27 replies to this topic

[ballade]

One more thing regarding the rear disk brake swap once you have done it it's a royal pan to go back to drums

[jweber89]

Hay Jeff love the car. Glad someone on here got it.
As for the oil pan gasket next time try not using the silicone. I've noticed that it causes the gasket to slip then rip when tightening the oil pan down.
Now I just make sure both surfaces are clean and just us the gasket. No leaks ever!

Good call on the rear brakes. I kinda wish I had left the rear drums on my car. will admit the pedal is firmer but over all braking hasn't changed. I'm also dealing with
the extra 17mm per side track issue associated with the swap. Rear disk is cool looking but at the end of the day ventilated rear HF drums with CF 48's is a "Cooler" setup.

Cheers
Mark

Thanks Mark! I had a set of teg rear brakes, but I decided not to use them. I ended up trading the setup for some sweet parts for my Si. I actually like the drum brakes more. As much of a PITA as they can be, I enjoy working on them.

I would like some HF drums. Somebody mentioned earlier in this thread about changing backing plates for the aluminum drums. Are they a different size? I always thought the steel and aluminum were interchangeable.

Jeff

[Old School REX]

Nope, they are different. But you can just bend the steel ones a little bit and they work with the aluminum drums just fine. Remember buddy, when I get around to my disc brake swap you are first in line for my aluminum drum setup.

[jweber89]

Hey guys! I started a new job at Firestone Complete Auto Care about a month ago. There hasn't been much work done to the DX while I have been trying to get acclimated. After a few paychecks and bills caught up, I am getting back to it.

My first order of business is getting some tires on the CF-48s. The tires that I have on my steelies right now are pretty shot. The two front have about 4/32s of tread left but the rear have about 2/32s left and are getting dryrotted pretty bad. We had a tire sale at Firestone last week so I bought some new tires. I wanted to get ballade's recommendation of 185/60R13s, but we could not order that size. I ended up settling on 185/70R13. I figure that will be ok considering that the car is not lowered at all.

I started stripping the CF-48s a couple days ago. Took them up to a local car wash with 2 cans of aircraft paint remover. I wasn't able to get all the old paint off so I will be working on them some more this weekend. I also think I have decided not to repaint them. I really like the way the look without the paint(pictures to come) and I'm thinking about just spraying a coat of clearcoat over the bare aluminum and calling it a day. I should be able to get the tires mounted sometime next week. I also think I have sourced the stock 3/4" valve stems that came with the wheels. I am waiting on them to come in.

Next order of business will be to do some light body work and repaint some of the discolored spots. I don't have the money for a full paint job so I am just going to buff the old paint that is still in good shape and buy a couple cans of R-63 Rio Red touch up paint. Then I can match the fenders and quarter panels. Hopefully that all goes well. I will update with pics by the end of the weekend assuming this weekend goes according to plan.

Jeff

[Old School REX]

In for pics buddy! You guys have to see how good these wheels came out. I haven't even seen them in person and I'm impressed!!

[jweber89]

In for pics buddy! You guys have to see how good these wheels came out. I haven't even seen them in person and I'm impressed!!

Patience my good sir. I plan on using a good camera for the shot so I wanna make sure you guys dont point out all the imperfections. If all goes according to plan, I should have them finished by today.

Jeff

[jweber89]

Looks like I'm just gonna have to deal with imperfections. I have been working my ass off for two days straight trying to get 25 year old paint and corrosion off of these wheels. The corrosion is being quite difficult. I think I've gotten myself to the point where I am just going to deal with it. There were a few places where the paint had already been chipping and I believe the Indiana road salt took its toll on the bare aluminum. Maybe I'll put some more time into it someday down the road, but for now I'm just ready to mount them. Well here goes...let the advice begin. Please feel free to let me know any good methods to removing corrosion from aluminum.

Keep in mind, I am posting this specific wheel because it is the best looking. The other three aren't so hot. I'll try to get pictures of them up after I work on them a bit more tomorrow after work and possibly Monday as well.





I also went ahead and repainted the Mugen wheel emblems so I could feel like something worthwhile was accomplished today. Lighting is a bit off.



I also took a cool picture of the wheel emblem on the wheel but I just realized that it came out a bit blurry. I'll try again tomorrow. Any input is appreciated. I can't wait to get the new tires mounted and get them on the car. I'll probably get that done by Friday.

Jeff

[Old School REX]

• Man, from how REALLY bad these looked when they came off the car; they look amazing. Really good job man. The thing you have to remember is this. They will NEVER look like BNIB cf-48's. They aren't meant to. The thing that makes these wheels so cool is the fact that you have restored them originally and putting them back on an original Mugen CRX. Anyone who thinks these aren't "kleeeen" enough can just move on to the next car. The people that can really appreciate these cars as a unique piece of automotive history will know how neat these are.

GOOD JOB!

[jweber89]

Got the tires mounted and balanced yesterday. I will be putting them on the car tomorrow after i do an oil change. Later on Friday, ill be heading to Old School REXs house where we can take a few pics.

Jeff

[zakats]

looks great

[jweber89]

looks great

Thanks Zak! Can't wait to get the wheels on the car later today. Should look a lot better. I'll post pics as soon as I get them.

Jeff

[Old School REX]

I didn't really get good photos, but no matter which angle you see this car in person; it looks freekin' cool. I don't care how "rough around the edges" Jeff thinks it is. I like this car...




Peekin' out the window from the Cheeburger-Cheeburger, our waitress was quite impressed with my man's ride.

[ballade]

jeff you have been PM'd