I heard of two people that installed Hybrid TSX short shifter and hybrid RSX shift cables there’s a little modification on the end of the shift linkage transmission side after that it’ll work and shift amazingly they said (they installed it on there D series RT4WD wagon) if you’ll like to do that to help/improve shifting that’s your best bet. I have the the same setup in a box waiting to be installed.
38 laps sound great with the wagon with no major incidents besides the it overheating, haha the stock seats are terrible while taking corners fast.
wow that’s definitely a road trip a lot of miles you put in, haha fish bowl windows with trucks, pickups, SUVs the their headlights always punching the back of my head too definitely annoying.
The winter is over, but wagon works seem to keep piling on!
I have done some fixes that I deemed necessary to make the wagon more reliable:
I think I absolutely resolved my leaking engine oil problem with swapping a vtec gasket.
I bought a new power steering hose that was rubbing on to the belt.
Got a brand new alternator, and it was such a pain to install, I needed to take off the axles!
Swapped the powersteering fluid, belt and cleaned the PS pump while I was in there.
Made a new grounding wire in engine bay
Furthermore, I had an issue with the cheap front upper suspension arms so I decided to buy a proper hardrace kit, since it resolved all my issues in the rear of the wagon.
These are very sturdy in comparison to the $99 ones and probably will last much longer.
Onto some good news - our local JDM club went for a 200 mile drive to a neighboring countries capital for a big car show. However, one of our honda's decided to lose spark
Being who we are of course we bought new ignition coil for the distributor, fixed the car and got to the car meet a few hours late.
I did get new wheels that are a perfect fit in size, and finally the tires seem to fit nicely, since there are no 215-225 tires for 8js.
THe wheels I got are 7.5J ET20 15s JR31:
My wagon learning to fly, or swapping wheels.
Not the best quality pictures that would do it justice, but I am sure I will get better shots from upcoming events.
I do have to say the car now looks more fun/sporty, the best comparison I can give is it looks like it is wearing fresh Nike sneakers with white base.
Also, I did an alignment to make the more stable for highway, I went from -2 front to -1.5 and from -1.5 back to -1.
The difference it makes with the new more narrow wheels and less camber is just great, the car is much more planted and less jittery.
This means I can blast normal euro highway speeds with confidence.
Oh just before this I got the hardrace camber arms installed and it changed caster a bit, but I am not sure I can notice it, or if it even makes a difference.
I also adjusted the intake filter for less rub, and I ordered all the small bits and pieces.
Lastly, I made the orders for the sound system, and here is the latest 90s looking release of the Blaupunkt head unit that is very period correct AND has all the latest tech in it. Not cheap at around $450, but it is just so so cool. I cannot wait to get all of it together.
I also went on a scavenger hunt to get the smaller part of our top cargo area cover, which I plan on using as a place to put on standing speakers that also look period correct.
Summer is starting this week, so time for another update! I've been working on wagon non-stop.
Got a brand new keychain, even if a small addition it feels awesome.
Got very cheap window washers, one of them works, and one of them is quite sad. However, the drivers side one makes a nice mist, so I am happy with it.
Next I got a brand new rubber that goes around the trunk opening - it was quite expensive, but it comes from the 3rd generation CRV and fits almost perfectly, it is just a tad too big, however as we all know rubber tends to shrink down with age. This one seals much better since it is wider itself. I highly recommend it for anyone experiencing problems with leaky trunk seals or wind noise.
Superhatch was kind enough to gift me this wonderful engine mount. I hoped the rattly noise coming from engine compartment was due to edelbrock intake manifold rubbing onto the firewall and brake booster plastic.
It took me two days and two new bolts to make this swap. Result is the wagon feels like a racecar. It seems that I am sitting INSIDE the engine. And the devil sound that rattles is still there so I will have to swap this engine back to the OEM one.
During this I made other small cleanup adjustments in the engine compartment, setting things as nicely as I can.
Next, I spent two weeks working on sound system installation and wiring, which required modifying doors, getting new wires to go into the said doors and all over the car. Long story short - I think we killed the amplifier since it was shorting out by speaker connector touching the inside of the doors, so I am waiting for a new one.
Here are some pictures of the fun times with the audio system which still needs work:
We had many long nights of work that look similar to this
I skipped all the hours of work making insulations, cutting spacing and things, but as final touch I cut up the stock plastic covers and wrapped them in expensive feeling speaker cloth/mesh. I think the result is just wonderful.
