93 replies to this topic

[MakDiesel]

I believe this forum is extremely diverse in it's knowledge and experience and I thought it would be nice to squeeze some more of the unorthodox ideas out. I want whomever that knows of an easy/inexpensive tricks/mods that will make our cars that much better to post it here. The guidelines are broad but try to keep it automotive, relatively unknown to the masses, and beneficial to perform to any car, Honda or not. Some of it may even be common sense. I'll start:

1. put several small magnets on the bottom of your oil pan/tranny/oil filter to keep the bits of metal that accumulate (most of it's microscopic unless you drive an old Ford, then it's chunks) from doing any further wear and tear harm.

2. There's already a post about using lighter weights in the distributor w/ weaker springs, I assume you can do this with other older cars.

3. a vinegar soaked rag will take off an old stuck on bumper sticker faster and more effectively than a razorblade, etc.

4. Don't 'overfill' your gas tank when filling up. As soon as the pump clicks off by itself, don't try to squeeze a couple more cents into it to make an even amount, the extra gas will be wasted anyway and can damage evaporative systems.

5. If you gut your interior, take the time to get all the sound deadening out as well w/ either a heat gun or dry ice and a hammer. The total savings can be up to 10-15 lbs. on some cars.

6. During extreme circumstances, a pair of nylon panty hose can be used to remedy a broken alternator/AC/power steering belt, but only temporaily.

7. Cruising at 55 mph vs. 70 mph has been shown to increase gas mileage by 19%.

8. If your battery terminals are heavily corroded, use soap/water to clean them and use dielectric (sp) grease to coat them. No more corrosion.

9. Unless you have an engine that requires premium gas (indicated in your owner's manual or sometimes on your gauge cluster), run a turbo/supercharger, or you have developed spark knock from carbon buildup, use good ol' 87 octane and save yourself some $.

10. To oversimplify, if your car smokes at startup, then you probably need valve guides and/or seals. If it smokes when you accelerate at a fast pace, then you need new rings. Bluish smoke is oil, while white, sweet smelling smoke is antifreeze and is sign of a blown head gasket.

Please contribute to this and enlighten the noobs and the veterans alike! (BTW, comment if you disagree w/ any of mine) Mak <------------- hopes to learn a few things this way

[badpenny]

6. During extreme circumstances, a pair of nylon panty hose can be used to remedy a broken alternator/AC/power steering belt, but only temporaily.

8. If your battery terminals are heavily corroded, use soap/water to clean them and use dielectric (sp) grease to coat them.  No more corrosion.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

#6 you can also use panty hose as an air filter. Placing it capped over the open end of any intake tube.

#8 carbonated soda (pop, soda, coke, soda water) works great too. Kills the corrosion. Then of cours use the grease to coat the posts.

[Madkore]

Baking soda and water also works on battery terminals.

If you have to put a nut on a hard to reach stud, slide the nut onto a phillips screwdriver, put the tip of the screwdriver on the stud, and slide the nut onto the stud.

The distributer spring mod was common in the 50s and 60s.

[AudioCra-Z]

Never use degreser spray cleaners near your spark plugs, or distributor. They tend to cause spark and connection issues. Simple Green is the best, and washes away well.

For Turbo/Forced Induction setups. you DO NOT want to use pantyhose/cloth as a temp solution, but actually a piece of wire mesh with a hose clamp as an emergecy setup. Cloth can rip, and get sucked in, and wrapped around the forced induction parts... very bad!

[JeepGirl]

panty hose can also be used as an emergency alt/fan belt. i did this on a very old ford f-150 when the fanbelt broke. drove 80klms before it broke. the trick i learned if you HAVE to do this is when you go to tie it on, make the knot as tight as possisble, cut off the excess and melt the knot lightly with a lighter. i did this on a ford v-8, you should be able to use this on honda's as well. i dont know how well it would work if you have a serpintine belt system with belt tensioners and what-not, but a simple crank-fan/crank-Alt should be good enough to get you to canadian tire or a parts store.

[JayK]

Taken from the December issue of Sport Compact Car:

-Accelerating a pound of wheel weight is like accelerating about 1.5 pounds on your chassis. Accelerating a pound of tire weight is like accelerating 2 pounds on your chassis. Accelerating a pound of flywheel weight is like accelerating as much as 30 pounds on your chassis, depending on what gear you're in.

