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Full B&G Coilover and SPC front/rear camber kits Install

47K views 88 replies 44 participants last post by  adhd_Sloth 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I did a little (hah!) write-up on Honda-tech, but here's an exact copy:

http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread/2004724

Okay, any input on this DIY is helpful since it is for the community here and I will be linking to it...

I installed the B&G Full Coilovers and SPC front/rear camber kits in approx 14 hours total. This is mostly due to my lack of previous experience with a job of this calibur, and also the lack of proper tools (I had to walk to a store 3 times for sundry parts) and/or air tools and a buddy to help with some of the tougher parts. Oh, not to mention lack of instructions :| . On a scale of 1-10, 10 being hardest, this job was a 7, but if you factor in the time it took and all the hiccups I ran into, it was more like a 9 ;). Learn from my mistakes!

Parts you'll need:

Honda Civic 06-07 Maintenance guide with torque specs
10, 12, 14, 16, 21/22mm (can't remember) socket wrench sizes.
A pass through 19mm socket wrench that will be able to get to the top strut bolt sitting in the recession.
3/16in. socket wrench.
Hex Set
Flat head screwdriver
Zip ties
2x 8mm 1.25 nuts
Spring Compressor!! Don't start without it.
Hydrolic jack (2ton)
Smaller 1.5ton jack (optional)
2/4x jack stands
Patience and Muscle!

Any ways, here goes:

Start with the fronts just to leave the easier to handle rear last.

1) Break the lug nuts before lifting the vehicle.

2) Jack the front up by the front cross member and place jack stands at both front jack points (see manual), then remove both front tires.

3) Pop the hood and look for the cowling plates that are hiding the front strut's top mounting bolts.



4) Loosen all 3 smaller bolts (remove two if you like), then take your 19mm open ended socket wrench and break the thread on the strut bolt. It's a pain, but it's SOOO much easier while the strut in on the car. DO NOT TAKE IT OFF!



5) Take the ABS line off the strut, and also the brake line, and make sure they are hanging out of the way.



6) Take off the top strut assembly bolt, then the bottom - make sure you take the top one off, then tilt the rotor towards yourself so the strut doesn't stick on the mounting point. Be careful when taking off that last bolt, the front struts have quite a bit of compression left in them. Also, use a block/brick/tire/spare jack to hold the wheel assembly up so it doesn't just fall down once the bolts are out.



7) Once the bolts are out, pull the strut assembly off to the side so it isn't hitting your speedo/brake lines or CV boot, then take off the bolts at the top holding the strut on and pull the strut assembly out carefully. (NOTE: If you have problems removing the strut, work the Spring Compressors in there and compress the spring to give you a little more wiggle room. Be careful of your CV Boot Joint!!)

8) Now that it's out, compress the spring using the spring compressors (VERY necessary! It wasn't on EP3s, but FA/FG's are compressed WAY more), then take the top strut bolt the rest of the way off. (This is what took me forever since I didn't have a open wrench that could get a grip on the bolt, and I didn't loosen the bolt while it was on the car.)



9) After it's off, remove the spring compressors, take the Top Hat/Pillow ball mount off the stockers, and put them on the B&G's. (NOTE: This isn't necessary if you bought aftermarket pillowball mounts!). Also make sure you notice the arrow on the top hat, it should be facing in towards the engine when you install it back in.

side at fully lock.

9b) Take the metal ring off of the stock pillowball mount. (You don't have to, but I found that it was rattling around every once in a while, and it might have gouged the top perch - better safe than sorry.)



9c) Put the perch on like so.



9d) Put the supplied rubber ring between the bottom of the perch and the top of the spring.

9e) Here's the full assembly.



9f) Make sure that after assembling and mounting, that you adjust the preload so the spring doesn't move around. If I remember correctly, I adjusted it so there was approx 3.75" from top of the bottom tightening thread lock to bottom of lower spring perch. As far as height went, I found that 7" from top of the bottom tightening thread lock to the top of the shock body (not the shaft, just the black plastic body) was perfect.

9g) As a note, the assembly still looks weird with that space between the perch and the pillowball mount. But there seems to be no other way to assemble it, and it's riding perfectly now.

10) Adjust the height on the front Coilovers if they have that option, then put the Coilover assembly back in the same way you took the stock ones out, put the 3 top bolts on to hold it in place.

11) If you got the SPC front camber bolts, put the camber bolt in the top bolt hole.

12) Tighten the top 3 bolts, then tighten the top strut bolt with the 19mm open ended socket wrench 'till it turns the thread.

13) Now the B&Gs I got didn't have a long enough stem for the speedo line to clip back into. I need to send pics to CorSport which will be relayed to B&G about this. So for now, loosely zip tie the speedo line to keep it out of the way while driving. I honestly don't think it would catch or pull or get snagged while driving w/o a zip tie, but better be safe than sorry.

14) Attach the brake line to the mounting point, and use the 8mm 1.25 threaded nuts that you bought. The stockers are welded onto the stock assembly :(.

15) Put your Front wheels back on, adjust camber using the SPC bolts, then lower the vehicle.

Fronts are done!

Rears:

1) Break the rear wheel lug nuts.

2) Use the rear cross member (in front of the gas tank, behind the sway bar) to lift the vehicle, then put jack stands under the two rear jack points. (see manual)

3) Take the wheels off.

4) Pop the brake line out of the bracket. Use a flat head screwdriver carefullly.



5) Unbolt the brake line bracket from the body.



6) Take the ABS line out of it's bracket.



7) Loosen the rear shock bolt on the top. Just pull back the trunk lining and use a wrench and a hex key to loosen it.



