Low time, low budget build on a rt4wd. From wreck to clean.

darktrickster

So, bought a 1988 rt4wd wagon for $40 with a snapped timing belt and Presumed scattered head. Bought a new timing belt and after installing it the motor ran great.
Smogged it, paid the $400 late registration fees (knew $40 was too good to be true eh?) and promptly fried the motor due to a bad oil pump.

Anyway, threw and old d15 I had lying around in and due to a cracked radiator blew the head gasket a few days later ( wife needed her car and I got stir crazy so drove the wagon even though I knew I shouldn't have).
I just fixed that and now have a new radiator.

Also fixes that I had done before joining include replacing both driver side doors, replacing the hood, replacing the defroster fan, and replacing the hatch (yes, to that rusty one. The other one had a bad crack right where it bolted to the chassis and didn't shut right.
Good news is, thats the only rust on the whole car).

Also put those rims on and got some tunes going.
You can't really tell, but the passenger front seat is missing as are two of the four headrests, I have them and will be installing them all soon. I have the replacement window for the rear driverside as well as sidemoldings and will probably be having them installed soon.

OK, now you are up to date. Just have the same pictures I put in the intro post, but will be posting more as soon as the weather clears up a little. Next step is to drop in a ZC VTEC engine I recently pulled from a parts car and possibly turbo it (have all the parts-pics soon).

Mission statement- Make this car clean inside and out, and be able to make a good showing of myself at the drag strip. Not going for 12s, but a mid to high 13 would be nice, after all, I plan for it to be my daily driver.

I would also like to incorporate my love of computers into the car and am thinking of settign up some sort of carputer as well as gizmo's and gadgets such as back up camera, voice activated ignition, rfid keyless entry, and cell phone remote ignition.
Those are on the back-burner for now though.

Okiewagon1

Nice save....this thing was probably going to a junkyard glad you were able to save it. GLWB

robert5995

Trickster -
It's a lot of work, but please persevere, it will be worth it, and we will enjoy watching the whole thing!
- Rob

Layspeed

Good plans...and I hope you keep it up. I would love to see a 12 second wagon!

darktrickster

Thanks guys. Next weekend I'm hoping to start the VTEC swap, and on Monday I'm taking it to an upholstery shop to see what it would cost to get some of the rips in the interior taken care of.

Thinking about attempting my first wire tuck while the motors out, but don't know if I can afford to have my car not running for that long. Especially since I would want to shave and paint the bay at the same time, as well as clean up the motor (not that it's that bad).

Either way I'll keep you up to date.

90shuttle

Just shav and tuck it! It'll be worth the wait!

darktrickster

So, no updates yet. Just finished swapping a B16A2 into my friends 89 EF hatch which took up the majority of my weekend. I'm planning on removing my motor and putting it in my sisters derby car next weekend. Which makes the wire tuck and shave project a go in a little less than two weeks. I'll try to remember to take pics for you guys. Also looking into re-upholstering the seats if it isn't too expensive.

darktrickster

Ok guys, It's been awhile, but I've started the wire tuck and have cleaned up the engine bay quite a bit. Still waffling on shave and paint, but

all of the car side wires are tucked and I've just started on redoing the engine harness. Pics soon (probably Tuesday). Wish I had more

progress for the amount of time it's been since an update, but money has been tight so most of my time goes towards making extra on the

side.

darktrickster

Lol, I feel like an idiot. Just looked up how to post pictures. Then was trying to find the attachment button. Now I see at the bottom of the screen that I don't have permission to add attachments. Does this mean I have to link images from somewhere on the net such as Facebook or Photobucket? I'm going to try, so if I'm on the right track, photo's will be up soon. If not, let me know what the haps is for posting images.

darktrickster

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=390044087726786&set=a.326163380781524.77793.100001635944447&type=3&theater

humorwvp

Hey there. How have you been. I use photobucket from my phone and it's very easy.

darktrickster

pulling engine out:

Before washing:

after washing and a little wire rerouting:


More to come later today!

darktrickster

Passenger side routing:

Driver side routing (not done yet):

What's left in the engine bay (going to shorten):

And whats going inside (so far):

darktrickster

So, I'm thinking about bead blasting my new motor. Any suggestions or warnings other than don't let it get into the motor? Probably going to do the tranny too.

humorwvp

That engine bay and the wire work is looking good. Keep up the good work, and the updates coming.

darktrickster

Ok, got the ZC seperated from all the parts I'm not using on it such as tranny, powersteering pump, and brackets. Started restoring my brake booster and fitting for turbo stuff. here are some pics:

Here's the turbo I plan on using:


Shiny new "race" radiator:

Various turbo stuff, will be using a lot of it soon :


BBK 62mm TB on a d16y8 manifold (dsm 450cc injectors not fitted atm):

darktrickster

Heres the brake booster with some OSPHO drying overnight:

My new bubble window:

And some of my new (and old) toys that are making this go faster and easier:


Gotta have tunes, went too long without them:

darktrickster

And a few more pics of wire tuck progress:




It's getting there! I just need to shorten a few wires, decide where the battery is going, and run one or two more wires into the bay. Next is engine harness!

darktrickster

Oh yeah, last but not least, a sneak peak of the motor I'm rebuilding and planning on replacing the zc with :


Maybe next summer if I can find the time.

darktrickster

Turbo fitting. This is the kit how I got it. I need to tuck the downpipe a little closer to clear the transfer case. We will see how it goes!



