Little Blue Wagon Build

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  • H_civic66H_civic66 Senior Wagonist
    H_civic66 wrote:
    Are you going to use the duplicolor bumper/trim paint?
    That's my plan so far.

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    Cool, thats what I got. Got it from advance just making sure thats what people are using. Good to see her in pics she drove too. Hows she drive?
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    H_civic66 wrote:
    Cool, thats what I got. Got it from advance just making sure thats what people are using. Good to see her in pics she drove too. Hows she drive?
    She's smooth. Not as peppy as a b-swapped wagon but she will achieve and maintain highway speeds, lol!
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    The little blue wagon is having an intermittent starting issue. Two days running it started in the morning but not after sitting in the parking lot at work. The guy at the otter-parts store says his machine says it's the alternator but I've driven cars with bad alternators and this is different. Luckily for me, there's bam-bam. He's got her right now to see what she's doing... of course, as with any problem you take to a mechanic the car won't do it for him. Bam's trying another starter to see of that fixes her up. Anyhow, I'm just reading through the boards and seeing lots of cool things to do to spruce her up a bit.

    Future wishlist:
    manual transmission
    tinted windows
    upgraded rolling stock (something in a 15" alloy Honda wheel)
    center console armrest
    cupholders
    rear cargo cover
    redo headliner

    pending mods:
    a rear speaker solution (Isuzu pods, color match?)
    roof rack

    accomplished mods:
    stereo head unit
  • bam-bambam-bam Council Member
    I finally forced the starter to show its stuff. Ryan and I swapped it this afternoon. Of course, it's another used one... I have one more used piece before we buy a new one!

    Suggestion for speaker pods: make 'em Eve's tits! That's included in headliner redo, no??
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    bam-bam wrote:
    Suggestion for speaker pods: make 'em Eve's tits! That's included in headliner redo, no??
    A few problems with that plan.

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    One, these are supposed to be rear speakers; in the panel known as the Creation of Eve she's on the left of the scene which would place her in the front of the car. Yes, I could rotate the image but that's not what I want to do.
    Two, probably due to Michaelangelo's preferences Eve's breasts are a bit on the small side. To make the speakers fit I'd have to enlarge the scale to a point where it's only be a portrait of Eve... from clavicle to sternum.
    Three, you can't really see Eve's breasts.
    Four, the panel I had in mind, the Creation of Adam, doesn't show Eve at all seeing as she's still one of Adam's ribs.

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    And fifth, and maybe most important, my daughter is a bit grossed out by Adam being nekkid. And since she usually sits on that side of the car she'd be seeing a lot of nekkid Adam.
  • PebblesPebbles New Wagonist
    looks like Michaelangelo's preference ran small in other areas, as well
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    Pebbles wrote:
    looks like Michaelangelo's preference ran small in other areas, as well
    Decidedly. Though it is known that he preferred fellas I think the reason their naughty bits are so under-represented was in deference to the church. In those days in any given town there was only the most powerful merchant family or the church to sponsor the sort if art Michangelo had in mind.
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    I did some prep work for the FACTORY SPEAKER PODS just not HOnda... Mod as well as some beautification rehab on the wiper arms. The wiper arms? Why start there? Well, I was driving home yesterday and the sun reflecting offa these things made me very squinty. And it's something I could accomplish before dark.

    Let's start with the Isuzu speaker pods:
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    Here we have the tools; newspaper, paper towels, isopropyl alcohol, and Dupli-Color's Vinyl & Fabric Coating in blue. Centered is one of the speaker grills. (Not shown is a roll of good masking tape but it's a good idea to have one handy whenever rattle-cans are used!)

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    The color in the pics is not so good but the speakers pods, grills and all, are grey. I checked a blue Rodeo at Pull-A-Part and it had grey pods so maybe they all are? As usual the directions say to try the color on a small and inconspicuous spot before spraying the whole piece so I started with the inside of a speaker grill. There are six tabs holding the grill to the frame which I've already straightened in this pic.

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    The fabric-covered metal grill presses out easy-peasy. This is a good time to press out any dings the grills have gotten between the factory and now. Just smooth them out with your thumbs. I masked off the speakers and wiped each piece down with alcohol including the fabric-covered grills.

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    The sample area was satisfactory so I got things going! The product directions call for several thin coats.

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    Here's close-up of reassembling the grills. Once you push the six tabs through the slots in the frame just bend them outward with your thumb.

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    Here they are! In truth, I suppose you could just spray bomb the speaker pods without masking off the speakers, I mean, they came out of the junkyard, right? But it just takes a couple minutes and if these are functional I don't have to replace the speakers. I'm pretty sure these are 4"x6" speakers.

    I was expecting this Dupli-Color product to be a dye but it turns out to be more of a paint. No complaint there just an adjustment to my expectations. I had heard about vinyl dye in spray cans and was interested to see how it worked but this apparently is not it. The color is not a match for either factory Honda interior blue: it's darker than the light blue and lighter than the dark blue. But these will look better than grey in my blue wagon!

    What else did I have going on? Funny you should ask!

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    At the same time as I was painting the speaker pods I also got the wiper arms masked off and started. For me, one of the hardest things about painting is waiting an appropriate amount of time between coats. A good way for me to do this is to have another project going on nearby.

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    I masked off all but the shiny (stainless steel?) bits... because they were the parts that were bugging me. I plan to do a more thorough job later when I have more time... and bam-bam checking me to be sure I don't trash them, lol. For these I used Dupli-Color's Trim Paint in flat black.

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    Those spots were there before I started waving around the rattle-cans, I swear! No really, I don't think that's over spray; that part of the hood was pretty well masked.

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    I also got the rear window wiper because... well, just because, okay? It didn't make sense to do the fronts and not do the back.
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    Local reaction to the wiper arms was less than enthusiastic. Just a reminder that this sort of thing is sometimes highly individualistic. But I think they look okay so that'll have to do.
  • H_civic66H_civic66 Senior Wagonist
    The smallest things make a world of difference. Interested in seeing the pods in and how you mounted them.
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    H_civic66 wrote:
    The smallest things make a world of difference. Interested in seeing the pods in and how you mounted them.
    Yeah, me too, lol! Reading through the FACTORY SPEAKER PODS just not HOnda... Mod how-to thread it sound like bam-bam has a different idea of how to mount them. It's not radically different but it uses more of the Isuzu factory parts to hold the pods against the roof. Unfortunately the pictures for that thread are no longer available. If I could see them then I'd know for sure whether bam's way is different. I think bam's way is more secure but these things aren't all that heavy so it's likely not to make much difference... except to people with some sort of OCD-like tendencies like bam and me.

    I have a couple more things planned for the roof/headliner and I'd like to get those lined up before we pull it out so it can all be done at the same time. Unfortunately I didn't grab the last couple feet of the speaker harness when I was at Pull-A Part - that will make it easier to wire these using their factory connectors. I'll have to get that the next time I'm there. Likely I'll need to grab another luggage rack because I damaged the one I got trying to get it off the donor van. I'm looking for a overhead console to get some map-light action and lights for the back seat. I miss the overhead console in the minivan to store sunglasses, etc. It'd be gravy if I could get the compass and thermometer working in one; I don't know if the brain for those lives locally in the console or if it depends on an information feed from the car's brain. The one successful mod I've seen on the webbernets, Jeep Console in a Hatch, substituted a digital clock instead of getting the included computer to work. I'm not sure why; I'll have to read the whole thread to see if he says (he didn't want the hassle.) Personally, I've already got a clock in the dash AND in the stereo head unit so why do I need another one above my head? But the temp and direction would be handy. In searching for overhead consoles I see that there are several people selling directions to get the console computers to work so that may be an additional thing to look into.

    Summary:
    waiting to install speaker pods until several projects involving removing the headliner are ready, Included but not limited to; getting speaker harness pigtails, recovering the headliner with fabric (I got that today), possible overhead console.
  • bam-bambam-bam Council Member
    Good work!

    This weekend I worked on another sort of moneypit...and got a nice sunburn !
  • H_civic66H_civic66 Senior Wagonist
    H_civic66 wrote:
    The smallest things make a world of difference. Interested in seeing the pods in and how you mounted them.
    Yeah, me too, lol! Reading through the FACTORY SPEAKER PODS just not HOnda... Mod how-to thread it sound like bam-bam has a different idea of how to mount them. It's not radically different but it uses more of the Isuzu factory parts to hold the pods against the roof. Unfortunately the pictures for that thread are no longer available. If I could see them then I'd know for sure whether bam's way is different. I think bam's way is more secure but these things aren't all that heavy so it's likely not to make much difference... except to people with some sort of OCD-like tendencies like bam and me.

    I have a couple more things planned for the roof/headliner and I'd like to get those lined up before we pull it out so it can all be done at the same time. Unfortunately I didn't grab the last couple feet of the speaker harness when I was at Pull-A Part - that will make it easier to wire these using their factory connectors. I'll have to get that the next time I'm there. Likely I'll need to grab another luggage rack because I damaged the one I got trying to get it off the donor van. I'm looking for a overhead console to get some map-light action and lights for the back seat. I miss the overhead console in the minivan to store sunglasses, etc. It'd be gravy if I could get the compass and thermometer working in one; I don't know if the brain for those lives locally in the console or if it depends on an information feed from the car's brain. The one successful mod I've seen on the webbernets, Jeep Console in a Hatch, substituted a digital clock instead of getting the included computer to work. I'm not sure why; I'll have to read the whole thread to see if he says (he didn't want the hassle.) Personally, I've already got a clock in the dash AND in the stereo head unit so why do I need another one above my head? But the temp and direction would be handy. In searching for overhead consoles I see that there are several people selling directions to get the console computers to work so that may be an additional thing to look into.

    Summary:
    waiting to install speaker pods until several projects involving removing the headliner are ready, Included but not limited to; getting speaker harness pigtails, recovering the headliner with fabric (I got that today), possible overhead console.
    I tried to see that thread too but like you said no pics. I do know that for the temp to work you will have to get the temp. gauge that sits out in front of whatever van/suv you get it from. If you had time and found one follow the wires to wherever they go and pull it all. Id like to see that done. I saw the jeep one and I wouldve tried to figure out how to make it work with all the effort that was done. Mine came with a da map light already just wasnt installed right so after finally getting my headliner down and cleaning going to mount it the right way. Actually if it didnt have a dang hole cut into it already I wouldnt put it back in. But as Bam said "Good job"...Keep it up. Check out mine if you have time, I dont get alotta feed back but I think it's interesting.lol
  • .JoshuA..JoshuA. Wagonist
    i also wanted to see that thread with pics because i have been wanting to do this cant wait to see yours done! sure it will look super clean man
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    H_civic66 wrote:
    I tried to see that thread too but like you said no pics. I do know that for the temp to work you will have to get the temp. gauge that sits out in front of whatever van/suv you get it from. If you had time and found one follow the wires to wherever they go and pull it all. Id like to see that done. I saw the jeep one and I wouldve tried to figure out how to make it work with all the effort that was done. Mine came with a da map light already just wasnt installed right so after finally getting my headliner down and cleaning going to mount it the right way. Actually if it didnt have a dang hole cut into it already I wouldnt put it back in. But as Bam said "Good job"...Keep it up. Check out mine if you have time, I dont get alotta feed back but I think it's interesting.lol
    I'll have to take some pics of how I install the pods.

    I'm looking into some LED replacement "bulbs" for my factory fixtures. ebay has 'em pretty cheap. Shipping is cheap too but they come from Hong Kong so it takes week for them to get here. Part of the price is the wait!
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    .JoshuA. wrote:
    i also wanted to see that thread with pics because i have been wanting to do this cant wait to see yours done! sure it will look super clean man
    H_civic66 wrote:
    I tried to see that thread too but like you said no pics.
    Reading my last post sounds like I think I'm super-smooth-install-guy. I am SO not, lol. No, I'm goes to Pull-A-Part and either forgets-a-part- or mangles-what-he-did-get-guy. Mostly since there are no pics to go by I'll have to see what it looks like under(above?) the headliner to see if what I have in mind will work (I'm a very visual thinker.) Of course, I got the idea from bam so there's a better than average chance it'll work. Hell, we'll MAKE it work, lol! But it looks cool in my mind, lol.
    H_civic66 wrote:
    I do know that for the temp to work you will have to get the temp. gauge that sits out in front of whatever van/suv you get it from. If you had time and found one follow the wires to wherever they go and pull it all. Id like to see that done. I saw the jeep one and I wouldve tried to figure out how to make it work with all the effort that was done.
    In my minivan (like the one parked behind your wagon in one of your pics) the temp sensor was somewhere near the skin of the van; the temps would show several degrees above ambient after sitting in the parking lot all day. Too bad I can't strip the parts out of that one, lol. But since it cooled to ambient after a few minutes it's probably near the cowl somewhere so air moving across it can equalize the temps.

    ETA: a Google search of Jeep forums suggests the temp sensors are behind the battery box on Cherokees and behind/below center of the bumper on XJs. Maybe I'll scope a couple out the next time at Pull-A-Part.
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    bam-bam wrote:
    Good work! This weekend I worked on another sort of moneypit...and got a nice sunburn !
    Thanks! Do you have the headliner all the way out of any wagons at Wagon Meca? I want to eyeball the rear corners for the pod install. I didn't think to look last time I was up there.
  • .JoshuA..JoshuA. Wagonist
    i wanna go to the junk yard also to find these pods but its so hot here i dont even wanna leave the house 110 today and its litterally 100 right now and its midnight. cant wait to see it done tho seriously.
  • rbwdrivenrbwdriven Senior Wagonist
    I was at pap north friday afternoon before a doc appointment.

    I found 3 isuzus there with speaker pods.

    I went in only looking for one thing.

    I found those with rear speaker pods.

    Forgot my bloody screw driver so I could not get them.

    Plus found a shed load of mini vans with racks.

    When I'm looking for the stuff never find it.

    When I dont look it is all around.
  • bam-bambam-bam Council Member
    Yeah, those roof pods are thick as fleas on a dog's back. No prob finding them, 'cause those Rodeo/Passports are junkyard fodder from the go.

    TV, The bluewagon headliner is very nearly out. when you're ready, we'll mock up the mounts and get mine and yours done.
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    bam-bam wrote:
    Yeah, those roof pods are thick as fleas on a dog's back. No prob finding them, 'cause those Rodeo/Passports are junkyard fodder from the go.
    TV, The bluewagon headliner is very nearly out. when you're ready, we'll mock up the mounts and get mine and yours done.
    Sweet! I may take a bit longer if I'm going to recover my headliner. I guess it'd be smart to make any mistakes BEFORE covering it so they'll be hidden by the cloth. I have everything I should need for that project.

    Looking at the amazing vanishing budget I think I'll have to put the overhead console on my 'maybe someday' list. I'm looking into LED replacements for the dome lights instead.
  • DRMORTYDRMORTY Council Member
    bam-bam wrote:
    Yeah, those roof pods are thick as fleas on a dog's back. No prob finding them, 'cause those Rodeo/Passports are junkyard fodder from the go.

    TV, The bluewagon headliner is very nearly out. when you're ready, we'll mock up the mounts and get mine and yours done.
    Make spares.. I want to do those in my wago-camper.. I just got my set of speakers too... I am going to be putting them in the front facing backwards & my fold down TV mounted between them..
  • rbwdrivenrbwdriven Senior Wagonist
    I could not find the roof pods.

    I found the ones that go on the side.

    That will work for me for now.

    I need to clean mine up and put real speakers in the car.

    I think I only have one at the moment.

    Wagon is looking really good.
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    rbwdriven wrote:
    When I'm looking for the stuff never find it. When I dont look it is all around.
    bam keeps telling me that, too. So I guess I gotta stop looking for wheels and an overhead console, lol.
    rbwdriven wrote:
    Wagon is looking really good.
    Thanks!
  • lil'ghostlil'ghost Council Member
    I also got the rear window wiper because... well, just because, okay? It didn't make sense to do the fronts and not do the back.

    agreed!
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    For Independence Day here in the US here's a pic of my Wagon with a red, white & blue jet on final approach in the background.

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  • H_civic66H_civic66 Senior Wagonist
    I like it.
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    Well, I did get a little work done on the wagon over the holiday weekend. I didn't get as much completed as I would've liked but I think I made some solid progress.

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    This is what I started out with. (That black bag is covering a an old CRT monitor that was going to a friend in need. Laptops are nifty but when the LCD screen breaks it helps to have some old tech to hand.) At the top is the sheet metal stiffener/mount for the Isuzu pods. It is bolted to the body above the headliner in the Rodeo. At the bottom are the painted pods. The gold-ish sheet metal doo-hickey is what bolts to the stiffener below the headliner with the headliner sandwiched in between. The pods themselves bolt onto the doo-hickeys. This was what I was trying to replicate transplanting these parts into the wagon in the same configuration.

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    The Wagon is narrower then the Rodeo so I needed to remove a section in the middle. Until I knew how much I just cut it into two so I could eyeball it and figure it out.

    And then I looked and figured, and figured and looked. And then I scrapped that idea and decided to go with the previously posted method. I would have to drill and tap new holes in the edge of the body/frame above the bubble windows, find hardware to fit, massage the stiffener pieces to fit... well, that was a bit too much for me to bite off so I didn't.

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    Then it was dark so I just test fitted the right pod.

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    While I had the headliner out I figured to go ahead and recover it. Here's a before shot.

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    The next day, after I finished my chores, I retired to my specially appointed upholstery shop. before starting with the spray adhesive I wiped the whole vinyl surface down with rubbing alcohol to degrease. The product seen here is Loctite Spray Adhesive Professional Performance Heavyweight Bonding. It is some sticky stuff but still manageable and the clean up isn't too bad. Any over-spray I had I just waited ten minutes for it to harden and brushed it off. When I tried to brush it off before it set it just smeared but once it hardens it looses tack and can be cleaned up relatively easily.

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    After it was covered and set I did simple sort-of X-shaped cuts for the dome lights.

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    It's not perfect but I was able to limit the wrinkles. This section will be covered by the rearview mirror anyway. The discoloration here is from some pollen/dust that seeped into the upholstery shop. A good brush-off followed by a damp wipe took care of it.

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    And a full length after shot. At this point I hadn't decided how to finish the front and rear edges so they have some loose fabric. I was concerned whether the rubber trim pieces would fit back on over two extra layers of fabric. And it was dark again so I wrapped it for the night.

    After test fitting the rubber strips I decided to wrap the fabric around the front and back edges just the same as I did the sides. No pics of that unfortunately.

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    Back at it this afternoon, this is what I'm working with; A fall-back set of sockets (and bit-driver) since my main toolbox is rattling around Wagon Meca somewhere, hardware and parts for the pods. And a can of PB B'LASTER that I had to get to remove one stuibborn screw from the rearview mirror, bungees, drill bits, etc. And store brand soda. 'Cause cheap is how I roll, lol.

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    You can barely see them in this pic but I've stretched the green bungees between the plastic trim at the top to make it a bit easier to slide the headliner back in. Sometime after I snapped this pic I pulled the dome lights loose.

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    And here's a shot of the headliner in place.

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    Having read the directions for the FACTORY SPEAKER PODS just not HOnda... Mod but without pictures I'm sort of making this up as I go. I located the inside stud of the hatch hinge and cut a hole in the headliner so I could bolt the gold-ish sheet metal doo-hickey in place. This hole started much smaller and ended up larger. After much effort and improvisation I managed to get JUST ONE of them bolted in place. While a setback this isn't too bad as I still don't have the pigtails from PAP that will allow me to use the factory disconnects and I haven't tied onto the factory harness in the wagon. If I had ANY speaker wire I might have spliced them on but no joy. I'll have to take this loose in the near future anyway but hopefully I'll be able to do that with another set of hands to help muscle it back into place. I'll take more pics of that process.

    Doing this bit solo, installing the pod mounts, is a real pain in the neck. Seriously, get help to do this part. It would have been MUCH simpler and easier to do with one person pressing the doo-hickey into place and the other catching the threads on the stud with the nut.

    I hope you all had at least as much fun as I did this weekend!
  • H_civic66H_civic66 Senior Wagonist
    Your somewhat becomming a pro,Just remember it's supposed to be fun. When it starts to make you mad walk away for awhile. Keep it up I really wanna see these things mounted.lol I also like the headliner.
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    H_civic66 wrote:
    Your somewhat becomming a pro,Just remember it's supposed to be fun. When it starts to make you mad walk away for awhile. Keep it up I really wanna see these things mounted.lol I also like the headliner.

    Thanks! I think I do okay with the cosmetic stuff but I lack confidence with the real mechanical things like the engine, etc. Don't worry; now that I've cut holes in the headliner I'm committed to mounting the pods, lol.

    I did have to step away several times due to frustration and sore back; leaning over to smooth the cloth or and bending to get at the mounting sites. I've not given up now; I'm just waiting until I have the materials and assistance to get it done.
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