its been a long time since my last post. sadly, i no longer have the white wagon anymore. when it was about time for my family to move, i posted the wagon for sale on my local car forums just in case i couldnt find an affordable storage unit. i got contacted by a local member to those sites who used to own a wagon himself. when he stopped by to see the wagon in person, he got really excited since it was in great condition. we made a deal to sell just the shell since his previous wagon had a b18c1 integra GSR swap. his wagon body suffered greatly from rust thanks to the brutal MN winters and salt so he ended up junking the shell. after i removed my engine and drivetrain a week later, he towed it home. i knew he was the right person to buy the wagon since all of his cars are well taken care of. best of luck to him.
so after driving the wagon for the summer of 2010 without working a/c, i decided to buy a newer car with all the creature comforts. i researched and decided to buy an acura TSX based on honda/acura reliability and good gas milage. i wanted a black on black, 6sp manual model but there were none to be found in a 600 mile radius. i increased my range and found one in denver, CO. i called and asked a relative that lived there to check out the car. he gave it big thumbs up so i booked a flight, handed the seller his money, and drove it 900+ miles back to MN with one stay at a motel to rest in between.
fast forward to 2011
the tsx has been great, so great that i have already logged 15k in about a year and i only drive 8mi to work one way . lately i have been fishing alot since my cousin bought a canoe and a kayak. ive been mounting the canoe on top of my tsx using foam blocks.
it was fine and all until i washed the tsx for the first time since mounting the canoe. i found that we had scratched the paint on the roof at one point. its a pretty big and deep scratch, all the way down to the metal, about 2in long and 1/4in wide. the scratch was starting to rust and seeing how the tsx didnt fare too well during last years brutal MN winter, i decided to pick up a winter beater and store the tsx. there was so much snow last year so i started to look at subaru's. there were none in my price range. luckily after i logged into this site for the 1st time in about a year, i find an rt4wd for sale by john aka "The_Head". some of you guys probably saw his post. i sent him a deposit and he held it until i could pick it up.
a couple of weeks later, i used my cousins truck and my uncles trailer to pick it up. the car was located in worland, WY about 14hr from MN. john helped my cousin and i load it up. we then drove another hour before resting at a hotel. then we drove the rest of the way back the following day. sorry there were no pics of this trip . i was concentrating on getting my cousin back home early enough on sunday night so that he could get a good nights rest and go back to work on monday. since then, the car has been sitting at my cousins house for the past 2 weeks waiting for me to acquire the parts needed to make it run once more. the time has finally come to begin. today we were able to pull the engine and transmission. tomorrow, we will install the new engine. here are some before and after pics. sorry for the bad pictures. they were taken with my iphone since i didnt bring the digicam.
i hope that i didnt bore those who read through this post. i felt like i had to explain my 1 year absence. its about time to hit the sack. more updates and pics to come tomorrow.
i didnt get as much done today as i wanted to thanks to a stripped header nut on the z6. it just had to be the one on the bottom middle by the dipstick too. what a PITA to get off. oh i found out that the z6 has a 6puck. sweet! turbo project in the future maybe :twisted: ? we were able to bolt the rt4wd transmission onto the z6 block, drilled/tapped the 2 additional holes for the halfshaft, swap oil pans and pickups, and transfer the Ef mounts and brackets onto the z6. at first i decided not to clean the engine bay but my cousin changed my mind. he said might as well since the engine is already out. so i spent about an hour or so cleaning what i could reach. i forgot to bring the digicam again so i only snapped one picture with the iphone. i hope to have it up and running tomorrow and to bring the digicam along .
we started working on the wagon a little later than expected today thanks to a bowl of pho but we were able to accomplish the goal of getting the engine installed and running. thanks to the rywire hardware, the car fired up on the very first try with no CEL. we will finish up with the small little details next weekend.
Damn Peekoo I need to start on my build! Looks so nice man! Glad you bought another one, hopefully mine will be done by next spring and we can roll out! Haha!!
That'd be awesome. It'll be like a reunion with the white one. Let me know if you need help with it. Well if there's snow on the ground, you're on your own. Lol!
Does anyone who if a tow hitch off an 88-91 civic sedan will bolt up to the wagon? My friend has one laying around.
I wanted to pick that wagon up. Would be the 2nd rt i would get from john. Hes a great guy i bought my current red rt from him when i lived in south dakota. looks like everything is going in the right direction. Real midwest wagoneers ftw!!!
