Finally just finished cutting and assembling these die cut, two-color stickers for the rear windows. Cant decide on which of the wagon ones, but will def add these to the wagon!
Its been too long. Not much free time to devote to the wagon, but been driving it daily and love it. Just recently did a few more cosmetic items:
Found this gem online
and here it is installed
Was in wally world the other day and saw these in the sewing and craft sections. Picked up a few with plans to do a cheap fix for the traditional driver's seat wear and tear our wagons seem to get with age.
Before:
Added a bit more padding: And started patching: The finished product:
All in all, the patches works pretty well. They at least keep the seat stuffing from piling up in the seat each time I get in and out. We will see how long they hold up.
I also have been inspired by everyone on the forum that has rescued wagons from the many rusty graveyards out there and designed yet another decal that I will probably cut out for the wagon this week:
I also have been inspired by everyone on the forum that has rescued wagons from the many rusty graveyards out there and designed yet another decal that I will probably cut out for the wagon this week:
I just wanted to say Love the wagon. good job, very tasteful mods!
Thanks for the props. Lots more things I wanna do, some simple and cosmetic, others a little more drastic. Love driving it for now, especially since my free time and extra $ to put towards it all are now going towards the family.
As far as the stickers, I cannot distribute any of the civicwagon.com decals as there will/should be some official stickers coming out via the site. Anyone who knows more on this, please chime in and maybe include a link.
I def do not want to break any of the forum rules and dont want to use my build thread as a store front, but would consider cutting some of the Save a Wagon decals for those forum members interested. Let me find out and work out the details. Stay tuned.
I meant to ask about the patches; did you also sew them to the seat cover as well as the iron-on adhesive? I've never applied any to a seat cover but the ones my wife ironed onto my jeans peeled off in short order. Considering the constant wear seen by a driver's seat I would guess without sewing them on they will have a short lifespan.
I had not thought of that product for that application. Good one!
I meant to ask about the patches; did you also sew them to the seat cover as well as the iron-on adhesive? I've never applied any to a seat cover but the ones my wife ironed onto my jeans peeled off in short order. Considering the constant wear seen by a driver's seat I would guess without sewing them on they will have a short lifespan.
I had not thought of that product for that application. Good one!
I did not sew them. Just ironed on with iron on hottest setting. Have had them on a week and so far so good.
I am glad to say that I finally was able to hook up with bam-bam over the holiday and was able to get a stock exhaust from the bam-tech compound. THANKS AGAIN!
Even got an offroad session in Fools Gold. Its been said numerous times, but the thing is a state of engineering beauty.
Here's a few of my wagon next to the offroad beast. Note the exhaust strapped to the roof rack. Adding a rack to mine is def moving up my project priority ladder.
Those of you that know bam (and pebbles) already know that they are cool folks and I had a great rendezvous. I def look forward to meeting up and hanging out with them again!
So the next major mod I am planning to do is to use the spare tire compartment to make a sealed 10" sub enclosure and also incorporate a smaller and lighter battery to replace the already relocated truck-sized battery that is in the rear. You can reference the start of my build page for pics if you would like.
Anyway, I have done a bunch of research this past week on all of the aftermarket batteries that are out there and trying to decide on the best one for my application, size limitations and budget. I currently have a yellow top Optima in my 95 hatch for 3 years and havent had any issues, but due to the OEM size and weight, I started researching smaller batteries and comparing sizes, cold cranking amps (CCA), pricing and overall testimonials from various car threads. In short, I compiled the following chart while doing my research and highlited the ones that I was considering.
My quick summary and highlites of the chart and overall testimonials that I read are this: OPTIMA (yellow top)- OEM replacements sizes, are heavy than other AM batteries and more expensive than OEM, but can be mounted in any position; has SAE posts DEKA- Are significantly cheaper/CCA ratio and great as long as you regularly drive the car. Must use a battery tender charger if car will not be daily driven. Are intended to mount upright and you will need to purchase separate SAE mounting posts. BRAILLE- OEM power with various models that offer significant smaller sizes and lower wt than OEM; pricing similar to Optima; Offer lightweight racing models that are sig lighter and a bit more expensive; seemed to be more reliable than DEKA, can be mounted in any direction and come with SAE posts for top or side mounting. EDIT: from my own experience, also must use a battery tender charger if car will not be driven within 7-10 days.
I am leaning towards the Braille B129 due to size and wt and because can be mounted on its side, but a close 2nd is the Braille B2015 just due to the increased CCAmps.
