draft How to: Get started on a full rebuild

Ok, I've taken this whole dang thing apart, cleaned it, and am starting to put it back together again. Before I start re-assembly, I thought I'd put together what I've learned and seen so far.
1. Everything is dirty. Dirty, dirty, and more dirty. I've gone though half a gallon of uncut Simple Green, 6 cans of Carb & Choke cleaner, and other odd cleaning chemicals. I cleaned everything after I stripped the whole thing down. Lesson learned, clean as you go. Everything stores nicer and you don't gunk up other relatively clean parts. It helps to buy a couple of different size storage bins to use as washtubs or chemical vats to leave things overnight - plus they have a lid to help prevent annoying spills onto your wife/husband/life partner's car

2. Bolts will break. Expect to have a few broken studs in the head, block, manifold, and other assorted parts. I took over a batch of parts to a shop and they welded a nut to them and screwed them right off, who'd-a-thunk? No damage to the aluminum even!

3. Parts don't want to come apart. Some don't ever want to come apart. You'd think they were assembled with crazy glue at the factory! Some parts I worked apart, some parts I cut apart, and some I just left alone. I'm very curious as to what it would take to unscrew the fittings on those break line tubes.

4. Keep a running log of what is broken and where, take digital photos or videotape so you know where they came from - your description may confuse the parts person. This will help you when you are ordering all the parts you need to rebuild it again.

5. Bag and label every part you take off in zip-lock bags. Use sandwich and gallon sizes, buy about 100 sandwich and 50 gallon size bags, generic is fine. Mark what each part is, where it came from, and a number that would indicate what order you took it off in, or what page in the manual it corresponds to.

6. Get a bunch of different manuals to use as sources. The factory manuals are great, but the other ones offer advice as well for making decisions, like when to rebuild vs. leave well enough alone, shop vs. DIY, and the effort involved.

7. Make a list of all the things you think you will need in the beginning, including gaskets (upper AND lower), PVC valve, thermostat, filters, etc. ALSO journals and thrust bearings from the crankcase. ALSO RTV sealants and never-seize. There is always something you will forget. The idea is that you start budgeting what you will need to buy, and now which parts you need to get non-OEM. For example, I couldn't get OEM rings without buying pistons as well from Honda. Obviously I got the rings from the parts store.

8. Make a plan for what you want to do. When everything is in pieces, it's easy to get distracted by suddenly deciding it's a good idea to port the head, or hand polish all the aluminum! You must control those urges, young Jedi.

9. IF YOU LIVE IN THE POLAR REGIONS… like Chicago, which is saltier in winter than the Dead Sea, then your car will have rust. Not only will the body have rust, but the aluminum engine block will as well. Lots of it. While your car is down for the count, it would be a good time to take care of those problems, or at least check their full extent. Personally, I'm choosing to fight the corrosion as best I can. I'm treating then painting all rusted or oxidized surfaces. I'm using light colors so I'll be better able to diagnose leaks as well.

10. Make nice with the people on the forums and check the posts that aren't related to yours - trust me, you will find information you will later use. Be warned though, lot's of people out there assume you are talking about a 2nd Gen, because they don't think there is anything else out there that was made before '88. Double check your advice and facts gleaned from others.

I've got new ones now that I'm beginning to put the pieces back together.

11. Directions matter! Both the orienting kind and the following steps kind. Case in point, reassembling the lower 1/2 of the block. The direction of the piston rings count. Which way the pistond face counts. Which side the journals and bearings face counts. Which side the connecting rod cap faces counts. If you get these wrong, you could gouge a whole new oil track somewhere - not a good thing. If I did it again, this would have been a good place to take notes on what everything looked like, and where everything was oriented. It saves alot of puzzling over the manuals that were written as is you already new the answer to the question!

12. Create a "clean room" for reassembly. I should have given my workspaces a thorough cleaning BEFORE I started reassembly. In a pinch though, setting newspapers over your work surfaces helps keep crap off pistons and rings, and sucks up the extra dolops of motor oil you need to apply.

