e28/e24 Coilover DIY

[tones]

Whats the ride quality like?? My cut spax on billy sports sucks and is super bouncy up front but solid in the rear. Just wonder if fron e30 kyb would be valved good enough for the heavier e28

[nickskater09]

Whats the ride quality like?? My cut spax on billy sports sucks and is super bouncy up front but solid in the rear. Just wonder if fron e30 kyb would be valved good enough for the heavier e28

Are your shocks blown? I'm on stock shocks and cut springs and I hardly bounce at all. It's just stiff all the way around.

[Dangerwillrbnsn]

Are your shocks blown? I'm on stock shocks and cut springs and I hardly bounce at all. It's just stiff all the way around.

x2. I have a nice firm ride that does not bounce. Cut springs, stock bilstiens.

[noshow]

these springs look like they're from ebay.. are they?

I am not sure about these. I got them from a buddy of mine who got them from someone else. I put them on the spring tester and found that they would work. I did a set on my buddies e30 and we used Civic sleeves from ebay. The springs tested out to 550 and 525. A whopping $60 shipped and they ride amazing

Don't know about the ones in this thread but you can get Eibach springs in any size, length and weight from Summit Racing. They aren't very expensive and you know you'll get a quality product.

Absolutely correct. They usually run around $50 each but remember you still need sleeves, adjusters, and top hats. The idea here is to share how this can be done safely, on a budget, and with excellent results. If you have the extra cash, by all means use Eibach or equivalent products.

Whats the ride quality like?? My cut spax on billy sports sucks and is super bouncy up front but solid in the rear. Just wonder if fron e30 kyb would be valved good enough for the heavier e28

Freaking awesome. The kyb is a not as stiff as a billy or koni but is more than sufficient. The ideal inserts to use IMHO is the e30 ix or corrado g60 bilstein.

[Dangerwillrbnsn]

Section approximately 3/4" out of your stock strut housing below the spring perch.

Can you please explain thoroughly what this means? I thought we were leaving roughly 1/2" of the perch for the collar to ride on? Maybe I just don't understand what 'section 3/4" below the perch' means.

[Dangerwillrbnsn]

Ended up doing mine tonight... I'll have a DIY guide here pretty soon for you guys. It's all done and installed already, but I'll finish the job tomorrow. I have to set the height, and check out the ride too, but for now it's on.

[bawarian_euros]

Ended up doing mine tonight... I'll have a DIY guide here pretty soon for you guys. It's all done and installed already, but I'll finish the job tomorrow. I have to set the height, and check out the ride too, but for now it's on.

Where did you get those sleeves? Also what spring length/rate is that? I'm really looking into doing this with my e24 and I want to run Bilstein sports (e24 rear/ e30 front) but have them valved appropriately to the spring rates please let me know.

[noshow]

Can you please explain thoroughly what this means? I thought we were leaving roughly 1/2" of the perch for the collar to ride on? Maybe I just don't understand what 'section 3/4" below the perch' means.

By section i mean cut out or remove, i.e. cut and weld. This will all depend on what strut inserts you are using. This is not absolutely necessary but will give you better suspension travel and the potential to go very low.
Btw, the car looks great! Glad to see someone use this info. Can you share with us what inserts and rear shocks you used?

[noshow]

Where did you get those sleeves? Also what spring length/rate is that? I'm really looking into doing this with my e24 and I want to run Bilstein sports (e24 rear/ e30 front) but have them valved appropriately to the spring rates please let me know.

They appear to be the same ones we used on my buddies e30, coilover kit for a civic right? The ones we got and tested were at 525 and 550. I have seen them also around 400ish. If you want to be certain order them first and have them tested before you have your shocks valved.

[bawarian_euros]

They appear to be the same ones we used on my buddies e30, coilover kit for a civic right? The ones we got and tested were at 525 and 550. I have seen them also around 400ish. If you want to be certain order them first and have them tested before you have your shocks valved.

525/550 is a bit too much for daily driver of that type of car is it not? and yeah I need to order my springs first then have my shocks valved to match them, but I've read through so many crazy rates lol. As for the lengths I think I'm going to use a 7 inch spring all around should be fine incase I want to go back up higher right?

[bawarian_euros]

Also a few detailed pictures of your front set up would be awesome, like if you actually shortened the front housing and what inserts you're using or if you just replaced the perch with a ring.

[Dangerwillrbnsn]

Where did you get those sleeves? Also what spring length/rate is that? I'm really looking into doing this with my e24 and I want to run Bilstein sports (e24 rear/ e30 front) but have them valved appropriately to the spring rates please let me know.

Local Honda shop was having a sale. You can find the same ones on eGay for $60. The advertised spring rate is 550/525, but they are cheap springs so who knows. These are definitely too firm for the e28. They are stiff, and VERY firm but hey, they don't bounce.

