t.k's EE2 Love Affair
t.k
New Wagonist
I figured it was about time to post my wagon up, i've only owned her for about 2 months but I've loved her since I bought her!
So I had been looking for a wagon for a year or so pretty vigilantly but all the ones I found had been ragged out, had chopped up swaps or were sold a couple days after they were posted. Once I saw this one pop up in Dallas I called the guy, after an hour and half conversation we agreed on the price, 2 days later I went up and drove her back to Austin.
She's an 88 DX, original motor with 233k on the clock, working AC and formerly working aftermarket cruise control (stopped working after I power washed engine bay and didn't care enough to figure out why :cool:). She was 100% stock when I got her besides the sony head unit and polk audio speakers. Here are the couple pics from the original CL ad.
The wagon's in pretty nice shape except the cracking material on the rear seats and the usual door dings. Needless to say I was pretty stoked!
Even came with some nice 88-89 CRX wheels with fresh tires!
First off is always the tune up! Holy hell this thing had oil leaks everywhere! enough to the point that I topped it off in Dallas and it lost a quart by the time I got back to Austin! So along with the usual spark plugs, spark plug wires(which were the original wires from 88, c'mon seriously?!), cap, rotor and air filter. I also did the valve cover gasket, tube seals, dizzy o ring, oil pan gasket and oil change. Needless to say no more leaks and she really woke up! During the tune up I also noticed that the drivers headlight bracket was busted and half ass'd repaired. Luckily I found a guy locally that was parting out an 88 wagon so I got both his headlights, HID's with yellow high beams, rear mudflaps and both front window actuators, all which are now installed.
So after immediate maintenance was complete I had to start 'making her mine' as I like to call it. Started by fixing some small things, replaced the broken glove box and broken center vents(thanks CodyJDM). Then I went a little parts crazy on eBay lol. First off was a $10 short shifter from eBay which is probably the best $10 i've spent on a vehicle in awhile! Felt like I had to cross county's to get into 2nd gear! Also threw in my old favorite teggy shift knob. After the short shifter was installed it just didn't look right with the stock shift boot, so I made one out of a Tito's Vodka bag, I dig it!
Got new hatch lifts off ebay aswell as in the first week I got the wagon I took it up to best buy and got an alarm installed, (kind of a requirement in my neighborhood) so I have keyless entry in the wagon! Next I just set out to get all the rare options for the interior.
First was rear speaker pods.
I followed the install guide on here and it honestly wasn't even that difficult.
Next was the armrest, I paid a pretty penny for it, and it was broken
Luckily i'm pretty resourceful when it comes to stuff like that. So the top lid was cracked, like someone put too much pressure on it and fell through, aswell as the top cloth being worn out and the padding pretty much disintegrated. I should have taken pictures during the process but forgot Pretty much what I did was disassemble the lid and cut out a piece of thin plywood using the lid as a template, then using a combination of super glue and loctite I pieced the lid back together, putting the plywood in the middle, and it was as sturdy as ever! For the padding I simply found an unused piece of pipe insulation, using the lid as a template, cut and applied with loctite 
The finished product without the covering.
I was having a bit a trouble deciding what fabric to cover the armrest lid in, then I remembered I had a pretty large Jager meister bandana laying around. So after a bit of arts and crafts time with some spray adhesive I had my new armrest lid
Installed
And last but certainly not least was the EDM center console. I couldn't find one in blue so i settled for gray. If anyone has a blue one they want to trade i'm down for a straight up trade! Also if anyone knows how to make the ashtray and cig lighter lights work please educate me. Either the harness that came with mine was bad or the wagon just didn't like it because I had to use my stock harness to get the cig lighter to work at all.
Other than that i've just done some small things to personalize my wagon.
EE2 love decal
Old Skool love plate frame
PW:JDM hood spacers
Broadway 270mm convex x2 brightness rear view
I've also got limo tint all the way around, installed EF9 stanley side markers, a black datum 1 rear tow hook and an ebay hood bra. This is pretty much how the wagon sits right now.
Any comments/suggestions are welcome! Sorry for the shitty cell phone pics, i'll get some decent ones taken once I restore the paint and get the bumpers paint matched. I'm also picking up a set of BMW bottlecaps this weekend so those will be put on once I decide how I want to refinish them. I'm thinking white with a blue lip. Before anyone gives the "needs moar low" post i'm working on it lol. I want to do skunk2 pro series v2 coilovers and a full bushing kit at the same time, so it'll be a little while. I've also already got about 75% of the parts needed for my swap, which isn't a D,B or H if you know what i'm saying... Hoping to have that in by next summer.