13. ORGANIZIZE! Do you know where my Oil Breather chamber went? No? Well you have as good of knowledge as I as to where it went. Lucky lesson #13 - keep the parts organized. It's very frustrating ordering this part that you know is around here SOMEWHERE! Of course, I would know exactly where it was at if I didn't keep my parts in 7 different places around the garage, and didn't move them repeatedly when I had to do other projects. The sick thing is, I know I'll find it JUST AFTER the $40 replacements come in and are mounted.

I've gotten a couple of emails that follow this vein, so I'll reply here as well as email: hey man i got a problem ... XX si with XXXk miles... but it smokes and burns oil...i just want my stock crx up and running like it always did...i want to get information about the engine. what needs to be replaced internally to makeit work? where can i see pictures? what should i do? i would love any opinions or personal experience, what do you reccomend?...

Here are the things I think you should do, based on what I've seen on my own rebuild so far:

1. Have the Head rebuilt. You can do most of the expensive work yourself ($150), or have a shop do it all for you ($400). Those prices don't include the replacement parts, but do include oddball tools, like valve compressors and such. The REALLY smart way to do this is to buy someones used 90-91 Si head and have THAT one rebuilt, then mount that one one when it comes back from being re-built. This is something that I think has to be done - check the picture of my valves to see why. The parts needed for this are the valve seals (16 total), valve cover gasket, head gasket, and mabey the oil seals around the cam shaft. Much is made about checking for wear on the cam shaft and lifter arms, but mine was in perfect shape.

2. - THIS IS OPTIONAL - Have the Bottom - end rebuilt. This involves pulling the oil pan and getting into the crankcase, and this involves ALOT of labor. I doubt this would be absolutely necissary in most cases. But if you do, you will be able to replace the oil seals on each side of the crankshaft (common leak points), replace the bearings and journals (I have no idea why they are called that), as well as pulling the pistons and replacing the rings.

If you do this, make sure and replace the following "wear" items, at least so you KNOW FOR SURE it was done. Water pump, Oil pump, PCV valve, Fuel Filter, O2 sensor, plugs and wires, timing belt.

Your best sources for info are the service manuals - Helms(www.helms.com) or the Haynes manual, plus the good people on the different boards are always willing to help, as long as you don't come off like a jerk.

14. Mark your tubes. I've found both the Helms and the Haynes useless when reconnecting the various tubing. The illustrations are spotty at best - if there is an illustration! I could have saved alot of time and brainpower if I had just marked each end of the tubes with a piece of tape that indicated what that end connected to. NEW ADDITION - Tubing Pictures:

Oh, and I found my Oil Breather chamber. it was sitting on the roof of the CRX. The one black thing on a silver background. I guess all that self abuse is catching up with me.

ACK! I got totally clotheslined by a stripped head bolt hole. After all the carefull work of cleaning, rebuilding, and reassembling the lower block... one of the head bolt holes turns out to be stripped. I went out and bought a $50 heli-coil kit to try and repair it. It stripped out to! That hole is pretty deep, and I'm not sure I actually was able to secure it fully.

So now I have a block coming to me - also for $50 (the irony is killing me), plus $65 shipping and handling. Fed-Ex has better prices for shipping in the 100lbs category! Alot of pride was swallowed in having to give up on the old block, and now I have to transfer all the new stuff to the new block. Grrrr....

Mr Kwicko posted 03-08-2000 21:56 CT (US) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay, Paul, you've done an excellent job of chronicling your "adventures" so far, and I think I'll archive this info so I can get at it later, when it's MY turn to rebuild. For now, though, I'm just doing a cylinder head swap. I've got a spare, which has been thoroughly gone-through and checked. All valve guide seals were replaced, valves were re-ground and seated, etc. This SHOULD cure my car's smoking on startup; it doesn't blow smoke under acceleration, so my rings seem to be okay.

Now, without my trying to be a lazy ass, what I need from you is this: Do you have ANY tips and tricks that will help me out as far as what DOES need to come off, and what DOESN'T? I've pulled the exhaust before (numerous times), so I'm used to that - that comes off, no problem. Ditto the distributor - needs a new igniter unit and O-ring anyway, so off it comes. Timing belt is fairly new, but it's coming off anyway, and I'm not big on re-using important things like timing belts, so it gets replaced.