I would consider the DEKA ETX18L, due to pricing, but dont know enough about them to choose it over a Braille (especially for around $20 difference) and cant confirm that i would be able to mount one on its side.
I dont want the discussion to turn into "this battery is better than that one", but I do want your opinion if you are running a Braille 129 or B2015 or a DEKA ETX18L because I think 1 of those 3 will work with my specific application considering my specific criteria.
I am leaning towards the Braille B129 due to size and wt and because can be mounted on its side, but a close 2nd is the Braille B2015 just due to the increased CCAmps.
I would consider the DEKA ETX18L, due to pricing, but dont know enough about them to choose it over a Braille (especially for around $20 difference) and cant confirm that i would be able to mount one on its side.
I dont want the discussion to turn into "this battery is better than that one", but I do want your opinion if you are running a Braille 129 or B2015 or a DEKA ETX18L because I think 1 of those 3 will work with my specific application considering my specific criteria.
Thanks in advance for your input!
Given an interior mounting (which you have and aren't planning to change back to stock location) I've gotta say if it's not sealed it's a "non-starter". (If you can't figure out if it's sealed then that knocks it out of consideration.) That leaves the Braille batteries; B129 and B2015. Given the $13 price difference between these two (which I would call negligible) I think the real difference is going to be the weight and the Cold Cranking Amps. For additional 5.5 pound weight penalty you get another 102 CCAs. All of that sounds to me a lot like there's little enough downside difference between the two that if the more expensive, heavier battery has the feature(s) you want there's no real good reason not to get it.
Do you want to say to yourself some bitterly cold morning three years (or more) from now, "I sure wish I had spent another $13 back in 'ought twelve to get that additional 102 CCA"?
I don't have any experience running any of the batteries mentioned above so I cannot comment on them. I do have experience however with Odyssey and Optima batteries and they have worked very well for me. Odyssey batteries come in many of the same specs your looking at getting and are a kick ass battery.
Additionally, there is a lot of debate on running voltage cap's for stereo systems, but I only know from my own experience that they do make a difference even in a smaller sound systems. It all depends on what kind of demands your going to put on the electrical system.
Regardless, it sounds like your on the right track...
Given an interior mounting (which you have and aren't planning to change back to stock location) I've gotta say if it's not sealed it's a "non-starter". (If you can't figure out if it's sealed then that knocks it out of consideration.) That leaves the Braille batteries; B129 and B2015. Given the $13 price difference between these two (which I would call negligible) I think the real difference is going to be the weight and the Cold Cranking Amps. For additional 5.5 pound weight penalty you get another 102 CCAs. All of that sounds to me a lot like there's little enough downside difference between the two that if the more expensive, heavier battery has the feature(s) you want there's no real good reason not to get it.
Do you want to say to yourself some bitterly cold morning three years (or more) from now, "I sure wish I had spent another $13 back in 'ought twelve to get that additional 102 CCA"?
Exactly my thinking!
Sorry bam, if the relocation hadnt already been done and done right using heavy gauge wiring, i wuld convert back to stock.
MAJOR UPDATE with LOTSA PICS! REAR SPEAKER PODs
So decided to gut the interior in order to do a few things so as of last weekend the wagon looks like this:
Completed Task #1 and got my radio wired up and amp installed under passengers seat in preparation for a 10” sub in the very near future. I also found the stock rear speaker wires and tried to decide where to install the rear 3way 6x9s I had laying around. There is a perfect spot on right rear side behind wheel well, but the gas tank spout on the driver’s side screwed up my plans for that location. So after some measuring, I decided to just build some custom pods.
After savaging thru the garage, came up with this assortment of stuff.
Used some ¼” plywood, traced pattern, cut out the speaker template and mocked into space for a visual.
Fabbed up some supports for each side
And then got panels prepped for fiberglass and resin. Used a heavy duty non stick tin foil. Just be carful not to punch a hole in the foil when molding to panel. If you do, use painters tape to cover hole. This type of foil works really well for small areas and once dry, the mold pulls up with ease.
Another tip is to include small blocks of wood in the mold covered in fiberglass and be sure to put them on the flat areas of the panel so that you can screw into them when mounting the pods to the panel.
The next step is to wrap the skeleton in fleece in order to join the fiberglass mold to the rest of the pod structure.
Mounted both pods and saturated the fleece with resin. Make sure not to oversaturate the fleece or this may cause the fleece to wrinkle.
