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The Kakabox Build


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#16
kakabox

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QUOTE (bigk3000 @ Sep 30 2005, 11:46 PM)
dude i cant believe you threw an SI interior in the garbage regardless of its condtion!!!!!!!!!  LOL i would have payed you for some of that stuff sad.gif


...I dunno, you might've gotten sick from the mold spores...the interior was seriously moldy and mossy. Example: the shift boot was green!

The car sat for 2 years in an alley, under a huge maple tree, in the shade...in Seattle! In Seattle, anything left outside under those conditions has moss growing on it in 3 minutes! biggrin.gif No, the dump was the best place for it!

Thumbs up on the civy w/the '89 d16a1...that's my goal. On the electronic dizzy...did you use the 'teg's ECU and harness or did you rewire the civic harness? I'm thinking using the 'teg's ECU and complete harness would be the preferred way to go...?

Cheers

#17
mayhem019

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Glad to see someone else gutting some interior in the seattle area biggrin.gif Though I did take my dash off too it was cracked badly. Maybe Ill see you at some autox's next year

Definately go with the 89 teg electronics, ALL THE WIRING EVERYTHING, with no interior it will be easy to swap it all in

Edited by mayhem019, 01 October 2005 - 04:08 AM.

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#18
kakabox

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QUOTE (mayhem019 @ Oct 1 2005, 02:05 AM)
Glad to see someone else gutting some interior in the seattle area  biggrin.gif  Though I did take my dash off too it was cracked badly.


...I'd like to take my dash off also, but I haven't figured out what to do w/the heater controls or ducts. I'd like to run just the instrument pod, reinforce the oem dash bar and run a couple of diagonal tubes from the center down to the rockers/door hinge pillar for a little stiffening.

I still want heat as I want to be able to drive to the track in any weather. I'll have to come up w/a simple heater vent and fan speed control. Maybe just leave the oem controls on the dash and cut everything else away, leaving only the instrument pod and heater controls..?

Sorry, prattling on, thinking outloud! rolleyes.gif

Cheers.

...btw, I think the next mod (before my club's ax season ends this year) might be dropping the 18 lbs. of sunroof, replaced w/a .060 in. gage aluminum panel.

#19
terrafox

LoL!!

Nice drivin! Really funny the 2nd clip where u can hear when u are out of the car and trying to get the cones out(funny sounds) Then someone shouts "Scott do you need more cones??" :-D
If you need EDM stuff - Just ask due to popular demand I will also state that I am willing to look for EDM parts nomatter what car its for, example: Vw/Mazda/BMW

EDM SALES TREAD HERE

I need race/performance parts if you have any PM me

#20
mayhem019

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I think if you pulled the dash you can leave the heater core/fan and everything intact... But the switch for the fan will be hanging and so will the heater vent control cables. But you could just remove the vent control cables, then open the vent by hand and it points up at the windshield for defrosting constantly. Guess you could always put the dash back in if you dont like it but it does weigh at least 25lbs off the front end of the car which is significant
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#21
kakabox

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KAKABOX build update:
After returning from an ax last Saturday, the 'BOX was treated to a full blown thunder storm complete w/lightening displays and audio! While the ax was dry, I drove home in very heavy thunder showers.

When I first got the car, the interior was very much like a terrarium, a result of being parked outside in the Seattle climate (it's been known to rain a 'few' days here). The source of the water inside the car, I thought, came from clogged sunroof drain tubes and an aged sunroof gasket. The leaking sunroof was cured by using aluminum "speed" tape over the sunroof seal on the outside of the car:


Very ghetto, but no more leaking sunroof and dry floors (bare)!

I thought I had the source of the water ingress blocked, so, imagine my surprise when I went to the back to take out my ax gear and found a puddle of water in the spare tire well!

Using a flashlight, I believe I've tracked the source of this new water to the tail light housings...water appears to be getting past the tail light gasket and running down into the spare tire well.