The one part I'm most unsure of, and more than a bit intimidated, is the whole fuel-injection/intake side of the motor. That looks like a boatload of tubes and wires to get mixed up. I've already taken your advice, and laid in a supply of baggies with which to clearly label things as they come off. I'm going to the parts store tomorrow to get a supply of various colors of electrical tape, so I can also mark the different wires and vacuum hoses (red 1, yellow 3, blue 1, etc.).

Any other tips you can share would be greatly appreciated. I've got the factory service manual handy, but not the Haynes - I gave it away!

Thanks in advance,

Mike

xxpaulcpxx posted 03-09-2000 02:23 CT (US) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After getting through 1/2 the reconnection process so far (and I have to redo it again now that I got my replacement block in!), I can say that I reconnected most things wrong at least once.

Full disclosure though, months have passed since they were first disconnected, and nothing is looking familiar anymore.

Two things that will be your friend though: 1. Vacume hose diagram in the Helms is actually pretty good, and very descriptive. The cooling/fuel/vent lines are poorly documented though, which brings us to...

2. Photograph the different areas that have a bunch of hose, and photograph them from multiple angles. This was something I almost didn't do, and it has proved very valuable. I wished I had taken more!

As an example, there is a tube running from the upper manifold (below the PGM/FI sticker), do you know where it goes? It's good if you do know - BECAUSE HELMS WONT TELL YOU! I could find no illustration or text that said that line went to the PCV valve in the oil breather chamber below the intake. That is one example, but I was stuck for days on that one - and nearly connected it to my master cylinder!

Check out all the rubber you are pulling off, I found a bunch of mine to be really rotten - hence my move to SS braided. I'm not using AN fittings, I'm just compressing them over my stock barbs. They seem to fit pretty snug, we'll see if I pop a line later on down the road!

As for what to take off and what to leave - that's a tough one. I had my whole engine on my workbench when I started stripping off the intake side. I think your best approach would be to start with the throttle body, and start working your way in towards the head. This will make it easier to get to those support brackets on the underside of the manifold - at least easier to see what you are doing.

REMEMBER TO:
#1 CLEAN AS YOU GO,
#12 KEEP A CLEAN ROOM FOR REASSEMBLY, and
#14 MARK EACH END OF YOUR TUBES

Keep us posted on the head swap - that is exactly the advice I've been foisting on people, I'd like to know how yours turns out.

Mr Kwicko posted 03-09-2000 22:29 CT (US)
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Thanks, Paul, and a big "will do" on your advice. I've already got the fuel rail off, and the injectors out.They're getting replaced with Integra injectors. Man! You would not believe how dirty and grimy the tips on my stock injectors were! Also, I've got pretty good access to the throttle body, which is also a grimy mess inside. I can hardly wait to get into the intake plenum itself, and see how gunked up THAT is. I may have the intake plenum ported and polished a bit while I'm at it, too; anything to get more air into the car! I'm *HOPING* I won't forget too much of where things go; I've got a pretty tight timeline to get it all finished. The next race is in less than three weeks. I've checked all the hoses I've disconnected already (at least one will be replaced, as I found a small leak in it), and I'm assiduously labelling hoses and tubes as I go, and bagging and labelling all brackets, nuts, and bolts. These are all going in a "safebox" on my bench, which will hold nothing but parts for the head swap.

Also, I'm pulling the header panel and the front bumper, to make it a little easier to get at things. I've got it set up so I can just disconnect the bumper lights and undo two bolts to pull the front bumper off, so that's pretty easy. It gets me right on top of the engine, so I don't have to ruin my back (as much) hunching over the car. Plus, it saves me from cracking my header panel!

I'll be sure to keep everyone updated on the swap, and how it turns out. It may be time to hit the dyno when it's all said and done, to see what (if any) improvements can be found.

Thanks again for the help and advice,

Mike

IP: Mr Kwicko posted 03-10-2000 19:19 CT (US)
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The saga continues: an update on the cylinder head swap.

