superhead's super-slow wagon build
superhead91
New Wagonist
What's up civicwagon.com? I've been lurking on here for a while, but decided that since I'm graduating and getting a full-time job and will hopefully have a little more money to put into my wagon that I'd go ahead and start a build thread in anticipation of the progress picking up.
A lot of this initial stuff will just be cross-post from ClubCivic.com. I had a thread there, but there isn't a ton of interest in wagons on that site so I kinda stopped posting.
Not long after getting the car, I had it die on me on the road twice. First time on the interstate, second time pulling out of the neighborhood. Did some testing and narrowed it down to a distributor problem, although the valve cover gasket needing replacing too. I think it was just a bad coil, but I went ahead and replaced the whole distributor, along with the VC gasket and new spark plugs and wires. Also changed the fuel filter since the guy who sold it to me had thrown in a NIB one.
Long post. Anyway I've since replaced the seals between the taillights and the frame and I think it's helped some with the water getting in, although ultimately I think the taillights themselves need to be resealed. I've also replaced the seat pull tab with a cabinet knob.
That's my wagon build so far, and like I said, hopefully it will pick up a little more here soon.
A lot of this initial stuff will just be cross-post from ClubCivic.com. I had a thread there, but there isn't a ton of interest in wagons on that site so I kinda stopped posting.
Well, I've been a member here a while, but have just mainly lurked and followed some build threads like CHILD's and TigBitties. I have a 2000 VSM EX coupe that I've had for almost a year now. I've seen some pretty clean EKs, and I don't dislike them, I just never really fell in love with the car. One problem was too many little issues that I didn't really feel like spending the money to fix. Anyway, a super clean '91 wagon popped up on my local CL, and I've really liked them for a while, so I went to check it out. Here are some pics:
It's in amazing shape for it's age and the fact that it's a Honda. I'm the third owner. First owner was an old guy, and the guy I bought it from was in his late twenties and took meticulous care of it, since he's a Honda guy and he knew the value of the car. It's a 5 speed, and unfortunately it's not the 4wd wagon, but hey you can't get everything. When I went to check it out it had been sitting outside for a while, and it wouldn't start. I called up a shop that had serviced it and they said it was probably the main relay. I went back a little later and it started and I drove it around a bit and loved it. I started googling and it turns out the main relay going bad is a common issue in EFs. I told the guy I'd buy it, and then went to oreilley's and grabbed a replacement relay. Picked it up the next day, drove it home, replaced the relay, and she's golden. Only other real issue is that the rear control arm bushings need replaced at some point. I'm kind of in a pickle on what to do for wheels. The wheels on it now have almost new tires, but they're 14s. I have ls meshies on my EK that I was gonna put on the wagon, but they're 15s, and the tires need replacing pretty soon. I'd rather be able to swap the new tires over to different wheels as that will be a heck of a lot cheaper than buying new tires. I almost forgot, the seller also threw in the original wheels from the car, which are in pretty decent shape, but the tires on them need replacement, and they're 13s.
Anyway, I bought the car for $2500, and I'm hoping to sell the EK for like $3500-ish. Hopefully I'll have enough money left over for some coilovers, or wheels, or both possibly. I've looked around for 14 inch wheels, and the only wheels I saw in my brief search were SSR classics, which I think would look nice. I also thought maybe some Ronal Turbos or even some Vette Sawblades might look good on it, but I haven't looked into sizes on those.
So, TL;DR, I got me a sweet shuttle and since I'm a broke college student it's gonna be a slow build, but I'd like to at least get some wheels and coilovers on it in the near future.
Not long after getting the car, I had it die on me on the road twice. First time on the interstate, second time pulling out of the neighborhood. Did some testing and narrowed it down to a distributor problem, although the valve cover gasket needing replacing too. I think it was just a bad coil, but I went ahead and replaced the whole distributor, along with the VC gasket and new spark plugs and wires. Also changed the fuel filter since the guy who sold it to me had thrown in a NIB one.
Got the fuel filter changed. Took me like an hour just to get the stupid bolts off. Washed it afterwards. I can't decide if I like it better with or without the hood bra.
I didn't mention it, but one of my valve cover bolts was broken off inside the nut. It looks like someone else had noticed because there was a bunch of silicon around the bolt to prevent oil leaking. The little gasket on top of the vc was kinda crusted on so no oil was coming out. Well I took that gasket off to replace it. I'm waiting for the bolt right now. Two days of driving and it's leaked very little oil, so I'm not worried about it.
What have we here?
Gonna knock this one out tomorrow hopefully.
So I went to replace the vc bolt today.
Valve cover off:
Broken bolt:
Getting the bolt out was kind of a pain because I had limited room to turn the wrench. Fortunately it came loose without any trouble.
Old bolt out next to new bolt:
New bolt in:
I get the valve cover all the way back on, and realize I had forgotten to put the ground back on the front right bolt before I put the nut on. I undid the nut, put the ground on, put the nut back on, got it on and tightened it one turn too far, and it broke off... FML
I'm just gonna go ahead and buy and replace the other three bolts and hopefully save myself some headache. I didn't even tighten it that tight. I guess those bolts just get brittle over time or something. Oh well. Fortunately the little gasket is kinda wedged in there good, so it should stay, and not leak any oil. I'm gonna order another one though just in case this one comes off while I'm driving or something. As annoying as it is, I am enjoying the chances I'm getting to work on the car. Plus it always feels good replacing old parts with new ones. Gives you a little more peace of mind about things breaking.
Where's this going?
Homemade dash mat.
