no point in taking the axle nut off and don't remove lower control arm bolt just the upper control arm then pry spring out.

 

For the rears; do you have to remove that whole assembly in order to swap the springs?

 

I am doing this swap on my 2013 Civic sedan now. I just finished the rear after I got home from work this evening. I removed the rear shocks, but had a little trouble getting the springs out. I used a strut spring compressor. I only needed to compress the spring very slightly and then the spring came right out. So, I didn't remove that lower control arm bolt on the rear end. Parts fit perfectly so far. I took out the corner pieces of the front cowl so that I could use a socket on the upper strut mounts (rather than try to reach underneath the plastic cowl with a wrench). I will try to finish tomorrow. Oh, my in-a-hurry measurement seems to indicate that the rear came down about 3/4 of an inch with the new springs.

 

Hello, jsannes, and welcome to 9th gen.

 

Hello Scottyrocks, thanks for the welcome. I have spent the last 12 years in a Miata, so the Civic is a little different for me. I finished the front struts today. I used a block of wood under the brake disc "hat" (part where the lugs come through). This kept the disc upright and not falling on it's face. Removal of the strut was easy and straight forward. I love the fact that the HFP kit comes pre-assembled for the strut. Thanks to the forum for showing me some tips on the job. Working with the corner pieces was not all that much fun, but not as bad as I thought it would be (me and plastic don't always get along).

 

What made you switch over from the world of Miatas? Those are pretty sweet (and under appreciated) little rides.

 

This video is very helpful, but is an example of why I refuse to have someone work on my car for me. The tech fails to use a torque wrench for several of the steps. I'm paranoid about that, and fear all the things that could go wrong while operating my vehicle post installation.

I plan on starting tonight and completing the instal this weekend.

Reading through, it looks like I will not need a spring compressor, as the HFP front spring/strut combo is preassembled. Can anyone verify this? Any other tips or tricks from someone that did this themselves? Ie, remove cowl in order to torque strut nuts to spec...

 

I did this myself in my garage, and I can confirm that you do not need a spring compressor. The front strut assembly is essentially a quick strut (fully assembled and plug and play) and the rears only require removal of the spring while it is under absolutely no load and therefore it won't expand, shoot out and kill you. A pry bar may be useful to bend down the rear enough to get the spring out and put the new one back in.

Contrary to other instructions, I didn't have to remove the lower control arm bolt. Also there is no need to remove the axle bolt as shown in the CH video.

Removal of the cowl will definitely make access to the strut nuts much easier. Also if you live in a place where salt is spread in large quantities during the winter, your stabilizer end link bolts will be VERY rusted and there is a chance that you could strip them taking them out/putting them back in. Just be careful of that.

Also don't let your front brakes/knuckle tug the CV joints apart when the strut is removed.

 

Thanks for ***nothing!!!! Lol... just a play on words.

Looks like good advice! Thanks for taking the time to post that.

I'm guessing I can simply catch the front brake and knuckle with a jack? Hopefully not too heavy.

Here's a good write up on the 8th gens. It's a good cross reference.

DIY HFP suspension install - Honda Civic Forum

Is it hard to get a torque wrench under the cowl to torque down the strut bolts? If so, I may be taking the cowl off.

 

Yeah, have a jack or something else there to rest the wheel assembly on.

It will be pretty hard to torque down 1 of the 3 nuts without removing the cowl. There is not a lot of clearance to get the wrench in and over the top of the stud. The other two are fairly accessible, one through the engine bay and the other through a removable cover in the cowl near the wiper arm mount.

 

How important is it to use anti seize? I don't have any tonight

 

Only really important if you want to get them off again.

 

Got it all done on Saturday!! Rear was much more difficult for me due to getting those pesky stock springs off! Really had to muscle them out. Took around 8-9 hours total doing it myself, with a little help from my dad for the front suspension. Overall it's a very easy instal regarding mentally and technically, but is physically difficult at certain points.

Now please, can someone explain to me how I go about torquing the rear dampers down? Is there a special adapter or something for this??

 

Got it all done on Saturday!! Rear was much more difficult for me due to getting those pesky stock springs off! Really had to muscle them out. Took around 8-9 hours total doing it myself, with a little help from my dad for the front suspension. Overall it's a very easy instal regarding mentally and technically, but is physically difficult at certain points.
View attachment 310169

Now please, can someone explain to me how I go about torquing the rear dampers down? Is there a special adapter or something for this??
View attachment 310217

Good job. You need to use an Allen key to hold the top of the shock from twisting.

 

Ok, I finally figured it out. I need a tool called a "strut nut socket". This allows you to torque the rear shock nuts down. Don't need it for front struts as those come preassembled and don't use a rod nut to keep it attached to the car(as seen above with the shocks).

 

I just used a combination wrench and a hex/Allen key when I did suspension work.

 

Can anyone tell me this kit can fit a non si model?

 

Just installed my kit and I'm having some clunking noises in the rear. Can someone tell me how to reassemble the bushings on the shocks?