So I had been looking for a wagon for a year or so pretty vigilantly but all the ones I found had been ragged out, had chopped up swaps or were sold a couple days after they were posted. Once I saw this one pop up in Dallas I called the guy, after an hour and half conversation we agreed on the price, 2 days later I went up and drove her back to Austin.
She's an 88 DX, original motor with 233k on the clock, working AC and formerly working aftermarket cruise control (stopped working after I power washed engine bay and didn't care enough to figure out why :cool:). She was 100% stock when I got her besides the sony head unit and polk audio speakers. Here are the couple pics from the original CL ad.
The wagon's in pretty nice shape except the cracking material on the rear seats and the usual door dings. Needless to say I was pretty stoked!
Even came with some nice 88-89 CRX wheels with fresh tires!First off is always the tune up! Holy hell this thing had oil leaks everywhere! enough to the point that I topped it off in Dallas and it lost a quart by the time I got back to Austin! So along with the usual spark plugs, spark plug wires(which were the original wires from 88, c'mon seriously?!), cap, rotor and air filter. I also did the valve cover gasket, tube seals, dizzy o ring, oil pan gasket and oil change. Needless to say no more leaks and she really woke up! During the tune up I also noticed that the drivers headlight bracket was busted and half ass'd repaired. Luckily I found a guy locally that was parting out an 88 wagon so I got both his headlights, HID's with yellow high beams, rear mudflaps and both front window actuators, all which are now installed.
So after immediate maintenance was complete I had to start 'making her mine' as I like to call it. Started by fixing some small things, replaced the broken glove box and broken center vents(thanks CodyJDM). Then I went a little parts crazy on eBay lol. First off was a $10 short shifter from eBay which is probably the best $10 i've spent on a vehicle in awhile! Felt like I had to cross county's to get into 2nd gear! Also threw in my old favorite teggy shift knob. After the short shifter was installed it just didn't look right with the stock shift boot, so I made one out of a Tito's Vodka bag, I dig it!
Got new hatch lifts off ebay aswell as in the first week I got the wagon I took it up to best buy and got an alarm installed, (kind of a requirement in my neighborhood) so I have keyless entry in the wagon! Next I just set out to get all the rare options for the interior.
First was rear speaker pods.
I followed the install guide on here and it honestly wasn't even that difficult.
Next was the armrest, I paid a pretty penny for it, and it was broken
Luckily i'm pretty resourceful when it comes to stuff like that. So the top lid was cracked, like someone put too much pressure on it and fell through, aswell as the top cloth being worn out and the padding pretty much disintegrated. I should have taken pictures during the process but forgot
Pretty much what I did was disassemble the lid and cut out a piece of thin plywood using the lid as a template, then using a combination of super glue and loctite I pieced the lid back together, putting the plywood in the middle, and it was as sturdy as ever! For the padding I simply found an unused piece of pipe insulation, using the lid as a template, cut and applied with loctite The finished product without the covering.
I was having a bit a trouble deciding what fabric to cover the armrest lid in, then I remembered I had a pretty large Jager meister bandana laying around. So after a bit of arts and crafts time with some spray adhesive I had my new armrest lid
Installed
And last but certainly not least was the EDM center console. I couldn't find one in blue so i settled for gray. If anyone has a blue one they want to trade i'm down for a straight up trade! Also if anyone knows how to make the ashtray and cig lighter lights work please educate me. Either the harness that came with mine was bad or the wagon just didn't like it because I had to use my stock harness to get the cig lighter to work at all.
Other than that i've just done some small things to personalize my wagon.
EE2 love decal
Old Skool love plate frame
PW:JDM hood spacers
Broadway 270mm convex x2 brightness rear view
I've also got limo tint all the way around, installed EF9 stanley side markers, a black datum 1 rear tow hook and an ebay hood bra. This is pretty much how the wagon sits right now.
Any comments/suggestions are welcome! Sorry for the shitty cell phone pics, i'll get some decent ones taken once I restore the paint and get the bumpers paint matched. I'm also picking up a set of BMW bottlecaps this weekend so those will be put on once I decide how I want to refinish them. I'm thinking white with a blue lip. Before anyone gives the "needs moar low" post i'm working on it lol. I want to do skunk2 pro series v2 coilovers and a full bushing kit at the same time, so it'll be a little while. I've also already got about 75% of the parts needed for my swap, which isn't a D,B or H if you know what i'm saying... Hoping to have that in by next summer.
