Cheddas Auto billet rear top hat group buy

[Jarrett]

ATTENTION: If you are a beginner who is interested in this group buy, but cannot post due to minimum post requirements, please PM me any questions you have!



Because of the recent success that this community has had with group buys, I thought I would help bring another new component to our chassis. This one is also from a somewhat familiar manufacturer whose parts are on many of your vehicles already.

Cheddas Auto has made a name for themselves by catering to the peculiar crowd. A few years ago, people who drove third generation Accords, Civic and Preludes were nothing but the most die-hard enthusiasts. The cars in that group that were owned by the casual commuter or teenager had gone to the scrapyard years before. Sadly, that’s now the period that we’re entering with our fourth generation Accords. Sure there are fewer ricers and swagtastic teens, but there is also a smaller pool for companies to market to.

The good thing about small enthusiast groups is that they support companies who support their chassis. We’ve proven this in the past with the ESP.net group buy for chassis components and the FFC group buy for rear LCAs. You now have the chance to do this again a pair of billet rear top hats.

Pictured below are the top hats that Cheddas sells for the ’86-’89 Accords.





These will allow you to regain another 1-1.5” of rear shock travel that’s lost when lowering your car with lowering springs. Regain that travel and help to further restore your ride quality with these billet rear upper top hats. An added benefit to these will be a solid mounting base for a narrower diameter coil spring to rest up against. My Ground Control coils do not securely sit in the factory upper top hat because of their narrow diameter, and for this reason, I have yet to install them.

Preliminary discussion with Jordain has resulted in us getting a $150/pair price for the rears if the minimum 5 orders are met. With the current Canadian/US exchange rate, adding a few more people (perhaps those interested in fronts as well) could get the price even lower. I don’t want to speak to that with any certainty, as that is entirely up to Jordain.

Let’s support a company that has shown the willingness to make oddball parts for oddball chassis. The day is not far away when our Accords will be oddball, if it’s not here already. Let’s show those who use their personal time to R&D for us that there is a market. Who knows what else that encouragement could produce! Please respond below or give Jordain a call at the shop (250-581-1131) if you have any questions. I am not involved in this at all other than my own interest in having these parts produced.


Here's some of the things they already make for us!


Their F22A to K-series intake manifold adapter:

http://www.cheddasauto.com/apps/webs...s/show/6787027

Their billet shifter:

http://www.cheddasauto.com/apps/webs...s/show/5661783

Their billet rear lower control arms:

http://www.cheddasauto.com/apps/webs...s/show/6318116




Current List:
1. Jarrett - 1 pair of rear top hats
2. Tishock - 1 pair of rear top hats
3. Darkcloud - 1 pair of rear top hats
4. TuneAccordingly - 1 pair of rear top hats
5. Chrisnick - 1 pair of rear top hats
6. jamz720 - 1 pair rear top hats
7. excalibur02 - 1 pair rear top hats
8. Frijoles - 1 pair rear top hats
9. cbr-dee - 1 pair rear top hats

[Jarrett]

List of interested parties:

1. Jarrett - 1 pair of rear top hats
2.
3.
4.
5.

[dj_ender]

I personally have their front top hats, fitment wasn't perfect, but I'm very happy with my purchase. I'm interested in rears, but I fear that using these will cause me to have to remove the rear bracing behind the rear seat.

[Tishock]

Is there a cut off date?

[Jarrett]

I personally have their front top hats, fitment wasn't perfect, but I'm very happy with my purchase. I'm interested in rears, but I fear that using these will cause me to have to remove the rear bracing behind the rear seat.

That's something that is likely a given. However, I rationalize that by saying that these in concert with a solid rear upper strut bar would be an advantageous trade off versus doing nothing back there at all.

Is there a cut off date?

Not really. Think of this as somewhere in between a test of the waters and a full-fledged group buy. I'm sure at some point Jordain is going to want to move on to other projects, but I don't have an answer for you as to how long he plans to entertain this.



In regards to any of your concerns that people have about the products themselves, or any complaints you may have about Cheddas Auto, please discuss those here. We cannot expect anyone to address issues unless we first make them known.

[Rilas]

I would be down for a set of these. Although I don't want to lose the bracing that is already in the car. I do have the rear Ultra Racing solid strut bar, so I guess that would make up for the loss of the piddly OEM bracing. I'm sure that an extra 1-1.5" of travel would help the ride a good bit.

[Tishock]

List of interested parties:

1. Jarrett - 1 pair of rear top hats
2. Tishock - 1 pair of rear top hats
3.
4.
5.

[Rilas]

List of interested parties:

1. Jarrett - 1 pair of rear top hats
2. Tishock - 1 pair of rear top hats
3. Rilas - 1 pair of rear top hats
4.
5.

[dj_ender]

I would be down for a set of these. Although I don't want to lose the bracing that is already in the car. I do have the rear Ultra Racing solid strut bar, so I guess that would make up for the loss of the piddly OEM bracing. I'm sure that an extra 1-1.5" of travel would help the ride a good bit.

If you're not running Koni yellows, you should be fine. The shafts for the yellows extend farther than most above the top hats.

[Darkcloud]

I'm in for this


1. Jarrett - 1 pair of rear top hats
2. Tishock - 1 pair of rear top hats
3. Rilas - 1 pair of rear top hats
4. Dark cloud-1 pair of rear top hats

[Rilas]

I'll check a few things on the car and confirm for sure tomorrow.

[Raf99]

May be worth reminding others (and myself) what these are really for. Please correct me if I am wrong but you wouldn't use these on a coilover system. These would be for those who want to go lower but on a static set of springs/shocks (say OEM) but also want to go lower.

IE- I want to keep my OEM springs/shocks but I am a 4x4 height, by buying these I can lower the body of the car but keep this spring/shock setup.

[Jarrett]

You're correct in that you wouldn't have much use for these on many full-bodied coilovers, because those shock travel lengths are designed around the operating range of that setup as whole. That is, if the coilover is of sufficient quality to have any real design put into it at all.

But these won't lower a shock/spring setup, either. It will allow you to put a spring on a shock whose "drop" is outside of the usual operating range of that shock without the harmful effects.

Let's say you have a shock with a sweet spot at x and an operating range at x +/- 2 inches. The spring that was designed for that shock is also designed with a static height (at preload) near that very same sweet spot. But we like to lower our cars so we install lowering springs. Say that the lowering springs are 2.5" lowering springs (x-2.5). The shock has an effective range of x +/- 2, so we are already .5" outside of that range of travel. In addition to not being valved for the much stiffer spring rates, this is another reason that shocks blow prematurely.

The solution is the increase the distance in the upper mounting points between the shock and the spring. If you raise the point that the shock mounts to, but keep the spring mounting point the same, then you can allow the shock to get back into its range of travel. If you have an extended top hat that's 1.5" taller, then that same shock is now at x-1. Not ideal, but still an improvement. As has been pointed out here, sometimes there are space constraints within the physical car that prevent you from doing certain things. Same for the front. Extend the top hats enough and you'll eventually hit the underside of the hood!

These numbers are just general reference numbers and not actual distances to refer to.

[Rilas]

So after looking at things on the car, I would probably need these if I dropped the perches down again, on the Bilsteins. So for the time being I'll withdraw from this group buy.

Current List:
1. Jarrett - 1 pair of rear top hats
2. Tishock - 1 pair of rear top hats
3. Dark cloud-1 pair of rear top hats
4.
5.

[TuneAccordingly]

I'm interested