the gas inside to leak...

so what he did was submerge the top half in water in a bucket upside down and then "spot welded" the c-ring onto the strut (i already sanded the yellow paint off under the c-ring)... he then threw water onto it right AFTER to cool it off (NOT while welding because he could get electricuted real badly)...

after, we tested them and they both still dampened and rose on their own...

hopefully there is no leak as a result of the welding... and hopefully the weld holds...

i'm going to las vegas tomorrow and coming back on saturday so this trip should be the real test as to if this solution worked or not...

 
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Just out of curiousity, how did you have the perch installed? I've heard that you are supposed to install it like a "bell" and not like a "cup". Did you mistakenly install it like a "cup"? I guess I'm wondering because, a member here said they called Koni on this problem and they said it was an installation issue and not a product issue. If you had it installed "correctly" (like a bell), then it would seem to me to be a product issue. I mean, how wrong can you actually install these things, it's not that complicated....just a few bolts. I'm just kinda upset that Koni would say something like that for something as simple as an install like this. It's not swapping an engine or something....

Which brings me to another question...if you really think about it...how would having it installed upside down really be any different than rightside up? Because, either way, the same amount of pressure is being applied to the perch...wouldn't it? I don't know....maybe I'm just crazy or something...

BTW...what kind of springs do you have on it? I have some Neuspeed Race and I'm wondering where to actually set the perch to maintain the orginal amount of lowering. In other words...if I were to use these shocks with factory springs...which setting would I put the perch on to maintain the factory height?

Thanks for the help and good luck on your fix...I get my Koni's next week and I have a friend who welds....I was going to do that as well. It's a shame we have to do all this work, especially since we have to spend almost $600. You'd think we'd get a complete bolt-on package for that price. It just seems a little strange that this model Civic has been out for 3 years already and Koni is the only one with a strut replacement (not even a "real" bolt-on replacement, at that). I know the suspension has changed since the previous gen and I know about all the related problems with aftermarket strut design, but is it really THAT much of an R&D problem that something can't be figured out for a decent amount of money? I mean..damn....we put people on the moon, you'd think somebody could figure this one out....LOL! Sheesh..I KNOW the market is out there and these companies could make a killing if they just jumped in on it...

Anyway...enough mindless rambling from me....

 
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Good luck with your repair, I hope it works for ya man!

 
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to answer ar6's question... i have ground control coilovers and i installed it as a bell like its supposed to be...

i just got back last night and everything seems fine so far... the weld is holding up real good (we hit a few big bumps on the 15 because of construction) and the strut still dampens pretty good... i'll keep you guys updated if anything comes up...

 
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Yeah, i was thinking of welding my front inserts to the houseings. I am really worried about heating up the oil inside. Maybe we should email koni about the results of welding on these struts.

 
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yea... i think they shouldn't have made the rear perch adjustable... it should be welded on there first before they fill it up just like the stock shocks...

 
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u shouldn't worry about that, cause i already welded my front inserts to the housing and it's fine so far..

 
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koni openly admits that the perch is not made for use with coilovers...not sure how that is soooo much different than the springs, but they told me that via email. Could have been the reason