I wanted to pick that wagon up. Would be the 2nd rt i would get from john. Hes a great guy i bought my current red rt from him when i lived in south dakota. looks like everything is going in the right direction. Real midwest wagoneers ftw!!!
i concur, john is a good guy.
well, pretty much finished everything tonight. i took the wagon to the car wash and cleaned it up on the outside. the interior is going to take some time thanks to all the cat hair. my digicam wouldnt take good pictures at night so the only picture i have is off of my iphone. its sucks too but atleast it will give you guys an idea of how it looks like. this is how im going to drive it in the winter.
my acura tsx is now officially in storage. i have been driving the wagon for the past few days and found out that the thermostat is bad. the temp gauge keeps dropping whenever the car is moving. i plan to install a new one this weekend. i thought i would share this picture of the wagon i took yesterday when i was at work.
its been awhile since i last updated this thread. i had the car up for sale but changed my mind. i sure am glad that i decided to keep the wagon. it was the perfect fishing ride. my cousins and i decided to do a little bit of fishing in the morning. here is the wagon at my cousins place with his canoe loaded on top. the stock roof rack was too narrow so we had to use foam block between the canoe and the roof. it worked out fine.
here we are at the gas station getting the necessities. this picture came out bad buts its the only pic with both of our cars in it. the second car is a first gen scion xa. its red and has black rims too. it made the tc look like a newer generation civic wagon.
after a 30min drive, we arrived at our first destination. it was a small lake with only 2 other boats on the water. out of our party, i was the only one who caught any fish on this lake, a sun fish and a 8in large mouth bass. sorry, no pics. they werent worth the effort to take the phone out of our pockets to take pictures
the second lake we went to was much bigger and had much better fishing. we had our sights set on a walleye or a northern. no such luck for us this time but atleast we had fun with some large mouth bass and a couple of sunnies.
here are my first 2 fish on the second lake. i caught 5 large mouths and 1 sunfish but we got too lazy to take pics of all of them.
here are my cousins first 2 also. notice how the lure is almost as big as the sunfish itself
since EF civics didnt come with cup holders, i spilled half a 32oz of soda on the carpet this past weekend. i took the carpet out to give it a good scrub. the carpet is scrubbed, cleaned and waiting to be installed. today, i decided to take out the rest of the interior and give the wagon a good wipe down. sadly, rain started to come down and i was only able to finish cleaning the back half of the wagon.
before pictures:
after pictures:
oh and i picked up some new wheels this weekend also. :twisted:
Just wondering, what did you use to clean your engine bay and interior? just a rag and soapy water? or some cleaner? I've been debating cleaning my bay while the engine is out, and i've been really lazy about it. But after seeing yours, i wanna do it.
Just wondering, what did you use to clean your engine bay and interior? just a rag and soapy water? or some cleaner? I've been debating cleaning my bay while the engine is out, and i've been really lazy about it. But after seeing yours, i wanna do it.
for the engine bay, i hosed it down first to loosen the dirt, grime, leaves, etc. for the solution, i mixed up a gallon of water and about two tablespoons of simple green and went to town. then i did a final hose down. for tools, i used a hand brush from the dollar store and a toothbrush i stole from someone in the house . for the interior, i vacuumed up as much dirt and cat hair as i could. then i used the same solution as the engine bay but added a tablespoon of tide detergent powder. i wiped down the gunk with a washcloth semisoaked in the solution, then sprayed the washcloth down so my cleaning solution wouldn't dirty up. i used the same dollar store brush and toothbrush also for the stubborn areas. i repeated the process until the interior was clean.
cleaning tools and solution
dirty panels before scrubdown
clean panels drying after spending an hour cleaning the front and backside
come on over to MAP's proving grounds event on june 22-24 at brainerd international raceway. i should have the wagon complete and will be camping overnight at the track . here is the link if anyone is close enough to attend. theres a nice video of last years event. oh and there is a bar on site also if you run out of alcohol
another reason why i took out the interior out was to fix the roof. the previous owner somehow dented the roof and a little bit of water leaks through. i can see the water trail on the windshield. another thing is, the windshield is cracked as well so i figured i might as well fix the roof and windshield at the same time. i found a shop that would pull the dent on the roof, repaint the entire roof, and replace the windshield for $800. they also told me they would only charge $200 for the roof work and paint if i replaced the windshield myself. i would just have to bring the car in without a windshield, roof rack, and headliner. i dont know how to remove a windshield so ill have to shop around for windshield installers.
earlier today i went to the local pick and pull looking for a driver headlight and possibly a driver bumper lens.
the first EF i saw:
then i went around to the backside to see if the taillights are still there:
i was disappointed but then i looked inside and saw that it had the stock speaker pods. score! im not a big fan of them since i like all the cargo space i can use for camping/fishing. they're a little damaged but i figured someone on the HCW forum might want them. the only other thing i salvaged were the rear strut cover panels.
now onto my search for a headlight. the next five EF's didnt have any driver headlights. i was about to give up until i saw this on the very last row of junked imports:
yes! the elusive headlight i had been looking for. i ran to the back. sweet, tail lights are also still intact.
since someone had already taken apart the front end, so it took me less than 20 seconds to take off the headlight. next, onto take off the tail lights. i unlatched the rear hatch, opened it up. damn, the rear hatch shocks are missing. i looked around and improvised. it worked good enough.
with all the wagon parts i needed found, i started to wander around with my barrel of parts and picked up a couple of extra things. i found a lip off an old volvo. looks like it will work with slights mods. next i found an EK center console. i hope to make this work somehow. i dont want to spill another drink in the wagon.
so heres my haul for the day:
i scrubbed all the parts i acquired but only took pictures of the speaker pods. i didnt want to spend anymore time than i had to in the 90 degree heat (5hrs).