Furthermore, with a help of a friend I made a rear speaker shelf using the stock brackets and a board, which took a bunch of work. But, after wrapping it in some nice cloth it looks fantastic.
Lastly, I have connected the compact sub, which I will take a better picture of later on, and since the front speakers give out wayy too much mid's and high's I might need to get a bigger subwoofer.
Got a new NRG heavy shift knob - it feels just right, a bit chonky and solid. The only problem is it gets very hot during the summer.
Oh, finally since the oil does not leak away from the engine any more, at least not at high rate of speed, I had to empty the catch can for the first time. It was quarter of a coffee cup of gunky oil
I relocated some of the hoses and wires in the engine bay, refilled the oil to the top of the norm, replaced missing clips from the trunk plastic, checked the distributor cap, torqued the wheels and set the tire pressures.
Next week there is a bigger local car show, so I have to get ready for it, working on small exterior chips and some of interior issues I got.
As usual Honda keeps stealing my time, but getting people closer together and giving me sunday ride joy.
Here are a few fun pictures of a meet we were late to due to the sound system installation:
Clearly there are quite a few people interested and I am as happy as it gets standing there.
More work is done, but as soon as I take a step forward, it seems there is a need to also take a step back:
I got a clutch pedal spring that was missing from a friend, it was quite a pain to install.
I painted some of the chipped things all over the car interior and exterior BLACK.
Some of the leather came apart from the dashboard due to exposure to sun which needed fixing:
I I brushed the rear strut bar aluminum to refresh the look, and repainted the front bar black.
However, a bad scenario took place - I left my car parked for a moment to get a coffee and this person forgot to put his car into park, and it just rolled down into my Honda:
I hope that the bracket of the bumper is fine, and that the geometry and things are ok. The hit seems to be mild but still it did mess up the car quite a bit.
I do feel slightly upset that I will need to deal with the insurance company and worry about the bent parts, make sure the colors match during paint, order new turn signal if I can source it, and get a new number plate.
First thing first, my bumper got fixed! It cost the insurance company 750 euro.
Second, I have got an upgraded 4 channel 100 rms each amp for my front speakers.
It works very well, and I have set the gain to only 50%
Also, I sold the pioneer subwoofer I had, since it could not keep up with ~700 watts of sound from my speakers.
I got this beast that is 30cm (12inches) of diameter, in an aluminum case.
It has fat wires and hits like a truck, furthermore, it installs right into the spare wheel place AND comes with all the hardware.
Lastly before the trip I had done quite a few small works, including repainting of things and getting ready for a really good event.
However, during the trip I did find a few things that need fixing before the next event.
Best thing about this summer so far was going to one of the best car culture events in the nation called Chill'n'Grill that is like a mini Pebble beach style weekend in a nice location.
We went there as 4 EF owners. Here are the pictures of the event:
Please tell me what you think about the new wheel set up.
Small big ones are that my alternator is not alternating due to slippy belt and probably my main relay is not relaying things, so the car sometimes runs like crap and has engine light on.
Some good news thou - the rubbery parts of front traction rods, and got the caster to be within proper parameters (with shimming).
Oh, also the worn out front sway bar rubbers got replaced.
I got a bunch of new parts for the wagon, but not all of them got installed just yet:
I also found some old pictures when my shuttle first got its engine torn out. Fun to see how far it has come:
That is my current D16z6 when I first got it.
And that is my friends and I getting rid of the old D16A6.
Back to the present day - Trip to another town to a civic meeting!
I really do need to fix the small issues that are happening and keep on driving the wagon while the weather allows it!
Love how you take care of your wagon so much time effort out into it. What bushings/rubbers did you go with for the rear differential? Also do you have the part numbers for the front hubs/bearings
Congratulations on the new garage, those header/exhaust look real real nice. Very smart to tuck the exhaust as high as it can go, I did the same. The painted emblems go very well. Initial D is always great to watch
feels great to daily a shuttle specially what you’ve done to it so far. That’s exactly what I did after the suspension overhaul, got an alignment, oil change. Now I daily drive it
Here are the results with new exhaust + manifold and two different intakes.
Blue line - R2 motorsport whale penis intake with huge filter, we get more torque at low rpms for a bit.
Greenish line - regular 3' pipe with smaller filter, we get more power for longer at high/usable rpms.
Over all, we got ~170hp at the crank and around 179nm, however we did not rev the thing higher, the limiter is around 7600-7800.
