43 replies to this topic

[kamikaze_fish]

Ok, picked up 2 85's this weekend courtesy of 85c-rex. Forgot the camera at my parents house so here's the scoop:

'85 CRX dx 5spd
painted black, need repainted.
Good:
130k miles, starts easy, low rust but is rusted
Bad:
Much of the interior needs restored/replaced/found
Transmission is in process of dieing. Had 2 quarts of fluid that came out when I checked the level. Lots of glitter. Clutch also feels like it needs replaced
Needs tires
No battery

'85 civic 1.3l 5spd hatchie
Burgandy
Good:
minimal rust factor, 120k miles, si interior swapped in
Bad:
won't start
Right rear brake drum removed so wheel cylinder has popped out, no brakes now
Originally canadian car and was automatic.
Carb shoots gas like water gun onto the master cylinder
Needs tires and wheels
1 stud missing on right rear
no radiator cap
no battery

Purchased:
Carb rebuild kit, brake hardware kit (rear), 2x brake drums, brake shoes, dist cap, rotor, plug wires, spark plugs, thermostat, oil, oil filter, air filter, 2x battery, 2x wheel cylinder

Done today:
Hatchie:
took pictures before I started, wife cleaned the hatchback and it's looking pretty good already. In trying to start the car is when I found the carb shot out gas. I replaced the plugs, cap, rotor, wires but when turning over there's a backfire sounded like it was coming through the carb. Drained the radiator, changed the oil, replaced the wiper blades, tightened many nuts that I found loose through-out the car
CRX:
drained the excess fluid that smelled burnt and like regular motor oil that was in the transmission. Wasn't totally sure of the condition of the internals so corrected the level of fluid and drove it a half block to discover that it makes too much clatter to drive and is a little jerky. Most likely there's some chunks floating around where they shouldn't be. When letting off the gas there is such a loud whine that it's scarey. Need to find a tranny just going to swap it out.

Now for the seriously troubling part of it all. They're sitting at my parents house and I've been given 2 weeks to get them both going and out of there.

[badpenny]

Now for the seriously troubling part of it all.  They're sitting at my parents house and I've been given 2 weeks to get them both going and out of there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Dang. Ummm wasn't there another hatchie out there?



I wanna be a member of SAHCRE.

[kamikaze_fish]

Dang.  Ummm wasn't there another hatchie out there?
I wanna be a member of SAHCRE.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

SAHCR Membership granted Voting to promote to VP status initiated.

Yeah, there's another hatchie out there but we don't want to talk about it. She's very very very unhappily sitting there rusted through, interior missing, drivetrain missing.

[kamikaze_fish]

BTW I'm retarded. Can I get a mod to move this to the technical/builds area?

[badpenny]

Done.

[kamikaze_fish]

Ok, today's update, considering I only get about 1 hour of daylight for working on the weeknights there won't be as much progress as i would hope but some is better than none. I have found a few available trannys for the rex and will start my carb rebuild tomorrow night. Never done one before so I'm nervous and excited for it. I did find out why the hatchie wouldn't start. I made sure all the timing was correct and everything was except for 1 small detail, the carb was 180 degrees wrong. Fixed that so I'm excited to get that carb done. I have pics with me now but I need somewhere to upload them. Kind of embarrased that I don't currently have anywhere.

edit: Also found out that I need a new alternator and belt. Timing belt actually looks good but I'm going to keep an eye on it. I flushed and filled the radiator, pressurized the system best I could with a garden hose and couldn't find any leaks so I'm excited about that since there was no rad cap. Now there's a cap and she's full of water. Going to let it sit overnight to see if the level goes down any. I'll change the thermostat in the next few days.

Edited by kamikaze_fish, 25 September 2006 - 09:40 PM.

[kamikaze_fish]

Was going to get some pics up finally but nooo I brought the wrong cable today. Decided to put a list of known needs before they can be driven.
rex:
Transmission
Clutch
check wheel cylinders (prior owner said one might be bad)
sand/grind/fiberglass/paint
Clean interior up
Repair dangling fog lamp
put passenger seat back in
replace windshield

Hatchie:
tighten and insert pins in castle nuts on ball joints both sides
replace alternator and or belt
find timing belt cover and install
fix and reinstall carb
fix driver door not shutting all the way

Thoughts for future:
Have an extra 1.3l. Thinking about rebuilding it with gas mileage in mind. I could show up all the new hybrids with old school "outdated" technology.

Questions:
The hatchie appears to have had trim on it that has been removed. This has left a nasty look along the sides of the car. What should I do? Repaint the car or find a trim alternative for replacement?

[badpenny]

Questions:
The hatchie appears to have had trim on it that has been removed.  This has left a nasty look along the sides of the car.  What should I do?  Repaint the car or find a trim alternative for replacement?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Gaffers tape.

[kamikaze_fish]

You for real? That's actually kind of what I was thinking. Well something close to that anyway.

[badpenny]

For the time being, I mean, you are going to have to replace it after rain and snow, but it is a cheap temp fix for now, that or learn how to weld and bondo it. I fG'd mine, Granted right now they look like @$$ but Its doing the trick.

Or picking up some generic body molding from Advance or Pepe' boys

[kamikaze_fish]

Need help bad! It appears that either the parts store got my carb rebuild kit wrong but not likely since the paperwork inside it says 84-86 civic, OR there's a significant difference in CDM vs USDM carbs. I'm sure that there's a difference. Does anyone have anything that I can read that explains what does what on a carb? There's 1 thing that I question which is the "stuff" that initiates the choke but I have a manual choke also, so what's the use of the other stuff? Also, there's these vacuum things that are on there that I have no idea what they are or if they're needed. Here we go again with wishing I had pics up. I'm thinking that my only 2 options are, find USDM carb at a yard or have a canadian ship me a canadian rebuild kit. Ahhh frustration!

[JEFFtheJ00la]

from what ive always heard cdm carbs are different. i have like 5 usdm carbs. no value to me. i got em free

[kamikaze_fish]

SHE RUNS!!!!!! Ok, couldn't let it rest. I took the carb back to the car and put it on, and it started. Shot up to 4k rpm and slowly backed down to about 3000. Tapping the gas I got it to come down to about 2k and then it would die. After help from eldo's post I bet that has to do with no fuel since I didn't connect the wire up. Anyway I'm super tired and will post more later. Jeff, we may talk later about those

[kamikaze_fish]

PICS! Sorry for some of the sizes.


First up, the hatch of love:


No, the cobwebs aren't for halloween








Next up, Rextopher Walken



Indication of tranny failure? Notice the glitter in the pan?





Togetherness creates happiness

Edited by kamikaze_fish, 26 September 2006 - 11:10 PM.

[badpenny]

Hey, are those composite headlamps? Or just regular sealed beams? They look really clean on the hatchie.


I just thought of something, you could actually have the edm headlights on it.