Before resin:
After resin:
After resin hardens, did a light sanding with 8-grit to knock down the high resin spots and harden drips.
I then prepped the panels using painters tape and then mounted the pods to the panels using wood screws. Next step is to mix up some bondo and do a light coat focusing on filling any gaps where the pods meet the panel first, then go back and do a light skim coat to make sides straight.
Next step was to remove the pods and trim up the edges using a dremel and a sanding drum, followed by block sanding with 100 grit paper. Because I plan on painting these instead of wrapping them, I had some low spots, so I ended up doing another light skim coat of bondo before block sanding with 100, 120, 220 and 320 grit paper. These are after the final sanding and are just balanced in their spot for one last visual check before paint. Once screwed to the panel, the pods should fit tight to the contours in the panels.
From the sides:
From the Top:
Finally, after looking for numerous spray paints that would match the OEM wagon brown interior color, I decided to get some computer matched paint. Getting a Satin finish paint seemed to be the best bet. The pic doesn’t do it justice, and looks a little darker than it really is, but it is the best match I could come up with after numerous attempts to try and find a color match. Apparently, all you need is the info here to get the same custom matched color:
Paint is drying as we speak, so I will post up some final pics (hopefully) tomorrow so stay tuned.
might be too late but I have the top half of the factory speaker pods on hand if you decide to change directions. maybe you can mod some lower halves with the fiberglass work.
Comments
Found this gem online
and here it is installed
Was in wally world the other day and saw these in the sewing and craft sections.
Picked up a few with plans to do a cheap fix for the traditional driver's seat wear and tear our wagons seem to get with age.
Before:
Added a bit more padding:
And started patching:
The finished product:
All in all, the patches works pretty well. They at least keep the seat stuffing from piling up in the seat each time I get in and out. We will see how long they hold up.
I also have been inspired by everyone on the forum that has rescued wagons from the many rusty graveyards out there and designed yet another decal that I will probably cut out for the wagon this week:
Thanks for the props. Lots more things I wanna do, some simple and cosmetic, others a little more drastic. Love driving it for now, especially since my free time and extra $ to put towards it all are now going towards the family.
As far as the stickers, I cannot distribute any of the civicwagon.com decals as there will/should be some official stickers coming out via the site. Anyone who knows more on this, please chime in and maybe include a link.
I def do not want to break any of the forum rules and dont want to use my build thread as a store front, but would consider cutting some of the Save a Wagon decals for those forum members interested. Let me find out and work out the details. Stay tuned.
I had not thought of that product for that application. Good one!
Thank you!
Hell Yeah!
Thx. That [URL="http://<br />[FONT=Times New Roman]http://www.civicwagon.com/showthread.php?14123-knottyy-s-89-NW-Wagon-Lots-O-Pics[/FONT][SIZE=3]"]Knottyy[/URL] is a pretty creative cat!
Even got an offroad session in Fools Gold. Its been said numerous times, but the thing is a state of engineering beauty.
Here's a few of my wagon next to the offroad beast. Note the exhaust strapped to the roof rack. Adding a rack to mine is def moving up my project priority ladder.
Those of you that know bam (and pebbles) already know that they are cool folks and I had a great rendezvous. I def look forward to meeting up and hanging out with them again!
So the next major mod I am planning to do is to use the spare tire compartment to make a sealed 10" sub enclosure and also incorporate a smaller and lighter battery to replace the already relocated truck-sized battery that is in the rear. You can reference the start of my build page for pics if you would like.
Anyway, I have done a bunch of research this past week on all of the aftermarket batteries that are out there and trying to decide on the best one for my application, size limitations and budget. I currently have a yellow top Optima in my 95 hatch for 3 years and havent had any issues, but due to the OEM size and weight, I started researching smaller batteries and comparing sizes, cold cranking amps (CCA), pricing and overall testimonials from various car threads. In short, I compiled the following chart while doing my research and highlited the ones that I was considering.
My quick summary and highlites of the chart and overall testimonials that I read are this:
OPTIMA (yellow top)- OEM replacements sizes, are heavy than other AM batteries and more expensive than OEM, but can be mounted in any position; has SAE posts
DEKA- Are significantly cheaper/CCA ratio and great as long as you regularly drive the car. Must use a battery tender charger if car will not be daily driven. Are intended to mount upright and you will need to purchase separate SAE mounting posts.
