1989 EDM FWD Shuttle 1.5 GL

Hi guys, I've finally got some work done on my Shuttle after moving house and stuff after buying it, so it's time for a build thread!

Background: Other than my Shuttle, I've seen one, once. It was on a train in Switzerland, and I only saw it for a few seconds, but somehow I knew I had to have one. I'd previously been looking at getting a CRX or an EF hatch, and I was aware of the Shuttle, but never thought much of it. It was gold and parked up in a big car park but stood out like a sore thumb among the other cars - so much retro awesomeness.
So I start looking, and it takes around 4 years until I see the first one on sale here in SWEDEN (where I live, not Switzerland where the above "revelation" occurred). I get on the phone to the seller and buy it unseen within two hours. Here's the original advert:
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"There's absolutely no rust on this car" and "There's nothing wrong with it at all" the seller assures me. Yeah, right.

The car has lived it's whole life on the island of Gotland, where they don't use road salt. The seller offered to deliver it to the mainland for me, to save me going out to get it, as he worked on the ferry anyway.
Quick geography lesson for those who don't know Sweden. Gotland and Stockholm (where I live) marked on the map:
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Picking it up at the docks:
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So what's wrong with it?

- Main problem is rust (of course, it's a 28 year old Honda). The main spot is on the left rear arch and I think I'll have to learn to weld/have someone help me fix it. Another area is in the engine room where the battery has leaked. Affected areas include the front crossmember and the passenger side engine mount.
- Second main problem is that the engine leaks oil from the seal between the block and the head. Probably needs a new head gasket, and I'll do a mild rebuild of it while I'm at it. I'm considering an engine swap in the future, but right now I want to enjoy driving the car so I'll stick to the original D15B2 - a reliable, economical engine that I've also got in my EG8 sedan.
- A baffle in the mid-muffler has come loose and rattles - nothing major but a very annoying noise and makes the car sound as old as it is.
- The driver's door-stop thing has come off the frame and needs to be reattached, probably another welding job
- Seats are a bit rough - hole and missing foam in the drivers seat
- Sunroof (aftermarket) leaks water and has been duct-taped shut
- Various cosmetic problems. Everywhere.

So what's your idea?


When I was a kid we had two VW Beetles from the 1960s. We drove these to car meets, cruises, on holidays across Europe and it was awesome. I love Honda and their cars, and I want a classic car that is still reliable and practical - here the Shuttle fits in perfectly. It's also very cheap (or at least this one was) to buy, which is an added bonus. I also have a lot to learn about working on cars, and I think this is a good car to learn to work on... I'd like to learn:
- how to weld
- how to re-upholster car seats & trim
- how to re-build an engine
- how to paint a car
Being ambitious is great, hopefully I'm also not underestimating the difficulty in all of this.

So, I want the Shuttle to be a cool little retro ride. It won't be a track car, and it won't be "stanced". I will do things to improve the ride (like aftermarket suspension) and looks (aftermarket wheels) but I'll try to keep a lot of things original. There are only 65 of these left in Sweden (official statistics) so I think they're worth saving.

Pictures from when I got her:
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Taking out the interior:
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Really clean under the carpet, which was a real relief!
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My loyal assistant taking a break in the shade
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Carpet is out! Cleaning time!
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Better
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Scored a replacement sunroof in a Facebook group for Volvo parts. It's some obscure Finnish "Finlandia 2000" that was offered by Swedish and Finnish dealers on SAABs and Volvos in the 80s. Evidently also Hondas.
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Got the exhaust off to see if I could do something about the rattle. No.
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Old sunroof off:
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I now have a love/hate relationship with duct tape. So annoying to remove the stuff.
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Head liner also removed. It fell apart in my hands.
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Will be recovering the headliner with some cool fabric. Here it is in the meantime:
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Here's the door stop thing that needs fixing/welding:
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Rear bumper removed. No rust here either!
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These bolts were STUCK. Really stuck.
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VICTORY!
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Rear bumper plastic is very twisted, going to try to straighten it out.
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Heat gun, wooden blocks, clamps.
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Cleaning up the rear bumper support. This thing was DIRTY. Going to treat it with a rust converter then paint blaaaaack.
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Detail:
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Here's the rear arch rust.
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Not so bad, right? I poked it a bit and...
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Oh dear, that's worse than I thought. But still not awful.

