DSMAddicted

+1, absolutely.

Good work Buddy! Regarding your front suspension bits, I recommend to just pressure wash them. I was planning on powdercoating my brake and suspension swap before putting it on the car since they were so filthy, but a few coats of degreaser (let it soak) and a few rounds of pressure washing love and they came out as new. If some spots are missing paint, just spray those for protection, but save the $ and hassle of powdercoating. There are other parts in the car that demand powdercoating, but not those IMHO.

Keep up the great work and keep us posted Bud.

6000pounds

At least you can tell the difference. You do what you can. I'm sure your dad got a lot of offers for that car from other enthusiasts before he handed it over to you.

ReedMann

iTrader: (11)

Thanks man. Yeah, I used a bunch of degreaser to get them clean, but there was a little too much rust for my tastes. I already took them to the powder-coater. They should be done tomorrow or the beginning of next week.

Yeah, my dad actually had the car posted on Craigslist for like two weeks before he finally gave in to my begging. He had it listed for $2000 and was getting tons of offers.

furious94ls

Depo lights are pretty good, and you got to haggle the price anyway. Nice work. If only getting all parts were that easy. lol What type of clutch/flywheel are you gonna go with. Don't over clutch it if you arent planning on doing anything crazy.

If you are just gonna do bolt on's and have any connections with dealerships an OEM Type R setup would be good, if not a street/strip setup. Set up a plan/goal of how much power you want so you only have to buy each part once.

Glad to see you are working on it more and more.

ReedMann

iTrader: (11)

I'm in the process of choosing a clutch/flywheel setup now. I was thinking of getting either an Exedy OEM replacement clutch and pressure plate or an Exedy stage 1 clutch and pressure plate. I just plan on bolt ons, I/H/E, in the near future so I wasn't going to do anything extreme. They both get great reviews, but I'm not sure if the stage 1 is worth the extra $170. I never really considered a Type R clutch. Where can I get one?

On another note. No one sells the bolts I need to mount it to the engine stand!! I found one bolt in my collection that works. It is a bolt on the rear T-bracket of a Del Sol/EG/DC. I tried all the hardware stores in town with no luck. Even the local Honda dealer didn't have any in stock. They offered to order them for $9 apiece, but I can get them on Majestic Honda for only $5.70. Its pretty frustrating. Looks like I won't be mounting it on the stand this weekend...

ReedMann

iTrader: (11)

I drove quite a bit this weekend, but in the end it was all worth it.

DC Sports 4-2-1 header in good condition (no rust/cracks)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64248054@N05/6495403489/
OBD2 alternator and injectors (they're in a rubber glove)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64248054@N05/6495404427/
The best part of all, a valve cover in excellent condition...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64248054@N05/6495405269/
I just love the color haha

After a ton of searching by my dad and I, we found the right bolts.

Engine mounted on stand.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64248054@N05/6496330329/
My stockpile of parts.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64248054@N05/6496331403/
Valve cover is finally off. There is a little bit of sludge, but overall the condition is great.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64248054@N05/6496332845/
Picture of the cams, they look brand new. I can't tell if they are aftermarket or not.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64248054@N05/6496332103/
A good sign that the engine has been taken car of: Honda oil filter and timing belt.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64248054@N05/6496333601/
I apologize for the not so great pictures. They were all taken in my dark garage.

A couple questions:

What color should I paint the new valve cover; OEM black, Type-R red, or Spoon yellow? I really want to do Spoon yellow, but I'm not sure how it would look in a red engine bay.

Is there any way to tell if the cams are OEM or aftermarket?

What are some ways to clean the head without fully taking it apart?

ss_zoidberg

I'd stay with wrinkle red on the valve cover. Just something about it that's mmm mmm mmmmmmm. If you believe they're oem cams take measurements and compare them to measurements of oem cams others have posted (search a little). PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE have layers of security before you put that motor in and start dropping money into it. Simple alarm with hidden siren, multiple kill switches, clutch lock, something to protect her.

ReedMann

iTrader: (11)

Yeah, I already have some ideas in my head about security. Im still just worried that someone who really wanted it would just jack up the rear wheels and roll it away...

