46 replies to this topic

[cboutilier]

I need to move to new zealand... JDM Hondas, and English speaking people. Why am I still here.

 

I'm subscribing to this build. I love the F1 Edition cars. Background on my phone is the F1 Wheel and dash

[SiRedge]

Whoops, been a bit slack in updating this build! Sorry about that.

 

Recent work that has been done: Installed the Gymkhana shocks (pictured on the previous page) and Cheddas extended top hats. The shocks give a much firmer ride than factory - it's possibly a bit too firm given the earthquake ruined roads over here, but the car handles pretty well which is good. Unfortunately I didn't realise that the top hat bushes needed to be lubed, so they squeak and rattle and carry on, generally making a nuisance of themselves. Something I'll have to rectify.

 

In other news, the car has been in to Honda here in Christchurch for a fairly extensive load of maintenance work:

• New water pump and seals
• New cam belt and cam seals
• New clutch, pressure plate, release bearing etc
• Rear main seal
• Valve stem seals
• Plugs and leads
• Miscellaneous other belts, various seals etc.

Dropped in to pick it up again last week and had a lively conversation with the shop guys, who said everyone in the team had enjoyed having it in the shop as there are guys who've been working in the shop for a long time and remember these being around    They ended up putting their most experienced guy on the job - he's usually held back for the more complicated diagnostics work, but as it happens he enjoyed doing the work and wouldn't let anyone else near it!

[SiRedge]

Took some pics the other day:

 

 

 

 

Yep, still a Civic.

 

Photos taken at the Sign of the Bellbird in the Port Hills above Christchurch.

[SHOGUNOVDDRK]

Moooiiiiiiiiist <3

[Si'86]

Hahaha ^^^ amen to that. Nice pictures man I really love your car!

[SiRedge]

Took the Civic into Honda for a WOF (warrant of fitness - cars of this age in New Zealand have to get checked once every six months for general road worthiness). Got a call from them earlier - failed the WOF on shocks and rust.

 

Rusty driver's A pillar:

 

 

F/L shock leaking quite badly:

 

 

R/R shock locating pin broken free:

 

 

Fortunately the rust isn't too costly or difficult to repair. The shocks, however, are really frustrating. I've bought two full sets of shocks in the last three years at not inconsiderable expense, and yet I'm back to square one yet again. Very frustrating.

 

Fortunately I haven't thrown out my old rear shocks, so I can throw those back in the car. However I'll need to buy new front shocks to fix the fronts. More money, money I don't have at the moment (bloody broke).

 

[SiRedge]

The driver's side A-pillar seam rust has been repaired:

 

 

However . . . I was silly enough to ask them to have a quick look inside the sunroof, because I knew there was a little in there. I was hoping it was mostly surface rust, and that knocking it on the head at the same time would be a good idea. It was mostly surface rust. Mostly. However . . .

 

 

Here's a look at the passenger's side locating slot. The tongues of the sunroof go in these so it can tilt, and also lift out.

 

Once the locating slot was removed the area was sandblasted to determine the extent of the damage (click for a bigger picture):

 

 

Looking a bit closer at where the passenger's side locating slot was:

 

 

. . . oh dear. Neatly hidden away under the locating slot, the rust had penetrated the metal. That will have to be repaired.

 

Unfortunately, at the worst possible timing, I've just lost my job. I was already in a tight spot financially before this, but now it's much much worse. Not only was I not expecting to have to fix the A pillar rust (yet) or change all the shocks yet again (third time in three years), I have this to contend with. Now that it's been exposed the car will leak if it isn't taken care of. That won't do.

 

I want to get the car warranted so I can at least drive it, so I'll have to fix the shocks at least. The A pillar rust is already done, they've done a pretty good job. But I just can't afford to have the sunroof rust done yet. It's in a tricky spot so it's more costly than the A pillar in spite of being much less extensive. I'll have to remove the roof lining myself in order to help reduce costs a little, but that's a fiddly job that really isn't easy on your own.

 

Feeling rather defeated at the moment.

[SiRedge]

Alrighty, time for an update. I've got the car back - it now has a fresh pair of KYB shocks in the front, and a fresh Warrant of Fitness to match. Also the new shocks feel great on the road - a little softer than the Gymkhana shocks I had in there previously, but still a good feel. Apart from being unhappy I've had to fork out for shocks yet again, I'm well pleased with them - so that's a big plus.

 

Also, I've finally got my new steering wheel installed (click for bigger pictures as always):

 

 

They actually sent me the wrong steering wheel - this one is 350mm; the one I ordered was 340mm. It's actually almost exactly the same size as the OEM wheel, but fuck it, it looks and feels sweet. Holding it gives me a semi.

 

Cracked into getting the roof lining out so the damage to the sunroof can be fixed. For the most part I didn't have much trouble getting the interior roof fittings out . . . oh, and the OEM wheel chilling there too:

 

 

. . . but I couldn't get the screws for the interior sunroof locking bracket to budge. They would not be persuaded.