Took the side skirts off and the metal was very clean underneath:
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Rear fog light seal had failed and had been full of water for some time. It was also held on with tape. Result:
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They both cleaned up nicely though:
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That's where things stand right now.

Can anyone advise me on the rear arch rust? I've gathered that nobody makes replacement panels for these, but that some people have used front HB fenders instead. Is that going to help in this case?

Comments

  • Great progress for a first post! I've been skipping over wagons with rust in the rear quarters. You are more brave than me. Lol
  • Nice! My 89 had a trailer hitch too albeit not as heavy duty as that one, while I never used it for anything more than a step on that 89 I wish my 87 had one.

    If you don't already have one look into getting a manual impact driver, they make quick work of stuck JIS and phillips heads without stripping or marring the head.
  • Great job so far! I have a wagon I am keeping stock too and I'm glad to see another one kept roughly stock. No rear arch replacements, sorry. Some people have used sedan arches but those do not fit up correctly. Your best bet is to find a wagon being parted or in a junk yard.
  • wagovanguy wrote: »
    Great progress for a first post! I've been skipping over wagons with rust in the rear quarters. You are more brave than me. Lol

    Thanks, but this is technically about 6 months of work, all in one post! If I put the car in my garage I have no space to work, so parts and tools live indoors while the car lives outdoors, and we've had snow for the past 4 months = no work on the car, so progress has been very slow...

    Not sure if I'm brave or stupid at this point, but we'll see.
    Nice! My 89 had a trailer hitch too albeit not as heavy duty as that one, while I never used it for anything more than a step on that 89 I wish my 87 had one.

    If you don't already have one look into getting a manual impact driver, they make quick work of stuck JIS and phillips heads without stripping or marring the head.

    Good tip, thanks! I've been thinking about ditching the tow hook as it adds weight, but more and more I'm coming to think that it might be very useful sometime in the future.
    Great job so far! I have a wagon I am keeping stock too and I'm glad to see another one kept roughly stock. No rear arch replacements, sorry. Some people have used sedan arches but those do not fit up correctly. Your best bet is to find a wagon being parted or in a junk yard.

    Thanks, it's my first real project so I'm kind of just making things up as I go. Plan is to ensure I have a clean frame & shell and then install only cleaned & renovated parts. I'm going to look into using the EF HB front fenders, which I've seen people talk about. Finding a Shuttle in this country is really, really difficult, and finding a rust-free one even more so... Thanks for the info though!
  • Awesome read! Can't wait to see the progress of the car.

    Im guessing since they use salt on the mainland that you aren't going to find a rust free arch anywhere in the country, you can try to get one online but even that is hard to do. I think the best bet would be able to bend and weld patch panels to fit. Getting the right bend might require a machine shop or body shop to do the work for you which is my plan. You could probably do it yourself with a lot of trial and error considering some of the bends you would need to make, but it's not impossible.
  • JundaCoroJundaCoro New Wagonist
    Great effort with the clean! Looking the goods
  • superhatch wrote: »
    Awesome read! Can't wait to see the progress of the car.

    Im guessing since they use salt on the mainland that you aren't going to find a rust free arch anywhere in the country, you can try to get one online but even that is hard to do. I think the best bet would be able to bend and weld patch panels to fit. Getting the right bend might require a machine shop or body shop to do the work for you which is my plan. You could probably do it yourself with a lot of trial and error considering some of the bends you would need to make, but it's not impossible.

