The Red Fastback - MA8 Project Thread

[FacelessMB2]

5 hours ago, SirPaperbag said:

Yep, same experience here.

Had to grind that little bracket for the brake hoses off my original shocks and weld them to that kinda dodgy, nondescript piece of metal pipe that came with the kit.

Pretty disappointing imo. A big brand like Bilstein really shouldn't ship stuff that requires modifications on the customer's side to work, especially at that price point.

 

If I had known that before I got them, I definitely would have gone with Spax dampers instead - those even come with adjustable damping!

The B8 would be a better option for you, because they are the same as the B6, but prepared to have lowering springs. The B6 are only prepared to take the "OEM" springs. For those who want something more crazy, there is a B12 kit for EG6.

I didn't know the SPAX brand. Good to know there are more brands with adjustable damping shock absorbers besides KONI.

[JPRafael]

You can put lowering springs in B6 too. Bilstein told me you can use OEM springs or lowering springs. These shocks can take both.

I installed the Eibach springs, and they are much better than the OEM springs. You can feel that the suspension works much better with the Eibach springs; I even find it more comfortable than the OEM ones, but I think it lowered a little more than I wanted in the front. At the back, it is very good.

I have a friend with an EG Coupe with B8 and Eibach, and I feel it is more arsh compared to mine. I'm of the opinion that you shouldn't put EG stuff on MB when there are MB parts available because something has to change in that particular part; otherwise, they are both the same references.

Don't use EK springs because the weight ratings are totally different.

The spring plate is indeed a little bit small, but I have been running it for two years without a single problem.

On the subject of brake lines, I have had mine secured by zip ties for almost two years without a single issue.

Now I need to buy a front camber kit because the camber is at -2 degrees. This camber is a tire killer.

I leave a picture of my Aerodeck with Bilstein B6 + Eibach Springs.

 

[SirPaperbag]

On 7/28/2023 at 9:32 PM, JPRafael said:

I installed the Eibach springs, and they are much better than the OEM springs. You can feel that the suspension works much better with the Eibach springs; I even find it more comfortable than the OEM ones, but I think it lowered a little more than I wanted in the front.

 

Had the same issue, fixed it by fabricating a set of roughly 15mm thick steel plates that go between the top of the shock assembly and the underside of the strut tower.
Couldn't even drive into my garage anymore without scraping the front tow hooks.
Now it sits at about the same height as before.

[FacelessMB2]

On 7/28/2023 at 8:32 PM, JPRafael said:

You can put lowering springs in B6 too. Bilstein told me you can use OEM springs or lowering springs. These shocks can take both.

I installed the Eibach springs, and they are much better than the OEM springs. You can feel that the suspension works much better with the Eibach springs; I even find it more comfortable than the OEM ones, but I think it lowered a little more than I wanted in the front. At the back, it is very good.

I have a friend with an EG Coupe with B8 and Eibach, and I feel it is more arsh compared to mine. I'm of the opinion that you shouldn't put EG stuff on MB when there are MB parts available because something has to change in that particular part; otherwise, they are both the same references.

Don't use EK springs because the weight ratings are totally different.

The spring plate is indeed a little bit small, but I have been running it for two years without a single problem.

On the subject of brake lines, I have had mine secured by zip ties for almost two years without a single issue.

Now I need to buy a front camber kit because the camber is at -2 degrees. This camber is a tire killer.

I leave a picture of my Aerodeck with Bilstein B6 + Eibach Springs.

 

 

I had the brake lines tied with zip ties as well, but I wanted this done right so I could go to the inspection with no problems.

 

After seeing your Aerodeck with lowering springs, maybe install it in the rear. It's similar to the front height of my MB2.

 

Bro, I've already seen your aerodeck in Castelo Branco. When I saw it, I even had to go back to see it better, the rims caught my attention. I even have a picture of her. How small the world is. 😅

[FacelessMB2]

On 7/30/2023 at 9:35 AM, SirPaperbag said:

 

Had the same issue, fixed it by fabricating a set of roughly 15mm thick steel plates that go between the top of the shock assembly and the underside of the strut tower.
Couldn't even drive into my garage anymore without scraping the front tow hooks.
Now it sits at about the same height as before.

I like the fitment of your Civic. It's a good height for a daily car, I think. And the rims with a bigger offset look really good. 

