SquishyPanda
06-21-2006, 08:49 PM
So I went to the junkyard for more stuff, when I was presented with a sign: A black 88/89 drifting through the air (ok it was on a forklift and the wheels happened to be turned the right way). Truly the Prelude Gods had a message for me.
So I followed the floating visage across the yard to the back corner, where some fresh cars were being lined up. I watched the prelude descend before me, and noted the ****ty paint job. Messages from the gods often come in disquise.
The forklift guy didn't drop it onto the makeshift junkyard jackstands (two steelies welded perpendicular to eachother), but directly onto the ground next to an old civic and an old crx.
This Prelude was pretty low. It's gotta be cut springs, I thought to myself as I approached the car. I put both hands on the fender and gave it a good pump.
Pretty stiff. I opened the door, sat down, and started bouncing up and down. An old mexican guy laughed at me, but the car barely moved. "That's too low," I think the old mexican guy said, "Those springs are no good."
On the contrary, senor, they're very bueno, I chuckled to myself, Very bueno indeed.
The old mexican guy took the Si spoiler, saying something about putting it on his little white Civic, I think, and left me alone with my "sagging springs." Now, I had no jack, and it looks like standard practice at this junkyard is to remove all jacks from the cars, lest people use them and drop vehicles onto themselves. Fortunately, I found a bent-up but useable one in a nearby Volvo, and set to the task of cranking the Prelude up with a screwdriver.
I also didn't have a 21mm socket. I got the left front strut out without removing the tire (unbolt the upper control arm) before I realized, by experimentation, that a 5/8" spark plug socket is pretty much exactly 21mm.
After I got the left rear one out, the forklift guy came back, and I cleared out my tools so he could move the car to its final resting place. Apparently the Prelude gods were pleased that I had showed such dedication to deciphering their message. While I was waiting for the forklift guy to line up the Prelude, I started scrubbing the dirt off the springs:
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j148/RedPandaSi/RS-Rsprings.jpg
From what I've heard, these haven't been in production for a while, and they're stiffer than H&R races.
I pulled the other two, and paid $10 each for the springs. After I stashed the struts in a Caprice and drove to Lowes to get a hex key wrench :D I waved goodbye to the old mexican guy with the poorly painted spoiler and went on my way.
And when I got home, I found that the Prelude Gods were not yet done with their generosity:
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j148/RedPandaSi/springsandstbs.jpg
My gladman stb's came :D Bitchin.
Anyone know much about the RS-R's? They're definitely way stiffer than my current Tokico springs, and lower (the black prelude was running the same diameter tires as mine, and the gap was noticeably smaller). Will I be ok with my blues? This guy appared to be using stock struts (all I could find on the st ruts was "Showa Japan" and a part number). Must have been bouncy as hell.
So I followed the floating visage across the yard to the back corner, where some fresh cars were being lined up. I watched the prelude descend before me, and noted the ****ty paint job. Messages from the gods often come in disquise.
The forklift guy didn't drop it onto the makeshift junkyard jackstands (two steelies welded perpendicular to eachother), but directly onto the ground next to an old civic and an old crx.
This Prelude was pretty low. It's gotta be cut springs, I thought to myself as I approached the car. I put both hands on the fender and gave it a good pump.
Pretty stiff. I opened the door, sat down, and started bouncing up and down. An old mexican guy laughed at me, but the car barely moved. "That's too low," I think the old mexican guy said, "Those springs are no good."
On the contrary, senor, they're very bueno, I chuckled to myself, Very bueno indeed.
The old mexican guy took the Si spoiler, saying something about putting it on his little white Civic, I think, and left me alone with my "sagging springs." Now, I had no jack, and it looks like standard practice at this junkyard is to remove all jacks from the cars, lest people use them and drop vehicles onto themselves. Fortunately, I found a bent-up but useable one in a nearby Volvo, and set to the task of cranking the Prelude up with a screwdriver.
I also didn't have a 21mm socket. I got the left front strut out without removing the tire (unbolt the upper control arm) before I realized, by experimentation, that a 5/8" spark plug socket is pretty much exactly 21mm.
After I got the left rear one out, the forklift guy came back, and I cleared out my tools so he could move the car to its final resting place. Apparently the Prelude gods were pleased that I had showed such dedication to deciphering their message. While I was waiting for the forklift guy to line up the Prelude, I started scrubbing the dirt off the springs:
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j148/RedPandaSi/RS-Rsprings.jpg
From what I've heard, these haven't been in production for a while, and they're stiffer than H&R races.
I pulled the other two, and paid $10 each for the springs. After I stashed the struts in a Caprice and drove to Lowes to get a hex key wrench :D I waved goodbye to the old mexican guy with the poorly painted spoiler and went on my way.
And when I got home, I found that the Prelude Gods were not yet done with their generosity:
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j148/RedPandaSi/springsandstbs.jpg
My gladman stb's came :D Bitchin.
Anyone know much about the RS-R's? They're definitely way stiffer than my current Tokico springs, and lower (the black prelude was running the same diameter tires as mine, and the gap was noticeably smaller). Will I be ok with my blues? This guy appared to be using stock struts (all I could find on the st ruts was "Showa Japan" and a part number). Must have been bouncy as hell.