Since the power is right at the limit, I know it is not usable there, and I might need to look into making the engine stronger and able to go up to 8200 or so.
I am happy that it is still very healthy and working as it should.
I am not happy that the shiny carbon pipe did not perform better then simple one.
the wagon sounded real good on the dyno video, those are good numbers out of a D-Series. sometimes need to scarifies the look for power from certain parts, keep up the great work Tadas love the work
Comments
I heard of two people that installed Hybrid TSX short shifter and hybrid RSX shift cables there’s a little modification on the end of the shift linkage transmission side after that it’ll work and shift amazingly they said (they installed it on there D series RT4WD wagon) if you’ll like to do that to help/improve shifting that’s your best bet. I have the the same setup in a box waiting to be installed.
38 laps sound great with the wagon with no major incidents besides the it overheating, haha the stock seats are terrible while taking corners fast.
wow that’s definitely a road trip a lot of miles you put in, haha fish bowl windows with trucks, pickups, SUVs the their headlights always punching the back of my head too definitely annoying.
The winter is over, but wagon works seem to keep piling on!
I have done some fixes that I deemed necessary to make the wagon more reliable:
Furthermore, I had an issue with the cheap front upper suspension arms so I decided to buy a proper hardrace kit, since it resolved all my issues in the rear of the wagon.
These are very sturdy in comparison to the $99 ones and probably will last much longer.
Onto some good news - our local JDM club went for a 200 mile drive to a neighboring countries capital for a big car show. However, one of our honda's decided to lose spark
Being who we are of course we bought new ignition coil for the distributor, fixed the car and got to the car meet a few hours late.
Here are some pictures from the show:
Even if we were late and had problems getting there AND cleaning our cars, I think it still turned out quite well!
Lastly, as always I need to make a list of things that need fixing or upgrading.
I do have to say that the wagon has never been more healthy than it is now.
I must say that I am ALMOST finished with the suspension and engine, basically all the mechanical things on the wagon.
There is less and less things that must be done, and that I want to do just as an upgrade.
Here are the things I plan on doing in very near future:
I have a lot more things that can and do need doing, but having a manageable list and driving the wagon as much as possible is the top priority
New week new work done to the wagon!
I did get new wheels that are a perfect fit in size, and finally the tires seem to fit nicely, since there are no 215-225 tires for 8js.
THe wheels I got are 7.5J ET20 15s JR31:
My wagon learning to fly, or swapping wheels.
Not the best quality pictures that would do it justice, but I am sure I will get better shots from upcoming events.
I do have to say the car now looks more fun/sporty, the best comparison I can give is it looks like it is wearing fresh Nike sneakers with white base.
Also, I did an alignment to make the more stable for highway, I went from -2 front to -1.5 and from -1.5 back to -1.
The difference it makes with the new more narrow wheels and less camber is just great, the car is much more planted and less jittery.
This means I can blast normal euro highway speeds with confidence.
Oh just before this I got the hardrace camber arms installed and it changed caster a bit, but I am not sure I can notice it, or if it even makes a difference.
I also adjusted the intake filter for less rub, and I ordered all the small bits and pieces.
Lastly, I made the orders for the sound system, and here is the latest 90s looking release of the Blaupunkt head unit that is very period correct AND has all the latest tech in it. Not cheap at around $450, but it is just so so cool. I cannot wait to get all of it together.
I also went on a scavenger hunt to get the smaller part of our top cargo area cover, which I plan on using as a place to put on standing speakers that also look period correct.
Summer is starting this week, so time for another update! I've been working on wagon non-stop.
Got a brand new keychain, even if a small addition it feels awesome.
Got very cheap window washers, one of them works, and one of them is quite sad. However, the drivers side one makes a nice mist, so I am happy with it.
Next I got a brand new rubber that goes around the trunk opening - it was quite expensive, but it comes from the 3rd generation CRV and fits almost perfectly, it is just a tad too big, however as we all know rubber tends to shrink down with age. This one seals much better since it is wider itself. I highly recommend it for anyone experiencing problems with leaky trunk seals or wind noise.
Superhatch was kind enough to gift me this wonderful engine mount. I hoped the rattly noise coming from engine compartment was due to edelbrock intake manifold rubbing onto the firewall and brake booster plastic.
It took me two days and two new bolts to make this swap. Result is the wagon feels like a racecar. It seems that I am sitting INSIDE the engine. And the devil sound that rattles is still there so I will have to swap this engine back to the OEM one.
