hey so i cannot get the gas meter to function properly, and ive gone through about 5 different ones now. The first one was close to where is should be but jumped all over the place randomly. the next ones all either stayed at full or empty, and this one now does nothing, so im just filling up and gonna fill up every 200-300 miles for now... heh, maybe someone here has had a similar problem, im gonna research it once i get home from school.

 

Sounds sensor related not a cluster problem! A new sending unit will fix your problem!

 

But when i plug my old cluster in it still works. But now ive mess up the gauge by pulling the needle off (while replacing it). The junk yard guy says that i cant use a ex cluster and thats why it isnt working. But i think he is wrong. Maybe i just need an ex sensor?

 

All 96-00 clusters should be interchangeable with nothing else need for the install.

 

So ive taken a sudden turn in plans. While everything i want and need to do still applies, Ive realized something that i think should potentially work, and I have most of the parts around my house. I am going to put a personal computer in my car.

I plan on using an isolator from my battery to a optima in the back, then having that power my amps and go to a capacitor that goes to an inverter which i can plug in a micro ATX slim case 400w power supply, which i will keep mounted under my seat. (vs getting a DC-DC power supply, which have some cool features but are all low power output, and ill need AC power for the monitor anyway.)

The case will be rigged with a 2.8ghz dual core intel, 4g ram, SSDs, bluetooth, wifi, a decent older video card, and i will custom mount my mbox 2 mini into the box. The computer will send signal to the amps for speakers, and i will be trying to put a screen into the trunk possibly, but i will customize my dash console to hold a decent sized touch screen (one thing that will be costing me money besides battery).

i plan on basically taking the car interior apart while doing this. so i can rewire all the speakers, rewire power to the back, and put in HDMI/USB/ect through out the car. and i want to put in an alarm too, since ill probably want one now. i also just save my fabric lining for the roof and door panels and do all that at the same time.

Anyway, I am really excited about this part of my project. And have a few things that I already know might be challenging:

1) setting up the computer mother board to power on and off with the car. or i was thinking of just mounting the power button by the dash light dimmer ****.

2) removing the stereo and re wiring the plug, i know a lot of them are speaker wire, so those wont matter, but the dimmer and dome light and what not. I am assuming i can just look up the diagram and just short what needs to continue thru.

3) the power usage of the computer, i know it will be low power, but i will be building the computer soon and record all the power usages of running various programs ect, so i can make sure the alternator will be able to power it and it wont drain the optima battery insanely fast, or if i need 2 batteries.

4) i am just gonna convert to this.
eBay
this one would even be cool:

 

So are you planning on switching to the 99-00 Civic climate control thingy? If you do, you need to switch out the entire heater core etc as the 96-98 have cables or w/e and the 99-00 turn style ***** are electrical. Some one correct me if I am wrong.

 

So i am working a great side job right now that is gonna let me afford to do stuff sooner than i thought.
Today i got my timing belt/water pump done, along with some seals. I calibrated my speedometer (it had been about 10mph off since i switched the dash) using a mounted solar power speed radar in my area, haha driving with the cluster open and poking the needle on the pin at 40 mph when i got the radar reading me at 40 mph at t he right spot it reads speeds most correctly (according to my friend -_-). It took a damn lot of tries to get it right at the right time, but ones i got it, i tested at all speeds and it was always accurate with the radar
Also helped a friend make a oil catch can for his turbo out of one of those now popular metal water bottles, worked out quite well, stuffed with steel wool too in. Forgot to take pictures though.

I am gonna get the 99-00 dash and climate and change out all the heater crap, then gonna order everything i need and wait till i have everything i am gonna do so i can take my car all apart once (knock on wood) instead of a little bit at a time for different parts.

When rewiring i am gonna set up a nice stealthy kill switch, hide my hood cable and where you pull it, remove the trunk cable entirely so it can only be opened by key. i am considering an alarm, but i hope these will help for now, maybe i will put an extragaurd along the door to help prevent coat hanger crap, but eh they will do what they wanna do, at least my computer will be sealed in the back with its own battery so i can GPS no problem.

anyway, i will update as parts come in next moth.

 

So these are my lower control arms bushings....







and a very bad video
http://s436.photobucket.com/albums/q...t=IMG_0071.mp4

They have been in for less than a year, they may have not been torqued perfect, but due to the major damage being to the shock mount, i am convinced it is poor quality bushings. Skunk2 would not replace them or anything since i didnt not have a actualy receipt, just payment records, since i bought it from ebay (-.-) but i have the warrenty cards and everything, anyway i wish i had gotten the function7s but alas it does not matter, i will just get energy suspensions and a sway bar soon.

heading to the junk yard later this week to pick up heater core and 99-00 dash harness ect, also ordering roof lining tonight along with a few pc parts.

 

Sorry to hear about the bushings. I think I need to go check mine now. Did you preload the suspension before tightening the bolts and lowering the car? I also used some silicone lubricant between the bushings and the shock collar/trailing arm/sub frame.

 

I used silicone to get the bushings to fit. Even then they were soft and wanted to rip easily. But i didnt have a torque wrench so i just made them snug in the air, then lowered car and made them a little tighter. Anyway i will order new ones and get a torque wrench this time.

So i ordered a touch screen for the double din. And j really hope it is going to be able to fit... 7" Housed Widescreen VGA Touch Screen LCD Monitor (LED Backlight)
Double din= 7 ¾” x 4 ½” (w x h)
Touchscreen in case= 7 7/8" x 5 9/16"
Supposed size w/o bezel= 7 1/3" x 4 1/4"

I really hope i will be able to make it fit. I cant believe how hard it is to find a generic touch screen that isnt also a dvd player and crap. This one doesnt have multi touch but oh well i will be using an old iphone as a mouse and keyboard anyway.
Anyone with experience on making custom mounts jn dash, your input would probably help a lot, thanks.

Also ordered all the pc parts. When i get my next paycheck next week i will be running down to junkyard to get heater core ect, and get to work on takig apart my dash and building a trunk. Expect lots of pics and questions heh.