[JPRafael]

1 hour ago, FacelessMB2 said:

 

I had the brake lines tied with zip ties as well, but I wanted this done right so I could go to the inspection with no problems.

 

After seeing your Aerodeck with lowering springs, maybe install it in the rear. It's similar to the front height of my MB2.

 

Bro, I've already seen your aerodeck in Castelo Branco. When I saw it, I even had to go back to see it better, the rims caught my attention. I even have a picture of her. How small the world is. 😅

I wasn't expecting you to be from around here ahahahahah. I knew from your profile that you were Portuguese, but I wasn't expecting that you had already spotted my car in CB. It really is a small world.

If you're local, we can set up a time for you to see my car in person. Feel free to DM me if you have more questions about the suspension.

[SirPaperbag]

On 7/31/2023 at 6:23 PM, FacelessMB2 said:

I like the fitment of your Civic. It's a good height for a daily car, I think. And the rims with a bigger offset look really good. 

 

Thanks! :D

It really is right in the sweetspot in my opinion - low enough to look good and handle well, but still enough ground clearance to get over speedbumps without fearing for dear life.

 

I also drive on unpaved roads from time to time, so I gotta clear those huge potholes.
Living out here in the boonies definitely has its pros and cons. :'D

[SirPaperbag]

Finally got around to installing my Hondata and let's just say that I might have been a little nervous when I turned that ignition key for the first time, hah!

 

 

But everything went well, and I now have a running, chipped D16Z9 engine, woohoo!

 

It might be running richer than Jeff Bezos at a marathon for now, but a few good street-tuning sessions are going to take care of that.

 

And I'm talking Lambda-0.8-at-idle-rich; Even a few seconds of cold-start are enough to make the whole courtyard reek of marzipan.

 

Sadly I barely had any seat-time during the past few months, as the bane of every D-Series owner struck - ignition problems.

It started as a random ignition stutter (rev-counter visibly took a dip) that quickly ended in a complete engine shut-off on my way home from work, and the car refused to turn back on again for at least five minutes after the initial shut-off.

 

But it weirdly enough acted as if nothing happened when it did decide to work again.

 

Spent a few weeks hunting down the issue, buying a new igniter, new coil, the whole nine yards, but the issue persisted.

 

I suspected that the sensors inside of the dizzy might be the problem and looked up part numbers, but quickly found out that those are not sold separately.

 

Dang it.

 

That's when I went "F*k it, I'm gonna buy a whole damn new distributor."

But, as it turns out, 99.9% of aftermarket dizzys for D-Series are hot garbage and people always have to buy new ones as they break down faster than you can say K-Swap.

 

That's chinesium for ya...

 

So I looked at those funny looking "Dragon Fire" -ones, which I admittedly didn't take seriously at first, and through their homepage I found out that they actually meet the IAT standard - Success!

If something meets that standard, it's at least not as crappy as all of those cheapo replicas from China.

 

 

The car has been running fine ever since and even gained a bit of torque down low! :D

 

[A few weeks later...]

 

Last weekend it was finally time for yet another small addition, as I finally grew tired of the original pedals and imported myself these beauties straight from the land of the rising sun.

 

 

The instructions might be slightly difficult to read, but at least they included some pictures.

 

And, well, installing pedals is kind of self-explanatory, y'know?

 

 

Quick peek at them, straight out of the box.

 

 

The installation process is actually super easy, as taking off the OEM accelerator-plastic is the most difficult step in my opinion.

But with a small-ish flathead screwdriver and a little bit of convincing you can lift the plastic nose on the top and then just slide it off!

 

After that, simply remove the plastic strips from the double-sided adhesive, set the covers in place and attach the small metal clamps that screw through the pedal covers to sandwich the pedal between the little clamps and the covers.

 

 

This is what the finished product looks like. :)

 

The clutch and brake pedal have that extremely grippy texture to them, which looks to be some kind of metal foam that has been injected into the frame. (Has even more grip than skateboard-tape!)

 

Oh, and heel-and-toe has gotten a lot easier, as these pedals are a bit fatter than the OEM rubbers.

 

All in all - way too expensive, but worth it.

 

 

Mmm, take a look at that close-up.

[Dave]

Glad you got the ignition problem solved, think there will be more of our civics experiencing this due the age of them now. Liking the mods, those Mugen pedals look sweet!

[Darius]

Just read most of this build thread, nice ma build you have got going there. Engine bay looks very nice! Pedals are a small thing but dang they look good:)