EK4 VTi-R Project

[blandsarcasm]

Take 2 on doing the suspension! I had a lazy start to the day, got everything ready, then got stuck into it. First thing was to clean the replacement struts.



Clean and inspect the steering and suspension components plus the brake lines







Have a laugh at the damage done to the car because of ridiculously low suspension!





Fronts done, time to work on the rear, starting with the usual cleaning and inspections



A pleasant surprise to find Nolathane bushes in the lower control arm!



Lower control arms dropped to allow for the rear struts to come out.





LHR strut out, wheel arch and components about to be cleaned and inspected.



Original suspension fully installed and the car is ready to be driven. Once it's had a drive, the suspension will settle in a bit and the car will sit a bit lower.



The car is a massive step closer to being ready for roadworthy inspection. I just need to fit new wiper blades, change the high-mount brake lamp over, and fit a rear engine mount, then it's good to go!

This car is incredibly clean I'm very jealous


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[mbikeboy]

I only had half a day to work on the car today (because we went to the football and my team won convincingly!), but managed to get quite a bit done!

I changed over the high-mount brake light and shroud which was pretty straight forward, and now looks much better.



I also managed to get the first coat of body deadener applied to the wheel arches and some of the underneath of the car. It's a sticky, slow and tedious job, but already the difference is amazing to see. I'm going to apply a couple more coats during the week when I have time, and let them cure properly between each coat. Like any form of painting, preparation is the key to success, and definitely do this job outside or else you'll be overcome with the fumes. Also ensure that you wipe off any excess from anything straight away or you'll be sorry...oh and don't paint brake lines, suspension components, shrouds, etc, stick to bodywork only! You will be genuinely horrified how much dirt has stuck to your wheel arches, particularly the rear ones, so the weight saving would cancel out applying the body deadener (if that's what any of you are concerned about. If you're going to tackle this job, don't be an idiot like me, wear gloves!!

The end result of this job will be far less intrusion of road noise, greater stone-chip protection, improved weather protection, plus when I put my stereo in it will sound much better. Oh and it just looks like new when dried! Here's some progress shots I took while painting away.

 

[mbikeboy]

I've been losing a bit of sleep lately about the front speaker installation to keep it factory looking. I desperately needed a pair of factory tweeter mounts which sit behind the mirrors, and these weren't available on the Australian models. Every Honda wrecker I tried didn't know they existed and wished me luck!

I've been keeping an eye on the US ebay site, and the ones I was finding were extremely expensive by the time postage was factored in which was frustrating my efforts, but persistence has paid off. By chance I came across a pair with a 'best offer" option, put forward a decent offer and a nice note explaining that I thought the offer was fair and reasonable considering the postage costs to Australia. Immediately the offer was accepted, so they're being delivered for $56US ($74 in AUD, yikes!!), which was still more than I was wanting to spend, but that was as good as it was going to get and feel that was a win compared to the others costing twice that delivered! They'll be arriving in 1-2 weeks, so I can stress less and put my attention to other things!

 

[mbikeboy]

For any of you wondering how so far how this is a build-up by putting suspension to stock levels and doing mundane things like cleaning...we have VERY strict laws here in Australia (in Victoria in particular) when changing ownership of a car to meet certain standards, there is a massive amount of things to inspect, all of which are photographed and sent to the government for certification. This is designed to stop the influx of damaged, written-off or illegal imports from Asia (which is a genuine concern that cost the industry millions and given our geography is reasonable) for safety reasons. There are "grey imports " which are such vehicles, and there are "clear ones" which means they are certified Australian models with a fully documented Australian history. Yes it's a huge pain to deal with, but helps protect the integrity of the used car market.

As we have just bought the car (a clear one and the only available in the country regardless of where it came from), it is essential that it meet certain standards to pass these inspections, or else we will not pass requirements and the ownership and registration cannot legally be transferred and we cannot drive it. It definitely feels like taking two steps backward to take one forward, but it also forces us to ensure that the condition of the vehicle is in pristine condition throughout. Ensuring that everyone's cars are safe, sound and in full working order isn't a bad thing in my book!

