Lowering a 79 Accord

[PDXAccord79]

Hello everyone,

So I now have my door latch situation resolved and am looking to do some performance mods to my 79. It's a nimble little car but I would like it a little stiffer and lower to the ground. I think it would also look better with the wheels tucked a little deeper into the fenders.

So, my question is does anyone know of any springs that will give me a 1.5 to 2 inch drop on the Accord? I don't want to cut the springs, and will keep it stock height if that's the only option. However, I'm thinking there has to be some part out there from a later model Civic/Accord that will do what I need. Any suggestions? I already have a source for sway bars, so I don't need to worry about that.

Thanks

[2ndGenGuy]

I've never seen springs for them. Only thing people have done is pretty much cut them. Hazwan and another guy with a green sedan have both cut their springs.

Mind if I ask what source you found for swaybars?

[PDXAccord79]

A friends friend used to work at a suspension shop and can basically make anything I need and is willing to help me with this project. I figure I'll get a bigger bar for the front and add one to the back.

I've been looking at various parts catalogs and it appears that the only difference between 79 and 82 strut assemblies are the spring retainer plates at the top. I'm curious if 82 lower springs will fit on a 79 with a bit of modification to that plate. I believe I've found a source for 82 lowered springs.

[2ndGenGuy]

Source for 82 lowering springs? King? Spax?

Your best bet with the swaybars would bet to put a decent sized one on the rear first, IMO. Then maybe upgrade the front to match. Is your car a sedan or a hatch?

[PDXAccord79]

King has a set that will fit 82-83 Accords. I can find plenty of these cars at scrap yards around PDX, so I may just have to go out, take a strut, and see if I can make it work.

It's a hatch.

[2ndGenGuy]

I think the springs are quite a bit different last time I was trying to check compatibility between my 81 and my 84. But keep us posted with what you find out.

We had a member try to buy a set of springs for his 84 hatch and wound up getting the coilover-style springs that the 3g Accord has, which really won't fit at all. I would definitely ask for pics from King before spending all that money shipping them over here.

[79cord]

I remember being curious about the idea of using 2g front struts in my Accord once having read claims from the cars release that they were already lower than earlier models & with similar spring rates (supposedly similar car weight) and firmer dampers (possibly depending upon market -US likely to get softer than European spec.).
Though the top mounting points were completely different and the 2g also adopted offset springs set at an angle to the strut axis, which the 1g had only added at the rear for '79. so had abandoned the idea... though it might still hold some potential if the top mounting plates are interchangeable & the assembly physically fits.
Accord could likely do with firmer dampers regardless & might need revision for shorter travel if shorter springs were fitted.

Come to think of it I could measure my 1g Prelude springs too, again they have different mountings.
And I was also considering trying its delicate rear sway bar as well though the Prelude rear geometry/components were very different to fit the spare between the lower mounts (short A-arms) for the 2g Civic, while Accords A-arms were lengthened for '79 & even longer for 2g.

3g Civics /1st integra went for torsion bar front springs & after that most Honda went to the double wishbone front suspension allowing longer front springs?

[PDXAccord79]

Huh, I was worried about something like that. Still, I was thinking of maybe hacking together an 1g and 2g top spring mount to make it work. The strut housing looks very similar.

Do you know if coil overs will possibly work? I haven't had a chance to research this.

[2ndGenGuy]

You could probably use some ebay sleeves. You'd have to be careful what spring rates you get, and unless you revalve some Koni's there's a good chance you'll blow out your struts with stiffer springs.

[PDXAccord79]

Do you have any idea on how to find out what valves to use and how to find the spring rate? Sorry if this is a stupid question, but the last car I worked on was a standard Beetle so this whole spring/strut setup is a little foreign to me. I do have an official Accord manual coming soon, so hopefully that helps me figure some of this out.

[79cord]

Workshop manuals won't usually include details of that degree.
I did spot this thread in the 2g section that might be useful:
http://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=63298
Spring rates can also be calculated be measuring the springs once removed.
MacPherson struts are a very common setup so good suspension places should have some ideas also if they aren't of the increasingly common "computer-says-no" variety.

[1GCustomAccord]

Lol.. "computer-says-no" places.. Hate them!

Ok..i use a 1g Prelude rear sway bar in my Accord sedan and it fits nice with little mods. (Couple of holes here and there.) Is a little slim tough.

[PDXAccord79]

Thanks guys, this will help out quite a bit. If I figure out a setup that works I'll post it on here just in case someone else gets the same idea.

[Hazwan]

Lol.. "computer-says-no" places.. Hate them!

Ok..i use a 1g Prelude rear sway bar in my Accord sedan and it fits nice with little mods. (Couple of holes here and there.) Is a little slim tough.

More details of this! PICS!

[81vintyminty]

Lol.. "computer-says-no" places.. Hate them!

Ok..i use a 1g Prelude rear sway bar in my Accord sedan and it fits nice with little mods. (Couple of holes here and there.) Is a little slim tough.

thats awesome, i always wondered about a rear swaybar for my sedan. pics and info would be great!! a slim swaybar is better than none at all right!?

[1GCustomAccord]

thats awesome, i always wondered about a rear swaybar for my sedan. pics and info would be great!! a slim swaybar is better than none at all right!?

Thats right buddy. I will take some pictures for you guys. :cool:

[OldSkoolA20accord]

Just throw some coil-sleeves on it. From like an 88-00 civic.

[Hazwan]

thats awesome, i always wondered about a rear swaybar for my sedan. pics and info would be great!! a slim swaybar is better than none at all right!?

omg dude you still have your 81? The last time I heard about them you're selling it :(

[81vintyminty]

omg dude you still have your 81? The last time I heard about them you're selling it :(

i still got her!! yeah that was a while back im so glad i didnt sell it!! i took some phone pics of it today and im about to post em, its been a while!!

[80hatch]

Hi, new here! Don't know much about what fits what when it comes to the suspension on this car, but what about this:

google: "suspension coil springs universal"
click on "moog suspension parts"

sorry, can't post links....

Maybe something will fit, or am i completely wrong?

Anyways. Love this site! It has helped me alot! Thank u guys :)

[80hatch]

oh.. I forgot. I also know a source for koni shocks if anyone is interested....

$30 per shock ... peanuts.! :)

[2ndGenGuy]

Yeah... classicgarage.com. But they're not necessarily in perfect shape. They've been sitting on a shelf for 30 years, so you might wanna buy a couple sets, and make a good pair in case you get a bad one. The bad ones can always be sent in and rebuilt as well. Also, they're not the stiffest shocks in the world, so don't expect a ton of improvement when you install them.