New RT4WD owner in MD.
Prefader
Band Wagon
Hi all! Just picked up my first honda on Friday, and it seems like I chose well. It's a red '91 with about 127k miles on it.
The bad:
It's got some rust in a few places (worst on the passenger side rear wheelwell), grinds 3rd gear if I forget to double-clutch, the rear wiper is stuck, the auto seatbelts are dead, and it "thunks" in the rear if I drop the clutch sloppy.
The good:
Today, I awoke to fresh snow and an empty parking lot at the school across the street from me, and I'm absolutely certain that I'm going to get along with this car just fine. Thanks to the stories people have shared here, I'm well on my way to getting the car's issues fixed up, too. I see lots of bondo and trips to the junkyard in my future.
I'll post some pics once I find time to take some!
The bad:
It's got some rust in a few places (worst on the passenger side rear wheelwell), grinds 3rd gear if I forget to double-clutch, the rear wiper is stuck, the auto seatbelts are dead, and it "thunks" in the rear if I drop the clutch sloppy.
The good:
Today, I awoke to fresh snow and an empty parking lot at the school across the street from me, and I'm absolutely certain that I'm going to get along with this car just fine. Thanks to the stories people have shared here, I'm well on my way to getting the car's issues fixed up, too. I see lots of bondo and trips to the junkyard in my future.
I'll post some pics once I find time to take some!
Comments
Before replacing the transmission, try replacing the fluid with something synthetic. I've got some Redline MT-90 on the way for my Miata, which shifts hard when cold. Just make sure you get something of the same weight and standards that the RT4WD 6-speed needs. (Mine's an automatic so I don't know that spec.
Yep, and this makes sense to me. I mean, functionally speaking, the 'belts work. It's just annoying to have to deal with 2 clips every time I get in and out of the car (and the little plastic "stop bars" for the lap belts have snapped off, so I'm always fishing around for 'em.) I *will* find a solution. :twisted:
I really think this car could actually be very nice. It's a little peppy, the ride isn't all that bad, and it's got a fair bit of room in it. I've always sorta had my eye on the Impreza wagons, but I'd never even realized that there was a small wagon from Honda (with some form of 4wd, no less.) It seems to fit the bill rather nicely. I haven't yet decided what approach I want to take with the car, though. I'm thinking about dashboard replacements . . . or maybe just a different instrument cluster. I'm an electronics type, so I might be up for it. I do think it'd benefit from just a little sound damping, just in the floorboard, and a bit up into the area behind the dash. I've got snow tires right now (car came with 'em. :P ), and the road noise is pretty bad. The back of the car is noisy, too, but I really think it won't be so bad in there if I can just deaden the front a bit.
Anyway, I'm off to see about this rust.
Hope the garage is warm now. Maybe some pics when I come back inside.
I went for Honda MTF first . . . went and ordered a rear differential "eye-so-lay-tor" mount from the local dealership, decided to pick up some while I was there. I should probably check up on the rear diff fluid too, eh?
I was NOT prepared for the mess that is Bondo. Wow that stuff is weird. In a way, I kinda look forward to needing to use it again. I'd also like to have someone else around to clean up after me.
In addition, my battery is dead. No idea why.
Pics of the rest of the car in a bit.
who's the fool that invented rust anyways ...
: )
Yay. I'm in a real tossup between dropping the thing and going for the street look, or keeping it raised up and going for the rally look. If it stays up like this, I'll want to try to find a bullbar. My first impression is that this won't be easy/cheap/fast.
As you can see, I've gone for the rally look. I've had no end of problems in snow with my lowered vehicles in the past, so I'm keeping mine jacked up for that alone. Do what you like though - I've seen some great looking lowered wagons with big wheels on here.
- Rust, rust, and more rust. Looks like I'm gonna bondo the entire underside of the car.
- Rear trailing arm bushings . . . piece of cake. I saw a post somewhere showing a special tool honda made for this, I think I can rig up something like that to make it easier.
- Drive shaft center bushings . . . er, what? More on that when I clarify it - Things seem snug under there, but I haven't inspected the mounts yet.
- P/S lines leak, according to the tech (I don't see fluids dropping?) Not too bad to replace, I guess.
- Rotors. Dammit. Easy enough, though.
- Fuel filler neck. I need to look at it myself, see what I can do.
- The left hood hinge pin snapped on me two days ago, too. Grr. Looks like the right one went a while ago, and the hinge just got drilled and bolted. Simple enough.
All in all, it doesn't look too costly to repair, but damn, I gotta find time for all this. :P
Good luck, and nice little fix on the rust so far. I never feel the need to do things perfectly on my 21 year old wagon and fixing the rust like you have will be about all I do in the near future.
It was fun taking the car in for the inspection. Went to a local dealership, and I kid you not, every mech in the place strolled by to have a look at it, and at least a few of them seemed at least as excited about it as I am.
I'll post tales of the repairs as I get around to them. Thanks for the support all!
Rust - mostly taken care of. I'm about a gallon of bondo into it, and have a second one ready to be opened. I'm gonna have to learn to weld once it gets warmer out.
Power steering - the return that went up for cooling was fracked near where it joined the pinion. Cut it, slapped some pipe clamps and rubber over it, and it's all holding fine. The pressure line is fused to the pinion, too, but it's not leaking yet so I'm not gonna mess with it.
TA bushings - Sweet crap that sucked. Cut out the old ones with a sawzall, pressed in some new 'thane bushings with a c-clamp and a couple pieces of wood. Didn't pull the arms off the car, and I'm not sure it'd have been any easier even if I had. Took a lot of patience to get the new ones to press in.
She's got new front rotors and pads, although I'm almost positive that the old ones were fine, and the shop was trying to "pad" my bill. Sucks to be them. I can't seem to get the drums off the back, though. Blown about 1/2 can of penetrating oil on them, and they still won't budge. Yes, the parking brake is off. :P Cutting them off and switching to discs is starting to sound like a good idea.
Fuel filler neck is rusted through, but fortunately it's under the coupling with the rubber line that goes to the tank. Cleaned it up, slapped a new clamp on it, and it's good to go (for now).
Hood hinge is fixed, and I've got the prop. shaft bushings sitting in the trunk. I've got about 10 more days before my temp. registration expires, so I may just have a local shop do it. No WAY am I taking it back to that dealership.
jimmyJon - boy have I got some questions for you! I'm eating oil at an alarming rate, and I'm probably going to look into a SOHC ZC this summer!
Thanks again for the support, all!
what support !
lifting a indexfinger for mouse
some brainactivity, for thinking
hmm...thats nice and
preventing typoo s
eyeballing for, what the phuck is
in that picture ... ?
lifting arm after i need a drink
when i'm trh-ough reading this?
Also, your posts look like some weird kind of haiku. :P
you greenish funny looking grassshopper
out...buttha...whtbout yor own
car ey ?
my cars on here ]
http://www.hondacivicwagon.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4828