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Koni Yellow Sport Assembly

9/26/2016

4 Comments

 
Koni Yellow Sport Honda CRX
With our new Koni Sports unboxed, it was time to begin the installation process. Before assembly however, a few things needed to be done. 
​Bumpstops 
The bumpstops off our OEM shocks and springs were in pretty bad shape. So bad that when we opened up the front shock assembly, the original bumpstops were no where to be found. These foam pieces disintegrate over time and must be replaced.
oem bumpstops honda crx
​We actually purchased a brand new set of bumpstops but we quickly discovered that they wouldn't fit over our new Konis. Thankfully for us, we were able to source an almost brand new set of bumpstops from a 2007 Civic Si. 
2007 honda civic si bumpstops
Simply cut the bump stop until it matches the height of OEM.
oem bumpstops on koni yellow sports
The center opening is larger and fit over our new Konis without any modifications. Drop the bump stop over the piston and we're all set. Time to mod the dust boot.

Dust boot
Let's preface this paragraph with yet another "they don't make em like they used to" tag. The CRX's OEM dust boots are aluminum and as far as we know, Honda no longer ships any of their cars with aluminum dust boots from the factory. Even high end aftermarket suspension kits from companies like Ohlins ship with rubber boots.

​We definitely wanted to reuse them but in order for them to fit over the Koni shock piston, a little drilling would be required. 
drilling oem dust boot honda crx
It's nice to be able to take advantage of fancy drilling equipment when you have an engineer on the team but all you really need is a vice and a drill. Having a machine like this allows for a faster and cleaner trim.
aluminum dust boot honda crx si
Just make the hole a little bigger and you're all set. 

Top Hats
If you decide to replace your factory struts with Koni or any other aftermarket brand, you'll need to reuse your OEM tophats. And in order to fit the OEM tophats over the Koni shock piston (Koni's shock piston is a little thicker than the CRX's stock shock piston), the first step is to swap out the metal sleeve. 
honda crx si oem top hat
We took a hammer and a socket and lightly hammered out the stock metal sleeve. 
koni top hat sleeve honda crx
Koni sleeve on the left and stock sleeve on the right. The size difference is noticeable.
koni sleeve inside crx oem top hat
Once the new sleeve is in, the top hat will fit perfectly over the piston.
oem dust boot installed on koni yellow sport honda crx
Here's what the rear strut should look like prior to installing the springs. The quality of this is leaps and bounds better than our previous STR.T kit. 
koni yellow sport with honda crx si oem springs
Since we're going to be using our OEM springs, we needed our handy spring compressor to compress the spring to fit over the shock. No air tools here; just good old fashioned elbow grease.
oem honda crx si springs with koni yellow sport
Gotta admit, the black springs over the yellow shocks look pretty darn cool. And unlike the Koni STR.T Suspension kit, the Yellows include a full set of instructions and hardware for a headache free install. Aside from reusing the top hat and modification to the dust boots and bump stops, all additional hardware is included with each shock.

Time to get these babies installed!
4 Comments
Jim
9/28/2016 12:16:30 pm

in my book, THAT is the best "upgrade" you can do to restore a crx. Nice job!!!

Reply
Jim
9/28/2016 12:24:53 pm

I also believe that reusing the oem springs and lowering the spring perch on the shock will not necessarily lower the car because of the length of the spring. If anything, it only reduces the tension of the spring. I would think that if you had extended the top hat the same amount you lowered the perch, you would achieve that small drop. Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing more updates. Ive got a crx myself that i try to keep pretty.

Reply
restorationcrx link
9/28/2016 01:44:02 pm

Thanks for the comments Jim! Without giving too much away, we'll cover details on the ride height in next week's post. Stay tuned =)

Reply
Eric
7/20/2020 12:10:08 am

Hi Jim,

Wanted to comment on this for anyone who finds this post. I have a 91 Si hatch and installed my Koni yellows with stock springs as pictured in this article. The car would scrape going in and out of steep driveways. At the taller perch (stock height) it did not.

Basically, Honda put the spring perch as low as they could with these springs (to maximize travel) without making their drivers worry about scraping.

Raising the perch height does affect ride height.

The simple explanation is to consider putting a weight on a free-standing spring. Say you put a spring on the floor and stand on it. It will compress a certain amount. Now put the spring on a table and stand on it. It compresses the same amount as on the floor, but you are standing at a taller height because you're on the table. The same principle applies here - the spring perch is your "floor" and by raising it it turns into a "table" instead, and instead of "you" standing on the spring, it's the sprung weight of the car.

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