151 replies to this topic

[CRXer87hf]

Hey all, before i get into the details of this new project, I need to preface this post because I currently have a FS thread out for this car.  I recently listed the car because I have too many Hondas, however when I went to clean it up to sell, I realized what a solid car it was and decided against it.  Unfortunately I don't have editing privileges for the FS forum so I haven't been able to pull the ad, or respond to it.  I sent a message to the admin, but I haven't had a response in quite some time, so I decided to start a build thread with this preface.  I apologize if this has caused any confusion.  

 

Project "Red Daily" begins:

 

 

I picked this car up from a fellow pepper who gave me the car for the price of the tow.  It had a few things that he wasn't willing to repair, so he needed to get rid of it.  I picked it up as a parts car for my first project ("Skittle" - http://www.redpepper...3311&hl=skittle) and it had loads of great parts on it.  I immediately pulled all the suspension parts off and swapped in the stock components from my HF.  I wanted to sell the car complete.  After I swapped the suspension, I just rolled it back out of the garage and parked it until I was going to sell it.  I honestly didn't take a close look at the car until recently when I went to clean it up to sell it.  I was shocked to find out straight a car it was.  It has a great cat-back exhaust, hardly any rust, a pristine interior, a functioning sun-roof, and hardly any missing parts.  I threw a battery in it the other night and it turned over great.  

 

Before it can be road worthy, it'll need some work.  First, it will need the Panhard bar brace repaired.  There is a large rust hole that goes completely through the brace.  I'm thinking a chedda panhard bar brace will do the trick.

 

 

Second, there is a significant fuel leak at the main hard line leading from the fuel pump to the engine.  The previous owner had mentioned a fuel leak, so I had to find out.  I put gas in the car and turned the ignition on, and sure enough, gas came pouring out from the fuel pump area.  I quickly realized where it was coming from.  It's at a fitting where the hard line coming from the body goes into an odd cylinder that is attached to a rubber line that runs the the fuel pump.  Does anyone know what this small cylinder is?  I was considering by-passing it by cutting the hard line and pipe clamp a rubber fuel line to it, and then linking the other rubber line to it with a double male fitting.  Thoughts??

 

Bottom right of this image:

 

 

Here are a couple pics I took of the car after washing it:

 

 

 

 

...and here it is with the BMW Bottle Caps I just bought for it:

 

 

Thanks for looking!

[chedda_j]

Nice looks like a solid base for a project. I would look into s compression fitting for joining two hardlines and fixing the problem. Couldnt really tell from the photo what it is. Good luck and make sure you get a steel weld in brace for best strength if you can.

[CRXer87hf]

Thanks! I'll look into the compression fittings.  As far as the brace goes, is there a difference between the steel brace listed on the heel toe site and the "weld-in" brace you mentioned, because that was the one I was planning on buying?  I was going to bolt it in where the metal was sound and then weld the seams.  

Edited by CRXer87hf, 29 May 2013 - 08:17 AM.

[NWClassicHonda]

Save her!

[CRXer87hf]

Save her!

I'm trying!  

 

I did discover that the hard line going into the body is cracked, so I'm going to have to get creative to make this work.  I'm wondering if I cut off the  portion that is cracked (by the fitting), add a new fitting on it, and flare the end.  We'll see what happens. 

[CRXer87hf]

Made some progress on the fuel line issue.  I managed to cut out the odd piece that connected the hard line to the rubber tube leading to the fuel pump.  See below:

 

 

The hole in the hard line was just behind the fitting that you see in the image.  I made the cut just behind the hole in order to keep as much hard line as possible.  I then got a foot of rubber fuel line, a brass male-to-male fitting, and a couple hose clamps and attached the new fuel line to the old fuel line, and attached the other end to the hard line.  I used silicone gasket maker on the hard line side to make sure it didn't leak. 

 

 

I haven't tested this setup yet because I'm giving the silicone a couple days to cure because it has been so humid here.  I'll attempt to run it tonight... fingers crossed.

 

In the meantime, I replaced the spark plugs, oil, battery, and popped the valve cover to see what was going on.  Everything looks good!  

 

[CRXer87hf]

Well I was able to finish up with the fuel line repair.  Here's what I did:

 

First off, I had to figure out how to mount the fuel pump to the metal plate that it was originally secured to, since the rubber mounts broke when I removed the pump.  They were dry-rotted and pretty useless.  So I decided to take the metal portion of the mounting bracket, scrape the leftover rubber from the original mounts, cut a hole on either end, get a hose clamp and run it through the holes.  I also had to bend the metal inward to allow for the hose clamp to close around the fuel pump.  Turned out great!

 

 

Cutting the holes for the hose clamp.

 

 

Ready to go on the pump.

 

 

Perfect Fit!