BRAILLE- OEM power with various models that offer significant smaller sizes and lower wt than OEM; pricing similar to Optima; Offer lightweight racing models that are sig lighter and a bit more expensive; seemed to be more reliable than DEKA, can be mounted in any direction and come with SAE posts for top or side mounting. EDIT: from my own experience, also must use a battery tender charger if car will not be driven within 7-10 days.
I am leaning towards the Braille B129 due to size and wt and because can be mounted on its side, but a close 2nd is the Braille B2015 just due to the increased CCAmps.
I would consider the DEKA ETX18L, due to pricing, but dont know enough about them to choose it over a Braille (especially for around $20 difference) and cant confirm that i would be able to mount one on its side.
I dont want the discussion to turn into "this battery is better than that one", but I do want your opinion if you are running a Braille 129 or B2015 or a DEKA ETX18L because I think 1 of those 3 will work with my specific application considering my specific criteria.
Thanks in advance for your input!
Given an interior mounting (which you have and aren't planning to change back to stock location) I've gotta say if it's not sealed it's a "non-starter". (If you can't figure out if it's sealed then that knocks it out of consideration.) That leaves the Braille batteries; B129 and B2015. Given the $13 price difference between these two (which I would call negligible) I think the real difference is going to be the weight and the Cold Cranking Amps. For additional 5.5 pound weight penalty you get another 102 CCAs. All of that sounds to me a lot like there's little enough downside difference between the two that if the more expensive, heavier battery has the feature(s) you want there's no real good reason not to get it.
Do you want to say to yourself some bitterly cold morning three years (or more) from now, "I sure wish I had spent another $13 back in 'ought twelve to get that additional 102 CCA"?
Additionally, there is a lot of debate on running voltage cap's for stereo systems, but I only know from my own experience that they do make a difference even in a smaller sound systems. It all depends on what kind of demands your going to put on the electrical system.
Regardless, it sounds like your on the right track...
Sorry bam, if the relocation hadnt already been done and done right using heavy gauge wiring, i wuld convert back to stock.
So decided to gut the interior in order to do a few things so as of last weekend the wagon looks like this:
Completed Task #1 and got my radio wired up and amp installed under passengers seat in preparation for a 10” sub in the very near future. I also found the stock rear speaker wires and tried to decide where to install the rear 3way 6x9s I had laying around. There is a perfect spot on right rear side behind wheel well, but the gas tank spout on the driver’s side screwed up my plans for that location. So after some measuring, I decided to just build some custom pods.
After savaging thru the garage, came up with this assortment of stuff.
Used some ¼” plywood, traced pattern, cut out the speaker template and mocked into space for a visual.
Fabbed up some supports for each side
And then got panels prepped for fiberglass and resin. Used a heavy duty non stick tin foil. Just be carful not to punch a hole in the foil when molding to panel. If you do, use painters tape to cover hole. This type of foil works really well for small areas and once dry, the mold pulls up with ease.
Another tip is to include small blocks of wood in the mold covered in fiberglass and be sure to put them on the flat areas of the panel so that you can screw into them when mounting the pods to the panel.
The next step is to wrap the skeleton in fleece in order to join the fiberglass mold to the rest of the pod structure.
Mounted both pods and saturated the fleece with resin. Make sure not to oversaturate the fleece or this may cause the fleece to wrinkle.
Before resin:
After resin:
After resin hardens, did a light sanding with 8-grit to knock down the high resin spots and harden drips.
I then prepped the panels using painters tape and then mounted the pods to the panels using wood screws. Next step is to mix up some bondo and do a light coat focusing on filling any gaps where the pods meet the panel first, then go back and do a light skim coat to make sides straight.
Next step was to remove the pods and trim up the edges using a dremel and a sanding drum, followed by block sanding with 100 grit paper. Because I plan on painting these instead of wrapping them, I had some low spots, so I ended up doing another light skim coat of bondo before block sanding with 100, 120, 220 and 320 grit paper. These are after the final sanding and are just balanced in their spot for one last visual check before paint. Once screwed to the panel, the pods should fit tight to the contours in the panels.
From the sides:
From the Top:
Finally, after looking for numerous spray paints that would match the OEM wagon brown interior color, I decided to get some computer matched paint. Getting a Satin finish paint seemed to be the best bet. The pic doesn’t do it justice, and looks a little darker than it really is, but it is the best match I could come up with after numerous attempts to try and find a color match. Apparently, all you need is the info here to get the same custom matched color:
Paint is drying as we speak, so I will post up some final pics (hopefully) tomorrow so stay tuned.