Yes, I only picked them up so save them from the crusher. Same thing with the passenger tail light. The inners were $26/each so I couldnt afford to buy the whole set. They will be for sale soon.
today i didnt get much done but i managed to swap my cracked driverside bumper signal and rear driverside tail light. when i was at the junkyard, neither wagon had the driverside bumper light. one of them did however have a passenger side. i thought to myself that it should work if i flipped it upside down. one quick mod and it worked like a charm. the writing is upside down but it sure beats a cracked signal.
old cracked bumper signal. i saved the rubber seal and the orange lense, so it if anyone needs them, let me know and i will ship them out to you.
snipped off this plastic piece
all done and upside down lol
i also swapped out the damaged driverside tail light
I'm thinking about going Proving Grounds and bring the prelude
you should definitely go. its going to pretty fun. i took thursday and friday off from work just to finish up the wagon and make it presentable.
its been a busy couple of days since my last update. this past saturday, i bought a new toy at sports authority. they had a coupon for 20% off a single item. what better way to use it than on a kayak. $299 + 20% off coupon = $257 with tax. i took my moms crv since the wagon interior was still stripped down.
after putting the kayak away at home, i proceeded to install my groung control coilovers. i only managed to lower the fronts before the rain started to come down. sadly i had saved all the pictures i took onto the internal memory of my digicam instead of the SD card and i dont have a usb cord to retrieve them either. i was heartbroken that i couldnt upload the pictures so i took a break and relieved a little bit of stress at the casino. they decided to reimburse me for the kayak i bought earlier in the day.
on sunday, i finished with the installation of the rear coilovers. i lowered it a bit too much but its going to have to stay at this height for a couple more days until i have some free time to raise it up a little.
Comments
its been a long time since my last post. sadly, i no longer have the white wagon anymore. when it was about time for my family to move, i posted the wagon for sale on my local car forums just in case i couldnt find an affordable storage unit. i got contacted by a local member to those sites who used to own a wagon himself. when he stopped by to see the wagon in person, he got really excited since it was in great condition. we made a deal to sell just the shell since his previous wagon had a b18c1 integra GSR swap. his wagon body suffered greatly from rust thanks to the brutal MN winters and salt so he ended up junking the shell. after i removed my engine and drivetrain a week later, he towed it home. i knew he was the right person to buy the wagon since all of his cars are well taken care of. best of luck to him.
so after driving the wagon for the summer of 2010 without working a/c, i decided to buy a newer car with all the creature comforts. i researched and decided to buy an acura TSX based on honda/acura reliability and good gas milage. i wanted a black on black, 6sp manual model but there were none to be found in a 600 mile radius. i increased my range and found one in denver, CO. i called and asked a relative that lived there to check out the car. he gave it big thumbs up so i booked a flight, handed the seller his money, and drove it 900+ miles back to MN with one stay at a motel to rest in between.
fast forward to 2011
the tsx has been great, so great that i have already logged 15k in about a year and i only drive 8mi to work one way
it was fine and all until i washed the tsx for the first time since mounting the canoe. i found that we had scratched the paint on the roof at one point. its a pretty big and deep scratch, all the way down to the metal, about 2in long and 1/4in wide. the scratch was starting to rust and seeing how the tsx didnt fare too well during last years brutal MN winter, i decided to pick up a winter beater and store the tsx. there was so much snow last year so i started to look at subaru's. there were none in my price range. luckily after i logged into this site for the 1st time in about a year, i find an rt4wd for sale by john aka "The_Head". some of you guys probably saw his post. i sent him a deposit and he held it until i could pick it up.
a couple of weeks later, i used my cousins truck and my uncles trailer to pick it up. the car was located in worland, WY about 14hr from MN. john helped my cousin and i load it up. we then drove another hour before resting at a hotel. then we drove the rest of the way back the following day. sorry there were no pics of this trip
i hope that i didnt bore those who read through this post. i felt like i had to explain my 1 year absence. its about time to hit the sack. more updates and pics to come tomorrow.
before
after
BTW this is Ge.
