Yea I might go with Skunk2's. There's some on hondatech for like $95 with the old style bushings and they are torn, the lcas are new though. I called up Skunk2 and it is only like $3 per bushing, and the new ones are supposed to last forever now. And you don't have to press them in, they are 2 pieces that just compress together.

 

When I had my gold beaks I would hit a bump and then pull over and jump out to check the bar lol. I swear numerous times I thought it ripped in half.

 

^ haha oday was the first time I drove my car since I put it on. And leaving work I though I scraped it, went to the gas station for gas and checked on it while filling up lol. The 3 3/4" gap scares me haha.

Today I fixed my valve cover ****. New bolt grommets are on, actually did it right this time and none tore, which is why they leaked in the first place.o And the spark plug tube seals are in right now too, so no more leak.

Andddddd

Talked to a service writer at work yesterday and the free dist cap rotor plugs and wires is legit. So I will be calling up the Honda by me tomorrow and setting up an appointment for them to do it for me. Save me like $75 in parts haha. Took some Mobil 1 synthetic from work for them to use too.

 

Yay for Thanksgiving vacation. My insurance on my car will be changed to it being stored on Dec 1st, which means I won't be driving my car at all anymore, which means it's getting torn apart haha. I got a lot of work done today.

For starters the main reason thing I wanted to accomplish today; a heat shield over the exhaust towards the back had broken free due to rust and was rattling against my exhaust so I unbolted it (1 bolt holding it on). As you can see where the second bolt would have gone is completely rusted out.


I pulled out my headlights so I could buff em out better. They look new, at the time of the picture the one on top is done, the one on the bottom hasn't been done.


I got sick of looking at the front lower tie bar sitting inmy room for over a year now, so I decided to put it on too. Went in real easy besides the fact that the bracket holes were smaller than the bolt so I had to drill the holes bigger. Lokks good though and shouldn't add to my clearence problems.





Also I've kind of changed my mind again. I think I'm going to build my bottom end this winter for boost. Vitara's and Eagle rods. I can find a set used on HT for like $200, super cheap. Drop bearings in the bottom end and call it a day. Boost it in like spring.

My trans is getting pretty bad. The input shaft bearing is insanely loud and still leaks tranny fluid from the axle seal. I think that the input shaft bearing has something to do with this somehow. So this winter I will be pulling my trans and opening the bitch up. New bearings and clutch right away.

I also plan on shaving my bay too. I'm testing out gold spray paint to see if it is what I want for the bay or if I am going to use a spray gun. I sanded the radiator support today and have it all taped off, going to run to Walmart tomorrow and grab some paint. I want it to look real glossy so I'm going to lay a lot of clear. See how the test area turns out!

 

Just a heads up building a motor is alot more than just throwing in bearings then a crank and bolting it down. I know u know this but its alot more than that, its alot of precision measuring. Things HAVE TO be in spec (plastigauge, ring gaps, journals, and all that good stuff). If i were you i would spend some money and get some nice measuring tools, find a good machine shop, and take your time if your going to be building your own block.

Not trying to harp or say this like u dont know anything, just i made this mistake before by buying new parts and just throwing it into the motor and hoping it'd work. That = a big waste of money lol. Just saying though, it'll be alot nicer knowing u built a motor and it works in stead of not working!

 

Yea I'm not worried. I've been in autos classes through high school and we did motors than and I'm in college to be a Honda tech right now, so I know my stuff and I know the building process. I already have all the measuring tools and everything I'd need (I've got over $10k invested in tools already), I've done motors with friends before. I already know a machine shop that I get good deals at. A tech at work recommended me to him and he's good at what he does and has really good prices. I may have said it quick and simple that I was going to build it, but I know what it takes.

 

Got some more stuff done today! I went and bought some spray paint and painted my radiator support. As of now I plan on doing my engine bay gold after I shave it. So I wanted to see if I could achieve the look I am looking for with spray paint, and it was successful. So I have found the gold I will be using. It looks realllllly good. I clear coated it 3 times which got it realllly glossy which is awesome, might do a few more coats of gloss when I actually do it. I'll also take my time more, I sanded a little bit but didn't prep it a ton. Here's some pics!

The gold looks kinda mustardy color in this pic. It is a lighter gold than my valve cover and very bright, looks like real gold. I love it.



This picture captures the gold PERFECTLY


And then I gave my sister my steelies to use on her Civic for wintedr since my tires had 8/32nds of tread all around and her tires are pretty ****ty. With the camber settings from my steelies these rims are like hellaflush haha. It'd be a tight fit putting a piece of paper between the tire and the fender whether it is straight or the wheels turned haha, back is just as close. She also wants me to repaint these for her over the winter. She wants black or gunmetal, I might do one lime green just to see how it looks.