As a soln, this is what I did: Removed the rubber body plug that is located under the spare tire...it appears that this is the lowest point of the back well area...the water now has a place to drain out (drains out right on top of the muffler heat shield)

I then pulled the tail lights and center panel to reseal them against the body. This was all good as I also wanted to restore the tail light lenses to their former glossy glory!

Here are the tail lights on the workbench...I replaced the worn out oem seals w/two layers of 3M Strip-Calk on the housing edge that contacts the body:


...I also put "rings" of strip-calk around the tail light fastener holes in the body:


I also used the opportunity to replace the cracked Si center panel w/a DX one I bought from a local junk yard. After removing the back-up light lenses, I carefully ground off the raised CIVIC letters, wet sanded smooth, primed and painted it matte black. Then, with all the rear lenses removed, I clamped them up individually in a B-D Workmate and took the scratches out using a couple of grades of polishing compound on a foam pad attached to a Porter-Cable random orbital buffer. I restored their gloss using Klasse All-In-One on a waxing foam pad and the Porter-Cable.

Before:


After:


Looks better, imo, but, more importantly, I hope I've solved the water leak issue! We'll see!

Cheers! cool.gif

Edited by kakabox, 16 April 2006 - 11:04 AM.


#22
kakabox

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Latest KAKABOX news:
Last weekend I participated in this years 2nd to the last BEAC ax "practice"....the 'BOX performed well, achieving the driver's time objective: 43.5xx sec. (ftd was a 38.8xx by a STI...only once, the rest of the day it was in the 39's)...sure, the 'BOX is a little off the ftd pace wink.gif

However, the Kakabox's suspension is 146,000 mile OEM stock and original and it's running on Chinese made 175 70 13 "Enduro" tires! Still, I had 18 runs and tons of fun...well worth the 6 hr. invested!

The weight savings project of the week will be removing the 14 lbs of mass that's at the highest point on the car: the glass sunroof, and replacing it w/a lexan panel weighing 3 lbs. The panel will be mechanically fastened in place.

This mod actually serves two purposes: 1. obvious reduction of weight and 2. a slight lowering of the car's CG.

Here's the 14 lb OEM sunroof panel removed and my layout for the fastener locn's. The hole locn's are somewhat critical as the internal sunroof structural reinforcement gets in the way in some places; the hole locns work around the sunroof pan structure some what.


...a total of 48 fasteners, spaced ~2" apart.

Here's the panel cleco'd in position:


I also made an antenna block-off plate (not installed in pics). No radio; HUGE weight savings! rolleyes.gif

When completed, the panel and entire roof and roof spoiler will be painted matte black.

Cheers! cool.gif

Edited by kakabox, 15 February 2008 - 11:27 AM.


#23
DarkHand

That car looks to be in incredible condition considering it sat out in the rain with the interior leaking for two years... Is there any rust in the floorboards or wheelwells? I sure can't see any.
DarkHand

#24
kakabox

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QUOTE (DarkHand @ Oct 10 2005, 10:19 AM)
That car looks to be in incredible condition considering it sat out in the rain with the interior leaking for two years...  Is there any rust in the floorboards or wheelwells?  I sure can't see any.

The only "real" rust I found was on the driver's side, aft, outbd most seat bracket, the chassis side: the captured nut rotted out. I cut out the offending corrosion and welded in a new piece of 16g steel sheet w/a nut welded to it. Other than that, there was some very minor surface rust under the sound tar...a little wire brushing and an application of SEM's Rust Mort and: all gone! I will eventually lightly sand and paint the floors/sides for future protection.

No rust in the wheelwells...btw, cleaning out all the "klingon" dirt clods from the wheel well lips helps to prevent rusting out the lower wheel wells. Those clods act like abrasive sponges; the car's vibrations help the dirt/sand to remove any undercoating and the dirt holds dampness against the metal at the same time. Also, on other cars I've done, I've eliminated up to 8 lbs. by cleaning all the dirt out from the wheel wells and rear bumper beams (behind rear wheels)! Yes, I swept up the dirt and weighed it (anal retentive)! blink.gif

In fact, this particular car has always sat outside, as far as the neighbor who gave it to me knows (he bought it used). Maybe because it sat for 2 years instead of being driven and getting wet on all sides and underneath helped preserve it? I don't know, it is what it is! It's in the garage now for the build, but, eventually, it'll be "back on the street".