Does anyone who if a tow hitch off an 88-91 civic sedan will bolt up to the wagon? My friend has one laying around.
people have said that to me. my last 3 cars, including this one, have been from out of state, atleast 14hrs drive away
i concur, john is a good guy.
well, pretty much finished everything tonight. i took the wagon to the car wash and cleaned it up on the outside. the interior is going to take some time thanks to all the cat hair. my digicam wouldnt take good pictures at night so the only picture i have is off of my iphone. its sucks too but atleast it will give you guys an idea of how it looks like. this is how im going to drive it in the winter.
here we are at the gas station getting the necessities. this picture came out bad buts its the only pic with both of our cars in it. the second car is a first gen scion xa. its red and has black rims too. it made the tc look like a newer generation civic wagon.
after a 30min drive, we arrived at our first destination. it was a small lake with only 2 other boats on the water. out of our party, i was the only one who caught any fish on this lake, a sun fish and a 8in large mouth bass. sorry, no pics. they werent worth the effort to take the phone out of our pockets to take pictures
the second lake we went to was much bigger and had much better fishing. we had our sights set on a walleye or a northern. no such luck for us this time but atleast we had fun with some large mouth bass and a couple of sunnies.
here are my first 2 fish on the second lake. i caught 5 large mouths and 1 sunfish but we got too lazy to take pics of all of them.
here are my cousins first 2 also. notice how the lure is almost as big as the sunfish itself
before pictures:
after pictures:
oh and i picked up some new wheels this weekend also. :twisted:
i blame the fish. they took up all of my spare time.
for the engine bay, i hosed it down first to loosen the dirt, grime, leaves, etc. for the solution, i mixed up a gallon of water and about two tablespoons of simple green and went to town. then i did a final hose down. for tools, i used a hand brush from the dollar store and a toothbrush i stole from someone in the house
cleaning tools and solution
dirty panels before scrubdown
clean panels drying after spending an hour cleaning the front and backside
then i remembered this box
dirty vs clean
its finally over!
http://pg.maperformance.com/
thanks
another reason why i took out the interior out was to fix the roof. the previous owner somehow dented the roof and a little bit of water leaks through. i can see the water trail on the windshield. another thing is, the windshield is cracked as well so i figured i might as well fix the roof and windshield at the same time. i found a shop that would pull the dent on the roof, repaint the entire roof, and replace the windshield for $800. they also told me they would only charge $200 for the roof work and paint if i replaced the windshield myself. i would just have to bring the car in without a windshield, roof rack, and headliner. i dont know how to remove a windshield so ill have to shop around for windshield installers.
the first EF i saw:
then i went around to the backside to see if the taillights are still there:
i was disappointed but then i looked inside and saw that it had the stock speaker pods. score! im not a big fan of them since i like all the cargo space i can use for camping/fishing. they're a little damaged but i figured someone on the HCW forum might want them. the only other thing i salvaged were the rear strut cover panels.
now onto my search for a headlight. the next five EF's didnt have any driver headlights. i was about to give up until i saw this on the very last row of junked imports:
yes! the elusive headlight i had been looking for. i ran to the back. sweet, tail lights are also still intact.
since someone had already taken apart the front end, so it took me less than 20 seconds to take off the headlight. next, onto take off the tail lights. i unlatched the rear hatch, opened it up. damn, the rear hatch shocks are missing. i looked around and improvised. it worked good enough.
with all the wagon parts i needed found, i started to wander around with my barrel of parts and picked up a couple of extra things. i found a lip off an old volvo. looks like it will work with slights mods. next i found an EK center console. i hope to make this work somehow. i dont want to spill another drink in the wagon.
so heres my haul for the day:
i scrubbed all the parts i acquired but only took pictures of the speaker pods. i didnt want to spend anymore time than i had to in the 90 degree heat (5hrs).
dirty
clean
old cracked bumper signal. i saved the rubber seal and the orange lense, so it if anyone needs them, let me know and i will ship them out to you.
snipped off this plastic piece
all done and upside down lol
i also swapped out the damaged driverside tail light
you should definitely go. its going to pretty fun. i took thursday and friday off from work just to finish up the wagon and make it presentable.
its been a busy couple of days since my last update. this past saturday, i bought a new toy at sports authority. they had a coupon for 20% off a single item. what better way to use it than on a kayak. $299 + 20% off coupon = $257 with tax. i took my moms crv since the wagon interior was still stripped down.
after putting the kayak away at home, i proceeded to install my groung control coilovers. i only managed to lower the fronts before the rain started to come down. sadly i had saved all the pictures i took onto the internal memory of my digicam instead of the SD card and i dont have a usb cord to retrieve them either. i was heartbroken that i couldnt upload the pictures so i took a break and relieved a little bit of stress at the casino. they decided to reimburse me for the kayak i bought earlier in the day.
on sunday, i finished with the installation of the rear coilovers. i lowered it a bit too much but its going to have to stay at this height for a couple more days until i have some free time to raise it up a little.