My little, blue RT4wd

ITA20891ITA20891 Band Wagon
in Rides & Builds- Civic wagons
My little blue RT4wd
Hey all, this is my 1989 RT4WD.

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It's a little rusty, a little tired, and needs some work. But, it is a sweet little car. It is an auto (neither my wife nor I drive manual, though I know how to drive a manual forklift). I just hit 129,500 miles today, so not too bad. This is actually the very first car I have ever purchased. Ever. This is also my first time to be a part of a forum. I've always loved cars and have been trolling forums for years, but as a matter of circumstance and the fact that that I am frugal (ie. cheap), this my first car.

I am a graduate student and have a small family, so I do not have a lot of money for a build. However, I am planning to make my little RT4WD my own as much as possible. This will be my daily driver and our second car in case our other one has problems.

So far, I have been cleaning the interior (previous owner(s) smoked and carried their animals in the wagon) with my wife and getting some regular maintenance done. Here's the interior as it stands right now.

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I have not noticed an major mechanical problems yet, but this happened today while driving to the store.

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I knew it had some rusty exhaust pipes when I bought it. The rusty section finally succumbed to gravity and the cool vibrations of the car, and off it went. I was dragging it on the highway for about a 1/4 mile before I pulled over. My wife and I cut some rope with some broken glass we found in the grass and tied up the exhaust with a square/granny knot. Now I have a straight-through race exhaust!

Overall Plan
I want to have a clean, fun daily driver. It will not be a track toy.

Short-term Goals
  • Get the exhaust fixed.
  • Fix other little things. My hatch supports are shot. My driver's side rear passenger handles sticks open.
  • Find missing parts. I need rear headrests. If anyone has some, let me know.
  • Replace the tires. They are worn and need to be replaced.
  • Kill some rust.
  • Fix the dent on the front passenger-side fender

Long Term Goals
  • Kill more rust.
  • Upgrade/repair suspension.
  • More power, sticking with NA since I don't know, and I am not confident with, how much power the auto box can handle.

Thanks for looking!

Comments

  • greenteagodgreenteagod Moderator
    Welcome, fix your pics. You can't use the webpage link to an image. You need to use the direct link to it for it to work. Just check for it on the right hand side there on instagram. The field that says "Direct" that's what you want to use. Just edit it in your original post and you should be good to go.

    Good luck with it!
  • ITA20891ITA20891 Band Wagon
    greenteagod - thank you for your help! I figured it out and edited the post per your instructions. Thanks!
  • killa_ef_uatkilla_ef_uat Wagonist
    greenteagod wrote: »
    Welcome, fix your pics. You can't use the webpage link to an image. You need to use the direct link to it for it to work. Just check for it on the right hand side there on instagram. The field that says "Direct" that's what you want to use. Just edit it in your original post and you should be good to go.

    Good luck with it!

    Damn son are you Charb!?!? LOL ;) Just kidding GTG, you know I luvvv you , no homo, haha!

    Nice wagon bro, the interior looks great! I wanna see some more pics of the interior, engine bay, etc.
  • greenteagodgreenteagod Moderator
    For that smoke smell get some bac-out that stuff works well. It's enzyme based and will kill the bacteria causing the smells. Turn the vents on high and spray some at the front cowl where the air gets sucked in to the cabin a bunch of nasty gets all in the vents and stuff and spraying directly into them only does so much.
  • ITA20891ITA20891 Band Wagon
    killa - thanks for looking. We had to do a lot of cleaning to get it to that point. Cleaned it a lot more, and still need to clean the hatch area. Haha. I'll some more pictures up as soon as I get my car back. It's at the shop. Getting the exhaust fixed. They will be installing a 2" cat-back. I may do 2.25"; what do you all think? Staying NA, if that helps.

    greenteagod - I will definitely try that out once I get the car back from the shop. Thanks for the suggestion.
  • greenteagodgreenteagod Moderator
    I'm running 2" myself. I think that would be more than sufficient for N/A unless you're doing some crazy NA motor type stuff. In which case I'd wager you'd be doing new headers and everything. It seems there is a little more variety with your mufflers if you're going 2.25" though. I mean you could always just do 2.25" to sort of future proof the thing.
  • ITA20891ITA20891 Band Wagon
    I think at most, I would get a cam regrind. More than likely a header. That is about as extreme as I would go. Knowing that, would you suggest sticking with 2"?
  • greenteagodgreenteagod Moderator
    If I recall I think the 200hp si is running a 2.25 stock. With 2" I don't know that you'd be able to crack that, but if you aren't planning on it anyway then just go with 2". Exhaust is cheap enough that redoing it in a few years when you need more power, it won't be that painful. In my opinion.
  • JonafinJonafin Wagonist
    I may have some headrests but let me check my garage.
  • ITA20891ITA20891 Band Wagon
    green - thanks for the comparison. I'll talk to the shop tomorrow about maybe getting it to 2.25". The exhaust isn't going to be too expensive, but it may be hard to justify to my wife about getting a larger system later.

    Jonafin - thanks in advanced for checking. If they're matching color I might spring for them.

    By the way, I may be able to get a used set of DC 4-2-1 headers, two piece for $60. Does that sound about right for a used set? I've seen the modified header thread for RT4WD's and either the guy selling them or the shop doing my exhaust may be able to do the modification. It came off of a 1996 Civic.
  • greenteagodgreenteagod Moderator
    Yeah, that price does sound about right for the DC headers. They aren't too expensive new anyway and used, if they're the ceramic coated ones, as I believe their 4-2-1 setup is, that ceramic they use doesn't weather well, so they might be ratty looking.

    Now, that said. From what I've read, and I can't speak from experience as I've just got the 2wd version, but that header won't clear things properly without modifications. I think it was the transfer case or something that it conflicted with? Not sure. But do some searching around. I mean for $60 bucks I'd pick it up and see what can be done as far as modifying it. I mean worst case you're out $60 and have learned a thing or two.
  • JonafinJonafin Wagonist
    Send me a pm with your number if you're interested in the headrests :)
  • ITA20891ITA20891 Band Wagon
    I got my Wagon back from the shop with a new cat-back. It looks like its 2" from the cat right to the rear suspension. It then tapers to 1 3/4". They did not run the piping through the stock location (and neither did the old system), hence the slightly off muffler. It works and does make my ears bleed, so I'm happy.

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    Someone requested more pictures of the interior, so here they are.

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    The best of it.

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    The worst of it.

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  • ITA20891ITA20891 Band Wagon
    Here's a pic of the engine bay.

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    By the way, does anyone know the specs for these two missing bolts (or are they studs) on the valve cover?

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  • ITA20891ITA20891 Band Wagon
    If anyone is wondering the weight of a 4wd auto, mine clocked in at 2720 (edit) with 3/4 tank and me (~170) in it.
  • CoveyJ3CoveyJ3 Band Wagon
    Congrats on the wagon, looks good and the interior looks great! those two bolt holes you mentioned are for the clutch cable holders, so nothing to be alarmed about.
  • drfinkdrfink Wagonist
    1720?? That sounds really low
  • ITA20891ITA20891 Band Wagon
    Covey - thank you for the welcome and answering my question about the valve cover.

    drfink - Haha. That is really low, huh. I mis-typed. It was 2720 on a public scale near my house.
  • JonafinJonafin Wagonist
    I returned the pm :)
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