I just wanted to clear that up to some people wondering WTF about me putting a lot of things back to standard, doing a lot of cleaning in crazy areas, etc. There is definitely reason behind it, and it also helps me inspect things for my own peace of mind along the way.

 

[oddeb707]

Sounds good mate! The standards you state are that or even more stringent in my state in regards to emissions more than actual drivability. You gotta do what you gotta do within the perimeters you have to deal with. Good luck with your build. Hope you can realize your dream within those measures and still be happy.

 

[mbikeboy]

My front speakers arrived in the post today!! I have to wait for the tweeter mounts to arrive before I can fit these, but the wait will be worthwhile!

 

[mbikeboy]

This morning I managed to sell the old headunit, the 2ch amp and the subwoofer as a package to a really nice French guy (who had the cash!), which was a refreshing change from my experience the other day with that stupid kid!
We spent quite a bit of time going over his rather nice Renault Megane Sport 225, how best to install everything, some ideas on how to improve it, and we went for a quick fang in it! He also had a luscious BMW 320d coupe which he was asking me heaps of questions about (I used to be a BMW technician), so it was quite a fun way to start the day! It turns out he used to have an EK VTi-R years ago, knows how rare they are here these days, and was pretty excited to hear about my plans for this one. It was very obvious he's an old-school Honda fan!

I was asked if I'd like to do the system installation for him, and whilst I would have loved to and the $'s would have been handy, I simply have too much work going on with our vehicles atm...I'm juggling working on this little weapon with a tight deadline, getting my motorbike back on the road after a nasty rear-end hit, got a bit of maintenance to do to the daily-driver Accord Euro, plus getting my girlfriends Vespa sorted out. There's simply not enough hours in the day for me!!

Armed with a tidy injection of cash, I pulled the trigger on an amp this morning which I was hoping to pickup today, but due to some stupid administration error from their stores end, it's going to be delivered to me hopefully tomorrow or else early next week. We've got a long-weekend/public holiday this weekend, so was hoping to use that time to run the wiring through the car and start installing the new sound system. I'll have to see what the postman brings me tomorrow I guess!

I changed over the spark plugs before, and OMFG, they were the worst fouled I've seen in a long time! It's now idling and revving faaaaaar smoother...it feels like a new car just from that! I've decided to do a full service on the car for peace of mind, as the condition of the plugs scared me. The previous owners brother was a mechanic who looked after it, but I'm calling BS on that from some of the issues I've come across so far. My to-do list is rapidly increasing!!

I've also started pulling off brackets in the engine bay, cleaning, sanding, priming and painting them. My girlfriend thought that this seemed a bit excessive, even by my OCD standards, but when she gets home this evening, she'll definitely understand why I do such silly little things, hahaha! I'll post up some pics later today once I've got more to show.

 

[mbikeboy]

Here's a few of the brackets which I have started to clean up and repaint...starting with the obvious ones duh! I took a lot of time getting these just right with prep-work before hitting them with etch primer and heat paint, and thought it best to start with these simple brackets to evaluate before going too crazy. These are not fully dried and ready to refit as yet btw, but tomorrow they'll be ready after sufficient curing





And those with a keen eye might have noticed I bought some copper spray paint the other day. I've been mad-keen to see how this turned out on the tarnished copper brackets, and have been pleasantly surprised with the outcome. It takes a few more passes with the paint can compared to the aluminium to start to bring the colour out, but my patience has been well rewarded, and will definitely be doing this for every bracket the same colour. It really "pops" and can't wait to do the other brackets like this the same!

 

[pmac193]

nice work on the undercoat, my wheel-wells are in need of the same treatment

 

[mbikeboy]

The amp arrived today! Unfortunately it's raining today, so can't begin installing it...hopefully the weather improves over the weekend! This will be installed under the passenger seat and due its small size, it can be safely tucked out of harms way. I've heard good things about these amps, so I'm interested to try it out.

