230 replies to this topic

[firstgencrx]

Radius Arms Spherical Bearing Installation: Part Five

Last thing to do is install the radius arms into the spherical bearings. Just simply slide the arm stem into the bearing all the way:



Seat the stem shoulder up against the bearing inner sleeve:



And slide the sleeve over the stem on the back side:



Now at this point, I realized I had made a mistake with the length of my back side sleeve. For some dumb reason, I made them 1.375" long, and they were supposed to be 1.75" long. That's what I get for exceeding the speed limit! Doh!

As you can see, the sleeve is a little too short, and the smooth part of the radius arm stem is sticking through. This will prevent the big nylock from tightening up correctly:



So I thought about it for a few seconds, and realized that WE need a safety washer on the back of this sleeve!

It makes sense really. If that ball should ever come apart in that spherical bearing, it would be nice if there was something that would keep the stem of the radius arm from ever coming out of the sub-frame. Or... that's what you tell the inspector so he feels you're super conscientious, and cool!

NOTE: I will be making some of these on Monday, and shipping them out to the very few who have this kit. They will be arriving Snail Mail in some soft padded envelopes. Do not worry. I will not leave anyone hanging because of this little mistake I made in measurement.

Easy Peasy. I whipped up two stepped washers that are 3/8" long, and made the OD large enough that the stem of the radius arm is now captive in the sub-frame:



Slide it onto the back of the radius arm stem:



And tighten down the big nylock:



As you can see above, there are a few threads sticking out the end of the nut. Those step washers even look good!

It took five posts to get these radius arm spherical bearings in.....

Take care all!

David

[firstgencrx]

Front Sub-Frame Alignment

In preparation for installing the traction bars, the front sub-frame under the uni-body needs to be adjusted so it's centered and pointing straight ahead. There are also some important dimensions that need to be checked, and corrected if needed. You can do this anyway you want, but that sub-frame needs to be centered, and square with the car. Here is how I did mine.

I first strung two lines the length of the car on both sides, and used the outer edge of the chassis as a reference, being careful to make both sides the same. I did mine upside down on the rotisserie, but you can also do this with some jack stands and creativity. The ideas are still the same:



I then used a tape to center the sides of the forward tips of the torsion bar tubes. I tapped the sub-frame around until the distance between both sides where the same. Be patient and careful, and take your time:



After I had the sub-frame centered, I checked to see if it was square to the chassis. I did this by putting a straight edge across the front faces of the torsion bar tubes, and checked squareness against the line. A little hard to see in this photo, but you'll get the idea:



Once you get things square, recheck that the sub-frame is still centered. Correct if needed. Once you get things centered and square, I recommend you do the little "locating washer" thing I did with mine. The locating washers allow you to get the sub-frame back to where you want it after it comes out: Sub-Frame Alignment Locating Washers

Now that the sub-frame is centered and square with the chassis, it's time to check on some dimensions. There is only one exact sweet spot where that front traction bar bracket goes so there is no fore and aft motion at the stem of the radius arm. This is almost impossible to get, but that's OK because there is a tiny bit of axial play in the radius arm spherical bearings. This tiny bit of axial play will come in handy.

With the srtings still pulled down the sides of the car, check the distance from the two outer front splash pan bolts to the string. The distance is less important than the two dimensions being the same. They should be pretty close, but check just the same. Adjust that front lower cross bar if they are more than 1/4" different. Mine where a little over 12", but within 1/6" of each other.



Next we check the elevation of the bottom of the front lower cross bar (radiator support) relative to the bottom of the torsion bar tubes on the sub-frame. Use a straight edge to do this. Originally I used a longer straight edge, but I quickly found this was not the best way to do this. So ignore my original sub-frame alignment thread in the traction bar posts.

Place the straight edge so it is flat against the bottom of the ends of the torsion bar tubes:



The other end of the straight edge should be positioned over the farthest out splash pan bolt:



Now measure the distance over that bolt:



My front traction bar brackets are built for a distance of 1 3/16" of gap (what my car is). If your car is different, but within +/- 1/4" of that dimension, you should be fine. If your car deviates more than that, we need to talk to strategize a solution. Shimming of the sub-frame to tilt it is one option. Of course, you can try and push things around yourself to correct for the difference. My car measures exactly 1 3/16" on both sides.