By section i mean cut out or remove, i.e. cut and weld. This will all depend on what strut inserts you are using. This is not absolutely necessary but will give you better suspension travel and the potential to go very low.
Btw, the car looks great! Glad to see someone use this info. Can you share with us what inserts and rear shocks you used?

I understand now. I did not section mine... and I can still get pretty low. Not SLAMMED, but low. Maybe I'll cut them down a bit later, for now I'm gonna enjoy them.

They appear to be the same ones we used on my buddies e30, coilover kit for a civic right? The ones we got and tested were at 525 and 550. I have seen them also around 400ish. If you want to be certain order them first and have them tested before you have your shocks valved.

Yup, actually these were advertised 550/525.

525/550 is a bit too much for daily driver of that type of car is it not? and yeah I need to order my springs first then have my shocks valved to match them, but I've read through so many crazy rates lol. As for the lengths I think I'm going to use a 7 inch spring all around should be fine incase I want to go back up higher right?

I agree. They are VERY firm for a daily street car. These are more like track springs. I'll be searching for a softer set. I'm looking for 350/400 range.

[Dangerwillrbnsn]

I went simple on mine. Remove strut assembly from car, remove strut insert, cut off spring perch, leaving 1/4" of the welded bead area for your new sleeve to ride on.



This is what you'll be left with. You'll want to make the remaining part perfectly level all around, lest your perch only have a small portion supporting it:


Clean up the rust from the years of poo falling into the spring perch. Then, test fit the collar over the top of your strut housing. It will only go so far before it doesn't slip fit anymore. Mark that area:


Using a micrometer, you can see the problem. The top of the housing measures 2.019", while it then expands to 2.054 and finally returns to 2.019" at the base. Well, obviously you have to clearance that now. Use a flapper wheel (or grinder wheel, at your own risk of taking off to much material).


Once you have everything down to 2.019" all around, you should just BARELY be able to slip the collar over and all the way down onto the remaining 1/4" spring perch. I guess I forgot to take a pic at this stage, but c'mon - it's pretty simple to reassemble the strut now.

[bawarian_euros]

I went simple on mine. Remove strut assembly from car, remove strut insert, cut off spring perch, leaving 1/4" of the welded bead area for your new sleeve to ride on.



This is what you'll be left with. You'll want to make the remaining part perfectly level all around, lest your perch only have a small portion supporting it:


Clean up the rust from the years of poo falling into the spring perch. Then, test fit the collar over the top of your strut housing. It will only go so far before it doesn't slip fit anymore. Mark that area:


Using a micrometer, you can see the problem. The top of the housing measures 2.019", while it then expands to 2.054 and finally returns to 2.019" at the base. Well, obviously you have to clearance that now. Use a flapper wheel (or grinder wheel, at your own risk of taking off to much material).


Once you have everything down to 2.019" all around, you should just BARELY be able to slip the collar over and all the way down onto the remaining 1/4" spring perch. I guess I forgot to take a pic at this stage, but c'mon - it's pretty simple to reassemble the strut now.

And the end result of the whole suspension was the previous picture of your car on throwing stars? how much more do you have until you go all the way down on the sleeve? Also the lengths of those springs would be great!
Thanks for the detailed info this DIY is becoming simpler as more information is being exposed.

Edit: How far did the front shocks compress? Were they actually bottoming out while you were going over bumps and stuff? What inserts were used again e28 bilstein sports? Are the sleeves all pretty much 2 inch inside diameter? I'm looking for a set of coilover sleeves I can use I really don't wanna deal with GC.

[Dangerwillrbnsn]

And the end result of the whole suspension was the previous picture of your car on throwing stars? how much more do you have until you go all the way down on the sleeve? Also the lengths of those springs would be great!
Thanks for the detailed info this DIY is becoming simpler as more information is being exposed.

Edit: How far did the front shocks compress? Were they actually bottoming out while you were going over bumps and stuff? What inserts were used again e28 bilstein sports? Are the sleeves all pretty much 2 inch inside diameter? I'm looking for a set of coilover sleeves I can use I really don't wanna deal with GC.

Yes, the e28 on T-stars is the end result. I can still get another .5" lower, but I don't prefer to right now. I'm working on a bunch of stuff, and getting a jack under it easily is a big plus. I did not measure the free spring length, but I want to say 7" or so. I think a little less length, like a 6" would be better to get lower.

Right now, the car is not much lower than stock. Maybe only 2.5", so they still have plenty of stroke left. Also, without re-valving the shocks, leaving the high spring rates keeps the shock from bottoming out. If I were to go lower, either by adjusting the collar lower, or buy a shorter spring, or cut the strut housing down some then I'd DEFINITELY re-valve the shocks and do it all right.