This set up is capable of a lot more boost than the engine is, but should be perfect for the other motor when I get it finished.

darktrickster

So, I have a tendency to let my projects keep getting bigger until they seem unfinishable, so I think I'm going to back off a little on this one and do some of it next summer. I'm going to finish putting the turbo ZC VTEC in and the wire tuck, but I think I'm going to wait on the painting and shaving of the engine bay. Even If I did manage to do it right now, I would be putting in an ugly motor and trans, a dirty turbo set-up, and would be keeping all the beat up dirty hoses in the bay. So over the winter I'm going to start gathering a pile of new hoses and clean parts as well as get my d16y7 block and d16y8 head tanked and rebuilt. That will leave me looking for a clean tranny or parts to rebuild mine. Anyway, should have updates on the turbo set-up later today or tomorrow.:encouragement:

darktrickster

Ok, Tranny is bolted to the motor and downpipe is adjusted. Now to start on engine harness tuck and wait for all my new turbo gaskets and hoses in the mail. getting excited to drive the wagon again. Might splurge a little and have the bubble window professionally installed when I get my school loans. pics soon!

lilROOKZ

looking good, im currently doing some wire tucking of my own. keep it up and keep those pics rollin in.

darktrickster

lilROOKZ wrote: »

looking good, im currently doing some wire tucking of my own. keep it up and keep those pics rollin in.

Thanks, will do. Good luck with your tuck!

nstice

Looking good, cant wait to see the engine in the car.

darktrickster

nstice wrote: »

Looking good, cant wait to see the engine in the car.

Me either, getting excited. Still have to set up the new engine harness to match the tuck on the chassis then I'll be putting the motor in. Just have to try and not get impatient and start taking shortcuts...

darktrickster

So... Went to Portland this week and picked up another wagon. Now I have a good tranny (hopefully, guy said it was fine) and most all the parts I need to get one relatively clean and complete wagon on the road, and one full of beat up parts off-road wagon. Now I don't have to decide between the dirt and the road, I'll have one for each! I'll post some pics later today or tomorrow.

darktrickster

Ok, time for some pics. Here is the downpipe fitted with transmission. The wires are me starting on modifying the engine harness:



And some pictures of the new wagon. After I get my wagon running, I'm going to brainstorm on which wagon to off-road and which to make clean. Either way, swapping parts back and forth isn't hard and now that I have some experience with the tuck I could do it better. All that for another day however:




Also, some new goodies for my getting cleaner by the day engine bay:

darktrickster

So, been working in the garage again and started on the engine wiring harness. Got some awesome looming and cool heatshrink to pretty it all up. Heres some pics.


Not really digging the junction here. Think I'm going to try and find some liquid tape or glue to clean it up.

darktrickster

Been taking a break for a bit on my wagon and helping buddies out with their cars. Swapped a LS/VTEC into an 89 hatch and swapped a 88 DX hatch to SI. One of cooler projects was a D16z6 swap into a RT4WD wagon which ended up well despite finding that the rear tranny mount had two holes that were stripped and one bolt broken off in it. So had to tap 4 holes instead of two on that one. But the car purrs like a kitten and drove down to San Fran the next day with no issues. Have 5 more projects before I can focus on the wagon again. Le sigh. Hopefully be working on it again in a month or two. If I decide to keep the other one, I'll make a new build thread for a rally/baha style wagon and start putting to use some of that info that Bam-Bam and 3rd4ce have been accumulating.

darktrickster

So, got a wagon in better shape and decided to use it for the fast daily driver so I'll be setting this one up for the dirt. Going to lift it, Rhinoline it, get all the splash guards and covers re-installed and build a skidplate for it, get some good suspension for it, delete the viscous coupler (off pavement use only when it's in 4WD), get LSD(front) or weld(rear) the diffs, and still put that turbo ZC-Vtec in it. Also thinking of doing a snorkel and exhaust stack on it(mostly to avoid the accidental hydrolock from hitting a puddle too fast or sucking water up the exhuast if I stall or get stuck in a puddle). Any suggestions?