Tone's rusted wagon, budget revival build

Hey guys, so I've been searching for a while for a wagon. I had one as a young kid, my grandmothers old car. I've only driven ef/ee/da's for about the past 10 years idk I love the old stuff, just staying loyal to how I came up in the honda game!. So anyway, I live on a freakin island! Literally. I love in Long Island New York. So there are slim pickings . There are a few upstate, and jersey and ct, but with travel fees, towing and price of the car, I hadn't found anything to really make me want to jump up and go, so in my usual trolling on craigslist like I do every few days, I found a 1991 rt4wd right here on Long Island. There were actually 2 on the island, and one was a non running one the kid wanted $2000 for. Smh silly kids. Then there was the second was a mess! But it was just my kind of mess. It was a 91 red rt4wd. It had a sohc zc
swap , also had the most ghetto turbo set up I had ever seen. Pinched oil feed line, crazy ass backwards vac lines, there was jb weld on th wastegate, an also used to seal an elbow on the inter cooler pipe,shit wouldn't even go into boost wtf!!! Really? Lmao it gets better though so get your popcorn. It has a broken windshield, a broken front seat, no passenger seat. No glovebox ,an a 8 gallon homemade fuel cell in the freakin truck! Wtfffffffff.all 4 axels are hurting along with the engine mounts. And last but not least......... RUST! DUN DUN DUN!!!!! So like I said, just my kind of mess. The way I seen it, is tht if I didn't get this car, it would be blown up, and junked. An they don't have pick and pulls in Long Island. It gets smashed. So Tone to the rescue.

Now to what I got her for. So the kid didn't want to take any less than $1400, with all it's issues there was no way I would pay that. Not to mention if the wife seen me pull up with that, an I told her I paid anywhere near that. Well let's just say I would be sleeping on the couch with the dogs. Haha, he swore up an down on the phone it was perfect and had no issues except cosmetic. Well once I got there that promise got blown out of the water. I work as a service tech at honda Riverhead "it's a motorcycle dealer/ repair shop" after I drove it and dropped about 100lbs of knowledge in a 20 lb bag on his lap while we drove, we came to a decision that either he was selling it to me for $600 or I was walking. I was shocked he went for it. But he did, and here we are now!

My plans for this build are simple. Get it back to close to its original glory, in the least amount of money possible. I will be doing all the work myself, from the body to the engine. I plan on ripping the wack as boost set up out, keeping the rc 440's and parting the rest of the set up out.. I am considering on keeping the sohc zc in it. But I'm debating on a z6/y8 hodge pod ge combination. But I know myself, an if I rip that engine out. Something isn't going back in until it's completely rebuilt. I'm not going to give it any real attitude adjustment as far as the stance goes. My plans are to use it as my daily, an in the summer there are off road beaches on Long Island, some I can only use the jeep for, but some are really packed sand an I know the wagon will do fine. The back seats will always be folded down, so my dogs can always come along. So with that being said. The fuel cell in the back is going! And going fast. Going to do a full obd1 conversion, replace all 4 axles, I can get the fronts for 49 each and the rears for 69 each, that's from Apple Hondas part department with my dealer discount. Can't get much better than that. Those will be getting done in 2 weeks or so when I really start getting into the project. I will be posting pictures up tomorrow to show the horrible state this wagon is in! I just work so much I haven't had time to even look at it for more than a few minutes. If anyone has a line on both driver side doors with manual doors an a rear truck lid deff reach out and let me know. I'd rather not patch the huge holes in those doors. I'd rather swap them out and worry about the color when i sNd this bitch down patch the quarters . Also as far as fitment, can I use the bumpers fenders or good off of any of the other ee/ef bodies? I will be keeping this thread current and show pictures all the way through! My goal is to have it ready for paint by the spring the latest. I will most likely keep it with the red color it is, although at the moment it's black plastidip. This kid thought it would hide the rust! Silly kid . Glad to be a part of the community !