Remember, if you unbolt the front sub-frame to correct for any elevation differences, you need to make sure you don't lose being centered and square to the chassis.

The next dimension that needs to be checked is the distance from the front ends of the torsion bar tubes, to the rear face of the lower cross bar. The image below shows me taking this measurement with the torsion bar arms removed from the sub-frame. You can also make this measurement with the torsion bar arms installed in the sub-frame without any difficulties:




Measure to the rear face of the lower cross bar:



This dimension needs to be 19" +/- 1/2". But try to adjust the lower cross bar to be as close to 19" as you can. My car is 19" on the driver side, and 19 1/16" on the passenger side:




Because these cars are spot welded together in fixtures, at high speed, by machines, they are not expected to be that close in tolerance. Like I tell my friends, "We're not working on the Space Shuttle!" So a little deviation from these dimensions is fine. Try to get as close to what my car is as possible if you can. The dimensions of my car are the closest to the "Sweet Spot."

Tomorrow, Traction bars!

They're actually pretty simple and straight forward to install. That will be nice for a change.

Take care all!

David

[kakabox]

Those step washers even look good!

David

Just like you knew what you were doing!
Nice addition..I concur.

[firstgencrx]

I managed to find a useful solution to a mistake! HA! I crack myself up.

[JMSBND]

So I should expect a package???

[firstgencrx]

So I should expect a package???

I'll be sending you a small padded envelope out on Monday.

[firstgencrx]

Traction Bars Installation: Part One

The traction bars I crated are simple to install, but take a little time to do. Again, I'm going to try and show as much detail as possible.

The first thing I want to install are the radius arm brackets. Simple enough, just bolt them on, right? Almost.

You have two ways you can do this. Lets first look at the method that uses the stock bolts:



You want the head of the bolt to go inside the bracket with the nut on the outside of the radius arms. But there is a tiny clearance issue to deal with first. The flange on the head of the bolt does not quite fit inside the radius arm bracket:



Not a problem. Just grind two small flats on opposite sides of the flange. Amazingly, I was able to cut those flats with just a file:



And the bolt drops in. Perfect!:



Bolt the radius arm bracket to the radius arm and torsion bar arm:



And the nut on the other end shows just the tiniest bit of bolt showing through:



I would have liked to see more threads hanging out from that nut. Is it safe? I can't say for sure. I'm not feeling it, so I don't think you should either. So I am going to recommend that you get some longer bolts to put these brackets on.

The second way to do this is to pick up two 10mm X 60mm, and two 10mm X 70mm bolts. Both are 1.25mm pitch. Now it's important that you get a good bolt. I am using a class 10.9 heat-treated alloy steel bolt. I just picked them up at my local ACE hardware. They are super common, and easy to get. I also grabbed two grade-8 3/8" washers. I chose the thick ones. I used the 3/8" washers because they fit real close to the 10mm bolts.



Now I learned something interesting from this choice of class 10.9 bolt. I was always under the impression that the original 10mm bolts that Honda uses at the radius arms are some kind of special hardened bolt. Well I'm here to inform you that when I cut the flats on the sides of the bolts flanges, the file cut through with ease. Didn't seem very hard to me. I then tried to take a swipe across the class 10.9 10mm's I bought, and I could tell right away that the bolts I purchased seem much harder and tougher to me.

I found that the thick grade-8 washers I purchased with my bolts are a little too big in diameter too:



So I just ground some flats on each side of the washer so it fit inside the bracket:



I bolt my radius arm bracket on, using the original flange nuts, and I get a few too many threads sticking out of the nut, but hey, better safe then sorry.



With the radius arm brackets installed, it's time to install the front bracket.

Continued in next post....

[firstgencrx]

Traction Bars Installation: Part Two

The front bracket needs to be welded on.