Comments
EFK1 mounts, ex front spindles with extended lugs, swap axles, rsx-s shifter box with cables and r crew race header
Was originally going to piece together a motor but I think i'm just going to save up for an H motor, less hassle that way.
You got a link to that hood bra?
Looks like the seller sold out of the current ones they made. I would try messaging them to see if you could get one made. Not too shabby for $55 shipped. Going to look into getting 'civic' embroidered on the front of it so it looks a little more OEM.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1988-1991-civic-hatchback-crx-wagon-hood-bra-/251154661557?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a79fc00b5&vxp=mtr#ht_1230wt_1170
Kswap is at a standstill while I gather money and parts.
So i'm currently focusing on the interior/exterior of my wagon.
My girlfriend bought my a pair EDM rear fogs, EK front fogs and an ebay lip for xmas/birthday.:smug:
I installed the lip and the fitment is pretty much perfect, i'll post pics later tonight. I decided on EK fogs motivated by Gab's wagon and how well he made them look. I cut the holes, mocked them up then one fell off my bumper...needless to say i'm waiting for the replacement pair to show up :disturbed:.
I should be installing the rear fogs tonight, for the time being i'm planning on just wiring them to the running lights while I figure out all the wiring for the switch.
the lights for cig lighter and ash tray will not work with usdm cigarett harness- needs to be a 3 or 4 pin plug... you could probably mix the 2 parts together, like the actual cig lighter from USDM wagon and the harness from the EDM console...
Her car is a '91, maybe that's the difference?
BTW, welcome if I didn't already say so. Funny, we have a TK here in Georgia who's an OG EF guy. when I first saw this I was like HUH? How did Thundercat get in a wagon without me knowing? Funny.
I thought the same friggin thing.
I tried using the USDM harness from my stock set up, aswell as testing the EDM one aswell as a couple DC Integra ones that were lying around and all yielded the same results. I'm so stumped but lukily it's not super important
Thanks for the welcome. I lurked on HCW for the longest time before posting anything. Funny about your buddy, small world.
Should be installing my front EK fogs on Friday, as well as finally washing/waxing the wagon. Ordered a set of pathfinder window visors that are scheduled to arrive early next week. I'm also waiting on my set of floor mats that from_si_to_is made me, check out his thread.
Updates are slow, I'll keep them coming as the parts roll in.
That sedan looks so clean. I hope my wagon comes close to that eventually.
Gotta love it when everything comes in on the same day!
Gotta run some errands right now, but everything should get installed later today.
Stay tuned
So the rears go on with no modification and fit really well. The fronts almost fit perfectly but they are too long on the mirror side.
I started off by cutting right where the visor meets the mirror. I used tape to mark everything and a die grinder with a cutting wheel to cut, went through like butter.
Now they ended where they needed to but having them just end abruptly looked goofy to me so I decided to taper off the end.
I cut a couple different angles, starting small of course, until I found a length I liked. Then simply sanded the rough edges from the cut, duplicated on the other side and installed.
Much better
Now the curve of the visor to the door is not perfect, it could be if you took time with a heat gun to get it 100%. For me, the fitment is just fine. The only issue I ran into is that the front visor overlaps the rear door a little bit. On my passenger side it wasn't an issue but on the drivers side the rear door would catch the end of the front visor when you closed it and would pinch it. Can't have that so I had to trim them.
I still need to go back and smooth out the drivers side a little. If I do it again i'm going to make the visor contour perfectly to the mirror, but for a first try I really like the way they turned out.
As I mentioned earlier fellow wagon owner from_si_to_is made me some floor mats that I also received yesterday. They are good quality, look nice and fit perfect!
Thanks again Evan!
The last package was a bunch of little wagon things I got from a guy off HT, I got a full set of AC vents and the guy threw in a change pocket, little pocket that sits below the cluster, fuse cover and 2 passenger mirror block offs. Got everything for stupid cheap.
I mainly wanted the drivers side ac vent as mine fell apart when I tried to remove it a month ago.
I'm really happy to no longer have that hole in my dash
I decided to enjoy the rest of my day out of the shop so the front fogs will have to wait until another day.
As always feedback is always appreciated.
Thanks man! Be sure to post pics so we can see how they look!
Yea Steve is great, we've ordered motors from him for years. Always top notch quality and service. I'm working on a deal with a guy locally for a complete k motor, we'll see if it works out.
Just went and picked it up, full k20z3 swap out of an 08 si. 58k miles, factory everything, including the 6 speed LSD transmission. Needless to say the majority of my time and money will now go to finishing my swap. I'm still confident I can make my summer 2k13 goal as I already have most of the major parts.
Nobody expects the wagon....