 

 

Not too sure what to do about that, but I certainly can't make those screws budge. I might whip into Honda again tomorrow and see if they can help. Anyway, pretty much everything else holding the lining in place has been removed or undone, so once the locking bracket has been taken out the lining should come free. Then the car can go in to have the rust damage repaired. Here's what it looks like from the underside, with the roof lining out the way:

 

 

Well, at least the front shocks are dealt with - the new ones feel excellent, and the new steering wheel is pretty sweet too. Looks like I won't be getting the OEM one refurbished any time soon (money ), but that's okay - using the Personal wheel is no hardship!

[GeezRX]

Sorry to hear about your life and rust/shock problems man! Beautiful car...from the pics it doesn't look like it would have that rust. When I removed my headliner I also had trouble with those screws. Hit 'em with PB Blaster a couple times over a couple hours soak time and see if that loosens them up. If that doesn't do it, use an impact driver carefully with the correct size/good shape phillips bit...unless it's really rusty in that location also. Hope all works out, keep us posted!

 

Skip

[SHOGUNOVDDRK]

Keep it up SiRedge

If you ever did decide to get rid of the car I'd be asking you to send it to Aus - serious offer.

Looking forward to your work!

[anjin]

Sun roof rust. First two words are good to have, but they come with the third.  Good luck with the repairs.

For info, had one car that I had to repair - the steel sunroof panel and the tray both had substantial holes all the way through.  Surprisingly I got it done with a mixture of POR 15 rust treatment and fibreglass cloth in about 3 layers.  I used fibreglass rather than steel as those bits were not structural, and the fibreglass was easy to apply with POR15 as the resin. 

 

Nice project.

[IOW3GCIV]

Really nice rare example of a 3g civic, keep up the good work! 

[SiRedge]

It ended up being much more of a faf than I hoped, but the roof lining is now out of the car. Honda helped me undo the sunroof locking bracket screws, and loaned me a tool to remove the plastic push pins as well which was great. I ended up having to undo all of the seatbelt upper mounts to take the side trims off so the roof lining would come free properly. In doing so I had to pull the rear window rubbers out . . . and discovered a little rust on the passenger's side rear window frame at the bottom.

 

I've decided there's no sense in only having the sunroof fixed at this point, when there are other bits of the car that could use the paint while it's in there. So I went into the place that'll be doing the work (CMR Panel and Paint on Walker Street, just down from Honda Cars in Christchurch, if anyone's curious) and had a good chat to Pete, the guy who owns the place. He remembered the car from when it was in having the A pillar rust fixed. Anyway after a bit of banter he was pleased I'd taken the roof lining out "because it's a cunt of a job (tell me about it! )", and that would make fixing the sunroof cheaper.

 

I'm also getting him to fix the bonnet where those pin dents are (from when I did the shocks and fucked it up ) and repaint it, fix the rust on the rear passenger window frame (it's not much), fix the paint on the driver's door (the trailing edge is in need of a tidy up, chips and wear marks from use) . . . and paint the Purple Speed front lip that's been sitting in my garage almost a year.

 

Most of this stuff won't be obvious to the casual view, but knowing it's been done will make me feel good and make the car actually quite tidy, instead of 'tidy, but don't look too closely' haha. Having the bonnet fixed and repainted and the new front lip on will be pretty sweet though.

 

Here are some pics from yesterday.

 

Pulling out the roof lining, trim hanging everywhere:

 

 

Roof lining out:

 

 

All the trim that's hanging loose in the above picture was removed afterward. I bolted up the driver's seat belt and rear vision mirror again so I could drive the car.

 

Here's a look at the rust at the trailing edge of the passenger's side rear window frame:

 

 

There's some at the leading edge as well. It's not as extensive as the rust on the driver's A pillar was, but it has to be fixed really, so I'll get that looked after when it goes in.

 

All in all, it will have:

• Sunroof rust hole fixed, painted
• Rear window rust fixed, painted
• Bonnet pin dents fixed, bonnet stripped and re-painted
• Touch up paint on the driver's door
• Purple speed front lip painted, ready for me to fit to the car
• Boot hinges rust killed, possibly a splash of paint there too

So a fair bit of work, but once it's done the car will be pretty good. I hope!

[SiRedge]

After a bit of prompting from people who know these cars, I decided that since it's going in to have a bunch of rust fixed all over the place, it'd be a good idea to go looking for more in the usual trouble spots - might as well get it all done at the same time.

 

The boot cavity is seldom a problem. The seam around the rear hatch (under the hatch rubber seal) however, IS. As is the cutouts where the tail lights come thru the body. Water sits in the sponge insulators and rots things out.

 

So with this in mind, this morning I pulled out the boot hatch seal to have a look:

 

 

There are a few patches, but it doesn't look too bad on the whole.

 

A bit in the upper left corner:

 

 

A patch in the lower left corner:

 

 

And a little along the bottom edge:

 

 

I'll need to take out the tail lights and have a look in there as well - hopefully it's in the same sort of condition as most of the rest of the car - patches here and there on the seams, but pretty minor. Maybe I'll get lucky and there won't be any! A guy can dream. LOL.

[SiRedge]

As of yesterday the car is now with the panel shop to have every bit of rust taken care of . . . and some fresh paint where needed as well! Should have it back in a couple of weeks - can't wait to see how it looks!