 

[mbikeboy]

I had a few hours spare today and made a start installing the sound system. I pulled the interior out, routed some wiring through and cutting everything to length, and made the tedious start to joining wiring, etc. Pretty mundane stuff, but I got about 3/4 of the job done before darkness and bad weather forced me to stop. Here's some progress pics to share!

Interior stripped out and wiring being laid through the cabin



Starting on the door wiring



Starting to wire up the harness for the amp (being installed underneath the front passenger seat).



The huge wiring mess left behind from a few previous headunit installations.



The Nakamichi mid-range woofer installed in the door trim.



Starting the wiring on the door trim.



Making up a tidy wiring loom for the speaker/tweeter and crossover box behind the door trim.





More wiring up to the amp harness.

 

[mbikeboy]

I used an online calculator to double-check any likely lost power as a result of the cable gauges I'm using...looks like I'm all set for a win!!

 

[mbikeboy]

My rear speakers have finally arrived this morning and are installed!







I also bought a couple of male-male 2 metre RCA cables to run from the headunit to the amp. I thought the 7 metre RCA cables that were used by the previous owner were a bit overkill and messy!



I'm waiting on a replacement wiring harness to arrive for my headunit which will arrive in 2-3 days time. I somehow managed to lose it, contacted Fusion's head office asking where I can get one (annoyingly no stores stocked them), and they generously have offered to send a replacement one to me free of charge...now that's customer service!!

 

[mbikeboy]

I've got a few update pics while cleaning the engine bay of crud. I've been using White Sprits, which is hands-down the best degreaser/cleaner ever...when used with a Judy bottle (pressurised pump bottle), it blasts through any grime, seldom needs a wipe, and dries in a matter of moments leaving no residue. Best of all it's extremely safe on painted mechanical parts, and brings everything back to looking like new!.

As I've been removing bits and pieces, I've been cleaning, sanding and repainting them. Expect the engine bay to be looking pretty schmik over the next few days!

 

[mbikeboy]

Here's an update of the engine bay clean-up which I've done in between work-stuff today.



Like I mentioned the other day, I'm currently just cleaning up and fixing stuff to pass the roadworthy certificate atm, and once it passes, the fun begins! Any trace of leaks vanish with the application of white spirit, and just need it to pass for now, once that's done then I can start tearing things apart and making something special. With that in mind, I didn't put much work into the exhaust header-shield because it's going to be arseholed in the near future to make way for some headers, so the dents and imperfections weren't worth spending my time to look perfect.

I already can tell that I need a distributor seal (yay for a fun rebuild project to keep the costs down), and my gut-instinct is telling me to do the head-gasket and obviously timing belt sooner than later despite what the paperwork says...there's been a few minor observations which have raised my eye-brow. There is a clear build-up of oil presenting at the front right hand corner of the cylinder head where it meets the block (front left corner under the solenoid when looking at the engine front on), even after a clean, and has appeared to be doing so for a while judging from the blow-on and buildup of gunk.

If it does need a head-gasket, then it's got me thinking deeply...just change it and keep on chugging along like it's always done, or do I strip the engine apart and do a full-on performance rebuild? Either way, certain things have to come off, it's an expensive enough process, and that's the time to do it. We're currently saving for a house, with an imminently savage market turn-down similar to what the USA experienced during the GFC and we're kinda laughing about how long it's taken here. But we have no debts, and we bought this car as a second car/city run-about, something for me to screw around on and make it a bit of fun for the both of us to enjoy. Remember she's the Honda fiend and I'm just a mere mechanic who has started to fall in love with with it and the possibility of what this car is capable of!!