There is a single slotted hole on one end of the bracket that is aligned at the farthest outboard lower splash pan bolt. The slot is to properly position the bracket in the inboard/outboard direction:



Snug it down with no clearance between the bracket and the rear face of the lower cross bar with a bolt, not tight, and draw a line around it with a Sharpie:



Take it off and have a look:



I need to remove the paint on the lower cross member just on either side of this mark for welding. Welding on paint is no fun, so take the time to remove the paint if possible. To remove paint, I like to use either a Scotch Brite Pad on a 4.5" grinder:



Or a small wire wheel chucked up in a drill:



Either will do the job. What is very important, is to know that the material that is being cleaned is not very thick. So don't go crazy and grind through.

Notice how I also cleaned the inside of the dimpled hole that is partially covered up by the front bracket:



This whole needs to be covered. This is why...

Rust. We all have it, except Scott of course.

The way to stop rust is to remove it's Oxygen source. I'm going to do this by welding completely around the perimeter of the front bracket. Welding the perimeter will cut off the Oxygen supply between the bracket and the sub-frame. That also means I need to plug all holes that are between the bracket and the cross bar. Simple enough.

I start to fill this whole by plugging the bottom. I do this by cutting a small circle of 18 gage sheet metal the size of the whole:



I use a pair of needle nose pliers to hold it while I tack one side:



I then tack it:



I then bend it down flush with the bottom of the whole, and tack a little more:



Continued in the next post.....

[firstgencrx]

Traction Bars Installation: Part Three

I finish welding the bottom plug, making sure there are no pin holes where water can get through:



The top of the hole is a little large, leaving a large gap. Too large to weld the perimeter of the bracket:



So I fashion a 1/2 plug that is welded flush with the bottom of the cross bar:



I use a simple welders magnet to hold it flush with the bottom of the cross bar for welding:



Then I weld it in:



And grind it off smooth and flush. Be careful, this stuff is not very thick:



I've got one hole on the rear side of the cross bar that needs plugging:



I weld it up and grind it off flush:



One last thing to deal with before I weld the front bracket to the lower cross bar.

The lower cross bar has a total of four bolts, two bolts on each side to hold on the front lower splash pan:



When the bracket is in position, the inner hole is covered by the bracket:



If you are going to try and use the original splash pan by modifying it to fit over the bracket, you will need to drill a hole in the bracket to access this bolt. I'm going to be making a custom bottom pan for my project, so I'll go ahead and completely weld this hole shut. That way there will be no path for water and Oxygen to get between my bracket and cross bar. If you do use these bolts, you will need to use something like silicon rubber to seal between the hole and bolt.

Continued in the next post....

[firstgencrx]

Traction Bars Installation: Part Four

Bolt the front bracket onto the cross bar, and use clamps to hold it up tight against the cross bar:



Then I start to stitch weld the perimeter of the bracket:



Notice above how nice that 1/2 disc I used to cover the top of the large dimple hole in the bottom of the cross bar. It completely closed that big gap that would have been really tough to fill with weld. Also, because the perimeter is so long, you only need the smallest weld to hold this bracket on.

When you weld this bracket on, take your time and make 1" or so long stitch welds. Weld in one spot, then move to the other side of the bracket and weld another 1" or so. move around the bracket and eventually you will fill in all the voids. DO NOT just start at one end and continue welding around until you're done. The front cross bar is beefy enough, but it will warp and bend if you do all the welding at once.

Here it is welded up, not my best work, but it'll stick!



One last thing to do to complete welding this front bracket onto the lower front cross bar. I need to plug this hole. I weld up the threaded hole at the bottom before I fill the rest of the slot:



All gone.




The rest of the installation coming up....

Take care all!

David

[Blue87Crxsi]

Nice job man Keep up the work.

[firstgencrx]

No post today like I said. I'm pooped. I'll update tomorrow.

[jim.mullen]

Excellent, excellent write up on the sphericals and the the TB's. Great pics. Clear, concise and thorough explanations. Bravo David!

[firstgencrx]

I updated the end of post #70.

I'm working on the last posts for the installation of the traction bars right now.....

[DEIVIONCRX]

Man this really makes me wish i hadnt of jerked around and got these parts.