-When you put on your fat tires, keeping the offset of your new wheels close to the offset of the stock ones will minimize changes in scrub radius. This, in turn, will minimize torque steer on front drivers, and brake steer on anything.

-A bigger master cylinder will make your brake pedal firmer.

-A smaller piston in your caliper will do the same thing.

-Bigger brakes won't necessarily make your car stop any shorter. Good brake balance, good tires, a good suspension, minimal camber, and, of course, ABS, will.

-Getting good tires is the second most effective thing you can do to improve handling.

-Learning to drive is the first.

[kaymo]

Taken from the December issue of Sport Compact Car:


-Bigger brakes won't necessarily make your car stop any shorter. Good brake balance, good tires, a good suspension, minimal camber, and, of course, ABS, will.


-Learning to drive is the first.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ABS does not always make u stop faster in some cases it can make you stop slower, it is give better braking control and not lock the wheels up. sometimes u can stop faster lockin it up

[antiheroCRX]

Taken from the December issue of Sport Compact Car:


-Bigger brakes won't necessarily make your car stop any shorter. Good brake balance, good tires, a good suspension, minimal camber, and, of course, ABS, will.


-Learning to drive is the first.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ABS does not always make u stop faster in some cases it can make you stop slower, it is give better braking control and not lock the wheels up. sometimes u can stop faster lockin it up

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ever have your brakes lock up and then get stuck that way. OOO YEA thats when you wish you have abs.

[1stGenRex]

Taken from the December issue of Sport Compact Car:


-Bigger brakes won't necessarily make your car stop any shorter. Good brake balance, good tires, a good suspension, minimal camber, and, of course, ABS, will.


-Learning to drive is the first.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ABS does not always make u stop faster in some cases it can make you stop slower, it is give better braking control and not lock the wheels up. sometimes u can stop faster lockin it up

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i dont think this is true when you are driving @ highway speeds or in inclement weather (rain snow etc.) and thats when ABS comes in handy

[lxndr]

If your radiator blows a leak you can break up a couple of cigarettes and drop the tobacco into the radiator. The tobacco will clot the hole long enough for you to get home or to a repair shop. You can also use an egg.

Baking soda can also be dumped into the radiator when back flushing to break up deposits. This is an effective and environmentally friendly method.

[1stGenRex]

and of course most of us know this but an underinflated tire hurts gas milage...for every 1 psi under your NPG goes down 2 percent...doesnt sound like a lot, but it makes a huge difference when you are running 2psi under on each tire...not to mention your tires will be less likely to fail prematurely and will wear evenly

[3gencivic]

i dont know i dont like the abs stuff. i find tha tyou dont have control of the brakes when its on and yes most the time it takes longer to stop.
also when your abs stops working you have NO BRAKES had that happen 2 times.

and also thinkabout it its a computer that runs it and if you have no power for some odd reson there go brakes. (happend on out compony deasil 1 ton. you try stoping that loaded with now power/abs brakes.

i like th ebrakes on the honda i have 86s. no abs on and off when i wont.

[B@T "El Argentino"]

QUOTE:
4. Don't 'overfill' your gas tank when filling up. As soon as the pump clicks off by itself, don't try to squeeze a couple more cents into it to make an even amount, the extra gas will be wasted anyway and can damage evaporative systems.


Just wondering, why would the extra gas be wasted??

My dad always tries to pump "a whole number" and I hate it when he does this crap, pisses me off even though he has good intentions, I'll make him read this post!

[MakDiesel]

I read it (in a book, not online, so it's more likely to be credible) a few years back, I'll post an exact quote if I find it, I don't want to mislead anyone. I just remember it did more harm than good squeezing the pump, and if your gas tank was "too full" the excess would be wasted. I'll get back to you on the reason... Mak

[funkmaster]

On the radiator note, if one has a small leak the best and cheapest method of fixing it is black pepper. Just get one of those cheapy mccormock shakers and dumps some in the filler neck. Pepper does not dissolve and will just collect at the hole and close it up.

and since gas is so expensive, keep in mind that properly inflated tires can save you a TON of cash at the pump. I check mine once a week.