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Thanks to Cdelena with his instructions. I installed my JIC dampers today.
It only took about 6 hours, a lot of time was spent dropping bolts into dark small places etc.
You need to elongate the dampers quite a bit to match the stock dampers.
I ended up with a 10mm drop to start. I am getting my car corner weighed and aligned soon and will set the ride height to 15mm less front and rear.
For my initial shakedown drive I left the dampers on 2 (soft), the ride is more compliant and comfy than stock. For general cruising this will be a better setting
After a few minutes I noticed some clunking, I guess I need to re set the spring preload a little and re-torque all the bolts.
So far I am pleased, I will try some heavy damping next
They look nice. I am considering the JICs too, please update us about the clunking noises and how the car rides. Did you get the USA version with 7k/8k springs? Do the brake lines attach to the JIC units? After spending two days at Summit Point I would have to say that the stock setup does amazingly well at my current limit but a stiffer setup will probably help my autoX times.
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Pete
I seem to recall that some grey market versions had stiffer springs/dampening since they were designed for the Japanese market. Not that there is anything wrong with them, it's just that the crappy roads in the US caused JIC US to soften them a bit for our market. I would guess that the Japanese versions might even be better on the track and less comfortable on the road. I you got them from a US authorized dealer than they would be US spec, if not it would be a toss up. I am a little concerned about pillowball clunk so I would be interested to see if you can eliminate the clunk.
I used a ziptie to attach the brake lines on the front of my old GSR to my Bilstein coilovers, I always wondered if there was any flex from this setup. If I still drove it I would probably use a stainless steel screwtie to keep it attached a little more firmly.
I am still having a clunk issue, I think it's related to the spring perches and not the pillowball. Adding preload (against the manufactures instructions) seemed to minimize it but drive overa small bump and it just sounds like crap. Unacceptable IMO.
After some ride height adjustment, close to stock Initially I had the rear to low.
I tried the dampers at a setting of 6, this feels similar to stock in ride. Once I solve the clunking (I hope) I will play with the damper setting more
Well I certainly don't know much about the S2000 suspension setup but wouldn't a little preload just reduce travel by a tiny amount and firm up the initial travel a little bit? If the spring is actually moving around then the preload must be to little right? Setting preload with tire off ground would be different than setting it with the weight of the car on it. Sounds like you need more preload if the clunking is really from the spring bumping between the spring perchs.
One last thought, you are running very close to stock height, I wonder if that would have any effect since I would imagine that most people using these units are probably lowering the car 1.5" or more. Hope you get it worked out.
I just got mine installed yesterday and I love them (Thanks to Duc at TeamSpugen!). The install took about 5 hours. I had it installed by my mechanic Jack at Motorsport Techniques in Hayward. We set the spring perch just to the point where there was no lashing. Went with a 1 inch drop front and 1.5 inch drop rear (I can almost fit 2 fingers in the gap.) thinking it will settle a little. The ride is really nice at settings 5 and 3. I have them at 2 now and it's comfortable. I may leave them there for the street. I also tried 14 and 12 and the ride stiffened very much. I don't have any clunking noises. I'm getting my alignment next week after things settle and taking it to the autox.
My JIC install