During this I made other small cleanup adjustments in the engine compartment, setting things as nicely as I can.
Next, I spent two weeks working on sound system installation and wiring, which required modifying doors, getting new wires to go into the said doors and all over the car. Long story short - I think we killed the amplifier since it was shorting out by speaker connector touching the inside of the doors, so I am waiting for a new one.
Here are some pictures of the fun times with the audio system which still needs work:
We had many long nights of work that look similar to this
I skipped all the hours of work making insulations, cutting spacing and things, but as final touch I cut up the stock plastic covers and wrapped them in expensive feeling speaker cloth/mesh. I think the result is just wonderful.
Furthermore, with a help of a friend I made a rear speaker shelf using the stock brackets and a board, which took a bunch of work. But, after wrapping it in some nice cloth it looks fantastic.
Lastly, I have connected the compact sub, which I will take a better picture of later on, and since the front speakers give out wayy too much mid's and high's I might need to get a bigger subwoofer.
Got a new NRG heavy shift knob - it feels just right, a bit chonky and solid. The only problem is it gets very hot during the summer.
Oh, finally since the oil does not leak away from the engine any more, at least not at high rate of speed, I had to empty the catch can for the first time. It was quarter of a coffee cup of gunky oil
I relocated some of the hoses and wires in the engine bay, refilled the oil to the top of the norm, replaced missing clips from the trunk plastic, checked the distributor cap, torqued the wheels and set the tire pressures.
Next week there is a bigger local car show, so I have to get ready for it, working on small exterior chips and some of interior issues I got.
As usual Honda keeps stealing my time, but getting people closer together and giving me sunday ride joy.
Here are a few fun pictures of a meet we were late to due to the sound system installation:
Clearly there are quite a few people interested and I am as happy as it gets standing there.
More work is done, but as soon as I take a step forward, it seems there is a need to also take a step back:
However, a bad scenario took place - I left my car parked for a moment to get a coffee and this person forgot to put his car into park, and it just rolled down into my Honda:
I hope that the bracket of the bumper is fine, and that the geometry and things are ok. The hit seems to be mild but still it did mess up the car quite a bit.
I do feel slightly upset that I will need to deal with the insurance company and worry about the bent parts, make sure the colors match during paint, order new turn signal if I can source it, and get a new number plate.
keep up the great work always inspiring, sad to see the shuttle got hit by a park car thats very upsetting from someones dumb mistake
First thing first, my bumper got fixed! It cost the insurance company 750 euro.
Second, I have got an upgraded 4 channel 100 rms each amp for my front speakers.
It works very well, and I have set the gain to only 50%
Also, I sold the pioneer subwoofer I had, since it could not keep up with ~700 watts of sound from my speakers.
I got this beast that is 30cm (12inches) of diameter, in an aluminum case.
It has fat wires and hits like a truck, furthermore, it installs right into the spare wheel place AND comes with all the hardware.
Lastly before the trip I had done quite a few small works, including repainting of things and getting ready for a really good event.
However, during the trip I did find a few things that need fixing before the next event.
Best thing about this summer so far was going to one of the best car culture events in the nation called Chill'n'Grill that is like a mini Pebble beach style weekend in a nice location.
We went there as 4 EF owners. Here are the pictures of the event:
Please tell me what you think about the new wheel set up.
More small updates!
I changed the oil and started working on all kinds of small annoying things that keep bothering me.
I will be driving the car more, to work and back and this means I will be working on it more.
Here are some pictures from various events:
I've got more events done and more problems!
Small big ones are that my alternator is not alternating due to slippy belt and probably my main relay is not relaying things, so the car sometimes runs like crap and has engine light on.
Some good news thou - the rubbery parts of front traction rods, and got the caster to be within proper parameters (with shimming).
Oh, also the worn out front sway bar rubbers got replaced.
I got a bunch of new parts for the wagon, but not all of them got installed just yet:
I also found some old pictures when my shuttle first got its engine torn out. Fun to see how far it has come:
That is my current D16z6 when I first got it.
And that is my friends and I getting rid of the old D16A6.
Back to the present day - Trip to another town to a civic meeting!
I really do need to fix the small issues that are happening and keep on driving the wagon while the weather allows it!
Update - the new alternator I had apparently came with a different size pulley and was causing problems. I got that swapped to the old one.