Lol... anyway, the rest of my valve cover hardware showed up, so I should be able to take care of that today.
All the new bolts in:
Valve cover back on with no broken bolts:
The tip of the cylinder 1 plug wire came unclamped from the wire, so out with the NAPA brand wires, in with the NGKs:
Got a little something in the mail
Yellowbone12 wrote: »I like it but when it's short...
Yeah I wouldn't wanna do it that long either, it was just the best example I saw.
Replaced corner bulbs. One of them was out.
This is the exhaust now. It doesn't look stock...
I love having the iPod hookup in the glove box
A sticker pic is coming... I'm trying to upload it and my internet is being super slow
Finally...
They're Volk C1s. Some old-school Volk wheel. Anyway, cleaned the wagon up today.
Need to take care of this before it gets worse.
Been a while since an update. No new parts, but my taillight that I had replaced a couple months ago went out. I replaced it and noticed some water in the taillight housing.
I took the taillight out to see what was going on. Like all the bolts holding the taillight on were loose enough to take off by hand, so I think that was the issue. The gasket looked fine.
Also got a nice tool set from my dad for Christmas.
Update time. Nothing big. Decided to work on the car some today with my free time. First I washed it. It was 43 degrees and I was out there in shorts, a tank top, and flip flops washing. Neighbors probably thought I was crazy. Anyway, after washing I ran to the store and got some iron on patches for my seat. Not terribly awesome looking, but it's better than giant holes and always having seat cushion dust all over the seat.
Also "fixed" my seat release. I ended up having to break out all the plastic where the bolt is, but at least now I can get ahold of the bolt with some pliers and actually put the seat down. You can't see the bolt from the angle I took the pic, but it's down in that hole. I'll see if I can find a replacement for that plastic thing online somewhere. If not, oh well. It's more important that I actually be able to put the seat down if I need to.
Long post. Anyway I've since replaced the seals between the taillights and the frame and I think it's helped some with the water getting in, although ultimately I think the taillights themselves need to be resealed. I've also replaced the seat pull tab with a cabinet knob.
That's my wagon build so far, and like I said, hopefully it will pick up a little more here soon.
Comments
Thanks. I might look for one. Really the worst part is the broken insert, because I highly doubt I'll be able to find one. Mine was super brittle and broke apart very easily.
Thanks
I just realized I got a credit increase on my Amazon store card and can buy coilovers now....
12 month financing is so tempting lol
The shift linkage boot looks like it needs replaced. The steering rack boot? behind it is torn too.
Got the old bushing off
Old next to new
Front bushing is all one piece, so how to get it out?
Just used my knife and cut the lip off.
I forgot to take a pic of the new one installed in the front. It was a bit of a pain. The replacement was two separate pieces, so putting it in wasn't too bad, but it didn't want to go all the way in, which meant I couldn't fit it back into the bracket. I ended up using an adjustable plier wrench to squeeze the bushing in and kinda hammered it into place. Then getting the holes to line up was a bit tricky, but it didn't take too long to get hooked back up.
Here's the back bushing installed
It took me a second to figure out how to get it on since the end of the rod thing it goes onto is flared, but I got it on and bolted up.
I definitely notice a difference when shifting into gears. It's a lot crisper and I don't have any problems with it "sticking" when I'm trying to get it into gear. All in all, $15 well spent.
Thanks! Yeah it was annoying, but it feels good to replace old parts with brand new ones. Next project is gonna be to replace the CV axle and then get the rust fixed. I'm big on doing things right the first time. I say do it right or don't do it at all. Of course that's also why my build is so slow lol.
I'm not usually a fan of doing things the cheap way, but I honestly don't think it looks bad, and I can't really afford real wheels at the moment lol.
Taking the trim off wasn't too bad, although I did break one of the little white clips that hold the blue clips on. Fortunately the blue clips have two white clips so it stays on.
After taking the trim off
Since it was so dirty I went ahead and cleaned it up a little
Not the best picture, but now the trim lays flush with the door all the way down instead of sticking out from the door at the front.
Also, I think I'd rather just buy a whole new door than ever take that trim off and put it back on again lol. Putting it back on took me like 30 minutes. It sucked.
This is why I love wagons. Wagons are the pinnacle of the automobile, and I'm not sure why they bother making anything else. lol
Finally, I took the wheel covers off to see how I liked the way it looks without them. I'm still undecided if I think it looks better or not. I still think it might look better if they were white though.
I too am at the beginning stages of my build. Replacing everything rubber with Polly.
super clean wagon though im jealous
This guy also looked at doing the white and black 2tone.
Front done
I'm not sure why I never noticed it before, but while I had the rear wheels off I noticed that the rear struts are Monroes. I checked the others and they were as well. Apparently one of the previous two owners did replace the struts and possibly the springs as well. You can see the Monroe sticker underneath. I'm not sure what that other sticker is from.
I also made another discovery. I was pretty sure the exhaust wasn't stock since it seemed too big to be stock. I was looking at the muffler through the rear wheel well and realized it was a Magnaflow. Can't really read it, but you can see the raised letters.
Finally, some shots of the wheels finished.
Looks a lot better than before.
Also, I found out yesterday that I got a better job. Junior business intelligence database developer. Hopefully the build will speed up a little now since I'll be making a decent bit more money.
If any of you guys go to IA I'd love to meet up. Not many wagon people where I'm at so it would be nice to meet some fellow wagon enthusiasts.
what about trim rings versus hubcaps?
Also, new CV axle is in and rust and paint are taken care of. Light wasn't good by the time we finished so I'll post pics tomorrow.