ReedMann

iTrader: (11)

Any other input??

jcuetizzi

i would change those stock tail lights and get some red and white tail lights. some side markers and fog lights too

boggy

iTrader: (1)

Pink with polka dots on the valve cover. Nice use of the glove. Noted for future sensor storage idea. If I sell that idea to Walmart, I'll cut you in for royalties. Good to see your dad is helping out with the project. Good bonding time.

CX-Adam

That's some nice progress so far! Excellent looking car.

DSMAddicted

Congrats on the new goodies.

Regarding injectors, I *strongly* encourage you to have Rich over at Cruzinperformance service them for you. He'll flow test, clean and re-test for you. He'll also change all the seals/o-rings and return them to you like new.

See this older post of mine for more details. You'll be glad you had him do your injectors, just send them to him this week and you should be getting them back next week.

Good luck.

ReedMann

iTrader: (11)

Haha the glove is how the guy from Craigslist sold them to me so we'll have to cut him in too. Yeah, my dad is in to cars too. He told me stories about how he used to drift his mom's 1980's RWD Celica in the rain and when he was in college he owned two or three different CRX's. He taught me a bunch of driving techniques too (heel-toe, double clutch shift, clutch less shift). When his last Accord was finally done and he needed a new car he looked/waited for months to get an EK hatch. Right now he's driving a Honda Odyssey, but once the funds come he really wants to get an S2000 or maybe even an NSX or older 911.

Thanks man!

I had heard about services like this, but always thought they would be out of my price range. This is very reasonable though, definitely doing this. Thanks for the tip.

DSMAddicted

No problem bud, you'll be glad you did it while the swap is still out.

-Walter

6000pounds

Coming along. The easiest way to tell if you have stock cams is by comparing and contrasting the ends of the camshafts. There is a thread with pictures somewhere on here.

ReedMann

iTrader: (11)

Not too much to update. I've just been scrubbing away at my engine to clean it up some.

Does anyone know the torque specs for bolt #25 in this diagram. They connect the transmission housing to the clutch housing. I had to remove three of them to get some brackets off and now I can't find the torque specs.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64248054@N05/6533063943/

ssmtyper

wow... SOOOOOO nice, and for a young kid too! great job, im sure ur pops has some to do with it, glad to see father and son projects out there... I cant wait till my kids get old enough to do this with them

B16B Four Door

Good job with your car so far man! It's good to see your doing the swap right!

nealnanoHX

Dont worry about tq on that bolt just get it nice and tight. Nice looking build so far.

ReedMann

iTrader: (11)

Thanks, it's really nice to have my dad's help when i need it.

Thanks man. I'm a bit OCD so I never want to do anything halfway, but man is it expensive to do it right haha.

Haha we'll see. If all else fails, I'll just find another torque spec and make them all the same torque.

ReedMann

iTrader: (11)

I bought a '98 EX 5-speed harness early this week. Now I will only have to run one O2 sensor when I finally do the swap.

Not able to buy too many of the parts I need right now, because of the holidays. So, I'm just doing cleaning and stuff that is free haha.

I also painted my valve cover yesterday.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64248054@N05/6565110593/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64248054@N05/6565111313/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64248054@N05/6565111971/
The paint wrinkled differently in different places. From a foot away, it looks perfect. If you get really close you can see some flaws in the paint though.

Happy Holidays HT!

97 DelSol SI

Best Advice I've been given so far
1.) Some cars are meant to be driven for speed, Some cars are meant to be driven to look good. - I would stick with the latter of the two for now till the cash flow gets better
2.) Cars are as bad of an addiction as cocaine and tattoos, the only difference is you still have a chance to get your money back from a car.

LoLoCivic

iTrader: (1)

nice buildd

furious94ls

Valve cover looks great. While the money situation is tight go over again what you want to do, write things down in the order you want to go. Have fun cleaning the car up. Be sure to get all the fluids replaced ( easy and cheap to do yourself)

Browse Craigslist, you never know what kind of deal/spare parts you may come across. As I said before great job, and keep up the good work. You will be rewarded with a reliable and fun build in the end. Although it never ends. lol

Check out some detailing sites and see if buying a Porter cable would interest you in polishing the car out. I always liked to have a quick car that still looked great. Happy Holidays.