Mr. Jollypants
Mr. f**king Jollypants
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Well, look who it is that's back. This time I got a Civic. Full circle, huh?
Anyways, was on a hunt for a new daily driver that was economical and a project vehicle to have fun with, that was under $4k. As you can see, I've spent some time here on the forum - so, naturally - Civic!
Found this black 1994 Honda Civic Coupe EX that was a manual that needed some love but was running and didn't have any major mechanical issues (that I knew of at the time). Picked it up for $3k. Power everything, sunroof and some other aftermarket parts. Someone tried, but gave up - my turn to give it life.
Car had two gremlins, the tach would bounce in sync with a turn signal, and the speedometer was intermittent. Hood latch cable was also cut so the release in the cabin didn't work, had to use pliers to pull cable that hung down below the grill. AC system didn't work, would blow air, but definitely wasn't cold or even cool. Then there was rust on both rear quarters, they weren't bad - both were less than the size of a dollar bill, so figured some point in the future I'll have those areas repaired/patched and then do a respray of the car.
First thing was taking it to my mechanic to get it on a lift and having them do a complete inspection front to back. Found some surprises, but overall pretty much what I expected. They found the source of the tach and speedometer issue - previous owner had installed their own DIY antitheft that was basically a switch that was connected to the ignition coil wiring. They also found that the whole front passenger side suspension would wobble front to back when idling, so definitely had to look at bushings and mounts. Also checked the AC system and said the compressor was bad, clutch wouldn't engage. They filled it with freon but no dice, I asked them to remove all the freon as I knew I'd be replacing the compressor at this point.
First things first was doing a basic tune up - ordered new spark plugs, new wire set and air filter. Spark plugs had obviously not been changed in a hot minute and multiple were seized. Ran the engine to get it warm and was able to break the two remaining loose. Definitely seemed to be running better. But I have a feeling a rebuild/refresh is coming soon.
At this point, AC compressor has been replaced, power steering pump and pulley were replaced as the power steering pump was leaking fluid all over the compressor (I figure this was either the cause or contributor to failure of the compressor), new AC and PS belts. I also replaced both driver side engine mounts - the bottom one was completely shot. I've also been refreshing and painting bolts and nuts as they come off, taking the wire wheel to them and painting them black. Outter tie rods and front sway bar end links have been replaced as well. Driver side tie rod was found to be completely blown.
You can also see how deteriorated the sway bar end links were as well.
Anyways, was on a hunt for a new daily driver that was economical and a project vehicle to have fun with, that was under $4k. As you can see, I've spent some time here on the forum - so, naturally - Civic!
Found this black 1994 Honda Civic Coupe EX that was a manual that needed some love but was running and didn't have any major mechanical issues (that I knew of at the time). Picked it up for $3k. Power everything, sunroof and some other aftermarket parts. Someone tried, but gave up - my turn to give it life.
Car had two gremlins, the tach would bounce in sync with a turn signal, and the speedometer was intermittent. Hood latch cable was also cut so the release in the cabin didn't work, had to use pliers to pull cable that hung down below the grill. AC system didn't work, would blow air, but definitely wasn't cold or even cool. Then there was rust on both rear quarters, they weren't bad - both were less than the size of a dollar bill, so figured some point in the future I'll have those areas repaired/patched and then do a respray of the car.
First thing was taking it to my mechanic to get it on a lift and having them do a complete inspection front to back. Found some surprises, but overall pretty much what I expected. They found the source of the tach and speedometer issue - previous owner had installed their own DIY antitheft that was basically a switch that was connected to the ignition coil wiring. They also found that the whole front passenger side suspension would wobble front to back when idling, so definitely had to look at bushings and mounts. Also checked the AC system and said the compressor was bad, clutch wouldn't engage. They filled it with freon but no dice, I asked them to remove all the freon as I knew I'd be replacing the compressor at this point.
First things first was doing a basic tune up - ordered new spark plugs, new wire set and air filter. Spark plugs had obviously not been changed in a hot minute and multiple were seized. Ran the engine to get it warm and was able to break the two remaining loose. Definitely seemed to be running better. But I have a feeling a rebuild/refresh is coming soon.
At this point, AC compressor has been replaced, power steering pump and pulley were replaced as the power steering pump was leaking fluid all over the compressor (I figure this was either the cause or contributor to failure of the compressor), new AC and PS belts. I also replaced both driver side engine mounts - the bottom one was completely shot. I've also been refreshing and painting bolts and nuts as they come off, taking the wire wheel to them and painting them black. Outter tie rods and front sway bar end links have been replaced as well. Driver side tie rod was found to be completely blown.
You can also see how deteriorated the sway bar end links were as well.
