BC Racing Coilover Install
 

Let me just say, these BC Racing coilovers are GORGEOUS!! Very high quality build that will take the pounding of the GrimmSpeed team car. I have heard/read alot of good things about these coilovers so i decided to pull the trigger and get them and i'm glad i did.

I went with the 8K/6K setup and also got an extra set of 8K and 6K springs so i can swap them out to see what the best set up is. These come with very strong camber plates and pillow ball mounts(soo much better than the stock mount). In the next few days we will be getting their prototype rear camber plate as well. They are 32 way adjustable as well.

Install went fairly quickly and there were direct bolt on to the 97 Impreza L. Below i have detailed step by step instructions.

If you are looking for a great street/track setup..this is it.


Installation

Tools:
12mm wrench/socket
19mm wrench/socket
Breaker bar(not needed but helps alot)
Jack
Safety glasses


1. The harderst part of the entire install will be breaking free the 2 19mm bolts at the base of the strut. You will want to soak these in liquid wrench/PB blaster for 1/2 hour+ before you even try to loosen them. After soaking use a 19mm socket on a breaker bar to bust the nut loose. On the fronts, the top bolt is the camber bolt, make sure to put this bolt back in the top spot when reinstalling.

[img]http://www.grimmspeed.com/project_l/oem_strut_bottom.jpg[/img]


2. Take off the brakeline bracket that attaches to the stock strut bottom. This is a 12mm bolt. See in pic above

3. Take off the abs sensor bracket. This is also a 12mm bolt. See in pic above

4. Now you will want to prop up the jack underneath the hub/control arm to hold the hub assembly in place. This helps not to stretch things out like your brake lines. Jack the jack up just enough to put a little pressure on the hub.

[img]http://www.grimmspeed.com/project_l/jack_holding_up_hub.jpg[/img]


5. With the jack in place you can now take off the 3 12 mm nuts at the top of the strut/strut top. These arent torque'd down much so they will be easy to get off. Before taking the 3rd one all the way off you will want to be holding on to the spring because once you take this last 12mm nut off the strut/spring will come loose.

[img]http://www.grimmspeed.com/project_l/tophat_nuts.jpg[/img]


6. You have not taken the oem strut out.

7. To start reinstallation of the BC Racing coilovers slide the strut top into the 3 holes in the wheel well. You may need to spin the strut a bit to properly align the tophat studs. Once aligned, loosely place the 3 12mm nuts on top of the strut. At this point you can let go of the strut as it will hang freely.

[img]http://www.grimmspeed.com/project_l/tophat_nuts_bc.jpg[/img]


8. Since the BC Racing coilver is shorter you will want to jack up the jack a few more inches to move the hub assembly closer to the bottom bolt holes on the strut.

9. Insert the 19mm camber bolt into the top hole, then repeat with the bottom 19mm bolt through the bottom hole. Tighten down nuts onto both 19mm bolts.

[img]http://www.grimmspeed.com/project_l/strut_bottom_bc.jpg[/img]


10. Reattach the abs sensor to the coilver with the 12mm bolt. See above pic

11. Brake line bracket. This is the only piece that didnt bolt directly up. You will need to get a bolt, washer, and nut to tighten the brakeline bracket onto the strut base because there is not a thread female side on the BC strut like their is on the stock strut.

12. You can now tighten down all 3 12mm tophate bolts.

13. Now rinse and repeat for the 3 other corners.


The install is very straight forward and should take you 2-4 hours depending on your experience level. You will want to play with the front top 19mm camber bolts to get the camber set to your liking.


I will be writing updates on these bad boys as time goes on so you can all see how they preform.

Justin Grimm



Few more fun pics


[img]http://www.grimmspeed.com/project_l/bc_coilovers_in_box.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.grimmspeed.com/project_l/bc_coilovers_vs_stock_height.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.grimmspeed.com/project_l/bc_coilovers_fender_well.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.grimmspeed.com/project_l/bc_coilovers_camber_plate.jpg[/img]

I bought a used set of these for my WRX , and I'm planning to install them myself as well. Very good write up, it's going to be very helpful when the time comes for me to do the install.

Would the install be pretty much the same for a WRX?

[QUOTE=Ivegotthenuts;1978398]I bought a used set of these for my WRX , and I'm planning to install them myself as well. Very good write up, it's going to be very helpful when the time comes for me to do the install.

Would the install be pretty much the same for a WRX?[/QUOTE]

install will be exactly the same. which spring rates did you get?

Nice write up.

I did my install a few months back. Wish I had seen this before I did it. I think I would add that in the rear, for the top strut bolts, two are easily accessible, as for the third, which is directly under the seatbelt thing, is not. Just got to take your time and use a box wrench to get that sucker out.

In some cases, coilover set-ups may not have a brakeline bracket, just do what I did and ziptied them to the strut itself.

My last piece of advice, is for the strut/hub bolts. Those guys are a little difficult to get in. What I did was shake the hub and the strut while wiggling the top bolt in. After that, I let loose the jack and did the same with the bottom bolt. Hope that helps.