I got plenty of pix, about midway through pulling the intake. Don't worry - I labelled everything clearly, and made what I HOPE are good notes to go by when reassembling! I finally got the intake side off, along with the distributor. I now have the cylinder head off, too. The good news: the cylinder sleeves themselves look absolutely unworn. They are glassy smooth, and if you look closely, you can see machining marks going across their surfaces, but NO up&down scratching or scoring! Not bad for 210k miles, eh? The bad news: the old cylinder head is TRASHED. Looking at the combustion chambers, I don't understand how the car was even RUNNING anymore, much less how it was competitive in autocross! The exhaust valves are so burnt, crispy, and toasted, that they are TAN in color. It is impossible to see any factory markings on the valves, and the burnt-up look continues about halfway up the valve stems. It also doesn't appear that the vavles are seating properly (how could they, with all that crust?). Everything else is deeply crusted with black carbon buildup. The center two spark plugs are cross-threaded. This I knew, and have been "dealing with" for about three years, waiting for a head swap. It's been this way since before I bought it, and one of the plugs won't come out; it just turns and turns. As a consequence, that plug has been in for AT LEAST 36,000 miles. I just don't crank down on the torque when replacing the others. The result of that? Two plugs whose diodes are still about halfway up the sparkplug hole, not even within a quarter-inch of the combustion chamber! The other plugs (the outer two cylinders) look to be in proper position. All four have badly burned tips. The tops of the piston crowns are carbon'd up somewhat, but I'm using a wire wheel on my drill to knock that stuff off (being careful not to get any into the neighboring cylinder bores).

Tomorrow, weather permitting, I'll finish up the piston crowns, and get the head deck cleaned up. Then, it's "on with their heads", as I pop on the NEW, BETTER! IMPROVED! cylinder head. Then another few hours of getting things connected up correctly, and then another few hours of troubleshooting the things I connected INCORRECTLY, and the things I forgot to hook back up.

I can hardly wait to see what happens when this baby fires up again, with a "zero miles" cylinder head on it!

Oh, yeah: I finally found that bugger of a PCV valve, too, and replaced it. I'm going to have to replace a lot of coolant hoses and vacuum lines, too - some just crumbled apart when I went to pull them.

Mike (anticipating the power)

IP: xxpaulcpxx posted 03-11-2000 02:27 CT (US)
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I know what you mean about lines crumbling - the oil cooler lines get pretty vulcanized. My valves had all the crud you mentioned (see pic of intake valve above), and my exhaust valves were also the same as you describe. I was able to chip a bunch off with a pick, after it had been hit liberally with carb&choke cleaner. I bought a case of C&C cleaner, and have 3 cans left at the moment. I think that old head just needs some cleaning and rethreading and it should be ready to go again!

Also, as I was stripping the EW4 block (85Si)that I'm moving all my new parts into, I couldn't help but notice how good the internals looked. Except for lots of old crusty oil stuck on, all the bearings, journals, and thrust washers looked almost brand new - only one showed any signs of wear. Seriously, putting the new ones next to the old ones - I'm not sure I could tell them apart! It's funny, after reading in the Haynes and Helms about all the different surfaces and tolerences to check, I was expecting disaster. Instead, I find internals that I'm wondering if they shouldn't be rebuilt at all? They look exactly the same as new parts!

I've seen it with my own eyes, Honda makes one hell of a dependable engine.

Mr Kwicko posted 03-11-2000 00:32 CT (US)
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Paul: I'm right with you. I have a "backup" block lined up, for the day when I finally throw a rod on my original, but in looking at the cylinder bores, I seriously wonder if that will ever happen.

By the way, my valves looked WAY worse than those in the pic! My BEST one looked worse than your worst one! But you should see the new head. When I get a chance, I'll snap a few pics before if goes in, and scan them and send them along. Unfortunately, I'm a 'Net Retard, and I don't know how to post pictures, or where to post them to...

Next question: Did you replace your head bolts, or just re-use the old ones? Last time I did any head-work, it was on my '84 Civic 1.3, and I just reused the old bolts. I never had any problem with it that way, and I put another 65k miles on the motor afterward.