8) Here's where you can do one of two things. Loosen the lower camber arm bolt itself, or loosen the 10mm bolt, then use two wrenches to break the death grip thread.




^^ The little nut is holding the black nut and welded base in place. It turns easier than the other side, but if you have air tools or big muscles, it's unncessary.

9) Put a block/jack/tire under the wheel assemby with a bit of pressure so it doesn't just fall.

10) Make sure you bolt the 10mm bolt back into the base after pulling the camber bolt out.

11) Take out the bolt holding the shock in place.



12) Remove the top bolt holding on the endlink under the vehicle, and loosen the bottom one so the end link is not connected to the sway bar. You will probably need a hex key to loosen the bolts.



13) Remove the two bolts holding the Camber arm in place and remove it if you are going to replace it with an aftermarket one. Otherwise, leave it alone.

14) Here's a pic of the SPC rear arm compared to the stock one.



15) Remove the bolt holding the shock in from the top, then remove the shock.

16) Remove the stock coils. Just twist them away from cables to get it out.

17) Put the new shock from the coilover kit back up in the hole. The B&G came with a washer for the top, and a washer for the bottom of the hole. Tighten it down.

18) Put the SPC/Aftermarket camber arm in place on the body. Just follow the directions that came with it. A note on the SPC camber arms though, the "B" holes START at -3 degrees camber!! So put the bolts in the "A" holes (lol) to get daily driver camber. Here's a link to 8thcivic's DIY for the camber arm and some pics of the SPC.

DIY on 8th Civic. Props to 06blaksi!:
http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32040

Adjustible camber bolt for the rear arm:


Camber bracket (in the "B" holes!):


Camber arm mounted up and somewhat adjusted:


19) Install the Coils now. Adjust them to the height you want! On B&Gs, you will probably want to leave like 1 or 2 thread only if you are trying to get the tire a little in the well when it's just sitting. Oh, FYI, you can't install the B&Gs upside down...the holes are different ;) I know!



20) Re-install the Camber bolt to the wheel assembly.

21) Re-install the bolt to the bottom of the shock.

22) Re-install the endlink to the sway bar.

23) Re-install the brake line bracket, and speedo line.

24) Put wheels back on.

25) Adjust camber

26) Lower vehicle.

DONE!

Of course, make sure all bolts are tightened back to specification while doing this!! And after you are all done, take the car out for a VERY short jaunt down the street, progressively gaining speed and listen for noises. The fronts will pop once each side (at least they did in mine), and that should be it. After driving it, lift it up, check all the bolts, change the height if you want, and lower it back down again. And then get an alignment :thumbup:

With the B&Gs, I started out at full soft on rebound/dampning, and just now upped the fronts to 11, and rears to 9 (out of 18). Seems to be the best for my style of driving, but I'm sure I will change them after a little while to fit my needs.

All in all, the B&Gs handle AWESOMELY. It has turned my fun handling car into something that I absolutely love to drive around corners in and feel like I'm in full control! I just need some summer tires to take full advantage of this fun now ;)

Feel free to point out mistakes, or better methods to my madness. Remember this is all without previous coil install experience. I'm proud to have done this all myself. :thumbup:
 
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#28 ·
Holy poop, sorry for the late response, I didn't notice the posts in here :redface:

Yeah, the hooks are for adjusting spring pre-load in front while it's on the car, and also to loosen the height collar if you are going to take it off the car to adjust it. It's a PITA to loosen those when it's off the car.

And yes, the set was $1200. I got it from CorSport (http://www.corsportusa.com) but they don't have them listed any more. I'd suggest calling and talking to Remy or Tai to see if they can still get them from B&G.
 
#30 ·
khronox said:
I believe those hook wrenches are used to adjust the drop after they are installed. They turn the rings there.

Thanks Khronox for answering! I actually don't know if I would adjust the height while it's on the car since the collar is a PITA to move for the height. But honestly I haven't tried it. I had to take the coils off for adjustments, so I changed height then.

I'll take them off again in a while when B&G comes out with the pillowball mounts for the fronts. I REALLY don't like the OEM top mount.
 
#31 ·
JeShUa said:
Yeah. Its a little difficult to do, but yeah.. thats what they're for.

And yeah.. when I did my install.. it didnt look like you needed the whole assembly, but just use it.. or else you'll lose your bearings :giggle:
Lol, nice pun :biggrin:

Actually, the metal ring was rattling around for me. I kinda doubt the plastic piece would separate w/o the ring. But by all means, leave it on! I don't think it would hurt anything either way.

This all reminds me - I'll be sending B&G an e-mail requesting the pillowball mount since I hate the OEM so much. I'll post if I get a response :)
 
#39 ·
JeShUa said:
Can anyone take pics of how it should look installed?? the bolts just look so weird.. - Thanks.. IDK how to put the "washer" thing. Sorry for my noob souding question :]..
Hey man,

Yeah, you can either put it in the top bolt position, or the bottom. Doesn't matter except it will make a small difference on how far you can adjust. Apparently the top bolt position is perfect for more adjustability. The washer "adjuster" is annoying as f&@(. I couldn't figure out a good way of telling what camber I had with it. I usually just eyed it.
 
#45 ·
JeShUa said:
Yeah right. I think with the B&G you can lower it 3.5"... the hfp kit is set at .8" lower than stock and cannot be adjusted.
Aye, the HFP kit is WAY WAY WAY easier. I should emphasize that WAY some more...

There's no adjustability in the HFP kit, so there's really nothing to tinker with. You DO NOT need a camber kit with the HFP kit either, although I'm sure some people still buy 'em. Basically the HFP kit is a straight swap, and you may have to use some parts, but it should be nothing like installing a full coilover set.
 
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