Comments

  • Hey guys. Just got home from work, trying to upload a few pics I snapped quick today at work. It's only letting me use the URL form of uploading. I don't use photobucket or anything. What options can I use to get some photos or you guys to see?
  • An I got my answer on interchangeable body parts from the sticky. Thanks!!
  • bam-bambam-bam Council Member
    Can't wait to see what you come up with. I haaaaaaate the rust.
  • Bam bam, how do I upload photos besides using a URL? I have photos to put up
  • Use imgur or another file hosting service. Sounds like a lot of work, mine is in similar condition body wise but it was untouched under the hood. I am always wary of buying pre modified cars. Especially ones that were modified by idiots lol. Good luck
  • yes i hear ya, but i build everything from cars to bikes, an I'm never scared if ripping an engine of of a car an either rebuilding it or swapping it out. i have saved a few rusted efs in my day. haa. heres pictures of how it is when i got it, I've driven to work twice just so i can observe it in operation. it needs a lot of work, but since i will be doing everything myself, from engine to body, a big junk of money will be saved that way, just long weekend nights of surgery on this old soul.i will be swapping out doors, to save time and money on body work, then patch the quarters a side at a time over a 2 weekend period, at least thats my goal. so i can prime and seal it till the spring when i give it the new paint.So here are som pics, mind you i haven't done a thing mechanically to the car except put a few lug nuts on it that i had laying around. Yes that is jb weld on the intercooler and waste gate, idk you can see it doesn't even have a map sensor in, and this kid is wondering why the car is running the way it is. I know you see the almost pinched shut oil feed line. wtff i can wait to get all this stuff ripped out. I've been in touch with a forum member from ct that i am going to be grabbing a few things from, can't remember his username, was parting the awd k series wagon in bristol[IMG][/img]IMG_1031_zpsa8ec4482.jpg[IMG][/img]IMG_1030_zps745df759.jpg[IMG][/img]IMG_1029_zpsc745730f.jpg[IMG][/img]IMG_1028_zps26033cbf.jpg[IMG][/img]IMG_1027_zps00087a17.jpg[IMG][/img]IMG_1026_zpsbb659316.jpg[IMG][/img]IMG_1025_zpsb311135e.jpg[IMG][/img]IMG_1024_zps9a72208f.jpg[IMG][/img]IMG_1023_zpsb95d898a.jpg[IMG][/img]IMG_1021_zps08a98871.jpg[IMG][/img]IMG_1034_zps9bdb3910.jpg[IMG][/img]IMG_1035_zps20aae9bb.jpg[IMG][/img]IMG_1036_zps25be7883.jpg[IMG][/img]IMG_1037_zps690628cd.jpg
    [IMG][/img]IMG_1032_zpscadc1430.jpg
  • klumklum Senior Wagonist
    O_O whoa thats a lot of rust! good luck on the build!
  • I'm not talking about the engine, I just hate cleaning up someone else's ratsnest wiring jobs lol. I've done it too many times and its just a headache I would rather not deal with.

    Also lol @jbwelded intercooler and wastegate. That's funny. Also route those wastegate gas somewhere so you don't light your front end on fire!
  • i know its a lot, but I'm not to worried. i have all the tools and know how. as much as i can swap out as far as doors and things, the better. up on long island everything gets rusted. i live on an island, i am literally a 2 minute drive from the ocean, its barely 2 miles. its the norm around here. i had to save it. for 600 i couldn't really say no, i do patch panels for customers all the tme with my side work. i will cut and patch any an everything i have to on this wagon for the most part. rockers are good except two spots so it is what it is, can't wait to get it rolling in the next few weeks.. its just a weekend project and thats why my goal is to have the body work done and paint it around May, ill make the wife buy me paint materials for my bday, and scuff and squirt that bitch in a weekend!! the first thing i will be doing is ripping the boost out and go back to na for the time being, cleaning the engine bay out.it has a step up harness on the ecu side and they spliced the dizzy side. idk how peoples brains function sometimes. so i will probably rebuild the harness, or just got get one from an autoweecker for a si crx or civic and pick up a dizzy step up and go from there.all though the main goal might just be a full obd1 swap. engine and cabin. then i have to get the seats and the fuel tank which i have already tracked down, i will hopefully have the seats and tank in my procession in the next week , then the new axles all the way around which i got from apple honda for 210 for all 4 axles. then tackle the windshield and get it inspected and safe so the wife and 2 pit bulls can come along with us as they please like they do in the jeep. from there it will be january an i will start tackling the rust issues. Stay tuned guys
  • the wires i either rebuild it or go buy a virgin harness from the auto wreckers. wires are my biggest pet peeve, i will most likely get an entire 93 ex sedan
    engine and cabin harness out of a car and spend the weekend with it and have completely virgine harness in the car
  • Quick update, I ordered 2 new front axles from apple honda while I was at work today. Came to $101 total for both fronts. I will most likely install them over the weekend. Or late one night after work. This week my main concern I gathering the parts up. I am getting an entire d15b7 complete with tranny ,mounts, manifolds , an the entire exhaust from the manifold back. I'm getting all of that for $100 bucks from a buddy who is putting a lsvtec into a 91 ef sedan. So I'm goin to use some of the exhaust to run a new exhaust system into the car. Then I am basically going to just strip the block of everything I will need in order to go NA to get this crappy turbo kit off the car. Then finally I will be going to ct this weekend to grap a fuel tank and both front seats of a forum member. So after it's all said and done I will have invested about $400 towards this build. The only thing after all those goodies are installed I am going to grab up a windshield an rear axles and this old girl is goin to be rode worthy! Once it starts it's going to happen real quick. Stay tuned guys!
  • hey guys. update on the wagon is that its sold!!!!!!!! someone drove past the house and had to have it. i wasn't really looking to sell it. so i threw a high number on it an he said no problem. i love money way more than i love rust! i am in the process of making my decision on my next wagon. there are a few in the tri state that i am interested in. but i might take a trip a few states over and find soothing a little fresher. or i might even do a rt conversion on an ef sedan shell my buddy has that he said i can have for 300, has some tasteful goodies. we will see. an i will have a new thread when i get another one. admin can to whatever they would like with this thread. thanks for the support hcw happy holidays safe and happy one to everyone!!
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