Yup, lots of rain/damp in Seattle, but no salt on the roads, so they all rust eventually, just not as fast!

#25
DarkHand

Wow, excellent find, then!


QUOTE (terrafox @ Oct 1 2005, 06:03 PM)
LoL!!

Nice drivin! Really funny the 2nd clip where u can hear when u are out of the car and trying to get the cones out(funny sounds) Then someone shouts "Scott do you need more cones??" :-D


I like the start of the other video too: "At the line we have Jay in the red... Porsche!"

biggrin.gif

Edited by DarkHand, 10 October 2005 - 07:17 PM.

DarkHand

#26
kakabox

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QUOTE (DarkHand @ Oct 10 2005, 05:16 PM)
I like the start of the other video too: "At the line we have Jay in the red...? Porsche!"

biggrin.gif

LOL, I was wondering when someone was going to mention that!

There's a reason he said that:



...BLASPEME you say? Hogwash! I think it looks right at home on there tongue.gif ...and there's a little story behind it. A buddy of mine's brother, bought a brand new 2005 Porsche Turbo S Cabriolet. The first time washing the bad boy, the wash cloth snagged the emblem and sheared off one of the attaching posts leaving it dangling, free to spin around and scratch the beautiful Guards Red paint! ohmy.gif

One trip to the Porsche dealer and $130 later (YIKES blink.gif ), bro had a new badge on the car. Bro gave the broken badge to my buddy who owed me for some car parts...I took the badge as payment!

So, after a little session w/a hot glue gun: the ax club now calls the K'box the "Por-Civic"! I'm not sure who's more offended: the Porsche people or the Honda folks! wink.gif

Cheers! cool.gif

Edited by kakabox, 26 November 2008 - 10:44 AM.


#27
therealtime

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junk the heater controls, core and blower and use one of those 12 volt ceramic deals.

just an idea,

-tony

-Tony
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and Various non-Hondas
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#28
kakabox

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The light weight sunroof panel replacement project continues:

The KAKABOX doing its best Enterprise Rental Car impersonation:


The sunroof panel replacement (.093? thick acrylic sheet; 2 lbs. vs. 14 lbs. for the oem) just painted:


The roof was painted to match:


The color is matte black w/a slight egg-shell texture.

The products used:


Cheers! cool.gif

Edited by kakabox, 26 November 2008 - 10:45 AM.


#29
mesean13

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Please tell me you didn't destroy the sunroof!If it's not gone I got first dibs,ok? I've been looking for a replacement for 3 years. Pleeeeaasse let me know!!!! blink.gif

Edited by mesean13, 21 October 2005 - 04:02 PM.

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#30
mesean13

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QUOTE (kakabox @ Oct 22 2005, 05:48 AM)
QUOTE (mesean13 @ Oct 21 2005, 01:56 PM)
Please tell me you didn't destroy the sunroof!If it's not gone I got first dibs,ok? I've been looking for a replacement for 3 years. Pleeeeaasse let me know!!!! blink.gif

No, I've still got it, unbroken, intact and currently not in the trash! There is a little surface rust on the two fwd "tongues" (which are removable and can be easily wire brushed and painted), but otherwise the panel is in excellent condition. The seals are probably shot, though, because it leaked.

You're in Germany? The shipping cost are probably going to be more than the thing is worth! It's ~24" x 36" and 14 lbs.


The thing is that I work for the U.S.military and I can use APO shipping which is the same as shipping to New York. At 14lbs it should only be around $30. Let me know what you want for it and if your willing to pack it/ship it. For the favor I have access to all the edm junk/original parts you might need for the APO shipping price. Let me know.
Thanks.
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