Alright I changed my mind on the timing belt, there is no way it is too tight. The belt itself on the longest part (from crank to cam) can be swung like 3/8-1/2" in total travel, which shouldn't be too tight at all. I fixed the knock sensor and briefly started the car and it ran beautifully, to me the sound from the cam isn't as loud, and if it was too tight I would expect it to get worse as you revved it more, which it doesn't. I double checked all the torque on the ARP's while I had the valve cover off, all were still good. I am going to take the car for a drive tomorrow. Just need to let it warm up and the cooling fan turn on so the coolant systems completely bled, and take it for a drive around the block to see if everything is all good. Assuming it is, throw the body back on Sunday morning, and it should be good to go!

 

nice work gettin the knock sensor sorted out.
the engine bay looks clean! got any pictures of it all put back together?
Yeah vacuum bleeders are pretty sick! I got to use one last week lol.

I got the welder. and i know what you mean about it splattering all over the place! haha it was my first time welding, I was expecting it to be a lot harder lol.
Im gonna use up the wire that came with it to practice with. then i'll grab the wire you recommended.

 

Honestly don't even use the reel it comes with. You won't learn anything using terrible wire. I threw my whole spool away because it was worthless. Get the Lincoln wire and practice laying downs beads on some plate steel and do some butt welds. Laying beads isn't the easiest with the welder but it's not bad. I've been welding in school for 5 years, not super skilled but I can get the job done whether it is mig, flux core, brazing, or smaw. Tig is my next goal.

 

First of all, sorry for my lack of updates, gets annoying updating this and uploading pictures. Second, sorry for lack of pictures at this moment. The car is up and driving, just went and put 20 miles on it and she runs great.

I really shouldn't tell you guys this, I'm sure some may question my ability to work on cars and my knowledge... but I figured out my problem I had with my brakes. It wouldn't build up a good pedal at all, was super low, and I bled the sh*t out of it. So I went and bought a new master, put that in, didn't solve it. And I had O'Reilly order me new calipers, just before I went and picked them up, I realized I had my calipers on the wrong side. The bleeders were pointing down, therefore an air pocket was trapped above them. Switched them around, rebled, problem solved. I know it is such a stupid thing to do but sh*t happens and I learned from my mistake.

So Saturday few friends and I put the rest of the exterior on, and took her for a few laps around the block. I had my insurance reactivated today so I went driving all around. She runs really well, whole car shakes a lot from the motor mount inserts, but runs like a champ. No more input shaft bearing noise from the trans which is nice, and everything else is smooth. The polyurethane suspension hasn't started squeaking, and really doesn't feel super stiff, which is good. I don't mind not having power steering anymore, not a big deal at all. I still need to pull the power steering out though.

I also picked up some samba green Del Sol seats last week and put those in. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, I low how low they sit, put ek seats to shame, actually hold you in. One of the best things I've done to my car, and only paid $125.

Overall I am pretty happy with what I've accomplished. The bay isn't perfect, pictures wash out all the imperfections. But for my first car I've done stuff too and for just jumping in to it I'm happy. I learned a lot, from how things work to how to do take things out to problem solving. This was a really good learning experience, and whenever I get another chance to do something like this to another car it'll be that much better. To be 18 (19 in 2 weeks) and accomplished all I have on this car, I think is pretty cool. I'll throw up some more pictures later, I'm going to go for a drive again .

 

Good to hear it is running well again. The bay looks amazing btw.

Del Sol seats = win!

I have been lazy with pictures too since it becomes tedious after awhile. Don't worry about the screw up. That happens. At least it didn't cost you any extra to fix. I replaced the brakes on my g/f's cavalier and turned the caliper bolts in the wrong direction on the drivers side (after completing the passenger side flawlessly), stripped one bolt and snapped the other in the steering knuckle. $350 later (I paid) a new steering knuckle was installed

 

Looks great man!
and yes del sol seats are amazing!!
specially in a del sol

 

Damn that pic looks really cool dude...nice work and glad you're done with it Now you gotta sell it and buy a Sol lmao

 

Haha about that... Going to be hard to get myself to sell this car. Hopefully I can maybe get SOMEONE'S supercharger, and have a little fun with this car. Being so low and sitting even lower with the sol seats is just magical, love driving the car. I failed to mention I bought my sisters wheels off her, she traded her civic in and they gave her her wheels back since they didn't want them. They are the ones a few pages back when my cars on dollys. They are some no names and nothing special, tires are tall 195/60 which sucks because they rub. But I will sport them temporarily. I think I am going to paint them lime green.

And the other reason I'm hesitant to sell y car is because of my future plans. My dads in the runnings for chief of a police department so of he gets it, we are moving to that city which is big yards, big houses, and oh ya, big garages. That means space for all my tools and a new project. We have a 2 car right now and my moms 2011 Santa fe has dibs in there, and my dad doesn't want a car sitting on dollys in there forever since he wants space for mowers and ****. The houses they are looking at are like 3 car garages, which means I'd get my own spot. Which would mark the beginning of my drag car eg hatch. Which would consist of a cheap shell that'd be cleaned up and made rust free, gutted to the point of a seat maybe a dash and a cage, and a boosted h22. Why? Because I can and I want to get my name out in Wisconsin, I don't want to be stuck at my Acura dealer forever, I want to do fun stuff like work for king or something like that. I plan on taking my car to a lot of car shows this year, flaunt my hard work off ands be impress some people. Who knows, we'll see what happens.

 

Lol you, reaper, and myself (along with most people w/ more serious builds on this forum) have the major decision making problems lol I really want an Xterra but now I found a 98 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport that I really want lol idk I've been all over the place with my ideas hehe so have you

 

pics of the seats in the car? thats a mod I've really been wanting to do to my hatch. Same color too. If you ever plan on selling them, I'll give you good money.