[88CRxSnowBlind]

I wanted to lower my car for the time being until i had enough to get springs, so i ended up cutting the stock ones..... my only problem is, i have to get the peice that i cut, out. when it popped the spring compressed the cut peice in with it. Anybody have an idea as to how to get it out?

Also, how do i rotate the crank to get TDC with the screw driver..... do i just turn the cam sprocket?

 

[downest]

I don't even know what to say about the springs...

But to rotate the crank you aren't going to get anywhere with a screwdriver. You need to put a 17mm 1/2" drive socket on the pulley bolt and rotate that, it will take a bit of muscle to move a lot.

 

[Paul]

you are going to have the bouncyest ride because you cut your springs...

i rode in a civic were the guy cut his springs

you hit hte smallest bump in the road and you will bounce up and down forever untill the car evens out

 

[bobski]

you hit hte smallest bump in the road and you will bounce up and down forever untill the car evens out

That's a symptom of failed shock absorbers, not cut springs. If you push down on a corner of the car and it bounces up and down more than twice, the shocks are dead.
Cutting the springs will increase your spring rate (make the springs stiffer), which I've read will wear out your stock shocks alot faster (so the two are related, but not the same). When you increase the spring rate, the shocks go from relatively long, slow impacts to short, sharp ones. You could get stiffer aftermarket shocks to handle the changes, but why would you spend money on shocks and use cut springs?
You could try the ghetto method for decompressing your springs and then take out the cut part. I actually prefer it over using a spring compressor:
1. With your car sitting on all four wheels (so the spring is being compressed by the weight of the car), take off the nut (only do one spring at a time) that holds the shock absorber shaft to the top spring perch.
2. Lift that corner of the car up and the shock shaft should slide out of the perch as the spring decompresses.
3. Take out your cut section of spring, the shock or whatever it is you're doing that requires decompressing the spring. You might need to push down on the suspension to get the clearance you need, but don't get under the car unless you set it down on a jack stand first.
>A4. If you're replacing the spring with something that won't be compressed when simply bolted together with the shock, unbolt the upper spring perch from the car and bolt it back on the end of the shock shaft.
A5. Lower the car, making sure the spring perch slips back in where it's supposed to be. Bolt the perch back on the car.
>B4. If the spring needs to be recompressed, set everything back together and gradually lower the car, making sure the shock shaft slides into the upper perch/bushing. Keep in mind that you're compressing a spring before you decide to stick your fingers in there to guide the shaft.
B5. Put the top washer and nut back on the shock shaft.

 

[Paul]

well i guess im wrong

but the bouncy ride sure was annoying lol

so were the rediculous 15 inch subs loosening the wax from my ear

 

[toxiclows]

you should have took the springs off first..... . . .. It hasnt been asked and you did not mention it.... . . .but what happend when you jack the car up by the frame and let the suspension sag down..... . . . will that take enough pressure off the springs to allow you to slip the cut part out.....

failing in that...... grip with vise grips and beat religiously with hammer...

failing in that.... take the whole assembly off and decompress it...

Chris]

 

[rex2nr]

As for finding tdc, I assume you mean removing the sparkplugs, inserting a ling screwdriver in the plug hole, and then rotating?

If so, well, thats part one. Then you will crank the engine over with a breaker bar or 1/2 in ratchet with a 17mm socket on the crank pulley. You can use the cam pulley, but it will be harder to turn since its a smaller pulley and has less leverage.

 

[ryan_long_01]

when it popped the spring compressed the cut peice in with it. Anybody have an idea as to how to get it out?

You didn't even take them off the car before you cut them? You're lucky you still have both eyes and all your fingers left. Bad: cutting springs. Worse: doing it while they are still on the car.

 

[90c5]

actually, cutting your springs WILL make it bounce. anyone who says otherwise has never done it before. the shocks and springs being bad will also do it but in a COMPLETELY different way. trust me, i've experienced both.

 

[shanghaining]

well i guess im wrong

but the bouncy ride sure was annoying lol

so were the rediculous 15 inch subs loosening the wax from my ear

sorry but thats just too funny hahahahahah :roll:

 

[shorte]

actually, cutting your springs WILL make it bounce. anyone who says otherwise has never done it before. the shocks and springs being bad will also do it but in a COMPLETELY different way. trust me, i've experienced both.

Didn't read bobski's response did ya?
I've cut a bunch of springs for me and others, but I didin't cut off a lot/slam the cars, I hate that.
My first crx, I had cut stock original springs and shocks, It rode nearly like stock (maybe a tad stifer), but was maybe only an inch lower.

 

[TSXinaREX]

I dont think cutting the springs increases spring rate. They dont get any harder to compress, just shorter.

 

[shorte]

It does a little, if you have 20 coils on a spring and you cut off 2 you've just reduced it by 10% or increased the rate by the same I believe, anyway it a small amount.
Bobski, got a more technical explanation? Your way better with words and tech than me.

 

[bobski]

Sure. Think about what the spring is - a length of tempered metal bar, wrapped into a cylinder shape. When you compress the spring, you are bending that metal bar. The tempering makes the metal preticularly good at holding a shape, so when you bend it, it tries to return to that original shape.
If you could unwrap the spring and watch it as weight was applied to it, it would start out as a more or less streight bar and bend into a curve as load is applied, the same way you would expect a long bar to bend if you hung a weight on the end.
Ok, stick with that image - take a hypothetical 10 foot long metal bar (hell, try it with a real one if you like), clamp one end in a vice and hang a 5 lb weight on the end... Say the end of the bar bends down an inch. The bar has a spring rate of 5lbs/inch (at least I think that's how it works).
Now say you cut the bar in half. You now have a 5 foot bar, made of the same material as the original one. You hang the 5 lb weight on the end. Would the bar still bend down 1 inch? No. It would take a much heavier weight to get the shorter bar to bend the same distance. As such, you have a higher spring rate.
Shortening the bar had two results: the leverage that the load had over the bar was reduced, and there was less material available to bend.

[edit]
Now that I think about it, a streight bar example probably isn't a perfect analogy, but the principle should hold. A coil spring probably has some torsional forces (maybe it's all torsional force?) on the wire when weight is applied. Bleh... helices make my brain hurt.
[/edit]