If I'm going to go down the performance build path, it's going to get a tad expensive, because I'm going to want everything quality and need it in a short space of time to get things done (have already established it's far cheaper to import everything from O/S despite the postage compared to local). I also need to figure out if I was to go down that path that my gf would agree...she trusts me and any decision I make, but even I'm second-guessing myself at what to do, and there are quite a few unforseen costs which we didn't expect straight after purchase.

Thoughts???

 

[MotorMo]

About the head gasket-are you having over heating issues? Is the car eating coolant? Head gaskets are no a common issue unless there has been a failure in the cooling system previously. 'No need to fix it if it aint broke'. That Honda should run forever. The pursuit of horse power is a never ending one as there is never enough, until theres too much haha. So if shes running good, slowly build your parts list so your not scrambling in the last moments making the build stressful. That way you enjoy the process, not just the destination.
But shes looking good!

 

[mbikeboy]

About the head gasket-are you having over heating issues? Is the car eating coolant? Head gaskets are no a common issue unless there has been a failure in the cooling system previously. 'No need to fix it if it aint broke'. That Honda should run forever. The pursuit of horse power is a never ending one as there is never enough, until theres too much haha. So if shes running good, slowly build your parts list so your not scrambling in the last moments making the build stressful. That way you enjoy the process, not just the destination.
But shes looking good!

It's not devouring coolant (a system change is high on my priority list though), but I'm concerned as to where the oil is fresh and leaking from. It's clear it's from the aforementioned headgasket though. Do I ignore it and keep clean it (knowing half the leak is from the distributor which I'll fix), or is it something to be concerned about?

I'm used to working on BMW's, and this would be a red flag...am I being overly paranoid?

I already have enough power with this babies...the other time-wasters hahaha!

 

[Otto85]

If you believe the head gasket is blown, confirm and fix. Nice car by the way

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[MotorMo]

If you believe the head gasket is blown, confirm and fix. Nice car by the way

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I second this. Very rare in my experience to have a head gasket leak oil out the side of the mating surface. I've only really seen this on Subaru's. But if this is for sure the case, then of course the best course of action is to replace it. Little things add up to big things as you know from your mechanical job. So best fix it before it causes bigger issues. But maby its just from the VTEC seal/Distributor o-ring? Hopefully?

 

[mbikeboy]

It's been an unexpected and unusual thing to find, does have me a little bit concerned, and am definitely keeping a close eye on things. I honestly can't be arsed doing a top-end rebuild atm, haha! I'm going to change the o-ring from the distributor (does anyone have the part # btw?), and will see how that goes for the meantime. Fingers and toes crossed that's all it is!!!

As far as work done to the car in the past few days...things have been super-slow due to crappy weather. It's been raining cats 'n dogs all week, and have only managed to get little things done piecemeal in between downpours and only when I've had the time. I'm also having to work outside atm which sucks badly and my gf now understands why I was pushing hard for a house with a proper garage before we moved into this place.

The wiring harness arrived with a couple of sweet freebies, and have almost completed the stereo installation. I've got nearly all of the wiring done and speakers in...I lost a LOT of time yesterday chasing up a dodgy bit of wiring work done by the previous owner thinking there was a wire-break or a crappy earth, and also went all over my own work just in case (it was perfect of course!) before discovering what they'd done. Somehow they've seemed to bypass the "Back-Up" fuse which was blown (hmmmm!), and had to fix all of that before the clock and head-unit would finally work. While I was at it, I double-checked all of the electricals throughout the whole car just for added peace of mind, found a couple of other minor issues and have also sorted them out. Thankfully that's all done now and I don't have to stress about it ever again...I was mentally wiped-out by the time my gf got home, and understandably had enough for one day.

Here's a pic I took of the amp wiring and installation underneath the passenger seat (front left on our cars). It's almost finished, but I'm sure you'll agree that it's far neater and better done than the previous owner with their "professionally installed" effort! Bahahaha!

"Before" with the old speaker amp behind the rear seats:



"After" with the new speaker amp under the front passenger seat: