Little Blue Wagon Build

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Comments

  • AbideAbide Council Member
    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.


    really? i think they look pretty good from the pictures.
  • 1988rt1988rt Senior Wagonist
    Man those pods are sweet
  • iboymaiboyma Wagonist
    Been following your build thread, and can't get enough of it. It is pretty much everything I want to do or did with my wagon. Still need to do the headliner, have a spare from my old wagon, and rear speaker pods that have been laying around. Keep up the progress!
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    Abide wrote:
    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.
    really? i think they look pretty good from the pictures.
    My wife did not get why I was happy about them. But flat black beats the stuffing out of shiny and reflective in the afternoon sun!
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    1988rt wrote:
    Man those pods are sweet
    Thanks! I wish I could take credit for sourcing those but somebody else came up with it and it was suggested to me by bam-bam. They were original equipment on Isuzu Rodeos and then transplanted into Honda Passports which are re-branded Isuzus from what I've been told.
    iboyma wrote:
    Been following your build thread, and can't get enough of it. It is pretty much everything I want to do or did with my wagon. Still need to do the headliner, have a spare from my old wagon, and rear speaker pods that have been laying around. Keep up the progress!
    Thank you! I'm just picking and choosing mods I've seen here that look good to me. The headliner was challenging because of its size but the project is straight-forward. Since you've got a spare you can get it done without the time pressure I had. Not that I couldn't have gone without it for a little while. The directions were sort of sketchy but I guess if you've tinkered with the interior at all most of it is self-explanatory. I think it's just been done enough so that people don't feel the need for actually written directions.
  • iboymaiboyma Wagonist
    iboyma wrote:
    Been following your build thread, and can't get enough of it. It is pretty much everything I want to do or did with my wagon. Still need to do the headliner, have a spare from my old wagon, and rear speaker pods that have been laying around. Keep up the progress!
    Thank you! I'm just picking and choosing mods I've seen here that look good to me. The headliner was challenging because of its size but the project is straight-forward. Since you've got a spare you can get it done without the time pressure I had. Not that I couldn't have gone without it for a little while. The directions were sort of sketchy but I guess if you've tinkered with the interior at all most of it is self-explanatory. I think it's just been done enough so that people don't feel the need for actually written directions.[/quote]

    Your welcome. It is very nice not having to rush to get things done. Been getting back into my si interior swap, its nice to be able to take little steps. Planning on getting more done since I have the summer off of school, but everyone knows how life gets in the way. Keep up the amazing pace!!
  • H_civic66H_civic66 Senior Wagonist
    More UpDATES?
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    H_civic66 wrote:
    More UpDATES?
    This week I got bam-bam to do the "Master Cylinder Swap Mod". You know the one where the OEM master cylinder is removed and replaced with one that does not leak. Although this master cylinder is a match to original specs replacing it at this opportune moment allows increased ability to stop when and where the driver desires as the OEM master cylinder had begun to fail.

    Wednesday afternoon on the way home from work I eased off the gas and exited the expressway but when I applied the brakes to slow further I found I only had less than half the "pedal" to which I was accustomed. I was able to pump up the brakes enough to get stopped at the bottom of the ramp. At the next light I the pressure was even less then it was on the ramp. I pulled over to a gas station lot and out of the way and called bam for advice. At his direction I checked under each of the wheel cylinders for leaks but found no obvious drips or spots. During the drive home pedal pressure returned and then I drove up to bam's for the swap. Having done that hte rest of the week was pretty quiet, lol.

    ETA:
    Right now I'm collecting newspaper for masking the body so I can paint the trim and bumpers. I may have to break down and buy some kraft paper or similar because newspapers are almost extinct.
  • rbwdrivenrbwdriven Senior Wagonist
    I ended up using the saturday/ sunday paper and that did all the work for me.

    Looking really good.

    Just remember if it gets to be a pain in the arse you are doing it wrong.

    Oh no wait that is something else.

    Ive found if it become not fun walk away for a bit.
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    rbwdriven wrote:
    I ended up using the saturday/ sunday paper and that did all the work for me.
    Looking really good.
    Just remember if it gets to be a pain in the arse you are doing it wrong.
    Oh no wait that is something else.
    Ive found if it become not fun walk away for a bit.
    When I did the wiper arms i bought the Saturday paper for $1 and didn't have as much paper as I would have liked to cover things. I've been collecting paper here and there including what I usually throw away (recycle) at work. I may have enough now but 8.5"x11" sheets will take some patience.

    With the last of my 'wagon fund' I ordered a left front window regulator. I was told it took extra long to get because of the earthquake & tsunami has led to parts made in Japan being spread thinly over here. The outfit I ordered from had to order it in from somewhere else. Like a backorder I guess but that's not what they called it. Anyway, the big brown truck dropped it off today.

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  • rbwdrivenrbwdriven Senior Wagonist
    Mine took a while when I ordered it. if I had known I would of ordered 2.
    Im gonna make another order and get a passenger on also.
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    Due to my of broke-osity I decided to try fitting the cupholder into the wagon. This one is similar to the Wal*Mart cupholder but I couldn't find one there ...I think this one came from the OtterZone.

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    I took the front off in sections with a hacksaw. My thought was to preserve as much structural integrity as possible - turns out I didn't need to; the section where the cups go is still stable. I bet it would be as long as you didn't cut into the actually cup-holding part.

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    The other thing I did was mold the inside of the box so the shifter could go all the way forward into Park without bumping. First I got it warm enough with a heatgun and pressed a 2xD cell MagLite into it until it would clear the shifter. I was left with an unsightly ridge that I might've filed off with the half-round file I was using to smooth edges but it would have broken through the plastic and left an even more unsightly HOLE.

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    To make sure it doesn't fall off once it's in place I put some 2-sided tape (3M 4011 Permanent Outdoor Mounting Tape) on the underside where it would sit against the console. Although it's "permanent" tape I've peeled it off of other projects after prolonged periods without leaving residue. That'll be handy if/when I find a solution I like better.

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    I wanted a curved edge at the front bottom so it wouldn't snag on things like pants-legs. And so it would look cooler. I traced around an old (almost) useless CDRom for a nice wide round curve then cut it along the line with a pair of heavy duty scissors. Might've ruined the scissors but hey, they were $2 at Northern Tool so I can probably manage to replace them if I have to, huh? There wasn't a good line to cut the quarters slot off the cupholder so I kept it. Of all the coins to keep in the car quarters are probably the most useful.

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    I broke out the DupliColor Interior Vinyl & Fabric paint I used for the speaker pods, rubbing alcohol, and Norton sanding pad (like Scothbrite) rated as "000" (like steel wool) to scuff it up enough to get the paint to stick. I wiped the piece down with alcohol to get the gunk off, scuffed it, then wiped it down with alcohol again. I let it dry then applied the paint according to the instructions on the can.

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    Observations: In Park 12oz cans, .5 liter bottles and 20oz bottles fit well. In Drive a larger cup will fit but gets kind of smushed if you don't remove it before shifting to Park. The cigarette lighter is accessible but with the USB adapter to charge my phone the right cup is obscured. Since it's usually just me in the front seat one cupholder should do for now and I'll look for a lower profile USB charger adapter. In retrospect, it probably would look better painted black with something like Bumper Coat. Directly against the actual Honda blues this blue is more obviously different then both.
  • DRMORTYDRMORTY Council Member
    O.K. Cup Holder is Cool.. Color Match is Not Cool..

    Keep working & showing, I am enjoying your build..
  • blue wagon madness because i got one to. great work bro great ideas for the future
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    DRMORTY wrote:
    O.K. Cup Holder is Cool.. Color Match is Not Cool..
    Keep working & showing, I am enjoying your build..
    Thanks, I agree & will do! I will probably repaint the cupholder when I paint the bumper & trim. I may do a little more heat massage - the cigarette lighter socket isn't quite as unobstructed as I thought. After using it a couple days I've found a rub-spot there.
    blue wagon madness because i got one to. great work bro great ideas for the future
    Thanks! I've just picked up some mods I've seen here on the forum. But that's the fun of it; putting things you've seen elsewhere together to make your own personalized ride!
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    As I've pretty much got nothing going on here are a couple pics:
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    What happens when you park your car in the middle of an abandoned parking lot?

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    Out of nowhere a bunch of kids show up to photobomb your picture!
  • iboymaiboyma Wagonist
    Out of nowhere a bunch of kids show up to photobomb your picture!

    Damn kids! Don't know a nice wagon when they see one
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    iboyma wrote:
    Damn kids! Don't know a nice wagon when they see one
    I prefer to think they just couldn't stay away from such a nice car.
    They looked like they were on their way to a pool somewhere and cutting across the parking lot was jst easier.
  • .JoshuA..JoshuA. Wagonist
    so when you "removed the section in the middle" do you know exactly how much you ccut off? and can you post a pic of how it came out?
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    .JoshuA. wrote:
    so when you "removed the section in the middle" do you know exactly how much you cut off? and can you post a pic of how it came out?
    I didn't really talk about that did I? I measured the width of the plate at the bottom of the shifter then found the center (width-wise) of the CD-holder part of the cupholder. I found that the width I needed to remove was about seven CD slots wide so I cut out that width with a razor knife / utility knife. I made it intentionally a little narrower at first and then test-fitted it to see if it fit or if I needed to remove more plastic.

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    If you look at this pic you can see that I ended up removing the front row of tabs in the center of the tray that would hold the CDs vertical. I did that after test fitting and discovering that I needed more room for the shifter plate-thingie front-to-back. Sorry I didn't take more pics of that part; it was getting dark out and my phone take really crappy low-light pics.

    OR... Were you talking about the speaker pod mounting bracket-thing? I can elaborate on that if you want.
  • .JoshuA..JoshuA. Wagonist
    yeah i was talking about the speaker pod bracket thingy hhaha i should have been more specific sorry but if you could elaborate on that and post some finishing pics would be nice
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    .JoshuA. wrote:
    yeah i was talking about the speaker pod bracket thingy hhaha i should have been more specific sorry but if you could elaborate on that and post some finishing pics would be nice

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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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    This is as far as I got with the stiffener. I started out by cutting it in two just to the side of the foam cushion that's at the center. Again I was cutting long at first with an eye toward measuring it against the place I wanted to install it. Shortly after this I abandoned it for the method previously outlined (without pictures). bam-bam is still planning to use all of the pieces in his next build ...and judging by how that wagon will be used it will prove useful to have EVERYTHING inside the car bolted up as securely as possible, lol!
  • DRMORTYDRMORTY Council Member
    I didn't grab a the upper bracket/stiffener.. I was planning on making my own.. I am gonna have to watch and see what you guys do here..
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    Weeks and weeks of daily driving with no real problems. The only problem I've had was age related. The alternator went Tango Uniform..

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    This one seized up and burned off the drive belt. After what I'm thinking of as an "Idiot's Rally" (the drive between my house and bam-bam's - 44.5 miles by Google's reckoning) without any alternator bam swapped it for another he had on hand. He tells me there are folks who say that it can't be removed the way he did it... but it got done.

    This weekend working with materials on hand I fashioned a custom cargo cover. It's inspired by bam-bam's.

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    Here's the view before. Not much worth stealing but who knows the mind of thieves in parking lots?

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    ...and... done! Okay, so yeah, it is an old moving pad / blanket I found in the shed. But it does cover the cargo area!
  • Mandalore88Mandalore88 Senior Wagonist
    from every thing I have learned, covering things with a blanket screams really loud "break in and steal the valuables under the blanket!"

    I just roll with everyhting showing back there!
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    from every thing I have learned, covering things with a blanket screams really loud "break in and steal the valuables under the blanket!"
    I just roll with everyhting showing back there!
    Surprisingly (for me) I did think of that. Still thinking about it. It's a good point. Tint is on my wish list.
  • rbwdrivenrbwdriven Senior Wagonist
    Did you mount the speakers yet?

    I really need to work on my wagon something about it is sitting 1.5hrs from me.

    But when I get it back all hell will break loose.

    Interior swap etc.
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    I've not been able to get back to pull-a-part for the pigtails for the Rodeo pods due to a distinct lack of disposable income. Two income households running on one income are like that. When I go back to P-a-P I want to get another Aerostar luggage rack - I'm pretty sure I ruined the first one. Even though the combined cost for that trip tops out about $20 it can't be managed at present.

    I'm looking forward to seeing your interior swap. It's such a basic idea but nobody else has done it. I like the subtle mods like that.
  • rbwdrivenrbwdriven Senior Wagonist
    man if i would of known you needed the pig tails I would of grabbed the pig tails for ya.

    I grabbed a set of trooper speakers last time I was out.

    Understand about disposable income.

    Only one salary at our house and it is mine. Trying to build cars on a budget is fun.

    I try to sell parts to make money for build threads.

    Once I get the wagon from my buddy painted I'm gonna schedule a Saturday with Trev to get it done.
  • TerminusVoxTerminusVox Senior Wagonist
    rbwdriven wrote:
    man if i would of known you needed the pig tails I would of grabbed the pig tails for ya.
    I grabbed a set of trooper speakers last time I was out.
    Understand about disposable income.
    Only one salary at our house and it is mine. Trying to build cars on a budget is fun.
    I try to sell parts to make money for build threads.
    Once I get the wagon from my buddy painted I'm gonna schedule a Saturday with Trev to get it done.
    lol, I guess I should post a list!

    Random Pics!
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    Welcome to the __________________ Inn. You can check in any time you like but you can never stay.

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