Badass build

 

Thanks, and me too!

Thanks, I appreciate that.

 

Put just enough of the Civic back together to try to start it before the wife called it quits for me. It's been a long time since I last started it and with all of the changes that I have made while it has been down, it's hard to tell if what I am hearing is normal. First of all, it sounds bad on start up when the starter is cranking, but that may just be the normal sound with that flywheel. I've always run a stock lightened flywheel, so this is my first aftermarket one. It sounds like a saw or metal scratching together. I think it goes away once the starter disengages, but it's hard to tell with as shitty as the engine is running right now. I get a few backfires and shudders before the engine stalls out. The e85 that's been sitting in the tank may not be very good anymore, or I may not have my tune loaded up. I didn't have time to upload a tune, so my plan is to get to that this week. The engine doesn't run long enough for me to try to put it in gear, so I still don't know how any of that is working yet. I did notice a leak coming from my t-case. This was happening the first time I put trans fluid in it and I figured PBE just sent some aftermarket o-ring with the t-case, so when I found out that I had to pull the t-case back out I ordered an o-ring from Honda. Turns out it's not the o-ring, so chalk that up to another fail by PBE. I guess I'll have to try some RTV on the o-ring and see if that does the trick. Speaking of PBE, I ended up having to contact Speedfactory to ask them some questions on setting up that hydraulic throw out bearing. They informed me that they are no longer doing business with PBE or selling their parts. Something about communication problems/issues... Told them I knew just what they were talking about.

Checking the tune, codes, and hopefully get it running this weekend. Not much else to do while we are on lock down and quarantined. BTW, I hope that everyone is staying healthy and taking this COVID-19 **** seriously. I'm a nurse in a major hospital here and I am seeing it up close and personal. It's for real. So always be washing your hands, and stay away from crowds, even small ones. We all gotta do our part to help others and ourselves get though this.

 

Thanks for the update - I really want to see this build finished. And that's very telling for SF to stop doing business with PBE.

 

I’m glad you at least got it running and hopefully you can get it right pretty soon.
Im gathering that PBE doesn’t have a good reputation and from seeing how they’ve dealt with you I can see why.

Be careful over there. I don’t think enough people are taking this as serious as they should. God bless you in this time.

 

Yeah, that can’t be good for business for them.

 

Took my injectors in and found they were pretty gummed up. $100 later and they are flowing like new again. Cleaned out the in-lone fuel filter as well and had to replace some of the line that was leaking. Also dropped in a new set of spark plugs. Cyl #1 & 4 were not looking great and plugs are pretty cheap. Got it running and there is no more popping. Still feels like there isn’t much power when reving it, but the IC and piping are not hooked up.







Taking the engine back out and removing the shim i put on the hydraulic throwout bearing. Better be the last time I’m doing this or I’m done with that throwout bearing. Also picked up a Tilton MC for the clutch and a K-Tuned shifter and cables. I’ve already had trouble with the factory cables before and figured I’d replace them now while the engine is out again.

 

Which oem cables are you using and what's the issue?

 

I was using the '97-01 CR-V cables. I don't think any other cables will work. I think I had a cup for the shift lever break and it popped out of the cable housing. That ended my night at the track. I think I had a newer cup from the Fit shifter I had modified and ended up using that. I hadn't had any issues since, but it is 20 year old plastic on those cables, so it's only a matter of time before they start having issues. Plus Honda doesn't make them anymore, so good luck getting replacement parts.

 

The K-Tuned cables are a bit longer than the OEM. They are adjustable at both ends and there is also adjustability built into the shifter. You can see where all of the plastic and rubber pieces have been replaced with metal parts making the cables quite stout. Shouldn’t have any problems with these for a long time.