Also I pulled my brake pads yesterday to lube everything up. Well, I was supposed to do a brake job on the fronts going in to this spring because I knew they needed it, but I never did. Well they will need it for sure for next spring. I'll need rotors for sure, the pads aren't braking evenly and the rotors are too low to turn down. The caliper on the passenger side is starting to get some tears in the piston seal. And the best of the worst are the brake pads. The brake material is seperating from the actualy backing of the pad LOL. They are so old I can't believe they lasted me this long, and driving 60 miles a day to school with that is kind of scary. I'm going to do rear disc this winter anyway so all the brakes will get done.

I'm on the lookout for a real Mugen front upper strut bar too. Sick of this ebay one that looks like *** (not a good ***). I figure if I'm putting so much effort in to the bay this winter I should compliment it with some real deal stuff.

 

Alright my Civic is officially parked in my garage for the winter. Driving the CRV everywhere now. I am done with this semester of shcool on Wednesday and don't go back until March 21st, aka 3 monthes of working full time at Acura and also working at the restaurant. So I'll have a good chunk of money to dump in my car as well as paying for more Snap On and Matco stuff LOL.



ONCE AGAIN, plans have CHANGED.

Service writer at work talked me in to autocrossing. He's won nationals many times, went to nationals with his boosted Miata, his STI, and he now has an S2K that is sweet. Mostly stock so he stays in a good class, 255s in the rear haha, serious rubber.

So the build will change slightly to be more autox friendly.

1. Press in all new Energy bushings in the suspension, tighten it up
2. Rear disc
3. I will still SHAVE and FULLY TUCK the bay.
-After xmas when I get my welder I will begin the welding of the holes
-Bay will be smoothed out and paitned glossy gold
-I think I'm going to go as far as a brake line tuck as well
I really want to do as much as I can with the tuck and do it right. I'll leave some stuff for future, such as doing a ss braided fuel line to the fuel rail since I can do that anytime and will cost like $200...
4. I want a harness bar and racing seat
5. Most likely build the bottom end for boost now, boost it in like spring
6. Get bumpers and spoiler painted so I have a matching car again
7. I need a new and stronger clutch
8. Trans NEEDS a rebuiild. My input shaft bearing sounds like death, so the trans will get a refresher.

This will all take place within the next few monthes, so my project thread will start rolling again. I need to put my car on wheel dollies one of these days, then I will begin draining everything and drop the motor from the bay. My priority is the shave and tuck, so that will come before I start working on the engine.

Here's a few pics of what I did today. I pulled all the lower dash pieces in prep of pulling the dash out. I have to drive the car away from the wall to put it on the dollies then push it back, so the dash is going to stay on until that is done. But all the lower plastics off and thrown in the trunk for now, and the passenger seat is chilling in the back seat.

 

Your just taking the dash out for the bay shaving right? Your not gonna keep it out? That would be horrible if you did but im hoping you have the brains not to do such a horrendous thing Nice to see your project back up though

*Edit: Oh and how you like the CR-V? I think you mentioned something before about your used to driving trucks or somethin so it prolly isnt a big jump for you but since ive got my frontier i feel like im driving a tank (even though its tiny as ish) lol

 

The dash is being pulled because of the shave/tuck. I will be welding on the firewall so everything needs to be off of it. Also need to modify the engine harness to be tucked so that will need to be pulled through and ran at the bottom in the center so the dash needs to come out for that too. And I will be bringing the proportioning valve inside the cabin so my hard brake lines will need to entirely be redone. But the dash will go back in, don't worry lol. This is in no way a drag car.

Drove my car for the LAST time this year lol. Pulling it forward out of the garage and back it right back in lol, then put it on the dollies. I would've loved to take her for a drive, but I can't because my camber isn't negative enough and the wheels hit my inner fenders.

Also went to my high school today to get some metal. Gotta love getting it all for free, was probably the best in my school when it came to metal working so my teacher will give me anything really. Had himm ake some kids make me a set of brass punches as their project too, saved me like $30 for a set haha. But now I have a few sheets of steel so I can cut out the shapes to patch the holes in the firewall from where the harness came out.

Here's some pics from today. It is on the dollies now so I can pull it out in the middle of the garage to work on it, and officially not run it. So I am going to be dropping the motor this weekend or next week.

Not too much done on the interior. Pulled the cluster.

Reorganized everything that is sitting in the car. Fenders and headlights and interior pieces are all in the trunk, as well as my skateboards lol, need to sell those damn things for money for the Civic. The passenger seat is now in my room, drive seat will eventually accompany it there lol.

I've got the front end off now.

Pulled the battery and fuse box and started unplugging the harness. Battery will be relocated to the trunk, fuse box will be in the glove box. Just trying to clear everything out of the way for now.

Getting somewhere...

Going to redo all this wiring. I personaly think I did a terrible job with it. For some reason I left like the harness plug and s*** which is completely unneccesary. So this will all be cleaned up. I'm also going to weld in an L bracket to hold the wires and windshield washer fluid lines up in the fender so they don't droop down. I won;t be running fender liners, so the wires will need to be secluded from the wheel and everything on the road.