5 Lug Conversion

The first, and often most challenging part of this upgrade is to source the necessary parts. Considering that thee weren't that many Type R's made, there is even less wrecked ones being parted out. Expect to pay between $1500.00 and $2000.00 for the complete suspension and wheels/tires from a wrecked Type R. Sometimes you can find partial suspensions for less, as I did. When doing this modification to your Civic, it pays to be patient. Five lug conversion packages aern't avaliable that often. So when you do find one, be ready to move fast.

You can piece this entire assembly together using new, OEM parts if you wish. However you cannot do this without spending a LOT more money compared to getting it off a Type R. The reason why it is much more expensive to buy the necessary components for a five lug conversion is in the rear suspension. Although the physical trailing arm is identical to that of a normal Integra, the spindle is different.

The track on a Type R is 10mm wider than that any other Integra. This results in the wheels being pushed out another 5mm on all corners compared to a non Type R. This means the rear spindle needs to be 5mm longer as well. Unfortunetly for us, Acura of America will not sell the spindle by itself (They do in Japan). So you would have to buy the entire rear trailing arm assembly to get the proper spindle. This drives the cost way up. Therefore, it is much less expensive to simply get the parts off a wrecked Type R.



What you will need

(Pics are clickable)
First the front. The minimum you will need is the front knuckle/hub assembly from a Type R. Hopefully it will come with the calipers and rotors, as mine did. If not, you can use the calipers from a 91-97 Accord Wagon and rotors from a 97+ Prelude. Note: You can reuse your Civic front upper control arms if necessary. However if the Type R upper control arms are included, you may want to use those for the stiffer/newer bushings.



Front Comparison Nice shot of front caliper

For the rear you will need the trailing arm assembly from a Type R. This should include the rear calipers and rotors as well. The rear caliper is the same as a GSR caliper. The main difference with the Type R calipers are the caliper brackets, they space the calipers .75" farther out to clear the 10.25" rotors. It is unknow if the rotor is similar to any other model Honda.



Rear Trailing arm

If you are changing from rear drums you will also need new parking brake cables (from any Integra) and new brake lines. However if you already have 4 wheel disk brakes, you should be able to use your old brake lines and e brake cables. I installed Steel Braided brake lines as part of the change over process.

You will also need a one inch master cylendar & booster from any 94+ Integra as well as a '4040' 4 wheel disk proportioning valve. These can be had from any 92-95 Civic Si or a 92-93 Integra. Be sure to get the one that has '4040' stamped on it. The '3030' proportioning valve is for a front disk, rear drum setup and will not work safely on a Civic with 4 wheel disk brakes.

The Process

First you'll need to remove the old suspension components. Start by draing the old Master cylinder. This is a lot easier if you have an old turkey baster to suck the brake fluid out with. You can see the old 13/16" master cylinder in this picture.



Beautiful!

To break down the front suspension you want to start by removing the axle nuts. This is not as easy as you would think. An impact gun makes this much easier.

Once the axle nuts have been removed, remove the brake line from the calipers. If you are replcing the brake lines along with the knuckles, you'll need to remove the brake lines from where they attach to the chassis hardlines. Then remove the three castle nuts which secure the knuckle to the car. Once you have done this you can break the ball joints loose and remove the knuckles.

For the rear, remove the brake lines first. Then go inside the car and detach the parking brake cables from the parking brake lever. Pull the cables out of the cabin from underneath the car. This involves removing the exhaust and rear heat shields. There are are three 10mm bolts per side which secure the e brake cables as they snake back to the corners. Remove those as well.

At this point you are ready to remove the trailing arm assembly. Simply unblolt it from the lower comtrol arm, the upper control arm, the frame, and the tie rod. Once you do this the whole assembly will fall off the car.



Removing rear drums

Now reattach the front and rear 5 lug suspension in the opposite order as removal. If you are new to this, it might be a good idea to do one side start to finish so you have the other side as a reference. A Helms manual includes all the proper torque specs and is very helpful at this point. Once you are finished, it should look something like this:



Suspension is complete! Big Brakes!

Once the suspension is complete, It's time to replace the master cylinder and booster. You cannot change the stock 13/16" master cylinder for the 1" model without changing the booster as well. The bolt pattern between the two is different. So you will need to swap them as a pair.

You will need to cut and re-flare one of the brake hardlines in order to do this. The hardline that needs to be re flared and bent runs from the master cylendar the proportioning valve. Once you have removed the old master cylinder, cut the flare off the end of the line. Then remove the flare nut. You will need the larger flare nut from the Integra master cylendar, so be sure to get that with when you buy the master cylinder.

I installed the new master cylinder and booster before bending the hard line. Once I had bent the line and everything lined up properly, I removed the master cylinder again and re flared the hardline. This is not easy so try to find a friend who knows how to do it, or practice a lot on some extra pipe. It's not that hard to do, just takes a little practice. Once this is done, you should be able to re-attach the hard line to both the master cylinder and proportioning valve while retaining a nice, clean OEM look. One the below picture you can see how I bent and re-routed the hardline. A close up of the bend is also included for your pleasure.



Master Cylindar & Booster Bent Hard Line

Once you've replaced the master cylinder and booster, you will need to replace the proportioning valve. Be sure to get a special 10mm "pipe wrench" as a normal open ended wrench can strip the flare nuts real easy. It looks like a closed wrench, but with one side cut out. Definetly a worthwile investment when doing this project!

This shows exactly where on the propotioning valve the '4040' stamp is. Look real closely to the picture (or load the fullsize image) and you woll see the first '40' of the '4040' stamp.



Proportioning valve Look real close to se 4040 on there

One this is all done, refill the brake lines. Bleed your brakes thuroughly, and check for leaks. Then put on your new wheels and get take it for a test drive. Be sure to be easy on the car at first so you don't plow into a wall if your brakes fail. That would be a bad thing :-)
The braking differnece is amazing. If I wanted to, I could instantly lock the wheels at any speed. The pedal feel is great with the larger MC/booster and the steel lines. The amount of braking power is unbelieveable. I never have to worry about the person in front of me out breaking me. I often have to check the car behind me to make sure I am not overbreaking on them.



The feeling of control and confidence is much higher compared to the old brakes. I can actually feel the friction between the rotors and pads since installing the steel lines. I can go through off ramps and turns much faster and brake much later. It makes driving the car so muf fun. now I hace the insane stopping power to match the acceleration. I love it!

I highly reccomend this modification for your Civic!

Sursa: http://www.hybridautomotive.com/tech/5lug/