I still need to take the main fuel relay to be checked, I have heard they can be restored.
Things that got done since the last time:
Might not be the most fun update, but hey it is very important to finish up the suspension/drivetrain things and redo the brakes.
This way my wagon is super ready when the spring time comes.
Love how you take care of your wagon so much time effort out into it. What bushings/rubbers did you go with for the rear differential? Also do you have the part numbers for the front hubs/bearings
I went with OEM rubbers/bushings for the rear differential, some of them also fit CRV I think
I am not really sure about the part numbers, but I believe I found them in our discord!
After a long winter, Honda is finally out of the garage and with a few updates:
And for the fun of it two pictures of me being happy with friends and Hondas!
More small updates to come, and I got a bigger one planned as well!
Summer is here and so is an update!
And here is the gang watching Initial D!
Congratulations on the new garage, those header/exhaust look real real nice. Very smart to tuck the exhaust as high as it can go, I did the same. The painted emblems go very well. Initial D is always great to watch
Another day another update!
With a lot of help from colleagues and friends especially Mr. Litvinas the soft underbelly of shuttle is finally safe!
We have made a 65cm x 100cm 3mm aluminum engine/transmission guard.
It took two days of fabrication to make it work.
And of course some pictures of the garage itself, it is rented BUT I have made it a spot to hang when things get tough.
Now there is only a handful of things left before I can go on a long trips without worries.
Since I had a few days to work on stuff in my garage I decided to rebuild my shifter.
I removed the slack that it had going from side to side, front to back, and even when twisting it.
I even had to make a bronze insert since one of them was missing inside the cable.
This has made a TREMENDOUS difference, I highly recommend doing this if you got shifter slack.
Here to remove the slack thanks to Jacobs ideas I had a friend of mine weld a thin metal plate that I used for measuring valve clearances.
Here I had to squeeze the sides of the metal to make it so that the plastic cube would slide, but with friction.
I painted the crusty looking metal and disassembled the whole thing.
Also, all the things got lubed up with violet-blue looking goo.
Here is the difficult bit - making the damned insert to fit inside the shifter cable.
And here it is finished!
I had no idea my header was going on this dope ass wagon. Actually honored that I've contributed to this build in some way. It all looks so good.
Another day another update!
I made a contraption to get the bubbles out while changing out coolant.
The coolant bolt did not seem happy, so a change was due.
There is still quite a bit of fiddly work to be done, BUT the wagon is getting closer and closer to being just a joy to drive.
This month I am driving it everywhere as much as I can.
It still needs tune adjustments, clutch seems a bit funky and there are a few rattles.
Here are a few pictures from recent trips:
Checking the stock wagon height of a friends Shuttle.
Getting the miles in during sunny days for friends engine break-in procedure.
Update time!
I have been daily driving my Honda and as such lots of small fiddly things get resolved and pop out.
Good news is dyno day will be coming up soon!
Another small update before the dyno:
Should be all set!
Here are a few pictures from the summer fun:
feels great to daily a shuttle specially what you’ve done to it so far. That’s exactly what I did after the suspension overhaul, got an alignment, oil change. Now I daily drive it
Good day!
Here are the results with new exhaust + manifold and two different intakes.
Blue line - R2 motorsport whale penis intake with huge filter, we get more torque at low rpms for a bit.
Greenish line - regular 3' pipe with smaller filter, we get more power for longer at high/usable rpms.
Over all, we got ~170hp at the crank and around 179nm, however we did not rev the thing higher, the limiter is around 7600-7800.
Since the power is right at the limit, I know it is not usable there, and I might need to look into making the engine stronger and able to go up to 8200 or so.
I am happy that it is still very healthy and working as it should.
I am not happy that the shiny carbon pipe did not perform better then simple one.
Here is the lower performer, but looks good.
Prep work!
Dyno time and results.
As bonus here is a few pictures of my buddy's B16 sedan on the dyno!
Good day!
Small update, we put back a 3" intake pipe with new filter on, it does not look as cool as "cobra" style intake, but results speak for themselves.
I also put holes in the bottom of side tail lights, since no matter how well I think I sealed them, they still become aquariums.
With the new filter + pipe it sounds way more smooth and quiet.
We maybe do one more drive this season for closing, but it might be it until the spring.
the wagon sounded real good on the dyno video, those are good numbers out of a D-Series. sometimes need to scarifies the look for power from certain parts, keep up the great work Tadas love the work