CivicVTec

iTrader: (9)

hey..i got mine konis on...they are awesome...[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]
u just need to be careful when u put the sturt back together and put it back onto the car....sometimes they dont want to put it back together.....because the spring tension is too great

lilbluecivic

how far did you drop it , and did you have any other problems i should know about?

alienmonkey

iTrader: (2)

I can't wait to get my stuff from Rob@tornactive in the mail. The tracking number for the Koni's and camber kits are scheduled to come wednesday. He was going to pick up the Ground controls for me Friday. Hopefully they will get here intime for the weekend. If not I'm gonna be [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/IMG] , but atleast I will beable to attempt to gut the front strut housings and get the Koni's in the housings before the weekend.

Is it easy to adjust the camber? Any tips in that area civicVtec?

lilbluecivic

im still waiting on my missing hardware from koni

Blown

The rattail file is to file the inside of the dustcover to fit the bigger strut. It says in the instructions where to file, don't worry. I used the grease to slid the bottom of the strut back into the suspension arm. It was dry and it needed to be greased.

I'm still awaiting the missing parts as well.

You need the adapter for sure for ground control coilovers. With out it, the strut may move and make noise.

alienmonkey

iTrader: (2)

How do you tell how firm/soft the settings of the struts/shocks are, or is the only way to see is to drive with them on? It is hard to understand those Koni instructions where there are only pictures and no words what so ever, and it seems to me like the **** could theoretically turn forever.

I should be attempting this this weekend, since my GC coilovers are scheduled to come in thursday(thanks Rob). I can't wait to be in the schorching heat. Hopefully it won't rain.

Erichyung

anyone ever have problems w/ ground controls and koni setup?

CivicVTec

iTrader: (9)

i drop my car aobut 0.8-1" all the way around...Eibach Pro-Kit

lilbluecivic

everything is finally in, so ill prolly try this weekend

alienmonkey

iTrader: (2)

I just got done drilling and cutting one front strut housing. Took me approx. 2 hours and a broken drill bit using a hacksaw. I'm pleased and plan to do the other strut housing tomorrow to prepare for the weekend. While I was in the process of finishing it, I opened the plastic baggy with the White disc, washer, and nut. I know where the white disc goes and that it is important to not blow out the strut, but I can't see in the picture where the nut and washer go. I'm not talking about the black nut that goes on the bottom of the housing to secure the strut, but the gold/ silver nut and washer.

The only thing I can figure out is that the washer just slides over the topthreads and sits below it, and the nut screws onto the top threads of the strut Is this how ithey go on, and when and what order do they go on in relation to the springs, tophats, ect?

Erichyung

so the white disc prevents from blowing your shocks?

lilbluecivic

yes

alienmonkey

iTrader: (2)

hey lilblue how did your install go? I tried this past weekend and it went horribly wrong, so I'm dropping it off at the shop close to where I work to hopefully get it done

lilbluecivic

my lazy a$$ put it off again, what happened?

Erichyung

did most of you get the missing washer or is it just that one person ?

alienmonkey

iTrader: (2)

First off I got all the hardware.

Secondly my install went all wrong. I started at 10 am and stopped at 6pm, I only got the front driverside done, and it wasn't even done correctly. First off I had trouble getting the tie rod bolt to come off the lower control arm. You really have to hit up pretty hard on it to get it loose. Second, when I finally got the front strut assembly out, about noon, I then compressed the spring. I spent 4 hours trying to get the top nut off the top hat to disassemble the whole unit. The more I spun the nut, the more the strut pipe spun. This made the nut not loosen. I tried everything and I eventually got it off by wrapping duct tape around the strut pipe, and holding it with a rag while loosening the top nut. I final;ly got it off, but it took a while,cause my hand was hurting and wasn't gripping the shaft of the strut tight enough. After I did that, I found out that it is easier to get the top nut off if you put an allen wrnech in the top of the shaft (you'll see a little hole for it), and hold that while you loosen the nut. After I got that off I went to put the GC's on the Koni. The red sleeve would only sit on the top of the strut and not around the strut (yellow part, not silver part). I assumed this was the correct way, so I reassembled it and put it back on the car. At about 5pm I tried to get the tie rod bolt back on, but I stripped it completely to the point where the nuts had absolutly no threads, so the only thing holding it in was a cotter pin. I dropped the car, and the thing pissed me off, because it was still STOCK HEIGHT!!!!!. I said forget it and there is a shop eithin walking distance from where I work. I stopped up there tuesday with a different car and talked to the guy about getting it done, and he told me to just drop it off monday morning. it is now 7pm and I'm feeling really down.

Monday comes around and I leave early so that I can make it to work on time. All the way to work (10-15 min) I was scared like the I never was before. Everytime I hit a man hole or something, the car sound busted and would make this boom sound. At lunch time I walked up to the shop and was talking to the suspension dude. He told me I had it on right, but he couldn't figure out why it wasn't dropping any. (I had the gold ring close to the bottom of the sleeve and it was stock height). Also this is the first 2k1/2k2 civic they have worked on. Me and him went over the instruction and couldn't figure it out. He thought Koni made them too high, but I said they are the correct ones, and then he thought maybe I had the rear spring on the front, but it was the correct spring. Eventually we found where my problem was. The top yellow ring on the Koni strut comes off. We tried tapping it off with a chisel, but that led nowhere. We then decided that it probably unscrews off. With 2 monkey wrenches (one on the yellow wring and one on the strut, we got the yellow ring off. The red GC sleeve slides down the Koni and fits perfectly around the strut and then the yellow top piece for the Koni gets screwed back on. I wasn't going to drive it home the way it was and told them to go ahead and do it.

All in all it took all day to get done (finally got done at 7pm) and cost to me was $250 for the labor. Took it back up today and got the alignment done ($60). All in all I thought that was a great deal, since I needed it done and wasn't going to drive it home busted.

It looks great and rides excellent. I no longer really feel the road or the bounciness.

VNlilMAN

iTrader: (7)

sorry to hear things didn't go so well, i had a very hard time installing my neuspeeds as well and finally gave up. thats what 'inspired' me to write the detailed DIY so that other people that wanted to try it might have more luck by learning from my mistakes... i tried 3 times, twice i wasted 6 hours and spent all night trying to fix it all by myself. the other time i had a friend with me but i wasnt exactly sure what to do. after the 3rd time i knew exactly what to do but i was just tired of it and worked overtime so that i could have money to take it to a shop.. i finally do and my car was the first car they worked on as well... spent 3 hours and they didn't even know how to do it... after searching and searching i finally found a shop that knew how to do it and took it there for $70.

-to get it off the tie rod, you should have rented a 'tie rod seperator' from autozone. you just hammer it in and lean on it and bam it pops out.. this only takes a minute....
-the top nut on the strut, you should have loosened it before taking it off the car. n if you read the DIYs carefully it says to use an allen key to get it off...

well i'm glad you finally got it done tho

lilbluecivic

you guys are scaring me

alienmonkey

iTrader: (2)

I have read/looked though about 5 different DIY's between this forum and the magazine. I did everything correct the shop said, but the only thing is that I didn't unscrew the top yellow disc of the Koni strut (if you put the GC sleeve on it lilblue, you will see the disc I am talking about that has to be unscrewed). Other than that I did a good job, but since the shop hasn't done work on the 7thgen civics yet, it was a little difficult to figure everything out, but we did it and I'm happy.

Erichyung

seriously... i can't trust those people at body shops.

alienmonkey

iTrader: (2)

I don't like trusting others with my car. I don't even trust myself with my car, but I had no other choice. The people at the shop are cool and everything though which was/is a major plus