It's gonna be a fun weekend for me!!
Got the lowering springs on yesterday... I have to say you ES guys have it flippin made not having to deal with the rear sway bar. It took us 3 tries to figure out which bolt we could work with to get the sway bar out of the way to pull the rear swing arms down to get the strut out. Total was about 5 hours of me doing it with a buddy helping me by holding things and handing tools etc. It took about 3.5 hours to do the rear springs, and then only a little bit to do the front springs and the rest was just spent cleaning things up and the like.
Put in the Eibach Pro Kit. BIG difference in ride... You can feel a tiny bit of bounce on crappy roads, but in all honesty the ride feels a bit smoother overall until you start catching the uneven roads. One of my good friends was behind me last night when we headed out to the bar and I whipped a corner at 35 on wet pavement and she said it was so weird watching the car do it because it just zipped right around like no big deal, not the kind of lean or cornering look of most cars.
I'll be looking forward to the sway bar next week too :-). Then it'll be ready to rock in AutoCross
Couple things about the spring install for you guys...
You don't actually need the spring compressor to get the Pro-Kit springs on to the shocks. Two guys and an impact gun works great. You just things lined up have the second guy push down a bit and then let the gun tighten the spring down itself. Went on real easy that way.
The impact gun was the lifesaver of the project. Got it for 17 bucks a day (had to eat 2 days because of easter and them not being open... so 34 bucks) and some of those bolts were SOOO tight originally so having it they just come right off!
I HIGHLY recommend having the spring compressor though for removing the springs, especially the front ones as those were compressed nearly 4 inches!!! So if you figure 150 lbs/inch that means there is about 600 lbs of force pent up in those babies when you are taking that nut off. So spend the 12 bucks it costs to rent a compressor and call it good (also inspect that fool thing for cracks and damage... the buddy that helped me has a friend who lost a finger at the 2nd knuckle whent he compressor broke)
From what we did when we put in the springs the fronts actually went in "upside down" from the rears. We put the rears in the same way that the stock ones had come out... and that resulted in the writing on them being right side up. But to make the writing right side up on the fronts they were "upside down" with the tight coiling being at the top. Which also matched the spring kits in two of my brothers' cars.
I don't have any popping or problems springs wise that I can tell. Just a creak here and there as things are settling in.
If you guys have more questions about the spring install let me know! I'll offer up more on that if you need.
I'll give you a full bumper removal/installation explanation as well as a sway bar explanation later this week too probably. The sway bar is really easy from the looks of it! So we'll see :-).
Later!
Steve
Put in the Eibach Pro Kit. BIG difference in ride... You can feel a tiny bit of bounce on crappy roads, but in all honesty the ride feels a bit smoother overall until you start catching the uneven roads. One of my good friends was behind me last night when we headed out to the bar and I whipped a corner at 35 on wet pavement and she said it was so weird watching the car do it because it just zipped right around like no big deal, not the kind of lean or cornering look of most cars.
I'll be looking forward to the sway bar next week too :-). Then it'll be ready to rock in AutoCross
Couple things about the spring install for you guys...
You don't actually need the spring compressor to get the Pro-Kit springs on to the shocks. Two guys and an impact gun works great. You just things lined up have the second guy push down a bit and then let the gun tighten the spring down itself. Went on real easy that way.
The impact gun was the lifesaver of the project. Got it for 17 bucks a day (had to eat 2 days because of easter and them not being open... so 34 bucks) and some of those bolts were SOOO tight originally so having it they just come right off!
I HIGHLY recommend having the spring compressor though for removing the springs, especially the front ones as those were compressed nearly 4 inches!!! So if you figure 150 lbs/inch that means there is about 600 lbs of force pent up in those babies when you are taking that nut off. So spend the 12 bucks it costs to rent a compressor and call it good (also inspect that fool thing for cracks and damage... the buddy that helped me has a friend who lost a finger at the 2nd knuckle whent he compressor broke)
From what we did when we put in the springs the fronts actually went in "upside down" from the rears. We put the rears in the same way that the stock ones had come out... and that resulted in the writing on them being right side up. But to make the writing right side up on the fronts they were "upside down" with the tight coiling being at the top. Which also matched the spring kits in two of my brothers' cars.
I don't have any popping or problems springs wise that I can tell. Just a creak here and there as things are settling in.
If you guys have more questions about the spring install let me know! I'll offer up more on that if you need.
I'll give you a full bumper removal/installation explanation as well as a sway bar explanation later this week too probably. The sway bar is really easy from the looks of it! So we'll see :-).
Later!
Steve
Last edited by sdhotwn; Apr 20, 2003 at 02:18 PM.
Here is a pic of the car with the springs in... these are the same wheels as are on uranium9v's car yet they seem to look different.. and seriously they look about 10 times better in person then they even do in the pictures!!
Hey dude car looks pretty raw. I wish I had a silver one now. Can you take an up-close pic of that grill? From the distance on your pic it looks like a really nice DIY job. I just want some more ideas on what to do on my own.
Did the rear sway bar last night.... and I get my strut brace today.
Three thoughts on the rear sway bar...
WOW is it easy to install
Wow does it make a distinct cornering difference
and WOW is it easy to install and makes a distinct cornering difference. :-)
Literally takes all of about 15 minutes to install. I'm planning on writing up some stuff with pictures for you guys on how to do it. Should see that later today hopefully.
Sadly I have to try and figure out how to fab some perches as I didn't order any from RRM in time and I have an auto-x race this weekend that I don't want them to snap during! So I'm going to try and cut some at work. I'll post dimensions and drawings for you guys too.
I think one of the biggest differences in the bar comes from the much better end links. The stock ones were pretty crappy and way to many points of rotation and flex. The new bar with the urethane bushings eliminates almost all of that. Although I have to go to the exhaust shop and get my exhaust raised about a half inch as it is impacting on the bar now because the bar cutout is not as low on new bar.
Stay tuned today for pics and more!
Later.
Steve
Three thoughts on the rear sway bar...
WOW is it easy to install
Wow does it make a distinct cornering difference
and WOW is it easy to install and makes a distinct cornering difference. :-)
Literally takes all of about 15 minutes to install. I'm planning on writing up some stuff with pictures for you guys on how to do it. Should see that later today hopefully.
Sadly I have to try and figure out how to fab some perches as I didn't order any from RRM in time and I have an auto-x race this weekend that I don't want them to snap during! So I'm going to try and cut some at work. I'll post dimensions and drawings for you guys too.
I think one of the biggest differences in the bar comes from the much better end links. The stock ones were pretty crappy and way to many points of rotation and flex. The new bar with the urethane bushings eliminates almost all of that. Although I have to go to the exhaust shop and get my exhaust raised about a half inch as it is impacting on the bar now because the bar cutout is not as low on new bar.
Stay tuned today for pics and more!
Later.
Steve
Well a few disasters later and hundreds of dollars more... the car will be completed for this year as of Wednesday May 28th. So stay tuned to check it out! I get my bumper from the body shop tomorrow to put it on... but wont' have time to take and put up pics for you guys most likely... but I'll give it a valiant effort! Then next week i get my replacement strut insulator, new sway bar perches (broke em and almost side slid into a porsche because of it) , and a new strut bar from RRM to replace my useless defective POS from procarparts.com
So Check back and see it all! And look for a bumper removal guide sometime soon too!
Later.
Steve
So Check back and see it all! And look for a bumper removal guide sometime soon too!
Later.
Steve