Also... if you had the stock strut like I did and you need to the brakeline off the strut, just use a hack saw and cut a slit through the bracket, then bend it back with pliers. It worked for me.

[QUOTE=darkonion;1978422]Nice write up.

I did my install a few months back. Wish I had seen this before I did it. I think I would add that in the rear, for the top strut bolts, two are easily accessible, as for the third, which is directly under the seatbelt thing, is not. Just got to take your time and use a box wrench to get that sucker out.

In some cases, coilover set-ups may not have a brakeline bracket, just do what I did and ziptied them to the strut itself.

My last piece of advice, is for the strut/hub bolts. Those guys are a little difficult to get in. What I did was shake the hub and the strut while wiggling the top bolt in. After that, I let loose the jack and did the same with the bottom bolt. Hope that helps.

Also... if you had the stock strut like I did and you need to the brakeline off the strut, just use a hack saw and cut a slit through the bracket, then bend it back with pliers. It worked for me.[/QUOTE]


thanks for the tips. i actually zip tied mine as well but i wanted to give users a better option lol

we got the new prototype rear camber plates in today from BC Racing. These arent on the market yet so we are trying them out for BC. install was pretty simple with just the supplied tools(preload adjusting wrenches, 6mm allen), 14mm wrench, and a 17mm wrench. everything bolted up perfectly except i had to move the outside allen head bolts to the inside because they were hitting on the fender hole.


first you will want to mark your current preload position for the spring. we used some fashionable pink finger nail polish to mark the spot.
[img]http://www.grimmspeed.com/project_l/bc_coilovers_rear_camber_plate_thread_marking.jpg[/img]

these are the wrenches that are included with the coilovers to adjust the spring preload. loosen the lower one first, then proceed with the second. loosen them enough to take all pressure off the spring so you can begin taken the plate/tophat off.
[img]http://www.grimmspeed.com/project_l/bc_coilovers_rear_camber_adjusting_spring_locks.jpg[/img]

these are the wrenches you'll need. this is the stock non-adjustable BC Racing tophats. first step will be taken the dampener adjuster off and the main nut the holds the plate on. when you get the dampener adjuster off you will expose a 6mm allen..this is used to hold the stud still while taking off the 17mm nut.
[img]http://www.grimmspeed.com/project_l/bc_coilovers_rear_camber_plate_wrenches.jpg[/img]

next you will want to slide off the collar that sits around the stud. once the collar is off you can slide the plate off.
[img]http://www.grimmspeed.com/project_l/bc_coilovers_rear_camber_plate_collar_off.jpg[/img]

here is a pic of the plate completely off. now we will start to install the new adjustable camber plates.
[img]http://www.grimmspeed.com/project_l/bc_coilovers_rear_camber_plate_noncamber_off.jpg[/img]


put the new camber plate on. then slide collar back around the stud. tighten down the 17mm nut. you will need to use the allen wrench again to hold the stud from spinning. reinstall the dampener adjuster with your 14mm wrench.
[img]http://www.grimmspeed.com/project_l/bc_coilovers_rear_camber_plate_sitting_on_spring.jpg[/img]

now the camber plate is completely installed. while trying to put the coilver onto the car i noticed that one of the small allen bolts was hitting on the side of the fender hole.
[img]http://www.grimmspeed.com/project_l/bc_coilovers_rear_camber_plate_bolt_hits_mount.jpg[/img]

to solve this problem you need to move both outside allen bolts to the middle slot.
[img]http://www.grimmspeed.com/project_l/bc_coilovers_rear_camber_plate_bolts_need_to_move.jpg[/img]


this is what the allen bolts should look like once moved over.
[img]http://www.grimmspeed.com/project_l/bc_coilovers_rear_camber_plate_bolts_together.jpg[/img]


now the coilover will slide back up into the fender and bolt right in with the 3 12mm nuts that hold the coilver to the fender.


Hope that helps all of you out that will be doing this mod in the future when these plates come onto the market.

Justin Grimm

when are the rear camber plates going to be up for sale?

Just installed the two right side's. Boy was it a b*tch and a half.

When I was doing the front, I first took the top 19mm bolt out, and the hub/rotor flops over to one side, is this normal?

Anywho, off to do the other two sides.

And thanks again Mr. Grimm for the great write-up, I would've been lost without it.

the rear camber plates are on the market for the GD's but not the GC's. i dont have an eta on the GC's.

[QUOTE=Ivegotthenuts;1987245]Just installed the two right side's. Boy was it a b*tch and a half.

When I was doing the front, I first took the top 19mm bolt out, and the hub/rotor flops over to one side, is this normal?

Anywho, off to do the other two sides.

And thanks again Mr. Grimm for the great write-up, I would've been lost without it.[/QUOTE]

no problem at all bro, glad it helped!! the hub shouldnt flop around until both of the bottom strut bolts are taken off.

do you know where to purchase the rear camber plates? im thinking of picking up these coilovers for my car.

[QUOTE=NorCalBugEye;1987636]do you know where to purchase the rear camber plates? im thinking of picking up these coilovers for my car.[/QUOTE]


contact josh at importimage racing..tell him i sent you and he'll hook ya up.

Justin