 

Then I had to solder the wires back on to the fuel pump because I couldn't get to the connector near the fuel tank, and just cut the wires during disassembly.

 

 

Totally burnt myself... I dislike soldering. 

 

 

Everything is in place and secure!

 

 

Here's what the final setup looks like.  I'm not sure how permanent this solution is, but it's holding tight without leak, and I can run the car now.  Step 1 complete.

[CRXer87hf]

She's running!!  ...and damn well too.  Time to order parts!!!

 

http://www.youtube.c...eature=youtu.be

 

The odd ending of the video is me realizing that I forgot to tighten the fuel system pressure relief screw... gas everywhere.  But after tightening that up, it runs like a kitten.  Can't wait to get it on the road.  The next step is to order axles, bearings, belts, a nose panel and a few other things, and it'll be good to go!

 

 

Speaking of parts, this was a nice bonus I found doing maintenance on the car...

 

 

To me the car looks even better now that it runs!

[CRXer87hf]

Well, as soon as I get the good news that it's running, I also discover the bad news... Timing belt is shot.  I mean, REALLY shot.  I fired it up again last night to look over it a little closer and test a few things when I noticed a strange flapping sound.  I knew it wasn't the valves because it wasn't a metallic sound.  I glanced down the right side of the engine and saw the timing belt flapping around like a flag in a tornado.  Why could I see this, you ask?  Because it has worn holes through the timing belt cover.  Wow.  I hope this doesn't mean that the car was run like this for a long period of time.  So, now I have to do the timing belt... what fun.  Any suggestions to what else I should replace while I have everything taken out?  I was thinking the alternator could get replaced cause it looks really old.  Any advice would be great!

 

[CRXer87hf]

Progress:

 

Took out the front suspension on both sides (no surprises) as well as the old drive axles.  Waiting on more parts to come in, and unfortunately I'll be waiting till Wednesday for the timing belt kit.  

 

 

Also started prepping parts to go on the car.  The old Konis cleaned up great!

 

 

 

...pretty!

[CRXer87hf]

Progress:  Still waiting on more parts, and still prepping parts for the car.  I started polishing the DC Sports strut bar.  It looks much better with the oxidization off of it, but unfortunately it's still pretty badly pitted.  Oh well, it'll still do it's job well.

 

[CRXer87hf]

All the parts are in!  

 

 

Brembo front rotors

Hawk front pads

Integra LCAs

MOOG rod ends

MOOG LCA bushings

New drive axles

Alternator belt

Timing belt replacement kit

 

Ready to get down to business! 

[CRXer87hf]

MUD FLAP repair:

 

I discovered a decent way to clean up old and warn mud flaps.  

 

1. Soak for a few hours in simple green

2. Scrub down with a plastic brush to get the tar and crap of the inside of the flaps

3. Take a razor blade and shave off chunks of rubber that are sticking out of gashes and scuffs.  Also you can smooth out the abraded edges.

4. Wet sand the surface with 400 or 600 grit sand paper unit the surface begins to look uniform.

5. Finish by wet sanding with 1000+ grit sandpaper, wash, and apply protectant.  

 

This isn't going to deal with the heavy damage, but it'll help with the years of scuff marks and small gashes.  Hope this is helpful.

 

Results below:

 

BEFORE:

 

 

AFTER:

 

[CRXer87hf]

Progress:

 

DC Sports header is out and restoration has begun.  It is as rough as it looks.  The rust has heavily pitted the metal, but the wire brush attachment seems to be smoothing it out well.  

 

[CRXer87hf]

Progress - DC Sports Header Restoration:

 

Well, the hardest part is done, and I'm covered in rust dust to prove it.  I got out the power drill and used two wire brush attachments to get the major rust off the pipes.  I used the stiffer brush on the nasty stuff first, and then went over everything again with the softer brush.  For the parts I couldn't reach with the wire brushes, I hand sanded it with 350 grit paper.  

 

 

This is mid way though the process.  

 

 

Complete, and ready to prep for paint.

 

The next step was paint.  I prepped the header by rinsing the entire thing in denatured alcohol.  I poured it over the pipes, and then wiped it down with a dry cloth.  Afterward, I blew it off with canned air.  To paint it, I got three bungee cords and hooked the header to my second story deck and let it hang it front of me at chest height.  This made for easy painting.  I'm using VHT Flameproof flat gray primer and VHT Flameproof Silver for the final coat. (Advanced carries a decent selection of the VHT Flameproof paints, but they don't carry the primer... DUH!  I had to order that from Summit Racing.)  

 

 

Three coats of primer later.  I'm going to let the primer cure for a couple days before I put the final coats of Silver on it.  It should look like it did from the factory, minus the pitted metal.  More to come soon.