B serious

Ive done this on other carz....but it requires uninstalling the LCA. And they are trying to put the springs back ON.

Idk...I've just compressed them by hand in the past. S2000 springs don't require a spring compressor for removal or install, from what I've seen. I don't weigh anywhere near 190LB.

You sure you have the right springs on the right shocks?

freq

My thought days ago.

st.ryder64

This is what I asked a couple days ago. We verified that the struts are the correct p/n for my model year last night, but I specifically DID purchase springs from another year. Are different model year springs or struts different lengths? The springs I removed are aftermarket and ARE about 3/4" shorter...they're Eibach 164352 4043.001VA. But I ASSumed that the previous owner had wanted the car lower, hence the shorter springs.

Billman250

I am pretty sure all shocks are the same length, so you can use any oem spring and shock combo.

Your rates may be slightly off, but fitment should be the same. With everything in place, before pushing down, how far do you have to go to expose 3 or so threads of the shock rod?

st.ryder64

I'm making a guess here, since I've never actually achieved it during any of this process, but I'd say at least an inch, maybe more. While pushing on the top hat, the rubber part that inserts into it (is this the bump stop?) cannot be in place, since the threaded shaft of the strut isn't centered at this stage. If I could get the threaded shaft to protrude enough through the top hat, I could place the bump stop on the shaft and then use that to center everything, allowing me to insert the bump stop into the top hat and then throw a nut on.

While I'm thinking about it, I see references here to cutting the bump stops and I have no idea whether that's been done or not to mine. Is there a pic somewhere of an uncut stop which I could compare to?

B serious

S2000 ride heights are all the same for all years (pretty much). But different years have different rates.

A softer spring will need to be taller to keep the same ride height.

I have a ground mounted hydraulic compressor. I do not use the autozone rental compressors because they're dangerous...and yes, they do not offer any room between the shock.

Do you have any bigger friends? Get two people on top of this thing.

B serious

Or....put the spring/shock against the concrete garage baseboard.

Park a car behind you.

Put your back against the car's wheel.

Leg press the spring and shock.

Have someone thread on the nut.

st.ryder64

I get that, which is why I'm not surprised that these springs are longer than what I removed. It appears from what I've been told that all S2K's have the same front struts, so logically then, some S2K model years would have spring/strut combinations which are harder to compress than others, no? This would explain why some people say, "Yeah, it's easy to push down," and some say, "Get five of your friends and a sixpack of beer, plus a gorilla" to do this job.

Slowcrash_101

I managed to put together the CR suspension without a spring compressor, those are the stiffest Oem springs. I suppose you could just take it to a shop, most likely they have a hydraulic strut compressor.

B serious

Stiffest...but shortest.