Also, any tips on cleaning and flushing the motor before I put it back together? I'm being careful, but cleaning off the carbon, and the old headgasket, is putting an awful lot of gunk into the cooling jackets and the oil jets and other passages on the block. I *REALLY* don't want to screw anything up when I'm reassembling the motor!

Mike

xxpaulcpxx posted 03-11-2000 00:00 CT (US)
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I'm currently planning on re-using the old bolts. I asked about this awhile ago, and most everyone said it was OK as long as it wasn't Forced Induction. As far as cleaning the block - the first one I did by hand. It took alot of elbow grease, Carb&choke cleaner, Simple Green, and varios bristled brushes in addition to various wire dremel tips. This time (the 2nd block) I've got the block stripped bare and am planning dropping it off at an engine rebuilder so THEY can clean it with whatever cool chemicals they have. It's cheating, I know. I think you should look at getting a few cans of brake cleaner for the water jacket - it really blasts out of the can and all residue evaporates. You could also just blast your garden hose in there briefly. Since there wont be enough pressure to get past your rings it should be OK just to rinse out your water jacket. You can towel dry the bores afterwards, but make sure and coat them with motor oil - whatever cleaning meathod you use. Those iron wall are just itching for an excuse to rust! Make sure the water pump is off first, so the crap has a place to exit (or do it with the engine upside down)

I also got a pack of cotton swabs to get those hard to reach areas, and crap sticks quite well to them. They are handy for getting those little bits that fall into the cylinders. Once the deck is cleaned off, you can cover it with some wide masking tape to keep more stuff from falling in.

xxpaulcpxx posted 04-12-2000 00:00 CT (US)
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15. Helicoil kits are damn expensive! Helicoil kits are used to rebore a hole and put new steel threads inside to replace stripped threads. Ideally, you will get back the stock fit with minimal fuss...

EXCEPT FOR THE $50 THE BONE YOU FOR!!! I'm a little peaved as I've had to buy the 10x1.25 and the 12x1.25 kits so far. I'm considering epoxying the tranny on if it doesn't work, but then again, its late. ADDENDUM - It did work! When you use the Helicoil kit, make sure you fill as much of the threaded area as possible. Use at least 2 coils per hole. Bore the first one all the way in, then the second until it hits the first. Use a needle nose pliers to break the tab on the second coil. When I tried repairing the head bolt hole, I failed because I only used one coil - they don't tell you to do this in the instuctions!

xxpaulcpxx posted 04-14-2000 00:00 CT (US)
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16, The first time you do this will take forever - You will make a few mistakes, back yourself into corners, discover that forgotten part on the bench. This is part of the learning curve. Don't get discouraged with your progress, it goes MUCH faster if you do it again. The first time I reassembled my block took days to complete. The second time took about an hour. You results might vary from mine.

17. Don't have a kid in the middle of your rebuilding project! You'd think I'd have had plenty of time by now to get this done before the water broke - HAH! I'm trying to do small things like attaching wire harnesses and then vacume lines, 1 thing per week - if I get a chance.

I'ts hard to soothe a baby with road grime up to your elbows!

ocing_guy posted 06-16-2000 00:00 CT (US)
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xxpaulcpxx - I'd like to confirm what you said in an earlier post. I have a 1987 CRX Si that I am going to rebuild. Are you saying that the 90-91 CRX Si head can be fitted to this engine? I would love that. It seems like there would be some issues like the difference in the number of valves. Thanks!

xxpaulcpxx posted 06-17-2000 03:49 CT (US)
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Nope, the head is different and incompatible. I was using that persons question as a general starting point, but you have to get the correct used head for your engine, in our case from a EW3 or D15a3 (they are both the same). The years you are looking for on your Si are 85-87. BTW, I'm jealous as hell, my original 1st gen CRX that I wrecked was red!

xxpaulcpxx posted 07-05-2000 21:10 CT (US)
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18. Remember what I said about taking pictures? TAKE THEM!!! ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COME TO MOUNTS!!!