They still use that plastic cup at the end of the shift stick. At least if it ends up breaking, I’ll know where to go for a replacement. Shouldn’t have any issues with this think breaking or cracking on me. For the CR-V cables, they got rid of the pivot ball and cup setup for the secondary cable and just made it bolt into the shifter box. They also utilize the TSX/Accord shifter box, so the linkage for the secondary cable is on the passenger side instead of the driver’s. No biggie, the cables just have to cross over each other now instead of having a straight shot to the trans. I ended up modifying and reusing the rubber grommets for the mounts on the OEM shifter box, which did give it some flex. The new shifter box uses all solid metal mounts that I had to order separate, so no flex there.







the mounting points are different, so I had to make a new base plate. I used the same mounting points to the tunnel as I did for the old one. I only ended up having to mess with the adjustments on the secondary cable to get it all to shift properly. It feels pretty mechanical right now. Maybe it all needs time to break in. The 20 year old setup felt a little smoother, but it also felt like it could all come crashing down with one hard shift.







Some before and after shots on the trans. I had to grind away at the scatter shield to get the K-Tuned cable bracket to fit. It’s a nice piece, but it doesn’t sit the same way the OEM bracket did. The nut type ends on the cables to the brackets are way nicer and easier to deal with than the OEM clips. Those things sucked.

Hopefully it was money well spent. I won’t know till I drive the damn thing. Hopefully the shifting loosens up a little bit. Other than that, I really don’t foresee any issues with it. At least, not for a long time.

 

Looks really good. The only thing I'd even be remotely concerned about are the hairpins coming out...I'd personally replace those with cotter pins. Hope you finally get to drive it soon.

 

Looks great. My Miata had a plastic shift bushing from the factory, which I replaced with a metal bronze bushing where the shifter goes into the gearbox turret. And it feels pretty mechanical especially on the 1-2 shift. I guess if there were something like that for K applications, it might be TOO much metal along with those shift cables.

 

That shifter setup looks good. Are you close to getting it driveable?

 

Yeah, those things do look pretty thin. It's hard to imagine that the cables would ever come off of the shift assemblies even without the pins on though. Everything is pretty tight in there and it was a pain even getting the cables on. Anything can happen though.

Only time will tell. Hoping that a little spirited driving will make it all feel better.

I'd like to think so, but I always think I'm close and then something happens. I'm going to stick the axles and radiator back in and top off the fluids this weekend. Then I will be able to see if I can get it in and out of gear. If all goes well with that, I will install a new Tilton clutch MC to replace the 20+ year old OE unit. Then it's putting it all back together and driving the bugs out of it. I also have a roll cage I need to install.

 

Put it back together enough to start it up...AGAIN. With the clutch pedal fully depressed, I couldn’t get the trans into any gear with the engine running. Even with the clutch MC push rod fully adjusted out it wasn’t enough. I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t going to work before replaced the clutch MC.





You can see how much of a difference in size there is between the Tilton unit and stock. The Tilton is a 7/8” MC, and I’m not sure what the the size of the stock one is. You can also see that 23 years and a bit of use has taken its tole on the stock MC. IT WAS TIME FOR IT TO GO!





You have to use an adapter to run the Tilton unit on the Civics, which is sold separately. It allows the MC to sit in the correct position and also spaces it out from the pedal. I haven’t had to cut the push rod as of yet, but I also have not fully adjusted it.









Pretty straight forward install. I just set it up so that the pushrod had full release when the pedal was out. Bled the line and fired up the engine. I was able to put it into gear with ease and got the wheels moving. About damn time.

Now I just need to set up the pedal for the clutch, put everything else back together, and put about 500 brake in miles on the clutch and trans. Then it’s the roll cage and tuning the bugs out.

 

woohoo man must feel great to make some good progress!

 

Lets play, “You Make The Call”

So I got the Civic out of the garage and drove it down the street. AFR is super lean and needless to say it only takes about 7 psi of boost before it starts breaking up and backfiring. No power and it likes to stall out when pushing the clutch in for too long.

Brought it back home and got it to idle. Still lean and pops out of the exhaust once in a while. Noticed the the fuel pump (AEM 400lph in-line) seemed a bit louder. Also noticed it was changing tone like it was struggling or surging. That’s when I looked at the rail pressure and saw it fluctuating from 40-20 psi. The needle moves with the sound of the pump, as the idle is holding steady. Voltage is good at the pump, 13.45-13.53v.

