1989 Pop and Son build our first honda project
QVO'sWAGON
Band Wagon
Well this build is going to be a first Honda build for me and my son and also his first car, decided to get him a Honda since I had owned a 91 sedan many years ago.
While looking for a sedan I ran into a wagon they were selling, so figured why not get one of these since I’m sure the insurance would be lower for it. Well decided to see if these cars could be fixed up so did a search and came across some slammed wagons, saved the pics and links talked to my son about the car and before he could say “Not a wagon” I showed him the possibilities. So well he bought into undertaking this build and now here we are trying to make it happen.
The car is a 1989 in real good condition in and out, bought it for 1500 dollars. This car use to be towed behind an RV so even though it shows a lot of miles they are not actual running miles, the engine is real tight and has nothing wrong that needs replacing.
The build list will start off like this;
Rims = 15X7 +15 Mesh style or 16X7 still not sure which to go with, I like the more chubby style slammed look and my son likes the tucked style look.
Suspension = going with EF shocks and some DA coil-overs, if you guys see something wrong with this please let us know. Also would it be necessary to use top hats with this setup on the back?
Body = get the bumpers and back license plate area painted same color as car. Also getting the fenders rolled.
Exhaust = 2.5 catback system will be taking it to our muffler shop and look for a nice setup. You guys think for a stock motor this type of exhaust is overkill?
Engine = So far we have not decided or even looked at what can be done to a stock motor.
We are open to suggestions if we can bolt on parts, anything that will enhance the performance on the stock motor. Plan on running this engine until we see it needs replacing or will be the next major build for us.
Interior electrical = our plan is to install electric locks and windows.
Most of the bolt on parts we plan on having them done by the end of this weekend.
While looking for a sedan I ran into a wagon they were selling, so figured why not get one of these since I’m sure the insurance would be lower for it. Well decided to see if these cars could be fixed up so did a search and came across some slammed wagons, saved the pics and links talked to my son about the car and before he could say “Not a wagon” I showed him the possibilities. So well he bought into undertaking this build and now here we are trying to make it happen.
The car is a 1989 in real good condition in and out, bought it for 1500 dollars. This car use to be towed behind an RV so even though it shows a lot of miles they are not actual running miles, the engine is real tight and has nothing wrong that needs replacing.
The build list will start off like this;
Rims = 15X7 +15 Mesh style or 16X7 still not sure which to go with, I like the more chubby style slammed look and my son likes the tucked style look.
Suspension = going with EF shocks and some DA coil-overs, if you guys see something wrong with this please let us know. Also would it be necessary to use top hats with this setup on the back?
Body = get the bumpers and back license plate area painted same color as car. Also getting the fenders rolled.
Exhaust = 2.5 catback system will be taking it to our muffler shop and look for a nice setup. You guys think for a stock motor this type of exhaust is overkill?
Engine = So far we have not decided or even looked at what can be done to a stock motor.
We are open to suggestions if we can bolt on parts, anything that will enhance the performance on the stock motor. Plan on running this engine until we see it needs replacing or will be the next major build for us.
Interior electrical = our plan is to install electric locks and windows.
Most of the bolt on parts we plan on having them done by the end of this weekend.
Comments
2.5 is a lot of pipe for a stock motor- I've seen it said that 2.25 is max recommended for normally aspirated engines. I would just replace the muffler with something a little freer-flowing- maybe a 2" 'turbo' style muffler. Save the full cat-back for if/when you upgrade the engine.
(Mine has 2.5 from the header back, and I'd probably go 2.25 if I had it to do over)
Thanks for stopping by...we looked at your ride man that baby is clean. Can you tell us exactly what type coil-overs you used and shocks. we have no clue and so were going with what we read on the suspension thread. But we would like to go as low as possible if we want and don't want to make the mistake of having to buy different suspension later cause we didn't chose the right one..here's the link of the coil overs we were planning on picking up... http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/pt ... 47629.html
Bam-Bam,
Thanks for the tip on the muffler, will make sure and just replace it with something that will tuck in good and save the cat-back for later.
Rage,
let me tell you I think I'm more excited about this build than him...I'll have him grab me more beers and won't let him near the tools neither
Do you have any pictures of your dog? Assuming it's the one in your avatar.
the best part:
Kyle
here's a pic of the dog... RIP was killed 9/22/09 in our front porch by a trigger happy cop...long story short was inside our yard with a gate and he got shot thru the gate. Cops covered up any wrong doing and would not release any information to any agency trying to get copies of the reports. They would not release any info if the cop got reprimanded because is against union policies and other crap... F them and hope they all d#^.
Ok so here's the update sorry got sidetracked.
First thing we changed was the muffler hard to see but you could kinda see the tip and bottom are new. Also you can see how clean the interior was when we got it.
Saturday Morning went to buy the rims and Coil-overs, had no clue what to get since we saw so many nice wagons on the site with different setups. We decided to ask the advice of the guy selling the rims, so we got stuck with;
16X8 XXR 002 Tires Neo Gen tires 205/40/R16
Before we got started on the suspension we took some pics of the car, you can kinda see how clean the car was kept up.
After we finally figured out how to remove the struts and coils
After installing the Coil-overs, by the way we did best we could with o rings and installation since it had no manual.
After installing the Coil-overs and rims, before adjusting them.
After adjusting the springs at the lowest point
Changed the steering wheel
Also we had the fenders rolled before we changed the coils, well we were told that with such an aggressive set of tires we should have the fenders pulled as well. Well this was news to us since we explained to sales guy what type of look we were after where we bought the rims, well after the guys rolling the fenders said they would not be responsible for waves on the fenders we said just roll them.
Were not really sure if we might end up going with different rims later, in the mean time we might have the fenders rolled and find a way to go lower and camber the rims a bit.
Otherwise, amazing looking car, nice wheel/tire selection and looks nice as it sits. I've found that lowering the wagon too much puts some crucial things like the exhaust and gas tank DANGEROUSLY close to the road and I hate driving like a grandma up inclines and having to avoid speedbumps (that was the culprit behind my gas tank rupture)
keep up the awesome work!! hopefully i can do something cool like this with my son someday. that's why i'm keeping my 76 el camino around still
just do more research, and like i said take it easy (i.e. no 8" wide wheels, maybe just 6.5" or 7")
i like how clean it is.
that's a good start (suspension and wheels too).
I'd normally say the same, but that guy seems to have set them up with some nice fitting wheels compared to the typical lame 6.5" wide +35 offset honda offset wheels. The trick to fender rolling is HEAT. Keeps the paint from cracking and the panels from getting dent'y