The mounts I'm talking about are the various odd pieces of metal that are bolted onto the block or body and hold wires or hoses or cables.

THERE'S NO DIAG$RAMS FOR THEM!!!

These are made from thin sheetmetal, are painted black, and rust like the dickens (to quote my grandpa). When you reassemble - if you don't know exactly where these go - you'll have a handfull left over when you are done. I've got most of them figured out.. of course I'm piecing them like a puzzle at the moment.

honda_crx posted 07-13-2000 20:09 CT (US)
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You say a number of time that you order parts. what would be most of the places you ordered the parts from? Also could you estimate how much you have spent doing this rebuild? Thanks

xxpaulcpxx posted 07-13-2000 21:55 CT (US)
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http://hondaautomotiveparts.com
They are priced 25% below list price, and you get another 5% off if you say you heard of them from the CRX Resource Forum. I think I've spent about $500 on parts, including shipping (many shipments). That goes for gasket kits, o-rings, filters, pumps, and belts.

Oddball tools, of course are another expense!

xxpaulcpxx posted 07-17-2000 14:02 CT (US)
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IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!!!! I started up my brand new engine... and dumped 4 more quarts of oil on the ground - I forgot to put on the oil filter! OOPS! I only ran it for a moment so it should be OK.

krustindumm posted 07-28-2000 11:03 CT (US)
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OMG, that engine is beautiful!!!

xxpaulcpxx posted 07-28-2000 22:41 CT (US)
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Thanks! Every part was hand scrubbed, all lines were replaced with SS braided or silver silicone, and any piece that was rebuilt was painted with hi temp paint - cooler pieces are painted with a hammer finish baby blue. Now onto the body work!

xxpaulcpxx posted 08-16-2000 14:37 CT (US)
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We'll, the engine is finished, other than the break-in and tuning. Now - Onto the rust!

I'v taken out the whole interior, as well as the rear bumper and lights. I'm hunting down every rust spot I can find. When I find one, I give it a few mild whacks with a ball peen hammer to break loose any rust. The metal flexes, but rust breaks away. I'm still going over my patching choices:
1. Weld metal patches
2. Epoxy metal patches
3. Bondo & fiberglass

I'm leaning towards welding, but that involves about $200 for a cheap setup, plus any other tools to help (like a grinder?).

IP: xxpaulcpxx posted 09-01-2000 16:08 CT (US)
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I decided to stick with welding, and bit the bullet and got a wire feed welder with a regulator so I can do MIG later if I need to. In order to hit all the rust on the bottom, I've built a bracket and rotation system so I can flip the car. I'll post some before and after picures later.

xxpaulcpxx posted 10-17-2000 21:38 CT (US)
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From an Email I got:
[qoute]I saw some of your post in the rebuild section and was thinking that maybe you are the guy to get me started ( flattery will get you everywhere). What exactly does it involve and what would I need......any help would be greatly appreciated.[/qoute] Yes, flattery does work!
What would it involve, hmmmmm...

- a driveable car, your crx will be down for awhile if you choose to rebuild the existing engine.
- Helms and Haynes manuals, Helms is online, Haynes is in the Parts stores.
- Metric sockets, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 17, mabey 19 as well. Get both 3/8 and 1/2 sockets. Get a variety of extensions as well.
- Ratchets, Breaker bars, and torque wrenches, in 3/8 and 1/2. Also get a piece of pipe, a water pipe in the plumbing section, wide enough to fit over the breake bar and at least 2' long.
- 2 ton Jackstands and 8"x8"x8" cinder blocks, as well as a basic 2 ton floor jack.
- Various oddball car engine specific tools that you will only use once. There is a rack at the auto parts store devoted to this, and thankfully most are less than $20. A good example is a device to compress the piston rings while you reinsert the piston into the cylinder.
- Lots of WD40, Carb & Choke cleaner (get the cheapest you can find), and Simple Green. You will use all of these in a combined effort to remove gunk that has accumulated around your engine.

That's a start. You will find out exactly what you need as you go, depending on what you replace and what breaks along the way.