The pump isn’t very old and has very low miles on it. I’m wondering if it went bad from sitting in ethanol for a year. I cleaned out the pre pump fuel filter and the pre rail filter when I had the injectors cleaned. The pre pump filter wasn’t dirty at all, but the pre rail filter was.

So what do you think? I may just order a new pump for good measure. They have come down in price and if that’s not it, I’ll bash my head against a wall and have a spare pump. Can’t think of what else it could be at this point.

 

Here's some ideas starting with easiest solutions...

1. How was fuel level in that video? Had you just pulled it back in the garage after driving around? If so, and the level was below half full, maybe the sloshing around was causing the fluctuation in pump output. Does it do the same thing when you start it up after sitting overnight or letting car cool completely?
2. Double check voltage and current at pump, looking for steady numbers. Check grounds, relay and wires visually. (I know you did it already)
3. Is the fuel press regulator vac line intact? Have a spare FPR you can swap in? Considering you are running lean and the fuel press. is dropping to 20 which is well below the 40-45psi you should have at idle, it may be a faulty regulator, opening when it shouldn't, releasing too much fuel from the rail. Ethanol is known to be hard on seals so if fuel sat in the rail/fpr that may have damaged it. Did you set your fuel press. to 43psi at idle with the vac hose disconnected?
4. Can't think of anything besides a bad pump if all of the above check out, likely from sitting in ethanol like you said. Wonder what the AEM internals are made of...

 

Good looking out, and thank you. I hadn’t even thought of the FPR. It’s never given me any problems in the past, but then again you have to take everything into consideration.

During the video it was after I drove it and pulled it back in. Tank was maybe 1/4 filled, but that has never been an issue like this. Rail press has always been set at 40-45 psi without vacuum.

Started her back up today and When the engine is cold (and fuel pump is cold) it holds somewhat steady on rail press and sound from the pump. As engine, fuel, coolant, and everything else heats up, AFR gets leaner, rail press fluctuates more, fuel pump makes more noise. THATS A LOT OF COMMAS! And a lot of lean misfires when reving the engine.

The fuel pump isn’t that big of a deal to replace nor very expensive. Sucks that it really didn’t last that long, but I can’t complain too much about it. Lesson learned, don’t leave ethanol in your fuel system for a year!

 

This needs to be moved to transmission forum

 

It's been asked to have it moved to the AWD forum before, but it's not been done yet.

 

I just moved it to AWD.

 

Thank you!

 

Took me a bit to chase down my fuel issue. Pulled just about everything in the fuel system back apart and cleaned it. Put the new fuel pump in and was getting the same results. I had a feeling that might happen, but now I have an extra fuel pump if needed and it was actually an upgrade from a 380lph to a 400. Went after the FPR. It’s an old AEM unit and I noticed there was some corrosion inside of it, but the diaphragm was still good. ARM changed the design on it to accommodate a ball rather than a flat surface and the outlet orifice is larger. So I ordered one up and while I was waiting decided to clean the injectors again myself. All the spray patterns where even and good to go. Got the new FPR installed and thought I better just check the new spark plugs I had just put in. This is what I found...




From left to right is cyl #4,3,2,1. Cyl #2 & 3 look brand new and unused. So I put them back in and started the engine. When unplugging the coils for #1 & 4, the engine would die. Unplugging 2 & 3 made no difference. That’s about the time I kicked myself. I swapped the connectors for the coils of #2 & 3, and what do ya know... night and day difference. So WireWorx swapped those two wires in the harness for the coils. Can’t believe I didn’t check that first. So the Civic is running much better now. It does fall on its face once I start boosting over 14-15 psi. The fuel press rises and all of the sudden drops off. I’m thinking/hoping it’s just a tuning issue at this point. I’m in the middle of installing the roll cage. Once that’s done I’ll set up a dyno session.

Here’s some pics of the FPRs:








Cage time!!

 

DarryCar, It's threads, projects, & OPs like you that make me glad I've held onto my project cars. Thank you for all you've done & I look forward to the next installment.