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Modifications and Information
click on image to enlarge
DISCLAIMER
BEFORE YOU START ANY MODIFICATIONS OR CHANGES, IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBLITY TO VERIFY WITH YOUR PARTS SUPPLIER THE CORRECT PART NUMBERS, SUITABLILITY, AND STATE REGULATIONS FOR YOUR PARTICULAR APPLICATION. THE FOLLOWING IS ONLY INFORMATION AS TO WHAT I HAVE DONE TO MY CAR AND IN NO WAY STATES OR IMPLIES THE SUITABILITY FOR YOUR VEHICLE.
Suspension
I had to decide if I wanted performance or luxury: there is a trade off. So I lowered my car with a set of Eibach Pro Kit springs model #4009.140. Plus I added Tokico gas struts (front- HU3653/HU3654, back-HU2826). The outcome was both good and bad . The upside is the car handles great. I can really power in the corners and the car handles flat. The car even has better weight transfer that translates into better braking. The downside is the ride is stiffer and the 1" to 1-1/4" drop does make a difference in ground clearance. I have to watch where I drive to avoid bottoming the car or dragging the muffler tips, ie... steep transitions from road to driveways or drop offs. I don't have a problem with high speed drops or dips because the car drops evenly so the suspension won't let the car bottom out. The camber is now a half degree out and my car has no camber adjustment resulting in a need to rotate tires more often. I have not been able to find anyone who makes a camber adjustment kit for my car. So I was working with the president of Eibach ,Greg Cooley (sp), to come up with a solution. He was no help to the point of not even returning my calls after our only phone conversation.
before
after
Exhaust
I talked to PaceSetter, they make Monza exhaust, to get a muffler with the correct dimensions. I used their TFX model # 33-1161 that has a single 2-1/4" inlet and dual 2-1/2" outlets, along with a set of their Big Bore pencil tips model # 95-9226 that have a 2-1/2" inlet and a 3" outlet. I had a local exhaust shop do the install. First they removed the old muffler just past the last bolted
flange. They cut the hangers off the stock muffler and welded them on the new one along with tac welding the exhaust tips which butt up against the muffler. Then a piece of pipe was bent to connect the muffler to the existing exhaust pipe. Once it was all trial fitted it was remove and I chose to paint it all black. Once reinstalled I noticed
the change immediately. It has a real nice low tone. The acceleration was much better. I guess the engine did not have to fight the back pressure. The downside is at low speeds under a load between about 20 and 30 mph there is a low frequency drone that is loud, this goes away at higher speeds.
Body
I wanted to add a rear wing but didn't like the '89 factory original. It was just a curved rubber piece that fit at the back edge of the trunk. I decided to go with a later year three post lighted wing. The late model wing runs around $500 from Acura. I chose a Maxum aftermarket OEM replica number MAX SP-17L at a more reasonable $180. I had the wing painted and mounted at Classic Car Restorations, a local shop
that did the paint on my 55 Chevy . The wing came with strips to position it on the trunk and mark points to drill. They drilled the bolt holes first from the top then drilled larger holes for washers from the underside making sure to only drill the support metal and not the top sheet metal. Time and patience were a must here to make sure they drilled only once and in the right place. This was especially true for the center support and wiring holes to avoid hitting the trunk wiring. They then bolted the wing down with a set of 1/8" rubber gaskets they made using the wing post as a template. The wiring is run in the support channel next to the lock and light wiring then spliced into the third brake light.
Audio
The Factory Bose Premium Sound System is pretty good, but I wanted more. I replaced the factory speakers with set of Infinity RS-6902i to get more high ends in the back. These 6 X 9 are a bolt in replacement with the exception of
having to pull the amps off the factory speakers and mount them to these. I also added an 8" bass tube STW-800 mounted to a 1 X 12 that was mounted between the fender wells. I topped all this off with a Toshiba TX-972 10 disc CD changer with RF Modulator.