D15si posted 10-18-2000 16:27 CT (US)
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Paul, You mentioned that you can find Helms online, where?

xxpaulcpxx posted 10-19-2000 10:46 CT (US)
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Sorry, you can find it online at: http://helminc.com Sometimes you can find them on Ebay as well, that's where I found mine for my 1st gen. Good as gold!

xxpaulcpxx posted 11-27-2000 16:18 CT (US)
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I'm getting closer to being done with the welding. I've gotten all the major holes plugged, and the frame points reinforced. I still have some minor holes around the frame that need patching. Getting cloooser...

CRX8Grand posted 11-29-2000 01:41 CT (US)
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Paul,
Did you replace the jack stops? If so, where in ther world did you get them? I need to know, Im gonna have to rebuild mine soon.

xxpaulcpxx posted 11-29-2000 11:22 CT (US)
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I assume you mean the jack points - the places where you are supposed to jack the car up at, and which give a powdery crunch and collapse when they rust out? Each jack point is actually at a junction of three pieces of sheet steel, two are external body, the third is internal and structural. I had 3 jack points go out, and I had to weld in new steel for each.

The key is to not just fix the outer metal. Cut the metal back a few inches from the hole to expose the inner framework. Make sure new metel is added where needed, then cover it again.

Not only did I reconsititute the jack points out of raw 16 gauge sheet metal, I also reinforced the lip of metal that connects the floorpan to the exterior of the car with angle steel beams. I'll be able to jack the car up any place I darn well please now!

I'll do a complete photo writeup when I'm done - or at least past a major stage.

xxpaulcpxx posted 01-24-2000 02:02 CT (US)
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Seeing as how this post will dissappear after a certain period of time, I'm going to try and do a writeup of all the stuff I've posted so far. Anyone have any comments to add to this thread?

xxpaulcpxx posted 01-25-2000 00:03 CT (US)
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I've gotten most of the welding done - it's so much easier with the car upsidedown! I keep running into odd things that stop me up, like needing to replace the rear struts - AFTER cutting out the old ones - PLUS I need to put in different bushings than came with the struts... the list never ends, it seems.

xxpaulcpxx posted 03-15-2000 13:57 CT (US)
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20. Wear your Gloves!!!
This lesson cost me 4 stiches in my flipoff finger when my hand slipped while stripping out some grout and I gashed myself on some sharp sheetmetal. My wife has grounded me from the garage for a week! I noramlly do wear gloves, but I forgot this time.

The "Mechanix" gloves are the ones you want. They are tight fitting and have durable fabrics, as well as good knuckle protection. I wear latex underneith gloves sometime when I'm working with real messy areas that soak your gloves in oil or cleaners.

21. Wear your goggles/faceshield!

I got an MRI done recently, and the most important question they ask is "Have you EVER worked with metal". The reason why this is important: Some little micro piece of steel from a grinder 8 years ago pops into your eye but misses a nerve ending - now that piece of metal turns into a mixing blade under the magnets of the MRI, and your eye is the egg. Ever go under the car and have some rust flecks fall onto your face (and open eyes)? They can see the metal in a special eye X-ray you get before the MRI, and I was lucky I didn't have any.

xxpaulcpxx posted 05-08-2000 19:08 CT (US)
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22. The plumbing department is your friend. You may find about a hundred different uses for various sizes of threaded water pipe and end caps. Everything from a pry bar extension to a seal tap in tool to a torque tube jig (special holding apparatus).

xxpaulcpxx posted 05-25-2000 11:40 CT (US)
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I've gotten most of the exterior welding done, at least all the rough work. I've rotated it so it is now on its side (suspended of course) so I can do the interior welding.

Looking back, if I would hve known exactly how much rust I had at the outset, and also that Honda sold a complete replacement side, I would have gone that route instead of cutting and making my own patches. I would have had a brand new clean side to start with, and been able to patch the other areas that needed it without hand making exterior pieces.

xxpaulcpxx posted 07-21-2000 10:39 CT (US)
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Just waiting for one more fuel pump bracket - then I can take it off the rotisserie. YIPEE!