    Thanks for the tips! I think I'm going to go with the sedan arches and modify them if necessary. Having looked at several other rust-repair threads on here and other Civic sites I think I'm actually very lucky to have so little rust. I've found a place that does replacement rear quarter panels for around 300-400SEK each (~$30-$40) so not that expensive. I think I'll do my EG sedan arches while I'm at it too!

    Slow progress otherwise, mainly due to the car being under a layer of snow. Can't wait for the warmer weather...

    I did disassemble the replacement sunroof I bought and started cleaning all the old sealant off it.

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    This stuff was sticky and a PITA to remove. I tried all kinds of combinations of razor blades, plastic scrapers, heat guns... Eventually a good old white spirit and rag did the job.
    Before:
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    After:
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  • White spirit = mineral spirits/turpentine? I haven't heard that term before. :P
  • andreas542andreas542 Band Wagon
    Correct your are!
    White spirit (UK)[note 1] or mineral spirits (US, Canada),[1][2][3] also known as mineral turpentine (AU/NZ), turpentine substitute, petroleum spirits, solvent naphtha (petroleum), varsol, Stoddard solvent,[4][5] or, generically, "paint thinner", is a petroleum-derived clear liquid used as a common organic solvent in painting and decorating.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_spirit
  • andreas542andreas542 Band Wagon
    Progress has been slow because #life but I finally finished clearing out the interior! Now I just have to clean everything and put it back together!

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    A friendly guy from my local Honda club is helping me source a good second hand MIG welder, so hopefully I can get the bodywork sorted out soon... Or at least before the end of summer!
  • Dear civicwagon.com, I've been neglecting you. Sorry, it's not you, it's me.


    My last update was 18 months ago and the Shuttle isn't in the same condition now as it was then.


    A few brief updates...


    I made some amateur renovations of various rusty components before they went back on the car:
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    Finished cleaning up & repairing the interior pieces:
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    The sound deadening smelt awful, so I removed that using dry ice and then painted the interior of the shell:
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    The headliner was all cracked and broken, so I renovated that with some fabric I really liked the look of:
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    I refreshed the whole ventilation system. Cleaned out every piece and fitted new rubber seals:
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    Interior reassembled:
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    I got some D2 coilovers and fitted an Energy Suspension Master Kit:
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    New front brake discs and pads, rebuilt the calipers:
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    I picked up some SSR Type-Cs (15x6.5 ET42) and some Toyo R888s:
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    I also replaced the exhaust with an aftermarket I found (old one was leaking). Clearly not for performance reasons, if anything this is more restrictive!
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    Went and did a track day at Mantorp Park (the old Swedish F1 circuit):
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    Here I am "racing" my friend who has an EP3. D15B2 vs. K20 was never going to be a fair fight though!
    [video=youtube_share;5NDOasvaBws]
  • You have been busy! Digging that headliner material.....nice. Another wagon back on the road....good deal.
  • Looking Nice!!! Congratulations on coming so far with it!

    Reminds me of my wagon :encouragement:
  • Thanks guys! Big plans for winter, I will update sometime soon with the list of parts going on, but most exciting is this:

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    B18C4 from a Civic Aerodeck VTi. It was recently pulled from a scrapped car that's only done 95,000km, so it should be in great condition without a rebuild. I'll be mating this with a Y21 gearbox and just running it as-is for 2019.

    On top of that I'm doing a rear-disc conversion with the CD1 kit, and going up to 262 brakes at the front with CRX Si spindles etc.
  • wagodizzlewagodizzle Council Member and EDM expert
    wow, amazing work! love the progress!

    If you ever come across an extra lower console with heated seat switches please let me know! I've been trying to source a set for several years now!
  • I've sent you a pm, wagodizzle.
  • wagodizzlewagodizzle Council Member and EDM expert
    I've replied!
  • Wicked! Love all the work!
  • SPWSPW Senior Wagonist
    Any updates?
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