drummingpariah

Today was a lot less exciting. I've been frustrated by having to park inside the garage, because the driver's window was ... wonky. I knew one of the two mounting tabs had broken off of the old window, so I ordered a new one, but that didn't fit either.

I found that ED/EF's have different window regulators, but not in the 89/90 model-change I expected. Instead, the seatbelt-on-door regulators are different from the seatbelt-on-pillar regulators, and the windows are as well. Whatever combination I have didn't work, as the front of the window was a few degrees too low, across the entire travel of the window. The regulator support bar stayed at the same angle (relative to the ground) throughout the travel, and I found that propping the front of the window on TOP of the bar gave me the right motion. That's good, because window regulators have some complex geometry that I don't want to have to re-invent.

Rather than ordering a new regulator or window, which would take several days to get here, I fired up one of my little Maxstar welders and made a new mounting tab to make what I have work.

... because IDGAF.

What I had:


What I wanted (the difference is subtle, look carefully):


What I designed:


What I made:




What I celebrated:


Now the window does the up and down dance nicely (could use a little lube in the tracks, and the felt on the guides are gone), and I can store it outside ... where it belongs. That frees up the garage for other projects, like my simulator cockpit fabrication project.

Grahambo02

Nice looking exhaust there.

drummingpariah

That's just the muffer, but thanks just the same. I'll get it on the car eventually, but the exhaust I have works just fine.

Today I mostly fought my old, cheap Harbor Freight batteries.


That prompted me to order a new corded 10a DeWalt drill. I've been thinking about getting a 1/2 drive drill for awhile, as some of my hole saws and my coping tool require it. It's also worlds more powerful than what I currently have. Not something I'd bring to race events, but it should making 'doing things at home' pretty easy. right now.

It was also time to pull the fuel tank again and take out the radiator hose I had been using as a filler neck. Replaced it with a standard 1 3/8" fuel line. I don't know why everyone seems to think you need OEM Honda parts for this, I spent a few minutes measuring the metal ends, and I think I spent $10 on 3' of flexible hose.


Inside, I was unhappy with the seat mounts, so I did some more cutting and welding on them, then resprayed them in flat black.


Finally, I did a bit more cutting and some welding on the body.




Decided to leave it up on stands for awhile, while the batteries get what little charge they can.

drummingpariah

Some of you may already know that I've been thrashing to prepare another car for the hillclimb car. Recent events mean that the CRX is getting bumped up to priority #1 for awhile, which is good ... but at the same time ...

I'm pretty disappointed to admit that there's no way I'll be able to race the Datsun-shaped-car for the beginning of this season. I won't even have it back from the chassis fabricator's until after the first event. The only reason for going for quick, expensive solutions to problems (BBS wheels, shiny new engine, etc) was to get the car on the hill for Ascutney 1, and now that all feels like a waste. What's more: The car won't be at the events my few sponsors were expecting, so now I need to refund them for their support.

I'm absolutely gutted.

However, I can't just lie down and feel sorry for myself. I still have hillclimbs to race. I had to make a decision as to what to drive, and just accepted a deposit on the rx7 (this is the third deposit I've taken on it ... I'm almost making a profit just on deposits now).

That leaves me with two options: Rent a car from someone else, or do a quick prep on my CRX. If I had more time to put into it, I'd toss a rwd subframe in it and one of the spare turboII powertrains ... but I have less than a month until Ascutney 1.

My best-case scenario is to:

1. Swap out the 325k-mile d15b2 (which was a sad design from day 1) for the high-compression d16z6 engine (sohc 1.6) sitting on a shelf.
2. Toss the 225-series RA1's left over from the Miata on it
3. Tune the suspension as best I can in a short time-period
4. TRY to have a cage installed in it (I have one option for this, and he's pretty busy)

Budget is going to be an issue. Time is an issue that's even more difficult to solve, so I'll probably have to rent a car for the first event, then drive the CRX for a few events. If everything goes great (which is unlikely, when we're talking about race car prep) I might get to drive the Datsun for the second half of the season.

It's going to be a struggle, but I have great friends that I can call in for reinforcements when necessary.

drummingpariah

It's crunch time. 21 days before the first event, and lots to do. If anyone's in New England, I'll provide great burgers and beer to anyone who wants to come out and spend a weekend helping. Because I'm so pressed for time, I probably won't be able to update all my build threads, and I'll just publish on the Driven Daily Facebook Page:


If you want immediate updates, Like the page and add it to your favorites!

drummingpariah

I couldn't just leave that antenna hole open to the elements, and let the car rot from the inside after fixing all the things that were wrong with it. I broke out the hand tools, welder, and angle grinder and melted a bit of metal into place.

Joggernot

Nicely done. Glad you didn't leave it open.

drummingpariah

Now it's time to drop the hammer on this project.

Grahambo02

Great stuff man!

Maluko

Great!

drummingpariah

We're still going strong. I'm trying to get a video published every day 'till the race starts.

drummingpariah

About to finish up footage for the Day 3 episode, but the build is coming along pretty nicely. 3 planned work-days remaining.



If you haven't already caught up, here's the episode from day 2 (Sunday).

drummingpariah

For those who weren't following along with the video series, it was very close. I ended up renting a car for that event, and skipping the next one, and have been waiting for suspension parts to come in ever since. I'm finally in good shape with the suspension, and put the car back on its own four wheels again today. That means I can fabricate in the shop without having to move the car around, and I can properly clean the entire shop now.

It's a pretty big win, even if it doesn't seem like it.

drummingpariah

It's in! There's still plumbing and wiring to finish, but this is the final physical install. So final, in fact, that I gave the engine hoist back to its owner. That frees up floor space from the engine AND the hoist, and I'm a happy camper. Taking a break, and waiting for things to cool off a bit before I dig back in and start on the dpfi -> mpfi -> obd1 wiring job.

Drifte

I've been following this for a while and had to pick up a CRX for myself. Even has a d16(y7) in it, needed something and that was cheap. Of course, now the ECU is dead but its still fun to work on. Keep up the good work